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Getting Started: Tutorials & Helper Hints

v0.2.5116.23239
Type	Big Update
Release	05.08.2024 (Mon) 12:11 UTC
Hyperlink	SteamDB
Adjacent Updates
Subsequent	Bug Fixing (v0.2.5137.23331)
Previous	Hotfix (v0.2.4945.22690)
Back to overview of all updates

Tutorials Pre-Info

Tutorials were disabled after the phase change update due to many base breaking changes. Like with any work we do on the game, we have to judge the amount of work required vs the fun the players will have. Stationeers is notoriously a hard game to learn, and new players over the last few months haven't had anything to help them get started. We decided to try a new approach to tutorials, with a low technical overhead, to see if using a new style of guidance could help players in the first few hours of Stationeers.

The old tutorials would take weeks of work from multiple people to create each one, and then a large amount of work to update them as the game changed. This process was enormously costly, even before taking into account maintaining them.

The new system, along with the new design approach, will allow us to create a new tutorial in a very short time. We've started with three tutorials and will be rolling out new ones as they are created.

Helper Hints

Our new system to help guide players is called "Helper Hints". These exist to offer subtle guidance for what can become medium to long term projects for players. Like Stationpedia's F1 quick access, helper hints can easily be expanded and hidden by pressing F2. They can be disabled completely from the settings menu for players who don't want the guidance at all. Also, individual hints are expandable and collapsible, to reduce their visual footprint on the screen. You can also dismiss incomplete hints, in addition to un-dismissing already completed ones if you want to read the information again.

We've authored a few chains of hints that lead to player to making the basics of survival. The first hour has slightly more hints to help point players towards the key kits and devices of the game. Once the player has been introduced to a device, we believe that they'll experience the pros and cons that come along with building it, and the game will naturally progress from there. These hints should be seen as way to point you towards the game content, and not an objective quest you must do.

Tutorials

These new tutorials are meant to teach high level concepts, while avoiding focusing on the details of individual machines. Stationeers has too many devices that are necessary to play, and its impractical to cover them all. More importantly, until a player has experienced a problem first hand, it's difficult to teach them about all the possible solutions.

The new tutorials focus on a few abstract concepts such as room construction, inventory/slots, connecting devices, and moving air. The helper hint system is utilized to give instructions to players, in a very non hand-holdy way. The tutorials are short, yet slightly free form to ensure players really understand what they must do. We've kept the number of steps in each tutorial fairly low, meaning that if you need to start over, you'll quickly get back to where you were. An experienced player can complete these in 30-60 seconds.

With these simple concepts introduced to the player we hope that during a normal play session the loadout of the lander, combined with the default helper hints, should prevent players from being stuck with no idea where to go.

Tutorial History

Stationeers went through several types of tutorials, with the first being hard coded. These were often buggy and hard to maintain because the writer had to consider everything the player might do to change the state of the world they were tracking. In stationeers, there are many different ways to accomplish the same objective. Multiple iterations of a single tutorial level with this approach took weeks of time.

The next approach to tutorials involved generic events spread across the whole game. These were also somewhat hard to maintain, and their distributed nature cluttered up the project. Large reworks, such as the multiplayer refactor, phase change, or the rocket update, all broke large sections of this approach.

Somewhat separately, the tutorials created during this time, were very polished, and pretty looking; they even came with embedded video clips. This level of polish took months of time to accomplish. Unfortunately, they failed to teach players what to expect while actually in the game. They also suffered from utilizing unrealistic bases, and designs that didn't represent normal gameplay. Your grandmother could follow the very detailed steps, and not get 'stuck', but then have no idea how to start the game once left alone on the moon with a lander.

With our newest approach, we've taken a step back, and let go of the players hand. The things we're trying to teach are far simpler than before. Bases are made from walls and frames, things need to be connected, air exists and can be moved, etc. As much as we would love to try and teach every little nuance of the UI, tips and tricks of some devices, or time saving shortcuts, new player that are initially overwhelmed just aren't ready to hear them. You have to be able to build a small base before you'll appreciate lessons about pressure regulators, or want to know the pros and cons of multidimensional solar tracking.

We'll be looking for feedback to ensure this approach of teaching works for Stationeers. Our current goal with the tutorials is to give new players a better expectation of how they might play. If the reception to this style is positive, this system also allows us to easily create more specific tutorials that cover intermediate and advanced concepts in the game, in a much straightforward and maintainable way than in the past.

- Mason 'Timberfox' Henrickson, Design Director

Change Log

* Changed 'in room' objective condition to 'in cell'. Will check when a dynamic thing is in a grid cell.
* Fixed water purifier not showing up in the "Used in" section of the stationpedia entry for Charcoal.
* Removed head torch from tutorial start conditions.
* Fixed OxygenTank sometimes not spawning on brutal start in Venus. Changed spawnDatas positionRule default to Random.
* Fixed new one way pipe valves having incorrect smart rotate setup.
* Added missing recipe for astroloy sheets to autolathe.
* Fixed digital flip flop splitter quantity increment bug when output is blocked.
* Fixed one way pipe valves placement cursor one grid too high.
* Fixed Couldn't harvest switchgrass when a hay item was in hand.
* Fixed some plant interactions failing on clients when same plant type already in hand.
* Changed Spawn menu always available in editor.
* Added Expand Attribute to WorldObjectiveData for autoExpand on trigger.
* Added WorldObjectives collapse on completion.
* Added spawn points to tutorial data.
* Added tutorial spawn point object (non-spawnable).
* Re-enabled helper hints and tutorial menu button.
* Changed ExportWorld command to save spawnDatas in separate file with proper formatting.
* Added Serialization Code for SpawnData, ThingSpawnDatas, ActionDatas and children.
* Changed Tutorial 2 starts with 50% nutrition and 75% hydration.
* Fixed Eat and Drink HelperHint not completing in Tutorial 2.
* Added SurvivalPropertyAction and SurvivalPropertyCondition.
* Changed linear rail inner corner piece to occupy single small grid.
* Added 'set starting dock' button to LArRE dock.
* Allowed multiple LArRE docks on same rail.
* Allowed LArRE to travel backwards from dock.
* Fixed NREs when removing docks from linear rail network.
* Fixed infinite loop when connecting linear rails in a loop.
* Fixed incorrect autoignition temperature on one-way valves.
* Fixed pipes adjacent to frames not always radiating/convecting with world atmosphere.
* Fixed incorrectly authored colliders on lockers.
* Added tablet step completion by looking at pipe in Tutorial 2.
* Added Expand tags to Tutorial 2 objectives.
* Fixed all steps showing at start of Tutorial 2.
* Changed notice condition to use LocalizedStringReference.
* Fixed ore scanner cartridge colours mismatch.
* Removed unused NoticeCondition.
* Replaced notice conditions with LocalizedStringReferences list.
* Updated visual dressing of Tutorial 1.
* Removed old tutorial files.
* Changed tutorials default to Normal difficulty.
* Removed storm from Tutorial 1.
* Tweaked Tutorial 1 wording.
* Changed structures no longer report worldchange checks on Joining state.
* Updated Tutorial 1 with WorldAtmosphere RoomIds.
* Added WorldAtmosphereSpawnData serialization of RoomId.
* Changed ExportWorld command only saves Room Atmospheres.
* Fixed default StartIndex on iron wall kit.
* Minor layout changes to Tutorial 1.
* Tweaked Tutorial 2 text and formatting.
* Added completion pop-up at end of tutorial.
* Added popup Action for WorldObjective completion.
* Changed Tutorial 1 button image.
* Fixed one-way liquid pipe valves deconstructing into gas valve kit.
* Added summaries to Tutorial 1 and 2.
* Updated structure build state tooltips to show with sheets or tools.
* Re-enabled HelperHints in worldSettings.
* Updated Tutorial 2 text (removed tablet step).
* Added delay to tutorial complete popup.
* Fixed tooltip formatting when trading items with child items.
* Updated helper hint dismiss 'x' icon.
* Added is powered condition check to door in Tutorial 2.
* Added inner corner piece handling for linear rails.
* Removed hard coded grid bounds for LArRE dock.
* Replaced thing names with stationpedia links in tutorial text.
* Set base power usage of power tools to 5.
* Fixed clients unable to set starting dock with multiple docks.
* Changed wreckage names to "Wreckage" and cleaned placeholder text.
* Added setting to toggle Helper Hints panel.
* Set inner and outer corner linear rails to spawnable.
* Updated linear rail inner corner placement rules.
* Made Tutorial 1 room step more forgiving.
* Added another hydroponics tray to Tutorial 2.
* Extended Gas Condition to support pipe networks.
* Fixed child conditions not applying correctly in some cases.
* Fixed WorldAtmosphereSpawnData not applying vacuum rooms.
* Added Tutorial 3 for basic atmospherics.
* Removed "Find another tank" step in Tutorial 3.
* Fixed spelling error in Tutorial 3.
* Updated Tutorial 3 button image.
* Added missing image for Tutorial 3.
* Minor Tutorial 3 text changes.
* Changed Tutorial 3 starts with full toolbelt.
* Fixed grammatical errors.
* Fixed Tutorial 3 showing "{Thing: ItemSuitHardBackpack}" in hints.
* Removed pressure regulator step from Tutorial 3.
* Changed steps and wording in Tutorial 3.
* Fixed short shadow distance of wall lights.
* Tweaked Tutorial 3 text.
* Fixed respawn prompt showing for clients in sleeper.
* Changed battery sell minimum charge to 99%.
* Added Time Attribute to WorldObjective.
* Added CursorThingCondition.
* Further Tutorial 3 text revisions.
* Fixed Tutorial 3 text errors.
* Moved Tutorial 1 and 2 objective headings to english.xml.
* Changed HelperHints triggered by completion to wait 1.5s before activating.
* Added sounds to HelperHints.
* Fixed trader food item quantity bug.
* Changed portable connector position in Tutorial 3.
* Fixed incorrect thumbnail colour for painted items.
* Added auto-complete for hints without completion conditions when dismissed.
* Fixed HelperHints not triggering due to prefabHashes not registered.
* Fixed banding on medium shadow quality.
* Added dismiss-to-acknowledge notices for hints without completion.
* Fixed confusing text in plant darkness hint.
* Fixed duplicate text in refill water bottle hint.
* Fixed cooked baked potato hint triggering early.
* Added dock/bypass rails arm shift feature.
* Added first pass on new LArRE docks.
* Reverted rev22741/rev22742 changes (fix handled in serialization).
* Fixed exterior vent and door buttons greying out in airlock consoles.
* Cleaned LArRE dock code and moved rail behaviour to base class.
* Added linear rail bypass node.
* Moved LArRE dock and bypass into rail base class.
* Fixed alternate completion condition not hidden.
* Fixed unit error in PressureCondition tooltip.
* Fixed parsing error in WorldObjectiveCanistersInfo hint.
* Added acknowledge and dismiss to AdvancedMining hint.
* Fixed TierTwoMachinesPart2 hint completion bug.
* Fixed stacker reversed condition check hidden.
* Fixed nested ConditionCollections display.
* Fixed missing pipe-meter in Tutorial 3.
* Fixed hint sounds playing when hints disabled.
* Improved Tutorial 2 text clarity.
* Fixed Tutorial 1 final room size limit.
* Fixed door placement condition in Tutorial 1.
* Added extra info to Tutorial 1 complete frame condition.
* Added any iron wall type completion for Tutorial 1 wall condition.
* Fixed ObjectiveConditionCollection missing support for some conditions.
* Fixed hint sounds sometimes not playing.
* Tweaked time condition timings in Tutorial 3.
* Changed Kit (Power Controller) to Kit (Area Power Controller).
* Standardised tablet cartridge names.
* Changed tutorial hints auto-dismiss on completion.
* Fixed ore not merging in mining pack.
* Fixed helmet view when exiting seat.
* Added auto-expand to HelperHints with option to disable.

References

1. Update on SteamDB