Minor rant: tutorials and manuals focused on "how" rather than "why"

[CaptainKoloth]

I'm growing increasingly frustrated with a lot of tutorials and manuals for groggy games and sims. Back in the dark times when games came on disks (these round or square hard things that they used to print the games on because Steam was still just evaporated water), manuals almost always had both explanatory sections for the game functions, but also, importantly a basic step-by-step walkthrough tutorial of how to actually play the game. What is the object of the game? What are some high-level objectives you might be thinking about when you're playing? What are you actually trying to do?

I can't tell you how many 85-part video tutorials or extensive pdfs I run into now are just what I call "button tutorials" which just go as "this button does this. This button does that. This button does that" without ever telling you anything about how to play it as a game. It's like if you had a video series where you spend an hour on how every piece on a chessboard moves but never actually talk about the tactics or strategies of playing an actual game of chess.

I'll give you two examples- I was trying to learn under what circumstances you might use different modes of the DCS F-14 radar. I found tons of information about what those modes are and how they work. Hours and hours of videos. Real-world in-game scenarios where you might actually choose to use one or another? Almost zilch. Another was as I was learning Gary Grigsby's War in the East. The manual sure spends a lot of time going through each and every menu option. Similarly there are a bunch of 120-part video tutorials that do the same thing. But once you've gone through all that and you're actually deposited in game... "OK, but what do I actually DO now?" I understand how to find the 18th submenu that tells me how many political points it will take to change the commander of the 183rd artillery regiment... but how do I stop the Germans? I find it immensely frustrating.

They're so busy excitedly telling us how complex all the various stuff they threw into the game is, they forgot to tell us how to actually play the game. Sure, there are let's plays, but they don't always do a good job of this either, and I hate having to slog through 50 hours of let's plays trying to figure out where the few useful tidbits of information might be.

[JudgeDredd]

Same issue occurs in the boardgaming world. Too many "do this" and not "this is why you do this"

It would help immensely I think.

As for computer gaming - I genuinely can't remember the last time I used a computer game manual. I just jump in and click around 

[Rayfer]

For the most part I've had the same experience as CK but I did find some that do go into the 'why you do that' and just 'how you do it'.  For example, I enjoy the WDS Napoleonic games and found a YouTube series by "Desktop Grenadiers" that take a deep dive into the 'why you do that'.  There was one where he explained in detail all the different types of cavalry units; what each does, when to use them, how to use them, when not to use them, etc. So there are some out there, but they are hard to find.

[Jarhead0331]

I think there is a need for both styles of tutorial. Certainly, tutorials covering game mechanics and processes have their place, as do tutorials that delve into theory and practice. I think it largely depends on the type of game as to which kind of tutorial is more valuable. For instance, in a very complex game like Aurora that models the minute details such as elements on the periodic table and others, its crucial to understand concepts like why you may attempt to alter their balance on worlds that you want to colonize or adapt to a specific purpose. You might also want to understand how resolutions for sensors work or how engine power and size functions so you can appreciate how different size objects will be detected or how fast they will move or how much fuel they will consume, etc. These underlying fundamentals at a theoretical level are very hard to grasp onto without guidance, so a tutorial about the "why" can be immensely helpful. On the other hand, tutorials about the "how" are not as critical because the interface and UI is pretty basic.

Of course, there is also personal preference here. Some people like to figure everything out on their own and would prefer to discover these things. What works and what does not, and figuring this out without being told brings some a lot of enjoyment.

Unfortunately, i think the technical tutorials are much easier to put out, whereas teaching the fundamentals, or theory, if you will, likely takes much more effort. this may also explain, partially, why technical level guides are more common.

[ArizonaTank]

I fully agree. Reading "why" is just as important as "how."

But this is an issue going way back to beginning of computer games. And as JudgeDredd said, it has been a problem with board games as well; going back to the beginning as well.

I have always tried hard to support devs / publishers who have great docs; Matrix, WDS and Battlefront as examples.

WDS even gets some "gold stars" in this area.

Beyond that, I am not sure what we can do except stand on our lawns and shout...