My first post… so my first paragraph won’t relate to the subject. Feel free to skip. I’ve played every major and many dozens of minor roguelikes over the last couple decades, and this has really caught my attention. Cudos! An amazing game, that’s fun to play, hard without feeling arbitrary, and with amazing depth. Seriously, an amazing game. I’ve told some of my non-rougelike friends some of the stories and they’re amazed. Please don’t take anything I’m about to say in anything but the most positive way.
The beginning of the game, as in most roguelikes, is difficult for new players, especially players that haven’t played a roguelike before. A tutorial mode, that outlined some of the more successful strategies and recommended things not to try until later, might ease that transition. With that in mind, and seemingly contrary to my point, I’ll lay out some things I hate about tutorials.
- They aren’t the game. They’re a subset, and when you’re done, you have to start playing. That sucks.
- You are limited.
- Shit annoys you while you’re trying to play.
What about a tutorial mode that can be turned off (only once, in game, and stays off unless you turn it back on), and only spams your regular message buffer… not a pop up you have to clear, or anything, that triggers on certain things. Like when you get thirsty (or very thirsty, etc.) it says “Maybe you should look for a toilet… or cleaner water.” Or when you drink unclean water, “That might been better boiled… perhaps you should look for a pot.” Nothing spoily. And maybe a death message for players under 1 day old. Like, “Bears… Yeah. Bears are bad.” Or, “Spears can be thrown and are easy to craft… try smashing a bench for two-by-fours.”
I understand the game to be written in C++, and while I have only the most cursory understanding of C++, I know it might not be that easy to implement. And again, love the game.
