21 replies to this topic

[Discordian]

This topic and attached poll are to discuss instruction booklets and your preferences.

Obviously most people prefer when they are bright and colorful and stuff but maybe there's some that prefer shorter ones? Plus there's a few other things to discuss besides that.

A ) Do you prefer instruction booklets to be within the game itself or in the case (Assume we are not talking of Digital Distribution)

B ) Do you prefer Instruction booklets to be short and succinct and just show you the buttons and how they are played or do you like them to have detail, artwork and character profiles?

C ) What do you think of instruction booklets using multiple languages in the same booklet and thus limiting the amount of information they can put into the instruction booklet due to page limits? (Not necessarily the absolute case but it seems to happen this way a lot)

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I have no preference when it comes to whether it's in the game or in the case. Being in the case means I get to read it when I can't or don't feel like playing but being in the game means I'll never lose it when other people open the cases (my brother has a tendency to take them out to read them and never put them back. -___-)

I like booklets to have character profiles and stuff. Obviously I could just look up that kind of stuff online but I much prefer seeing it in the booklet. I can, however, say that I hate when fighting games put their movelists in the booklet but not in the game ala Bloody Roar.

And I also think that using multiple languages, while fair (and I believe in fairness between races), does indeed tend to take away from booklets having detail in them since they have to cram two-to-three different languages into one booklet and most publishers probably don't have the money or just don't want to put three fully detailed and colored booklets in one little booklet.

[Swit Swat]

In case, with plenty of details, and I'm OK with multiple languages. *Cough*My first language was Spanish.*Cough*

[Titan Rising]

I really miss the in depth instruction booklets that came with the games. The ones from the snes days especially would have some awesome artwork and I loved looking at them because it expanded my imagination when I played the games

Now they usually just use computer rendered images and they look kinda boring. Theres not even really a need for these instruction booklets anymore either to be honest cause it seems like every single game now forces you to play through an annoying little 15 minute tutorial (if you're gonna add a tutorial they need to add a way to skip it, at least for a second playthrough..).

I don't like when they put a ton of languages in the booklets or on the back of the game either, though I don't really mind it. If they didn't waste the money putting all these languages maybe they could afford to hire an artist to bring some art to the back of the game case and in the booklets

[willinilly]

I like it to be in case, with extra details, and I don't care one way or another whether it has multiple languages or not.

[Discordian]

I loved seeing full-body character artwork for games like Star Ocean 2 or Wild Arms 2 in the booklets. In the games all you see is sprites so you don't really get a good look at the characters so those artworks are great imo.

Seriously, Brad Evans from WA2 = badass of the century.



Yes, that thing on his right arm is his weapon. He punches pretty hard with it, he is the tank of the game, and that weapon also can shoot missiles. Amazing character.

[AppleTreeBrony]

Very Short...
I don't like huge booklets in my game case -3-
(That's what a PRIMA guide is for)

[Vaporeon]

I honestly don't miss instruction booklets that have complicated and long prose detailing the control scheme. Honestly, people rarely read these, and when they do, it is quite difficult to remember. Especially if you need to read all controls and then hope to remember them after reading through them.

I am of the opinion that a good tutorial and good pacing can avert this problem easily. The problem with a lot of old games was exactly that. They were often quite complicated to have figured out and nearly required you to learn from someone who knew how to play the game already. And if not present, just present those rules as an instruction booklet.

I'm happy we have grown past that. The easiest way to learn how to play a game, is to simply do it. It is a good idea to pace your game so the player can easily learn as they go, forming a kind of subtle tutorial. Having on screen prompts for the first part of the game in order to remind the player of what they must do is a good idea. For the rest you just need to make sure not to break immersion too much, once players get how to play your game, having it be second nature is a good idea. So fluidity with controls is important.

In any case, if you like manuals for the art, many games offer official art books, and offical art as part of their digitally or in book form. And art books can contain so much more. Including additional lore and what have you not.

[Twiliscael]

I don't read 'em. At all, I'd rather blunder around like an idiot until someone tells me what to do or I figure it out than spend 30 minutes reading about what I SHOULD be playing.

[SBB64]

As long as the game teaches me how to play it, the instruction booklet doesn't usually matter to me. I appreciate when they include hints and stuff in the booklet though.

[SrFrog]

The main problem I have with in game instructions is that they seem to dumb everything down for the player. The aspect of the booklets is that they thought you the rules to follow and you just learned everything as you went along with the game, without having to go through a tutorial like many games today.

[Discordian]

I honestly don't miss instruction booklets that have complicated and long prose detailing the control scheme. Honestly, people rarely read these, and when they do, it is quite difficult to remember. Especially if you need to read all controls and then hope to remember them after reading through them.

I am of the opinion that a good tutorial and good pacing can avert this problem easily. The problem with a lot of old games was exactly that. They were often quite complicated to have figured out and nearly required you to learn from someone who knew how to play the game already. And if not present, just present those rules as an instruction booklet.

I'm happy we have grown past that. The easiest way to learn how to play a game, is to simply do it. It is a good idea to pace your game so the player can easily learn as they go, forming a kind of subtle tutorial. Having on screen prompts for the first part of the game in order to remind the player of what they must do is a good idea. For the rest you just need to make sure not to break immersion too much, once players get how to play your game, having it be second nature is a good idea. So fluidity with controls is important.

In any case, if you like manuals for the art, many games offer official art books, and offical art as part of their digitally or in book form. And art books can contain so much more. Including additional lore and what have you not.

You make a good point about the artwork and tutorials, and I'm all for a good tutorial myself (especially ones that let you dick around a little) but there's a sense of collection completeness when you have a fully-colored, well-informing booklet for a game than a little flimsy thing you could just as easily throw away. Instruction manuals, by nature, are for instructions and it's true they are obsolete when you have a tutorial but as a collector there's a different way of viewing it besides just practicality or even aesthetics. It's the principle of the matter of having something that makes the game feel more complete. Just like there are many who refuse to buy games that don't have their original cases.

[BetaWolf]

I prefer them just long enough to explain the controls, items, characters, and introduce the story. No shorter, no longer. Manuals currently are torn between being 5 pages long and not explaining crap, or being too big to fit in the case (see: Xenoblade Chronicles). Most people craving extra details usually end up looking online anyways.

[Aero The Fox!]

In case, with details, and I really don't care about the different langauges. I'm fine with it but the only langauge I can read/speak is English so it's essentially useless to me.

[Dasher]

For me the instruction booklet is just a book that I look at when I'm bored and beat the game to see of there is anything that would have made the game alot easier that the annoying toutorials didnt tell me about and THERE NEVER IS!

[Discordian]

For me the instruction booklet is just a book that I look at when I'm bored and beat the game to see of there is anything that would have made the game alot easier that the annoying toutorials didnt tell me about and THERE NEVER IS!

There are very few times I'll learn something new from booklets but once in a while I'll need a refresher of what a status effect does in an RPG or something like that.

[Champion RD92]

Honestly...who really cares? It's just the instruction booklet >.>

[Chainsaw Bouffant]

For me, all a booklet really needs is to tell me some basic stuff about the game and the controls (helps prevent the "Oh, all this time I could have pressed [button] to do THAT!" thing).

Though for RPGs, a manual's gotta have info on what stats do what, and status effects and stuff do. Art and stuff, while nice, isn't mandatory.

I understand multiple languages, but it's kinda annoying when you have a 1,234-page manual and only three pages of it are in English. For English-speaking regions, you'd almost think that, since the cases are in English, the manuals would only be English and there'd be a "Go to [x site] for [language here] manual PDF document" to save from printing pages the majority of the consumers in that region will just ignore.

Also, I prefer a physical manual to it being on the disc. If it's on the disc, sometimes you can't access the screen with the info when you need it, while you can always pause the game and look at a physical manual.

Edited by King K. Roop, 27 May 2012 - 11:18 PM.

[♥.:Yulaiyre:.♥]

I like to have a booklet to read...it reminds me when i was younger and saving up all my money for that one new game that just came out...

I would do odd jobs around the house for a little extra money...or i would help out my neighbours..and finally when i had enough..me and a friend would get the bus into the town centre. Wait patiently in the queue (sometimes nervously if we were younger than the age rating), and talk about it on the way back to the bus excitedly

Once on the bus, we would open the case and read the little booklet to help keep the excitement up...read the little backstory for the characters and the plot...it was a lovely little feature to have..and having a booklet helps to remind me of those times...

♥

[Discordian]

Honestly...who really cares? It's just the instruction booklet >.>

Obviously everyone here.

Booklets are an important part of the gaming experience for many.

I like to have a booklet to read...it reminds me when i was younger and saving up all my money for that one new game that just came out...

I would do odd jobs around the house for a little extra money...or i would help out my neighbours..and finally when i had enough..me and a friend would get the bus into the town centre. Wait patiently in the queue (sometimes nervously if we were younger than the age rating), and talk about it on the way back to the bus excitedly

Once on the bus, we would open the case and read the little booklet to help keep the excitement up...read the little backstory for the characters and the plot...it was a lovely little feature to have..and having a booklet helps to remind me of those times...

♥

Ah yes, that's what I do. When I get a game, if it has a booklet (I tend to buy used so sometimes they don't have them) I will read it on the way home for fun. Raises my anticipation for the game cuz I usually say "I wanna do this, this sounds fun. D: "

[Strafe]

They should be short, sweet, and to the point. I usually never instruction booklets unless they have some kind of lore in them.