Guided Tour pacing is ... insane? (Beginner/Tutorial)

[Adam Beckett]

I decided to turn on all the HUD and 'Video Game' gamey gameplay functions on the Finnland map and start the 'tutorial', trying to figure out the game systems and mechanics I seem not to grasp, since I only play this game with no HUD and no 'missions'.

... boy, was I in for a surprise.

The PACING of the guided tour on the Finnland map is several hours long!

You are greeted by a funny Finnish colored voice and sent on a path from waypoint to waypoint. With nothing to do in between! You reach a waypoint and the next waypoint pops up, expecting you to walk further. The only 'reward' is more decreasingly funny Finnish talking.

Walking takes HOURS! in REAL TIME! ... not just in-game hours!

This is slower than riding a horse in The Elder Scrolls Oblivion. I do not understand the 'game design' decisions - or if any were made. If anyone playtested this and thought "this is alright" - and nobody else in the dev team wanted to try it.

I do understand, this 'hunting simulator' is for a very specific kind of audience. 'Time' is something that is highly subjective. People are spending thousands of hours in games like this. But, for a 'Beginner' tutorial, having to walk and walk and walk, with no game loop, with no teaching, is quite wild?

Luckily the game adjusts dynamically to the player. For example, if during the walk between waypoints, the player hears a sound or sees a footprint and clicks on 'examine' the game DOES recognize it and rattles additional info on how to play.

But, this is not teaching the player anything. Especially, when the goal of it should be: "go there, this is how to do this, then do this ... etc.

Instead, it lets you walk endlessly, only to get you to a cabin, where you start a sauna. Not the most useful game mechanic to teach after 20-30 minutes of walking and listening to the nonsense story of Finnish guy?

Different people have different opinions on what is 'a long time' or what is endurable. A hunting game demands players to be patient. It is part of the gameplay. But, while teaching the player how to play - interactively - a faster pace would be more prudent?

In the end, "RTFM" (in-game encyclopedia) is the only thing that I have learned during the 60+ minutes I wasted with this 'guided tour'.

Game design. Gameplay design. Tutorial pacing ... should matter?

[strangerfi]

Start out in Layton, that will teach you a lot at a good pace.

[Adam Beckett]

Thanks for the tip.

[Shurenai]

Not every map has a strictly guided tutorial... In fact it's pretty much just Layton Lakes, one of the original maps.

The others have storylines with some very basic guidance amounting to showing you to your first rest place, first lookout point, and maybe to a first animal kill, but beyond that, it's quests for story, not quests for teaching. Silver Ridge Peaks for example is all story, and doesn't even have a quest to kill any animals (though there is an opportunity to kill a bear during it, you can just run)

Pretty sure they've just designed maps going forward from the originals to assume you have basic knowledge of the game and don't need teaching.

[Adam Beckett]

Good points.

I assume, my own major failure was my expectation. To expect some sort of more mainstream 'video game' tutorial, while it is - as you said - more losely.

[James]

Slow down... why would you want the game to be over in a jiffy? Find things out by yourself while going along. The game often assign some type of goal, but while trying to achieve it, it also allows you to get sidetracked to discover things by yourself. Don't be so hooked on what the game tells you to do. Do things in between. Just my advice.

[Adam Beckett]

@James

I completely agree with you about a player 'discovering things' on their own, etc. It is part of the enjoyment ... or should be.

But, in this game in particular, I have spent many hours - real and in-game - just sitting and waiting and nothing is happening. As mentioned above, I play usually with 'mission system' off and no HUD, for pure immersion.

Somehow, I was curious to find out, if I am missing how certain game systems work (animals spawning, trigger range, cycles, noise, wind cone). Too many times in my play sessions, nothing really is happening for long periods of time in a way, that makes me want to quit the game or turning on icons (to see, if there is something going on inside the game mechanics, but I am just not aware of them).

Spending my in-game (and real nights) sitting in a hide out, hearing the same pheasants crying from afar, no animals in sight, even though the 'spot' is right and the 'feeding time' too ... I was curious about the 'guided tour' to educate me, without having to read all of the encyclopedia (manual).

[James]

I understand how you feel. Not seeing anything, nothing happens. It can be frustrating.

Since you are playing for immersion with all clues and HUD:s off (cudos for that), you should invest in "getting to know the land" a little. Animals go about their day doing basically one of these things: sleeping, eating, drinking, travelling and fleeing. They also go through various states of alertness/awareness, interruption etc. You can literally map out a species habits by just observing them to find out where they go to eat/drink/sleep. If you see/hear nothing for a long time, you are in the "wrong" spot (at the wrong time).

That means you really need to hike around at first, gathering knowledge, in order to find good spots to set up your stationary ambush spots (if sitting around is your thing). I imagine you setting up a hideout now based on... "looking good, lets hope I'm lucky"? - or? Fact is, no matter how good the spot looks like, it may never see any animals passing by.

I'm not telling you how to play the game, in fact one of the strong points of COTW is that you can pretty much play it the way you want. I hope I could at least shed some light on how one could go about it if using no clues/HUD. I also play with all clues and HUD:s off and enjoy it immensely.

Happy hunting!

[Geronimo]

@ Adam ... Are you seeing tracks at all? Try pressing the letter key o, this switches the cues on and off.

[Liofa]

Revontuli coast in Finland is one of the weakest story lines. It's unfortunate because I liked the guide and I think they could have done a lot more with it.

As people have said, other maps have much more story that will take hours to complete.

SRP, Yukon, Medved and Te Awaroa maps come to mind as especially long and interesting. They guide you around the maps and also have an element of conservation, hunting and some mystery.

[Mo0on]

Layton is the tutorial map with missions that teach you the mechanics.

[Snail Rancher]

The missions on Revontuli Coast aren't designed as a tutorial, but as a way to get the player to walk around the map and explore it. It's not suppose to be fast.

If you actually want a tutorial as to how to play, that would be on Hirschfelden or Layton Lakes; they both will teach the basics.