Post-launch Tutorialisation

It’s a design principle of mine while making games to built tutorialisation in as I go.

Originally this included the first jump, which cannot be made without directional swimming, leading to two one-way gates that force you to go back and try again.

When watching a friend of mine play, I realised I hadn’t done enough; the one-way gates at the start were missed with all the new mechanics being introduced at the same time and, by the time they were encountered again, they had been forgotten.

I made a few simple but key changes to fix this:

1. Interaction: I cleaned up the gate code to be less buggy and reworked the walljump to add a grace period. The player was getting stuck in the corner and panicked/frustrated which meant the lesson was overshadowed, so cleaning this up should help even beyond just making the game feel better to play.

2. Signposting: I added some weeds to the non-passable side of the first two gates, including some hanging down from the ‘block up’ gate. This should sell the idea that that side is solid.

3. Pre-empting: I added a coin on top of the ‘block-down’ gate to the left of the start. Most players will probably run to pick it up before continuing with the level, learning that it is solid ground. This makes the first interaction ‘safer’ than before, as originally they were dropped under a ‘block-up’ gate with no warning.

4. Pacing: I added a short stun to the player when they land on the initial platform, and added a few seconds the first bubble spawn. This should help space out the new elements, since the player has more time to register the stamina bar. This also gives them more reason to head to the coin from step 3.

5. Re-enforcing: I added another Block-Down gate in the initial screen. It’s placed to look like a platform to help you get to the Goblet at the top but if anything it is a hindrance. Players now have the chance to interact with the gate on it’s own in a mostly-safe situation, and the trick should provide a memorable lesson. The gate once again has weeds on the solid side, which should solidify that they can’t pass through. Additionally, this will use up some oxygen from an otherwise very easy section, and should push them to figure out another way to the Goblet (re-enforcing the high-swimming mechanic).

My player also had some issues with the Air Pockets; completely skipping them because they didn’t know what they were. While I toyed with moving one to be earlier in the level I quite like the current flow; instead I added some coins to each one of the bubbles; this should not only push people to enter them but it also gives them more reason to exist; they were largely by-passable even in coin runs so now they serve as a challenge for the completionists.

I have yet to see the changes in action, but I know at least once streamer will be playing this on saturday so I look forward to seeing if they worked!