In my quest for knowledge and understanding of game programming I've picked up the task of creating a simple Solitaire game in Unity. I thought "It's just a basic card game, this should be easy". It would seem that I forgot to think. While I actually have managed to make a fully functional game loop in about a week, it was far from easy. The amount of hours I put into trying to figure out 'for' loops, what they do, how they work and when to use them (I'm still not entirely sure) hasn't been for nothing though. I've discovered quite a bit making Solitaire and am happy to say that the game is playable and seemingly bug free. Then came the real hard part: Everything else that you expect with a polished game.
So now my game loop works but there isn't much to it and it's definitely not in a shippable state. Clicking underneath the bottom row reveals a panel with only 2 buttons; Reset, to deal a fresh game. How to Play, to read up on the instructions of... how to play. Trying to write up the instructions was an interesting experience. I grew up playing solitaire. I've always known how to play it yet the idea of trying to teach the game to someone else was foreign to me. It made me think about better made games and how they handle tutorials. Games that have a tutorial level guide you through the basics of control and accomplishing objectives are pretty decent but that's probably too much here. Some games have a simple scrolling panel or multiple pages of texts and pictures with diagrams and arrows to visually explain what you're meant to do. Now that might work or maybe the diagrams might seem condescending.
Yes, this is only solitaire and as it turns out it's just as easy to explain the game as it is to play it. Diagrams aren't necessary in the slightest. But since doing this I've started writing up plans for the more advanced projects I'm currently juggling and how I should go about introducing mechanics and objectives to the player in those games. Shoebox Cadet has post-it notes littered throughout levels with child-like drawings explaining what to do. In my twin stick shooter perhaps a fully fledged opening tutorial level might serve best. In a side-scrolling shooter, however, I might prefer to go down the 'images with arrows' route. I wonder if I should follow my gut and stick to whatever tutorial style first comes to mind or if I should always try a few different ways before settling on one. What must you explain and what would be best left for the player to figure out on their own? Considering all of the possibilities was eye opening and really made me appreciate the amount of effort that can go into a well detailed and thought out tutorial that will typically only ever be played through once before being completely forgotten.
It's the little things.
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| "It's all placeholders, it's all placeholders!" he screams into the abyss |
So now my game loop works but there isn't much to it and it's definitely not in a shippable state. Clicking underneath the bottom row reveals a panel with only 2 buttons; Reset, to deal a fresh game. How to Play, to read up on the instructions of... how to play. Trying to write up the instructions was an interesting experience. I grew up playing solitaire. I've always known how to play it yet the idea of trying to teach the game to someone else was foreign to me. It made me think about better made games and how they handle tutorials. Games that have a tutorial level guide you through the basics of control and accomplishing objectives are pretty decent but that's probably too much here. Some games have a simple scrolling panel or multiple pages of texts and pictures with diagrams and arrows to visually explain what you're meant to do. Now that might work or maybe the diagrams might seem condescending.
 |
| How to play with plain text. |
Yes, this is only solitaire and as it turns out it's just as easy to explain the game as it is to play it. Diagrams aren't necessary in the slightest. But since doing this I've started writing up plans for the more advanced projects I'm currently juggling and how I should go about introducing mechanics and objectives to the player in those games. Shoebox Cadet has post-it notes littered throughout levels with child-like drawings explaining what to do. In my twin stick shooter perhaps a fully fledged opening tutorial level might serve best. In a side-scrolling shooter, however, I might prefer to go down the 'images with arrows' route. I wonder if I should follow my gut and stick to whatever tutorial style first comes to mind or if I should always try a few different ways before settling on one. What must you explain and what would be best left for the player to figure out on their own? Considering all of the possibilities was eye opening and really made me appreciate the amount of effort that can go into a well detailed and thought out tutorial that will typically only ever be played through once before being completely forgotten.
It's the little things.
Also smashing my head against the wall trying to figure out how to create an "UNDO" button.
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