If you have a character who acts like a teacher, then you can sort of make the instructions part of the story.

Hey everyone, first post here, glad to be a part of this community =)

I've been tinkering around with a game concept for a while now. It's an action/adventure game, driven by visual storytelling with little to no dialogue or narration.

Now I'm absolutely new to the concept of video game writing/designing, and was wondering how to approach introducing and directing the gameplay without ruining the immersion. I want to create a sensory oriented experience, and throwing up a little bubble that says "Press X to do X" or "Do This" really ruins that. Is there a tactic for introducing gameplay and direction without flat out telling the player, or making them feel restricted and controlled?

Introducing controls using a console controller is fairly easy without explicit direction (at least if the mechanic is not interacting with the environment directly). Players will end up pressing every button to see what happens and they can learn that way. This can definitely add a layer of exploration as they tinker with how the controls affect actions on screen. It also advisable to make the controls as familiar as possible, following the standards games have etched into our minds (right trigger should always shoot, left stick should always move, right stick should always look around, the 'A' button should either be a way to select things or jump, etc.).

Keyboard controls seem much more difficult however considering the daunting amount of buttons that have the possibility of executing an action. Your just going to ask yourself a question of how the player is going to view your game from the outset. A player will look to move and look around instantly in a first person game. Naturally players will go to either "WASD" or the arrow keys. I have to look around so my mouse should come in handy, which means that the left and right click should do something too. "Space is a huge key, it has to do something!"

Your User Interface can also be a great indicator of what does what. Your hotkeys in MMOs shows numbers next to them, you instantly know how to use them.

Also I would put the player in situations where they have to learn or not continue.

• They can't pass this gap until they explore their inputs and jump.
  
• They can't get kills until the explore their inputs and shoot.
  

You get the idea. You shouldn't punish them for not finding out how to play but you don't have to let them pass until they do. Executing this poorly can definitely work against the game and cause frustration and will have to be designed carefully. I have had one too many "What am I supposed to do!?" moments in games when I was supposed to learn something, didn't, and felt overly punished and stuck in a rut. Usually stopping a player from continuing due to not knowing the controls seems o.k. when the actions corresponding to those controls are simple, on or off kind of thing (jump, shoot, run, etc.).

Once you get passed controls and you begin showing the player game concepts it gets a little easier to show them organically.