This game needs a good tutorial/Why I can relate to OXM Dan

[JB Lars]

I was specifically referring to the other replies he'd had and I was specifically saying I wasn't going to jump on that bandwagon and just abuse him.

If that's the case, then fine, I'm a prick too. No, red mist didn't block out your actual help, it came about due to the seemingly begrudging nature of your reply. Looking to stick my nose in? It's a public forum. You want privacy, take it to PM. I woulda done with this post, but I wanted to publicly acknowledge that I may not have been correct in bashing you.

[jshawnd]

Also I think there might be a language issue. It seems perfectly obvious to me that "bulling" is synonymous with "barging", but a lot of people seem confused by it and I wonder if that's a universal term. Do Americans get it? Do non-native English speakers get it?

I've never heard it used over here. "Bullying" would be more common.

[The Caffeine Kid]

I though "bulling" was a play on "ramming", exchanging one beastie with another.

[Jamesac]

To anyone with basic language capabilities, "bulling" isn't going to be hard to figure out. Sure, technically, ramming is a better word, but bulling is just fine. It's not Yak's fault people suck at words nowadays.

What the heck, I'll toss in my view of what would have made the tutorial better as well. To be taken with a large grain of salt-

Auto-pausing the game the first time the tutorial is played when the words come up, and having the AI perform the move being talked about, may have been the way to go. Plus a pair of giant flashing arrows on either side of the power zone, apparently, although I'll admit I thought the floating words "Power Zone" above it were plenty at the time.

James

[HGFB]

athough I'll admit I thought the floating words "Power Zone" above it were plenty at the time.

James

Want to hear something funnier? The biggest moan I read about on the RLLMUK forums was that once they got into the real game they didn't know they had a power zone because the words didn't appear.

[Glyndwr]

I never occurred to me that bulling wasn't actually bulling if you see what I mean. How can you not get that.

[lis0r]

It took me bloody ages to work out what all this "bulling" "rinsin'" etc. nonsense was about. And I'd seen the preview videos - christ knows what an absolute newbie would have made of it, assuming they even bothered.

[ukslim]

It took me bloody ages to work out what all this "bulling" "rinsin'" etc. nonsense was about. And I'd seen the preview videos - christ knows what an absolute newbie would have made of it, assuming they even bothered.

Ah yes, rinsing. It's a fantastic metaphor for squeezing points out of a level. I'd never heard it before, but it made perfect sense. But not everyone has a head for metaphors, and I can see how some people might need a fuller explanation.

[RiK]

It took me bloody ages to work out what all this "bulling" "rinsin'" etc. nonsense was about. And I'd seen the preview videos - christ knows what an absolute newbie would have made of it, assuming they even bothered.

Ah yes, rinsing. It's a fantastic metaphor for squeezing points out of a level. I'd never heard it before, but it made perfect sense. But not everyone has a head for metaphors, and I can see how some people might need a fuller explanation.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rinsin
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rinsing

[ukslim]

SG was playtested thoroughly prior to release, just like any game nowadays.

Of course it was - I have no doubt that a few dozen people played the hell out of it, fed back to LS and their suggestions were noted and acted upon. Iteratively.

That's basic quality control - SG is of the very highest quality, and playtesting helped it achieve that.

Meanwhile, Bungie were doing this:
http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworl ... 09/ff_halo

Putting all kinds of people in front of the game. Gathering stats on where they go, how they die, when they appear to be having fun, when they appear not to be having fun. Most crucially, in relation to SG, when they don't understand what the game's asking them to do.

... then tweaking the game and associated materials, and testing again with some more n00bs, to see whether it helps.

Now, that exercise alone is probably eating more resources than the whole SG development effort, and nobody in their right mind would expect SG to have that level of playtesting.

Also, Bungie is aiming at a mass market, including clueless n00bs, so they're interested in spotting things that spoil the game for n00bs, and making them right. (Their testing will also spot stuff that pisses of experienced gamers -- the challenge is to please everyone).

(Ironically, since I'm writing this, Halo 3 has no appeal to me whatsoever)

Now, if Yak wants to please a broad audience -- and getting good review scores across the board relies on this -- then something similar (but wildly scaled down) is needed. Put people in front of it who've never played Tempest. If they can't see the power zone, don't tell them. Bite your tongue. See how long it takes to work out for themselves. Too long? Tweak the tutorial to make it more obvious. Ask them how they would like it to have been explained.

Then repeat it with another newbie.

Alternatively -- say that working all that stuff out for yourself is part of the challenge of the game. If you're the sort of person who doesn't find that process enjoyable, you're not going to enjoy the game. That's fine - you've aimed at a niche market, and that market will love the game. But in that case you can't be surprised when people outside the niche don't get it.

Me, by the way, I love SG.

[lis0r]

Ah yes, rinsing. It's a fantastic metaphor for squeezing points out of a level. I'd never heard it before, but it made perfect sense. But not everyone has a head for metaphors, and I can see how some people might need a fuller explanation.

To me rinsing is what you do to remove distasteful substance after cleaning something. Bulling is suggestive of a destructive display of aggression resulting in misfortune and undesirable expense, probably involving broken crockery.

I guess I'm just not street or geeky enough, and too middle class and girly.

Given the number of posts saying "I've no idea what's going on, I guess I'll know more when the game's released" in response to the dev videos, I'd say that those involved in the development and testing of SG became too inured in the game.

[Muttley]

I find this whole discussion very odd, as I guessed what was meant by Bulling the first time it was mentioned.

Bulls charge things with their horns (for MASSIVE DAMAGE), therefore Bulling enemies is obviously the act of ramming enemies in some way.

Seems very logical to me, but then maybe my brain is wired up differently to other peoples.

[bcass]

athough I'll admit I thought the floating words "Power Zone" above it were plenty at the time.

James

Want to hear something funnier? The biggest moan I read about on the RLLMUK forums was that once they got into the real game they didn't know they had a power zone because the words didn't appear.

To be fair to the rllmuk lot, the vast majority of them changed their tune after a few days and were praising the game.

[piku]

I find this whole discussion very odd

Same here.

I watched a few of the fuzzy low-bitrate videos and had a bit of a look when I was at Retrovision, but until it appeared on Live I'd never actually played the game.

So, through osmosis I understood the concept of the game (like it's hard to comprehend!) but the subtleties of the Power Zone and bulling didn't make sense.

And then I played the tutorial. And it made sense, because it's kind of obvious once you have the controller in your hand. I'm fairly sure there's a line in the tutorial that says something like "run into enemies to knock them off the rim" while the concept of the Power Zone is being explained.

Plus... it's a shooty game, even if you totally miss the whole point of the PowerZone it's not too tricky to work out, surely? And since people like to compare it to Tempest, that should imply a certain style of gameplay...

[Nitrosoxide]

I though "bulling" was a play on "ramming", exchanging one beastie with another.

Bulling... I thought meant it had something to do with a bull..

Btw JB Lars... thank you very much for all your words.