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[I_smell]

Oh I never have a tutorial level, ever. I usually show icons of the controls with no words attatched- The space bar, enter and arrow keys are particularly easy to recognise.

If I ever have an unusual mechanic, I show it in the form of a little comic strip in Level 1.

I don't usually get any complaints, but I don't usually make very innovative games either.
My last game just used the mouse, so I gave no instruction atall. If they can click the play button, they've allready worked it out.

[JasonPickering]

man thanks guys there have been a ton of good ideas here. I hope this really helps everyone. I know it has helped me. My game is set in ruins so I will probbaly have large "Murals" depicting the different game ideas.

[RadLab]

Tutorial is about teaching, telling what to do.

I think an ideal solution would be to provoke Insight as Köhler describes it. You put the player in a certain situation in wish he has to find out himself about the solution. Indeed, not every gameplay can benefit from the use of Insight, but I believe games with limited possibilities can afford to do that. Almost every Mario game could rely on it; I don't remember being told that jumping under brick boxes would break them only if I were big.

I think there is an important difference between to tell the player what to do and to encourage him to discover, as there is between tutorial and Insight learning.

Insight : Challenge, accomplishment, fun.

[Lucaz]

In simple or average stuff, no tutorial, that's it. Just tell him the controls in main menu, or just don't, anyone will check what Z and X do. Just be sure to use obvious controls.

Above average complexity and weird mechanics, put a message telling him how to the first time it's needed, and present the mechanic in a riskless situation. If that is unadequate show him through an NPC or similar element, that way he knows what to do and will quickly discover how to do it.

For overly complex stuff, just put a manual on F1 and a .pdf

Except for that last one, no more than 1/5 (1/3 if it's very short) of the game can have tutorials. If more than that is needed, the game is too complex for standard system, or the mechanincs and controls are obtuse.

[I_smell]

Oh no, I wouldn't trust every player out there to see what X and Z did, and definately not F1.
If you don't show any controls, I'd expect most people to try the arrow keys, then the mouse, then space bar, then just mash buttons a bit before turning it off.

[Lucaz]

Well, that depends on the public. Lots of indie games use Z and X, but other public won't be so familiar. Anyway, putting a sign telling the controls isn't any problem. Lots of these specific points depend on the game and the audience.

[Anthony Flack]

Introducing new concepts with "gating" is a good idea, but integrating the basic tutorial into the first level often goes horribly wrong, and the first level becomes ultra-tedious. Okay, I can walk. Okay, I can jump. Okay, I can shoot, yeah, I get it already. Yeah, I see, I can go through these doors, fucking hell. Gamecube games were the worst - everything was so god-damn integrated, the story and the tutorial and all that, that the first hour was often a complete waste of time.

In some cases I think it's better to have a quick tutorial at the start, which explains all the basics you need to get going with as little time-wasting as possible, is skippable, and basically gets all that shit out of the way as efficiently as possible so you can get stuck into the PROPER first level. Sometimes games don't become interesting until after you've mastered the first half-dozen mechanics and put them all together, so let's get to that point as quickly as possible, please. I'm sick of every game being so user-friendly it treats me like I've never played a video game before.

I'd like to think that you could skip all that really basic stuff altogether, but you can't assume that, unfortunately. So cordon it off in an explicit, skipable tutorial area; don't let it yawn all over your first level.

[DjangoDurango]

The Art of Theft, I think, handled it in a good way. At the very beginning, you're given an optional tutorial, and it's actually a part of the intermediary "safe house" area where you do other stuff between missions like change outfits, buy upgrades, etc.

You don't have to do the tutorial at all if you've played it before, but it is there.

[Gainsworthy]

Ah, I thought The Art of Theft's Tutorial was marvelous for a number of reasons. Not only was it required, but short on text and big on player experience AND it was integrated into the game world itself!

That's what I want in a tutorial and, indeed, I actually enjoy playing a good one. I've got to feel as though it's important for the character as well as myself.

...That and not having to sit through swathes of gorramn text and "You should press, "Z". Press "Z" now, to jump. Jump... now. Good jump. Jump again, with the "Z"."

[Hempuli‽]

...That and not having to sit through swathes of gorramn text and "You should press, "Z". Press "Z" now, to jump. Jump... now. Good jump. Jump again, with the "Z"."

Twilight Princess or Mirror's Edge, anyone?

I guess everything that I'd like to have in a tutorial was pretty much nailed by gainsworthy!

[swarmer]

I liked Half Life 2's tutorial system.  It was all part of the game, and it didn't break the immersion of the experience.  A guard tells you to pick up a cup or he'll beat you, so you walk up to the cup and a little HUD message saying "E: Use" appears.  It was a very smooth system that felt very natural.