Tutorial

[NQNStudios]

I think that if there's one thing we can assume people already know, it's how to click on buttons and interact with a UI if things are clearly labeled. The tutorial only needs to address dialogs when they are complex or unintuitive (I think targeting a PC in the spell dialog is kinda weird, for example.)

These are not all in a sequential order yet in terms of which order a new player should see them in. Kinda, but kinda not.

• Have you ever played an RPG? Section for people who have no idea about any of it. (Important to me because I have family members who might want to check it out because they're interested in what I do.) Could be in a Story Dialog (page forward/backward, unlimited strings), explaining things like 'You have a party of characters who will get stronger as you make choices and explore a fantasy story.'
• How to move - Clicking or using directional keys (numpad/arrows) to move the party. Diagonal movement. NPCs move once when you move once. Don't step on lava. Special spots: go to them.
• How to explore thoroughly using the map
• Exile Lore - the player could walk through a little interactive cutscene summarizing Exile 1, 2, and 3. Explain all the playable species culture/lore, Exile and Valorim, the Empire, etc.
• Talking to NPCs. Using the 'Ask about' button.
• Equipping/unequipping items, using items - Fill the party's inventory with some stuff and have them equip it/use it before they can move on. Explain the basic potions and most common consumables. (Because this tutorial is modular, they should not need any of it for later parts.) Maybe we teach about stored item rectangles and have them drop everything before proceeding.
• Darkness, torches, light spells Could also cover special light modes, dungeons that snuff out light.
• Shopping
• How to cast spells (peace mode) Also how to read spell descriptions.
• Look, Use, Reading Signs - Opening/closing doors. Finding items in containers. Stuff like that.
• Secret doors and how to find them
• Lockpicking/bash doors and chests, traps
• Combat - Party turn order. AP. Melee attacks. Missile attacks. Combat spells. Wall spells. Opportunity attacks. Basic tactical recommendations for the uninitiated.
• Outdoor combat - wandering monsters, outdoor combat arenas, fleeing battles
• Leveling up, training, making good character building choices
• resting, town wait, eating food & hunger effects
• Status effects - poison, disease, all the basics. Curing, cleansing.
• Alchemy
• Flying
• Death and resurrection (the various spells, destoning, risk of dusting, vs. paying healers)
• identifying items
• cursed items, uncursing
• Damage types and resistances - damage vs. undead, fire damage vs. fire enemies, cold vs. undead, etc.
• Spells requiring reagents
• Simulacrum
• Finding custom scenarios, asking for help, reporting bugs
• End of tutorial - ask whether to start VoDT

[NQNStudios]

I'm going to make the base scenario, wire it up to the tutorial button (which should ask for confirmation before unloading any party that's already loaded), and do some basic skeleton work as a first PR towards this.

[NQNStudios]

wire it up to the tutorial button (which should ask for confirmation before unloading any party that's already loaded)

Actually, based on the other confirmation for unloading the party (restart-game.xml), the check and confirmation are skipped in startup mode. This implies to me that in startup mode, we assume the party's save to never be dirty. So if we skip the check then, we can skip the check for the tutorial too.

Edit: Ah, nope. Saving is a choice offered when the party completes a scenario. In other words, both of the confirmations should also run in startup mode.

[NQNStudios]

I also want to add a confirmation that prompts, if you've got a lot of help dialog state in your preference, whether to reset the help dialogs shown preference, because on a new installation help dialogs will naturally occur throughout the tutorial and that's a good thing. If you put someone else on your laptop playtesting the game, you want them to get that fresh help-dialogged experience.

[NQNStudios]

Whoever next works on the tutorial can delete the large town I thought would serve as a 'hub'. I forgot I still wanted to do that thing prompting to reset the help dialogs. I could do that in a later PR, too.