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Tutorialistic Gameplay nrik v He ap ad a ll sk Ma TUTORIALISTIC GAMEPL AY A comparison to restrictive explicit tutorials in a hard fun game of emergence Bachelor Degree Project in Informatics 30 ECTS Spring term 2014 Andreas Ran Supervisor: Erik Sjöstrand Examiner: Sanny Syberfeldt Abstract This report investigates if tutorials are necessary in a hard fun game of emergence with tutorialistic gameplay. This is done by comparing the performances of player who have and have not played a tutorial. The study is based on research of the classification of different kinds of games as well as research regarding the effect of tutorials on player experience. The terms tutorialistic gameplay and restrictive tutorials are introduced and defined. The method used for data collection was a game that automatically recorded performance data at one minute intervals. This performance data was then compiled and analysed to answer the research question: How does learning through tutorialistic gameplay affect player performance in normal gameplay compared to learning through restrictive tutorials in a hard fun game of emergence? Not enough results were received to answer the question, but they show examples of learning through tutorialistic gameplay having both positive and negative effects. Keywords: tutorials, games, hard fun, tutorialistic gameplay, game of emergence Table of Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 2 Background ........................................................................................................ 2 2.1 Tutorials .................................................................................................................. 2 2.1.1 History of video game tutorials ........................................................................................ 2 2.1.2 How to make a tutorial .................................................................................................... 3 2.1.3 Restrictive tutorials .......................................................................................................... 3 2.1.4 Arguments against tutorials ............................................................................................. 4 2.2 Hard Fun ................................................................................................................. 5 2.3 Tutorialistic Gameplay ............................................................................................ 6 2.4 Games of Progression & Games of Emergence ...................................................... 7 2.5 The Game ............................................................................................................... 8 2.6 Risk of Rain: A game with tutorialistic gameplay and hard fun ................................ 9 2.6.1 Rogue, roguelikes and roguelike elements ..................................................................... 9 2.6.2 Risk of Rain: Description ................................................................................................. 9 2.6.3 Risk of Rain: Hard Fun .................................................................................................... 9 2.6.4 Risk of Rain: Tutorialistic gameplay ................................................................................ 9 2.6.5 Risk of Rain: Screenshots ............................................................................................. 11 3 Problem ............................................................................................................ 12 3.1 Method .................................................................................................................. 12 3.1.1 Practical results of study ............................................................................................... 13 3.1.2 Method discussion......................................................................................................... 13 3.1.3 Ethical considerations ................................................................................................... 13 4 Implementation ................................................................................................ 15 4.1 The Development Process .................................................................................... 15 4.1.1 Version 0.1 .................................................................................................................... 15 4.1.2 Version 0.2 .................................................................................................................... 16 4.1.3 Version 0.3 .................................................................................................................... 17 4.1.4 Version 0.4 .................................................................................................................... 19 4.1.5 Version 0.5 (Final) ......................................................................................................... 22 4.2 The Final Product ................................................................................................. 25 4.2.1 The tutorial .................................................................................................................... 25 4.2.2 Variable tracking & saving results ................................................................................. 33 4.2.3 Evaluation: Tutorialistic Gameplay ................................................................................ 34 4.2.4 Evaluation: Game of Emergence .................................................................................. 34 4.2.5 Evaluation: Hard fun ...................................................................................................... 35 4.3 Pilot Study ............................................................................................................ 37 5 Evaluation ........................................................................................................ 39 5.1 The Results........................................................................................................... 39 5.2 Analysis & Conclusions ......................................................................................... 42 5.2.1 Participant 5 .................................................................................................................. 43 5.2.2 Participant 6 .................................................................................................................. 44 5.2.3 Participants 7 and 8 ...................................................................................................... 44 5.2.4 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 44 6 Concluding Remarks ....................................................................................... 45 6.1 Summary .............................................................................................................. 45 6.2 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 45 6.2.1 Reliability of results ....................................................................................................... 45 6.2.2 Errors that caused result corruption .............................................................................. 46 6.2.3 Problems with variable tracking .................................................................................... 46 6.2.4 The lack of participants ................................................................................................. 46 6.2.5 Societal benefits ............................................................................................................ 47 6.3 Future Work .......................................................................................................... 48 References ................................................................................................................ 49 1 Introduction This is a study regarding the necessity of tutorials in a hard fun game of emergence with tutorialistic gameplay. Hard fun is a specific kind of enjoyment derived from a challenging game, while a game of emergence is a type game with a small set of rules that interact in many ways. The background section covers all the terms used in this report, some evidence against tutorials and an introduction to the topic of tutorials as well as a brief history. The chapter also outlines the basic properties of the game used in the study. The game is a two dimensional physics based game designed to qualify as a hard fun game of emergence with tutorialistic gameplay. The research question posed in this study is the following: How does learning through tutorialistic gameplay affect player performance in normal gameplay compared to learning through restrictive tutorials in a hard fun game of emergence? The reasoning behind choosing this specific type of game is that the kind of experience that stems from the hard fun nature of a game matches with the added challenge of learning through experimentation. Games of emergence can have a small enough ruleset that it’s more likely the player can learn the rules by playing without explicit instruction. With the large possibility space of a game of emergence, there can be enough for the player to learn that it’s worthwhile to make the learning a part of the core gameplay. A game prototype was developed
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