Crafting ZF's tutorial
Today's update comes a little early because tomorrow (January 22nd) I will be participating in the Global Game Jam and won't have the time to write this post. After the weekend's jam, I'll include a link >here< to the finished Jam Game.
As of last week, I had already begun production on levels, and while they still lack any sort of polish, I figured I could at least share the current state of the Tutorial level because it will change so significantly as a result of play testing.
As of last week, I had already begun production on levels, and while they still lack any sort of polish, I figured I could at least share the current state of the Tutorial level because it will change so significantly as a result of play testing.
Lesson 1: Learn to compact
No one had trouble with this. I began the game with this first and foremost because I didn't want people later coming to a low wall like this and assuming it was a dead end. I figured if it was the very first thing you encountered, you'd be least likely to mis-interpret the puzzle.
From that point you drop down onto that Glass Light, which after two hits will break. Lots of people just mashed buttons here and grenade'd themselves, so that's going to have to change!
From that point you drop down onto that Glass Light, which after two hits will break. Lots of people just mashed buttons here and grenade'd themselves, so that's going to have to change!
Lesson 2: Terminals
Although most people figure out that you're supposed to interact with the Terminal, I figure I could better re-enforce this lesson by making sure the Terminal and the Hard Light wall it connects to are closer together so that they can both be seen at the same time. This is also the site of the first jump that demands that the player both jump and move at the same time.
Lesson 3: Power Conduits
This isn't the first time you encounter Conduits in the level, and in fact both this time and on the prior occasion there are alternate traversal solutions. While I aim to design levels so that people can either be good at platforming or combat, at the tutorial phase I intend to make it impossible to proceed until you have mastered a skill.
Tomorrow I take Zarnok Fortress to the camp I work at to see how 6 - 11 year olds handle the tutorial level of the game, ought to be very informative! Expect a word on that encounter in next week's update.
Tomorrow I take Zarnok Fortress to the camp I work at to see how 6 - 11 year olds handle the tutorial level of the game, ought to be very informative! Expect a word on that encounter in next week's update.
Until next week!
Keep an eye out for new images shared every Monday / Wednesday and Friday on Indie DB, and follow me on Twitter for Daily updates!
No comments:
Post a Comment