Most people will probably agree that the current Tutorial is not very good. It basically consists of a standard Quest for Gems with a few "pop up hints" thrown in.
When I first put the tutorial together, I had limited time so I wanted to put something together quickly, using what we already had. So that's why I based it around a Quest for Gems. However I had always intended to replace it with something better eventually. I think the time has now come to do that.
Now, IMO, a tutorial has to do two things: obviously it has to teach players how to play the game, but I think it also has to be a fun challenge in and of itself. Ideally even experienced players would be able to enjoy the tutorial, to feel like it is an interesting level to play through in its own right.
My idea was to have a pre-designed (as opposed to random) map where there is a series of rooms that you go through in order. Each room would explain some aspect of the game, then there would be a simple puzzle or challenge to solve before you could get to the next room.
For example, probably the first thing we want to teach is how to move your knight. After that there might be a room with a gate puzzle, you have to work out which pressure pads to stand on to open the gates to the next room.
The next room might teach them about combat, and then give them a room full of zombies to kill, before they can move on.
That sort of thing.
Anyway, basically, I just wanted to open up a discussion. What do you think of the above? What sort of things do you think should be included in a tutorial? What is it important to teach players? Any particular newbie mistakes you have seen people making, that they should be taught not to do in the tutorial? Any other ideas at all?
