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Inventory Tutorial

October 26, 2023

A Helpful Automaton stands prepared to answer questions.

Shroud of the Avatar is a complicated game. It's tutorial and starting scenes have been updated and revitalized several times over the years. However, while it's important to not overload players with an excessive amount of instructions too soon, there's always more information that needs to be shared for the best player experience. To help players, Keith created a new scene to help explain multiple topics related to an inventory theme, including looting containers and corpses, use of locks and keys, and gathering resource from resource nodes.

Entry Highlights

  • Scene creation (includes blockout, final worldbuilding, POI design, compass markers, ambient music, ambient FX, path grid implementation, storycraft, ambient lighting, interactable lighting, swimmable water, etc.)
  • Player spawning design (includes propping for spawn points and resurrection points)
  • Writing and narrative design (includes NPC keyword-and-response dialogue, NPC barks, readable book props, etc.)
  • Quest design (includes plotting, writing, markup-based scripting, NPCs, combat, puzzles, etc.)
  • NPC design (includes creation and placement of enemies, quest contacts, merchants, trainers, tutorial NPCs, and utility NPCs, as well as patrol paths, ambient emotes, and visual variations)
  • Utilities design (includes creation and placement of scene exits, teleporters, doors, lights, crafting stations, elevators, etc.)
  • Propping (includes creation and placement of interactables, breakables, secret panels, readable books, player-placeable decorations, flora, rocks, etc.)
  • Rewards and collectables design (includes creation and placement of harvestable resource nodes, incidental gear and treasure, quest collectables, Easter eggs, etc.)

The Inventory Tutorial scene is optional for players, but anyone who completes it's "quest" gets a reward. Players can access the scene at any time by talking to a Helper Automaton, an in-game non-player character (NPC) found in many cities that also exists to help players understand some of the systems and features in the game.

The tutorial is a series of one-on-one lessons led by a custom Helper Automaton. The tutorial is primarily informational, so there's more reading than most quests, but most lessons are accompanied by simple interactions (e.g. opening a container, unlocking a gate, harvesting a resource node) to keep things interesting. If a player leaves before the tutorial is finished, they can return at any time and pick up where they left off; no progress is ever lost by leaving the scene.

There's also a minor Easter egg in the scene. A character named Anais once existed as a main contact in an early tutorial scene that can no longer be accessed. Although Anais can sometimes be seen in a location toward the end of the main storyline, Keith wanted Anais to return to her roots and spend some time in this tutorial scene. Some lucky players who look outside the tutorial's playspace may sometimes see Anais playing in the fields with her frog pet. When Anais comes close to the fence, the player can chat with her. Also, since Anais was getting special attention, Keith decided to replace her generic girl model with a unique one he created just for her.

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