So while designing the macroscopic editor, I had also been developing ideas for a better and more streamlined progression for new players. These ideas eventually coalesced and expanded into what I am going to call the Ramping Introduction.
To us developers, and many of our seasoned fans, Thrive is a simple game with simple goals. Having mastered the current gameplay loop, we all want more fun features and gimmicks to keep the good times rolling. In the eyes of a new player however, Thrive is a daunting and incomprehensible obelisk of unclear choices and goals (Especially if they are not quite as fanatic about biology as many of us are).
The most immediate problem begins when the player first enters the editor. They are immediately presented with an overwhelming selection of parts (Many very much unfamiliar outside of the biology circle) good and bad, with unclear functions and worth. I’ve watched many players haphazardly skimming through each part as they attempt to ascertain the importance they present in a world they don’t fully understand.
With this concept, I intend to significantly cut down on the steep learning curve new players face when first picking up Thrive.
Ramping Introduction:
First off is a method of drip-feeding content to new players by limiting the availability of parts at the very beginning. Upon starting a new game, they would only be presented with about 3 very basic parts out of the dozens we normally have. As they proceed through the tutorial, new types of parts would become available alongside tips on how to best use them. This would provide a sense of progress and step-by-step learning that the tutorial currently lacks.
The editor tutorial will be split into stages, with each stage unveiling a new series of parts for the player to learn until they have access to all parts. Each stage has a specific theme to teach the player, such as importance of ATP generation. Each stage will be detailed below:
Stage 1:
Goal: Effectively harness an energy source.
Unlocked: Basic metabolic parts such as rustycyanin, cytoplasm, and metabolosomes.
When the player first enters the editor, only parts that directly generate ATP will be available. The tutorial will describe the importance of ATP, and how they must use parts to convert other compounds into energy.
Stage 2:
Goal: Establish new more stable compound sources.
Unlocked: Synthesis parts such as chemosynthesizing proteins, thylakoids, and nitrogen plastids.
On their second generation, players will now be presented with synthesizing parts, capable of transforming compounds into more than just ATP. Here they will be told the importance of alternative sources of compounds (including the importance of size for engulfing).
Stage 3:
Goal: Use energy to better facilitate survival and compete against rival species.
Unlocked: Accessory and combat parts such as flagella, mucilage jets, chemoreceptors, toxins etc.
On their third generation, players will be presented with various tools and weaponry to begin interacting with the species that have undoubtedly begun to spring up around them by this stage. The importance of generating ATP to fuel these parts, as well as when they might be needed will be explained.
Stage 4:
Goal: Obtain the Nucleus to unlock more efficient parts.
Unlocked: The Nucleus is unlocked.
The fourth time entering the editor, players will be presented with the option for a nucleus, and told about it’s importance in creating a more powerful and efficient cell. The tutorial should emphasize that they prepare by building up excess ATP generation before acquiring it. The player will be left to their own devices from here on until they acquire the nucleus.
Stage 5:
Goal: Obtain binding agents and form a reliable colony.
Unlocked: Binding and signaling agents.
Once the player survives a generation or more with the nucleus, players will be taught about the merits of replacing old parts with eukaryotic variants. In addition, binding agents and signaling agents will become available. Tutorial should explain that binding agents are essential for progressing to the next stage (Or at least hint at it being special and desirable).
This may be a bit of a controversial concept as it’s a bit more hand-holdy than the current tutorial, not to mention that such a drastic change would undo a significant portion of our community’s translation work…
However, I would like to argue that a change is very much necessary as the current iteration of our tutorial does not adequately guide new players through the game. Thrive is simply too daunting for our tutorial to be completely hands off.
This concept provides a way to gradually present players with more choices to help them gather their bearings more readily, as well as explain the importance of each type of part as they are presented. While it does provide players with a goal, it still affords the player the freedom to go about it in their own way each generation.
Game Complexity
We all know how it is; We’ll come up with a brand new idea that makes the gameplay much more deep and intriguing, but then we will realize that it will make the game so much more harder for the uninitiated. This is where the idea of a new complexity setting comes in, a setting that allows players to control how many bells and whistles will be in their game. This is more of a side concept that I have little confidence in but figured it would be worth bringing up anyway.
Features such as part upgrades, environmental tolerance, the day/night cycle, lock and key agents, and many more all present a much more intensive experience that requires learning to understand. With some we already have an option for disabling them in a save, so why not bundle them into a parallel of difficulty settings? With this setting, players who have become familiar with Thrive can further challenge themselves with greater complexity while new players can familiarize themselves with a simplified experience.
This too might be rather controversial, even to myself, as ideally we wouldn’t need it at all. It’s rather hard to express, but having varying levels of feature expansiveness just feels inherently wrong to me as games should always be as streamlined as possible. Still, I think it’s worth considering atleast to some less extreme if we continue to have togglable features that allow players to adjust their game’s overall complexity.
A major point of concern is that it may make balance between complexity levels a bit of an ordeal.
Edit; Though now that I think about it, we could potentially make good use of the complexity levels to test out certain new mechanics in the long term without putting the burden on new or inexperienced players. This would allow us to collect feedback, and better streamline these features before integrating them into a lower strata of complexity. Still feels weird to me though.
Edit 2; I guess that would literally just be an experimental build.
