interactive tutorials are quests?

i was just working on the interactive tutorial for Caveman, and noticed the run_tutor code is very similar to the run_whatever_quest code for the quest generators - IE simple state machines with a switch on state/stage, that set a new stage/state at the end of most cases.

and then i realized skyrim does this. you get a quest to open a chest to find gear at the beginning of a new game.

and fallout 3 as well, use wasd to walk to daddy.

anybody ever noticed that before?

anybody here ever used that before? (other than bethesda, obviously).

i suppose if you already had a quest editor with the capabilities, as a game like skyrim or fallout 3 would, it would make creating an interactive tutorial easier, eh?

right now i just have quest generators, but a quest editor is planned, for creating hard coded quests, modding, DLC, etc.

should i make the quest editor first, then make the tutorial just another hard coded quest?

or would that waste time implementing features unnecessary for quests, but necessary just for the tutorial?

how do you implement interactive tutorials? stand alone? using the quest system? (assuming the game has one)

StarCraft (and all Blizzard games since) do this as well. Pretty much all modern shooters do this (although most assume a base level of competency in shooters).

In general, I think we've reached a point where the "massive wall of text" style of tutorial is a *huge* turnoff to potential players. I fired up an older RTS the other day, and the hand-holding and walls of text take what feels like an hour to get through, before you can play the damn game. Don't do that to your players.