The Mana World

Yay, beginnings of TMWServ content!

http://mantis.themanaworld.org/view.php?id=896

This and all downwards related tasks in Mantis: let's start a discussion about the general style we are going to use here.

My proposition: let's admit two facts. 1) We're a game. 2) We're short on pixel staff.

Hence I'm vouching for this abstract 80's sci-fi "inside a computer" look. Relatively like Tron at parts. Neon glowing squares (purple or blue, anyone?) with a black background for a floor. This way we don't need too many tiles and we don't even necessarily need walls at all for this.

The monsters and NPC automata should be somewhat abstract and fitting in design too. Like bones or veins built out of fluorescent neon tubes.

For a tutorial area which teaches you how you control your character, this could even be the least illusion breaking approach available. At least for me it makes sense that I'd first learn the basics of control in a "cyber environment" before the real illusion comes into play so my immersion can be as complete as possible straight from the beginning.

No, please not. We are a heroic fantasy game. The tutorial is the first thing a player sees from the game. It should be in the style of the rest of it. Regarding graphic work: I don't see a reason why we couldn't use graphics for the tutorial which are already used elsewhere.

Alternative design idea for tutorial environment:

-University/Boarding school
-Small village the player grew up in
-Island in the sky

Out of those three, I'd select the academic setting.

What about including the tutorial with the client as a play option? That would allow the tron-like setting.

1. Player spawns in a bed in the adventurer academies dormitory. An NPC immediately initiates a dialog "Wake up #NAME#! Finally our last day at adventurer academy! Stand up or you will be late!" followed by a brief explanation of the movement controls.
2. When the player tries to leave the room he/she is stopped by the NPC: "Wait, don't you want to get dressed first?" followed by an explanation of the equipment screen.
3. Player leaves the dormitory and reaches a room with a professor. "Today is your last day, but before you can get your diploma you have to complete the final tests". Brief description of the quest system follows.
4. The following steps can be done in any order by talking to teachers in different classrooms:
4A: Combat training
4B: Magic training
4C: History (basic introduction of the background story)
4D: Economy (trading system)
4E: Rhetorics (chat system)
4F: Art (crafting system)
5. Player receives the Graduation Cap item as a quest reward and is allowed to leave the academy to explore the world. The professor asks the player "What do you want to do with your life now?". Possible answers: "I want to become a mighty warrior", "I want to become a powerful magician", "I want to become a wealthy merchant", "I have no idea". In every case the character is referred to a different character in the first town as a plot hook for world exploration.

To avoid annoying veteran players who create new characters the steps 4-5 can be skipped by talking to some delinquents near the universities wall who help the player to break out of the adventurer academy.

Let's not get too far into quest and script development while we're discussing between different options for the setting.

Hi,

Only speaking about the setting, I'd say both of these options aren't incompatible:

-University/Boarding school
-Small village the player grew up in

The place where the players start should feel peaceful and protective, while the player can increase his/her
first abilities.
After all, that's why you were all thinking about an island, a patch of heaven before going into the real world...

Just a thought.

Regards,

IMO the changes to your character from the tutorial should be reset once you actually go into the game.

It is a tutorial after all.

Why? What's wrong with allowing the player to collect a few goodies and take them into the real game world? This will make the time spent in the tutorial area not feel wasted and give the player the motivating experience that he is already progressing in the game.

That's why every MMORPG I ever played does it that way.

Why do you insist on drawing such a straight line between tutorial and real game anyway? Wouldn't it be much nicer to guide the player seamlessly from one to the other so that he doesn't even notice the point where he isn't guided anymore?

I agree with Crush. Let them get some stuff in tutorial. Like first skill level or basic spell.

I'd like for the player to be able to get in an accelerated fashion to bit further (not too far, this will be interesting to balance) than just the first few levels and be able to reset for free at will in the tutorial to see the basics of how stuff works in the game. Would also provide some content for MMO veterans.

This topic got slightly offtopic, but let's allow it to broaden a bit to clear what we're actually aiming for with the tutorial.

Client basics (moving around, chatting, talking to NPCs, fighting, etc) can be included with the client. Server-specific mechanics (everything else discussed) would need to be in the server's tutorial. Until we have a client tutorial, having some of that in the server's tutorial as well would good.

As for setting, here are some ideas (other's ideas included):

• Home town/village/...
• Academy-like setting
• Island in sky
• Ship en route to Port Town
• Dream sequence

As stated earlier, some of them can be merged (like home town and academy setting).

So far I've voiced my support for the cyber environment and the academic setting.'

Anyone else willing to voice direct opinions on the matter so we can select a setting and proceed into graphical conceptualization?

I think the tron or computer styled intro would be a little confusing to people who thought they were going to play a fantasy role playing game. Might loose people from the start cause it was not the kind of game they thought they where downloading. Although life would be better if we all went around wearing tron styled outfits.

Tron Pic1
Tron Pic2
Tron Pic3

A tron-styled environment included with the client and usable offline would be good. Show off client features and show how to use the client.