Quick start card

[curiousdannii]

Erik's idea:

I was just thinking that one thing Kerkerkruip could use is a quickstart card, similar in style & presentation to the IF beginner's card.The game has its own unique mechanics and interactions, as well as a growing list of text commands, and a quickstart card might be a really helpful--but low-effort--way for newcomers to find a way in. At the same time, I don't think that the basics are so overwhelming that they couldn't go on a card (maybe two-sided). We could include a PDF alongside the game, and also make the card visible in-game in a graphics window. I think Lea actually designed the IF Beginner's card, so this might be a good use of the IF comp prize! But we should probably wait until this combat stuff is ironed out to start that up!

In the graphical menu maybe there could be a button which would display it where the monster cards appear? Or maybe it should take it to a new screen or something as we might not want a square help card. In any case, buttons!

[ektemple]

I was thinking that there would be an item in the help menu that would pop open a graphics window. That way, the card is available throughout the game, as well as via the main menu (since the help menu is available via the main menu). There could also be a QUICKSTART command, maybe QS for short.

[VictorGijsbers]

This is a great idea. Let's think about the design after we have ironed out the combat stuff. (Also, I've always thought that the IF beginner's card is too chaotic. Do you agree? I'd prefer something a little cleaner.)

[ektemple]

I think part of the problem with the hint card was that the information that needed to be communicated was from a bunch of different domains, and had to be relevant to the widest possible assortment of games. Kerkerkruip, on the other hand, needs to provide just basic information about a few well-defined areas (movement, combat, scrolls, etc.) So it should be possible to be less chaotic.

[curiousdannii]

Idea: when the game is first played no monsters have been killed, so why don't we show some kind of help thing in place of a monster card. It could be the full card, or it could be an excerpt, or it could be a one sentence description of the game with the top 5 commands, or it could be ? It could also show a button enticing the player to view the full card.

[VictorGijsbers]

Dannii: good idea. Erik: I'll make a draft proposal of the card when the new combat mechanics have been decided upon.

[ektemple]

This is the idea I favor (by a strong margin).

or it could be a one sentence description of the game with the top 5 commands

How about this to kick off discussion:

Kerkerkruip is a roguelike dungeon-crawler, but it's also a text adventure. Get started with these commands:

move: NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, UP, DOWN fight: ATTACK [enemy], CONCENTRATE, DODGE, PARRY objects: READY [weapon], READ [scroll], THROW [grenade], WEAR [clothing], REMOVE [clothing] other: HELP, MAP, ACHIEVEMENTS

Press the spacebar to begin!

This is probably too much text. Changing this in the main menu will require multiple steps, so I'd like to get it right before implementing it!

[rvdpluijm]

@ektemple: I like it. It is nice and concise. However, perhaps a short mention of the absorption of souls should be added, since this is a distinct feature of the system. I'm not certain how this could be achieved in such a short text, however. Could it be an idea to keep track of the fact that the player is playing the game for the first time? Then, we could give a concise description of the help file for players new to kerkerkruip or IF's and show them them a quick start guide for playing kerkerkruip. Now, this would of course be something completely different from the current quick start cards.

2013/2/10 ektemple notifications@github.com

or it could be a one sentence description of the game with the top 5 commands

This is the idea I favor (by a strong margin). How about this to kick off discussion:

Kerkerkruip is a roguelike dungeon-crawler, but it's also a text adventure. Get started with these commands:

move: NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, UP, DOWN fight: ATTACK [enemy], CONCENTRATE, DODGE, PARRY objects: READY [weapon], READ [scroll], THROW [grenade], WEAR [clothing], REMOVE [clothing] other: HELP, MAP, ACHIEVEMENTS

Press the spacebar to begin!

This is probably too much text. Changing this in the main menu will require multiple steps, so I'd like to get it right before implementing it!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/i7/kerkerkruip/issues/39#issuecomment-13349355..

[ektemple]

Well, when this command summary is shown on-screen, there will also be a big Help button above it, and the HELP command is also mentioned in the summary itself, so I'm not sure that we need any more than that.

Also, I think that we're handling the absorption of souls in the new multi-window layout by having tips in the Powers window that are (for novices) specific to powers. Seems better to keep this concise and limited to the domain of commands, helping newbies to IF just get in and interact with the game...

[VictorGijsbers]

I like the idea, but I think abbreviations should be in there as well. Maybe using colour coding?

"RETREAT" must be added; probably "REMEMBER" as well. "ACHIEVEMENTS" seems unnecessary.

If we assume prior knowledge of IF, the move commands are unnecessary. If we do not assume prior knowledge of IF, we must as least have "LOOK", "EXAMINE" and "GET" as well.

We can leave off the "[weapon]" and so on stuff: if this is somehow unclear to the player, the parser itself will clarify that a noun is needed.

[ektemple]

Yeah, I meant to include RETREAT. REMEMBER isn't needed, since this will be in the graphical version, so MAP covers all of that territory more succinctly.

And yes! of course we should include EXAMINE, etc.! Here's a revised version:

Kerkerkruip is a roguelike dungeon-crawler, but it's also a text adventure. Get started with these commands:

basics: HELP, MAP, LOOK, EXAMINE move: NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, UP, DOWN fight: ATTACK, CONCENTRATE, DODGE, PARRY, RETREAT objects: TAKE, WIELD, READ, THROW, WEAR, REMOVE

Press the spacebar to begin!

[VictorGijsbers]

Looks good, but I'd add TAKE or GET to the objects list.