Easing the Game for New Players

[Venny]

I know this should technically fall under suggestions, but helping new players into the game is currently the largest issue at hand for EleTD, so I'm putting this thread into the general discussion so newcomers can easily find this thread and give their input.

Anyway, I was reading this thread: https://forums.eletd.com/Leaks-t2961.html, and it got me thinking.

The opening menu needs to change. There is, as Twilice points out, way too much information for new players to process.

A Newer, Easier Menu

- The menu should be re-sized to encompass the entire screen in much the way "Hero Attack" does. No background or anything else capable of distracting newcomers.

- Selectable options change from drag-down menus to bulleted lists. Boxes would contain each set of options. This set-up would allow new players to see all the options instantly, as opposed to searching through each drag-down menu.

- Situate major options such as Tower Defense or Tower Wars in the upper left and let them bleed down.

- Relegate minor options such as Armed/Unarmed and Heroes to the right side of the screen and give them check-boxes. In this way, new players won't give them equal attention to more important details, and hopefully they'll outright ignore these options until they learn the base game.

- Include brief descriptions for all major options.

- Default selections to settings that best accommodate new players, and highlight these defaulted settings with red, italicized text.

Another major change: rather than two sets of menus, put all the options for classic onto the first menu (mode, difficulty, random, etc) and simply have them disappear if the player selects Tower Wars, but bring them back if they change back to Tower Defense.

Introduce a Guide

An automated guide that teaches players as they play, rather than random intervals of tips that may or may not help, would greatly assist newcomers.

Advice would trigger based on the player's actions. I've prepared examples that I think would help a lot.

When the game loads

Hello, and welcome to Element Tower Defense! If you are new to Element Tower Defense, I recommend leaving your votes on the default game settings (highlighted in red.)

When the game begins

Use your builder to create towers to destroy the incoming creeps! The first wave will attack soon, so hurry up!

*Have the build button on the worker flash red several times*

After beating wave 5

You've beaten the first 5 waves! For every 5 waves you defeat, you will receive one vespene gas that you can spend to purchase an element. Purchasing an element will send an elemental boss against you, whom you must slay to receive your element.

*Migrate camera to elemental summoning center and select structure for the player. Cause the six elements to flash. "

Killing the first elemental boss

You can now build <element> towers! Elemental towers are far more powerful than arrow or grenade towers. However, elemental towers only refund 75% of their cost if you decide to sell them. Place elemental towers wisely!

Building first <element> tower

You built an <element> tower! <element> does double damage against <element>, but half damage against <element>.

A little into wave 9

These creeps have the ability: undead. Undead creeps will resurrect themselves with 40% hp when they die! Splash-damage towers are effective counters to undead creeps.

A little into wave 11

These creeps have the ability: speed. Speed creeps gain occasional speed bursts, allowing them to run past clusters of short-ranged towers! Spreading your defense out or building long-range towers are effective counters to speed creeps.

A little into wave 13

These creeps have the ability: image. Image creeps gain occasional speed bursts, allowing them to run past short-ranged towers! Long-range towers are effective counters to speed creeps.

Messages would continue to trigger like this and, slowly, feed information to the player.

Players can disable the guide permanently across all play-throughs by typing in a command.

[haupty]

Now that you can insert a how to pay guide in arcade, some of these things could be a good idea to put in there, or still in the game, either way.