I just picked up the latest build as I have not played most of the pre-release. When you are doing the beginning tutorial, the game play mechanics still tick, even though you are running through tutorial menus. If the user steps away for a bit, they can come back to a bunch of dead NPCs. I thought the game paused while between things, or at least had the NPCs in a psuedo godmode. When I returned to my cute little tombstones, I was still in a placement phase of an object and I could not back out of it (was making the carpenter stuff).
All gameplay mechanics should understand that tutorials should not kill the villagers, but leave them in a psuedo godmode until you are done teaching the player what to do. #TutorialVillagerLivesMatter
I would guess (sample size 1) the average user would assume a non-turn based game would not be paused unless they hit Esc, which also pauses this game.
In addition, Pressing “1” pauses the game. The GUI also has a pause button.
If invulnerability was a tutorial mechanic, experienced players would exploit it, but that is just my 2 cents.
Either way, doesn’t sound like you lost too much. Good luck. Side note, I recommend saving as soon as you load and never overriding it, in case you encounter an irrevocable scenario.
After making games professionally for 14 years, while the sample was just 1 user, the idea is that this was a tutorial to get you started, it is a punishable design decision. Yes, you do not lose much, but you have to go through the scenario again. If you are unaware of other functions, as the user is being taught things, the design should have been put to:
1 instruct user what to do
2 pause to show UI object
3 user selects UI item
4 game unpauses to perform said action
5 repeat cycle until tutorial is complete
The game could not be exploited as the only thing the user can do is the forced selected command, and the whole system pauses. This is not an action game where some mechanics do not have to be pauses as you clear a room before moving on. I grant you a pseudo godmode could entice a break in mechanics and extra testing to make sure it flips off, but an active system pause would remedy that.
I file this to a suggestion, as it was a mistake to walk away, but being punished for it was a bit a pain in the butt.
To be fair to the tutorial, if I remember correctly, it was never meant to be a full-on tutorial. It was only created so that the team could save some breath instead of constantly having to explain to people at gaming conventions how to play the first 5-10 of the game.
Note: manually editted some formatting that was broken.
True, under this not previously specified style of tutorial, it could not be exploited. However, under this design, the tutorial should probably be a completely self contained scenario and not part of your first world as there are many potential corner cases (Spawn on top of mountain with no trees). As a professional software developer who has written several (mobile-style crap) games and a person who has played through 100s (1000+?) of tutorials, I still think your pausing expectations in the context of an Alpha game, in a genre notorious for not having any tutorial, is unrealistic.
I agree it is a valid suggestion. I would move/ask to move it to the actual suggestion category, but I don’t know how to. Can you as the OP? That being said, I think that this is request with low ROI, and potentially even too lofty for initial release. Given unlimited resources, your suggestion is probably the ideal.
