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| Name | dcss:brainstorm:interface:hints mode |
|---|---|
| Summary | A collection of ideas of how to improve the Hints mode. |
| Further information | Tutorial redesign, User Interface Implementable List, The Usability Project report |
| Added by | jpeg |
| Added on | 2010-02-04 13:59 |
The hints mode is intended to be a context-sensitive learning tool to be played after the tutorials. We had feedback from players who said they found it helpful but that we should add X and Y. In general, the tendency has been to add more and more triggers, but it's difficult to estimate how real newbies experience the game and the hints mode. This brainstorming page is intended to collect ideas to make the hints mode more accessible to new players.
For a new player who hasn't played any games before (empty morgue folder, empty preferences, date stamp, or whatever other means might tell us that) bring up an additional screen before prompting for the name. Some kind of welcome and the most important points (hints mode and '?' help screen). Should be short and to the point.
The above would mean that anyone doing a clean install for every new version gets to see the screen every time this happens, but really how much of a problem would this be, compared to the immense benefits to new players?
In preparation of 0.6, I played a couple of hints mode games. Here are a few general observations. — jpeg 2010-02-24 22:48
While the hints mode has become more situation-aware and generally more useful, it also has become increasingly text-heavy. Does a beginning player really need to know about stabbing and stealth as soon as they encounter their first monster? Do we really need to overwhelm them with information about dangerous miscast effects when they're just trying to cast their first spell? Even if we don't cut down on information at all, many of the messages require multiple -more- to read through. I think many of the messages can become significantly shorter and still transfer all required information. Still confused? Read this article, and it'll all become painfully obvious.
Rather than offer three fixed character builds, we could offer a hints mode mode (option or something chooseable from the main menu) that works for all character builds. Would be a lot more work because there'd be more special cases, but there'd be no need to cover everything in detail (Vampire eating habits, Ghoul rotting, …)
I'm mostly thinking of the general events (finding an altar, being poisoned, becoming hungry, stuff that affects pretty much everyone).
Here you can add comments to individual hints mode triggers. Here's a list of all triggers currently in the game. The names should be fairly self-explanatory.
Most of the above (and maybe some of the below) could be externalized into a hints mode mini game, allowing the hints mode mode to give comments about situations the player actually hasn't encountered before.