Unstable Space tutorial ideas?

Hey everyone,

I would like to take in suggestions for a new tutorial for Unstable Space. It would be nice to give the player some starting motivation, as well as instruction.

Features that it would be nice to cover in some way:
Using email and news.
Using capsule jump.
Refueling ship.
Wingman status screen.

Features I would like to see covered, but have no idea how to work them into an intro tutorial:
Hireing and using a science ship.
Hireing and using a mining rig.

My first thought is an email based mission where the player flys to some other system and picks up a pod of ore and gets to sell it off for some credits. It would be especially good if the jump required using all the lpoint scanning features and doing an uncharted jump.

Thoughts?

Features I would like to see covered, but have no idea how to work them into an intro tutorial:
Hireing and using a science ship.
Hireing and using a mining rig.

Please... split 'em up into separate modules as much as possible. I find gigantic mission tutorials which cover every facet of play irritating. It's like being made to read the entire dictionary every time you want to look up a single word. I also feel a shorter tutorial tends to 'stick' with the player.

I think it's also helpful if tutorials are Always Available, but Never Necessary (my AA/NN rule). I personally don't think a tutorial should ever hover on the contact list like some did in EoC.

A universal 'help' keybind would be great. Player presses CTRL-H anywhere/anytime. The game pauses and the help menu appears; mission tutorials, tactics, etc. all are selected from this menu.

And, of course, I feel 'in-universe' tutorials (ones which seem to fit into the game, like Clay's assistance to the young Cal) are better than the dry list of instructions typically seen. However they do require significant resources to create. If nothing else, a helpful wingman ship which arrives and escorts the player to an appropriate training area is better than just creating a waypoint and printing "Go to X location" on the HUD... gives the player something to identify with.

I have to agree with all of Shanes suggestions. I usually forgoe any tutorials, and just try to figure things out myself. I think we have learned that many other players like to do the same. So something short and sweet, and to the point. The suggestion of the CTRL-H 'help menu' is good also. Didn't the original I-war have that?

I also think an 'in-universe' tutorial is the way to go. More difficult, but smoother, and more likely to be used by a player.

My own suggestion in this vein, would be to have the setup scene introduce a few crucial features right off the bat. For example, start the player in a new system, or at least near a 'secret' lpoint. A huge pile of cargo lies on the other side of that Lpoint. The player must go through the lpoint, dock with the pods and then delivery them and sell them to a station. The profit made from this small adventure are the players starting funds. The player learns how to navigate lpoints, how to move cargo, and how to sell cargo to stations. A story could be attached to this setup scene, giving a reason for why the player starts in this manner. Of course not everything is taught here, but several things are. Other tutorials could be introduced in a similar manner. Perhaps by receiving emails, instructing the player to go somewhere, and do something.

A storyline could be attached to a series of tutorials. That would be ambitious and would beg the aid of our skilled writer, Hot4Darmat. But it would look gooood...

Hmmm. Good points. It makes me realize that the best way to spend the limited development time remaining before this release is to focus on the In Game reference materials. Make sure they are all up to date, clear, and concise.

Your right about mega tutorials. By the time you need to understand something, it was 10 game hours (and two weeks real life) back and you have no idea how it worked.

Better that when you meet a mining rig for hire the naming is consistant and you can find a help file on mining rigs quickly and get the information that you need then.