ED Still Getting Mixed Reviews due to Lack of Tutorials

Cosmo

Cosmo
ED is still getting mixed reviews on Steam. It's mainly due to a lack of tutorials to explain the plethora of features in the game. Frontier urgently needs to improve the tutorials so that players don't get frustrated.

The new player experience is simply not good due to a lack of guidance to help them learn how to play. The least that Frontier should do is add all the official YouTube guide videos in-game. A Codex section with text guides would help too.
 
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moorison

M
There is always some time between beta and release in which the changes should be finalised and the manuals etc updated. This time a lot of the experience changed without adequate guides. I am sure this will be corrected over time, but until then some potential and many returning players might be discouraged during these weeks.
 

Cosmo

Cosmo
moorison said:
There is always some time between beta and release in which the changes should be finalised and the manuals etc updated. This time a lot of the experience changed without adequate guides. I am sure this will be corrected over time, but until then some potential and many returning players might be discouraged during these weeks.
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A lot of new players are giving ED bad reviews due to a lack of decent in-game tutorials. If Frontier doesn't add it quickly then it'll be plagued by bad reviews and a loss of new pilots.

An external PDF manual is not good. All the necessary info should be in-game.
 
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Lestat

Banned
Lestat
I have to agree with this. Maybe posting some new youtube videos or new tutorials. Its something that can't hurt. I wish this game was built in the 1980's We did not have tutorials or how to videos.
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
moorison said:
There is always some time between beta and release in which the changes should be finalised and the manuals etc updated. .........
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Oh dear - you do know that the manual has not been updated since 2.4 - yes?

The situation is an absolute disgrace and if anyone has "The Braben's" phone number or email he really needs to get a grip on this crazy situation of new customers starting the game and finding all this superseded and non-functional guidance.

lost revenue much
 
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foxoplasma

foxoplasma
The manual, included with the game in PDF format, but inside the game files, and is never alluded to ever in its existence, actually has a lot of useful information.
Some is inaccurate, but i even learned new things from it (like that the little spectrum on the bottom right is your heat signature!)

It is genuinely good, but no, i didn't even know it existed until 1000 hours in the game.
 

moorison

M
Para Handy said:
Oh dear - you do know that the manual has not been updated since 2.4 - yes?
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That is why I said should. I actually checked some days ago.

AIKI_ZVEZDA said:
The manual, included with the game in PDF format, but inside the game files, and is never alluded to ever in its existence, actually has a lot of useful information.
Some is inaccurate, but i even learned new things from it (like that the little spectrum on the bottom right is your heat signature!)

It is genuinely good, but no, i didn't even know it existed until 1000 hours in the game.
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There is a link on the launcher, the steam page and the home page, but never in a "read this first!" location, but in a "where would I look for a manual?" location.
 

Barking_Mad

Barking_Mad
Just to be clear, this is the base game, not Horizons, which is getting mainly positive reviews. Still, shame the manual isn't getting any love :(
 

dogsolitude_uk

dogsolitude_uk
Lestat said:
I have to agree with this. Maybe posting some new youtube videos or new tutorials. Its something that can't hurt. I wish this game was built in the 1980's We did not have tutorials or how to videos.
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Nope, we had glorious, thick, printed manuals!

God I miss those... I love thumbing through manuals for games, especially the old RPG ones with the stats and things in them.

I'd buy a printed Elite Manual.
 

ebbrell

ebbrell
The learning experience if part of the fun.
Back in the day when games flight sims cam with manuals, I would not read them. Fun was pressing buttons to see what

There are help vids in YouTube by fdev and other creators if you need some.
 

sutex

sutex
Clearly it's the fault of Third Party App Developers for not supplying in game help files and tutorials, those dudes are so slack :O
 
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StuBaDub

StuBaDub
The so-so tutorials (whatever you do, don't do keybinding in them!) aren't helped by an outdated manual. Was 2.4 such a great update that it needs it's own online monument?:S
 

Ozram

Ozram
Honnestly, so many of us end up doing vid tutorials for our own friends (or YouTube generally) and it’s not that hard. FD could really do with a comprehensive set of tutorials and vids all available in game. Hell, they could give us a little in game window for internet browsing even! All that would be awesome.
 

The-Doctor

T
I am returning after being away for 15 months and I am finding it very hard getting to grips with the changes, after 2 nights I can do the basics but none of the new scanners etc. Oh well will have a play before the expedition starts.
 

Ozram

Ozram
The-Doctor said:
I am returning after being away for 15 months and I am finding it very hard getting to grips with the changes, after 2 nights I can do the basics but none of the new scanners etc. Oh well will have a play before the expedition starts.
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Lack of tutorials is a real downer, as OP has stated, however many of the changes are positive and worth getting your head around. Best of luck!
 

Jaylem

Jaylem
Ah, the great Cosmo returns! yet again with another awesome suggestion we can't argue with! :D

Agreed, the lack of info on this game is a MAJOR drawback. and admitably ALL of my friends I have convinced to get ED have thrown their hands up within the first 10 min with the sheer overload of content. some are getting into it sowly (but I can tell they are secretly imploding and getting more and more sick of it)


There NEEDS to be a LOT more tutorials, and I don't mean videos (don't actually know if anyone watches these...I know I didn't :D ) actuall physical activities like;


-Powerplay (descriptive process whilst undermining, also trains people to use FSD Interdictor as of which there is no tutorial for) so that afterward players know how to get merits and unlock unique modules.

-Obtaining and using AX weapons ( Good luck finding these without using internet)

-Proper mining tutorial

-proper Exploration tutorial

-Surface prospecting tutorial

-Engineer tutorial

-Sub-targets tutorial

-Tech Broker/ Material trader walkthrough (your controls are overridden as you are walked through each system in detail)

-Codex walkthrough

-Galaxy map walkthrough

-System map walkthrough

-Holo-Me walkthrough

-Walkthrough of weapons and their damage types (firing range)

-Trade, Universal Cartographies, contacts (of all types, how to hand in Bonds and bounties...this is kind of important.)


Should I continue with this list????


My point is, we need to cover as much ground as possible when providing information, so that new players don't get thrown into the deep end and have their confidence shattered and their motivation for Elite lost. Elite however was not intended to be a cake-walk. the lack of knowledge can sometimes make it fun. but only to a certain degree.
 

CeeganQuinn

CeeganQuinn
Having just gotten ED via the Commander's Edition, I have been aware of Elite Dangerous for a couple of years, at least. I'm also not new to space sims, most notably having played Jumpgate which was inspired by Elite.

I like the tutorial missions, but I wish they were accessible within the game when you are docked. They can still be accessible from the main menu, but I would like them more integrated within the core game.

Additionally, I am having trouble with the Advanced Combat Mission. The previous mission and this one, don't provide enough feedback to understand the best practices. I had to go online to see how people are discussing it. After several times (10x), I stopped.

Since Elite Dangerous is such a dynamic game with complex mechanics, I would suggest developing tutorials that can provided more insightful feedback. Such as providing intel on how a Sidewinder can out maneuver an Eagle, then when there are repeated failures at a certain section provide deeper feedback.

Heck, I would suggest splitting the Advanced Combat Mission into two. One where it's just the Sidewinder versus Eagle and the other where it's the Sidewinder vs two Eagles.

The issue is how the Tutorial missions ramp up and the order of them. Each new mission should build on what was taught in the previous. For the Combat it went from a one-on-one mission to a mission where you are out maneuvered and then outnumbered.

I like the Advanced Scenarios where one can look for a combat challenge in a pinch or try to tackle harder docking encounters.


But I think the tutorials still need work as it relates to the ramping up of difficulty because after the Advanced Combat comes easier tutorials on mining and SRV usage.

I'd reordered them like this, with the above changes:

1) Basic Flight Training (was at #1)
2) Mining Training (was at #5)
3) Docking and Travel Training (was at #2)
4) SRV Training (was at #6)
5) Combat Training (was at #3)
6) Advanced Combat Training, modified to just be Sidewinder vs. Eagle (was at #4)
7) Advanced Combat Training, modified to just be Sidewinder vs. 2 Eagles (was at #4)
8) Ship Launched Fighter Training (was at #7)
 

CeeganQuinn

CeeganQuinn
@Jaylem If Frontier were to provide tutorials for all of these:

1) That's a lot of work to implement (Their tutorials have a story with you being guided, not instructed, by a fellow commander who helped you.

2) It would surely overwhelm new players with just the list you provided alone.


So I would recommend Frontier plan on slowly implementing some of these tutorials, but also rework the menu so they are grouped by Basic and Advanced. That way, for folks that just want to get a handle on the basic mechanics of the game (flight, docking, landing, travel, mission boards, and outfitting a ship) can feel comfortable understanding and digesting these without feeling like they just were given homework before starting the game.

An alternative would be to have Frontier rework the whole tutorial setup!

One path would be to have a voiceover guide explaining the main menu, pointing out the tutorials, but stressing that they are not required. Add some quality humor and personality and it could be a friendly way to slowly guide players without forcing their hand on things as well as explain some of the "gamey" stuff like Open, Private, or Solo.

It's important to remember players can range from old time gamers like me (34) to new players in their teens or maybe even younger. That doesn't mean Elite should be re-designed to be kid-friendly, but it should acknowledge that not all players have the same background when it comes to Xbox, PS4, or PC gaming, controls, and/or comfort with their input devices.
 
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