Revamp the Tutorial

Thoughts on the further development of Haven & Hearth? Feel free to opine!

Revamp the Tutorial

Postby Mario_Demorez » Thu May 16, 2019 5:08 pm

I recommend changing the current "tutorial" and spawning area for the better. At the moment if you imagine yourself as a brand new player that has no interest in the wiki or forums some parts of this game would be awful starting out. There are three major requirements to survive in this game: Energy/Stamina/LP. Arguably experience but the game allows you to gather it without actually trying so im ignoring it. Energy is required and if someone is not paying attention they will eventually reach the point where they are unable to complete an action or they start to starve. I do not believe the current game tutorial explains eating at all, even the basic need for energy. The same can be said about stamina. These two are mentioned in the current tutorial, however I do not believe they are clearly explained. If a player is not able to find a birch tree then they are stuck and will lost interest.

I believe the first time someone plays this game they should be forced to experience 5 major mechanics in this game: Character Control, Drinking, Eating, Curiosities, and Crafting&Building. First one of the most important mechanics in the game is how to control your character. Explaining Right clicking VS left clicking as well as variable running speeds. Throwing in quick descriptions of each menu button (crafting menu, kinship menu, equipment, etc) would be a good idea. Drinking and eating are already explained in current tutorial but I believe they are a bit more important than starting a fire and should be before that. Curiosities are not mentioned and seem to be an important part of the game, adding this should have been done a while ago, world 4? Just like food it is important to explain how to gain Learning Points and what they are used for. After these four the final one should be explained, crafting and building. This can be done in multiple ways, building a fire and crafting a stone axe work fine, but you don't really need an axe to make a fire so it doesn't work well in my opinion.

Here is my opinion on how spawning for the first time on an account should work:


Player 1 is molded into a human form from clay. A pop up appears explaining him the lore and reasons of his creation (endless grind and tad bit of autism, etc.). Player would go through the normal steps, choosing gender, name, and features. however; once he reached the fire to spawn into the game this is where the tutorial would start. Instead of spawning in the the real world or even leaving the spawn area he would continue. First a pop up appears explaining that his thirst for water has appeared and tells him he must drink. The area would have the needed materials to craft a kuska as well as a fresh water pond. The player would then be able to craft a kuska and drink by himself, but if he failed to do so in some amount of time a notification would appear giving him hints. The hints would become more obvious as time progressed with failure to complete the given task. Once this task was complete another notification would appear- "You are starting to become hungry." Apple trees would be near him. The quest would be to eat an apple and gain an attribute point. If he picked an apple it would congratulate him. If he struggled and took too much time hints would appear to help him learn. Next a notification would appear explaining that his curiosity grows. This would start the quest to study a dandelion. After the dandelion was placed into his study another notification would appear explaining that his curiosity still was not quenched and another quest would appear to study a cone cow. Next his need for shelter would arise and another notification would explain to him how to build a leanto. First he must craft a stone axe, then gather the material to build the leanto. Once he completes the leanto it would explain claims and criminal acts. This would then complete his curios in his study and explain what Learning points are and that he just gained some from studying "curiosities," he would then get a quest to up 1 skill point and unlock 1 skill. This would prompt him that he is ready to explore further and let him interact with either a fire or the Skull pole to spawn in the real world.

Of course, there is the argument that discovering things in the game is part of the fun however basic mechanics can be explained in the most simplest forms without ruining later parts of the game. Learning how to control the game and its most basic mechanics seems to be a requirement for a game to be fun for new players. What do you think?

Also, accounts that have already done the tutorial at least once should have the option to skip it as well.
Mario_Demorez
 
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