Creating a Star Citizen Tutorial

Any developer who has worked on a tutorial for a game will tell you that they are one of the most difficult parts to do well. Not only do they rely on a whole host of highly specific code and UI which may not be required anywhere else in the game (detecting an axial roll anyone?), but they require their designers to strike the right balance between informative and engaging. They also need to deliver instruction comprehensively whilst avoiding being condescending to seasoned backers already proficient in the various aspects we needed to teach to new players.

In order to appeal to players both new and long-standing we knew the tutorial had to be fun and full of exciting new content so we set out to teach the player through gameplay and engaging narrative whilst showing off our most recent ships and introducing a brand new hangar.

Contributing toward Squadron 42

One of the intentions of Arena Commander is to help test features necessary for S42 and the PU. With that in mind we wanted the tutorial to be our first attempt at a story-driven mission in the vein of something we might do in S42.

We started by introducing a flight instructor as the player’s guide through the tutorial. His function is to demonstrate and explain the various maneuvers and concepts needed to become a proficient pilot, but he would also be our first interactive character. This allowed us to test the conversation system we had in development and showed up many issues which, while not fully addressed for the tutorial, are being worked on for S42.

The other thing we had to figure out was how to handle complex maneuvers within confined spaces given that neither normal flight mode nor decoupled mode had the functionality and finesse necessary. The hangar flight mode you see in the tutorial is by no means complete, but is a first step in the right direction.

What the tutorial covers

The tutorial is comprised of 6 sections which teach the following principles:

Take-off

First-person controls (movement, sprint, interaction)

Free look

Take-off procedures

Strafing

Basic Maneuvers

Target friendly

Match speed

Rolling

Throttle

Basic Combat

Target nearest enemy

Intelligent Target Tracking System

Shields

Firing

Missile lock and fire

Rear view camera

Countermeasures

Decoupled mode

Landing

Landing mode and procedure

Interacting with the ship systems (Overview, Weapons, Power, Shields panes)

Advanced Maneuvers

Boost

Space brake

Performing Sharp Turns

G-safe

Comstab

Advanced Combat

Target Cycling

Self-destruct

Ejection

Feedback

Your feedback from the releases on the PTU have already been incredibly useful and anyone who played the first release will definitely see a vast improvement in clarity and stability so thank you to anyone who contributed in making this tutorial great.

As always any more feedback is extremely useful and will help us when it comes to future tutorials.