4 ms·
The article laments the death of manuals, but that's because every game has an in-game tutorial-ish start that slowly teaches the mechanics. And given that ever
by TheRealDunkirk 4y ago
The article laments the death of manuals, but that's because every game has an in-game tutorial-ish start that slowly teaches the mechanics. And given that every AAA game now has completely overloaded controls, you almost have to. I think you can add this to your list.
- mook 4y agoUnfortunately that means if you need a quick refresher (say you put it down for a few months and pick it back up) you're stuck, since you'll need to replay a large chunk to get at the tutorials.
- toast0 4y agoIt's also because the manual needs to be finished so it can go to the printers, but the game is going to get a day one patch that often makes major changes. A lot of 80s and 90s games in boxes would have the main manual, and then a small pamphlet (printed later) describing last minute changes, because the manuals had to be finalized before the disks, and you wouldn't reprint the manuals unless hell froze over, anyway. Then there's the expense of localizing that. And the budget, and that nobody will read the manual anyway.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Arrath 4y agoI miss the days of manuals thick with lore and tidbits and things not directly related to gameplay. You're right, the tutorial can cover bits related to actually playing the game, the controls, etc. Manuals are likely to be overrun by development between the time they're finalized and sent for printing anyway (e.g. I distinctly recall the WoW manual saying that Priests could wear leather armor) but please feed me a bunch of backstory. I can't count the number of times I read through the manuals for Starsiege, Arcanum, various Jane's simulators, and so on.