My first tutorial was awful. Too much text (TL;DR), not enough explanation of game elements. Even the seasoned testers of /r/gamedev couldn't figure out how to play my simple game.
After reading this it was clear something needed to be done.
i.. didn't know what to do. Cool looking pixel particle effect!
A reddit user posted this fantastic link to a GDC talk from the creator of Plants VS Zombies, and how he made a game that even his mother could play.
There was a lot of useful information in that talk, I tried to apply some of it to my new level 1 / tutorial.
Here's the final result:
Also included in this build:
- New option....options (you can turn off the level restart timer)
- 5 new levels
- Larger hitbox (touchbox?) for player movement
- Added GUI scaling
- Collectibles (Fuel) now have physics
You can try out PilotLight Beta 0012 here.
Any feedback is appreciated!