Better teaching in fighting game tutorials Pt.4: Netherrealm case study

Note: During this case study I had realised a better approach for the analysis would be to place the Medium area of analysis under Delivery, this is because the Medium of the knowledge can be analysed as a subset of how the knowledge is delivered in games. As such each game will be analysed in three areas instead of four. The Methods area will also examine the game for methods that can be identified as constructivist or behaviourist approaches methods.

I will be conducting a case study through the lens of constructivist and behaviourist pedagogical approaches in the following game tutorials:

• Injustice 2 (NetherRealm Studios, 2017)
• Injustice 2 Legendary Edition (NetherRealm Studios, 2018)
• Mortal Kombat 11 (NetherRealm Studios, 2019)

In this case the tutorial being the dedicated mode that has the purpose of teaching the player the mechanics and controls of the game. _{(See previous log for further details on tutorials: https://collaborative.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2021/05/11/better-teaching-in-fighting-game-tutorials-pt-2-whats-in-a-tutorial/)}

For each game I will consider:

• Structure of the tutorial content.
• The delivery or how players acquire the tutorial content.
• What methods from constructivist and behaviourist theories that can be identified in delivering the tutorial content.

I believe analysing these games’ tutorials in these areas will highlight which pedagogical approach they may align with, thereby possibly indicating which pedagogical approach (between behaviourist and constructivist) is the most effective for fulfilling a player’s learning needs. The learning needs in this case are the required knowledge and skills to engage with game mechanics at an advanced level. _{(See previous log for further details on Pedagogical approaches: https://collaborative.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2021/05/15/better-teaching-in-fighting-game-tutorials-pt-3-behaviourist-and-constructivist-pedagogical-theories/)}

In GDC 2020, Brian keschinger (2020) gave a talk on the changes to the tutorials in NetherRealm’s fighting games. This change had the intention of improving player retention and understanding of the game mechanics. In the talk he describes why changes were made and what implemented to design better tutorials. As such I will study these games alongside information given from that talk.

Injustice 2 (2017)

In this case, the delivery of information can be seen as behaviourist as they give discrete instructions and knowledge about the controls in a sequential fashion, this reflects the approach to the tutorial structure. This approach also ensures the player has been successful in each task the instructions give, this is because new instructions are only given upon successfully completing the current task. What works well is that the game ensures the player is successful in performing those actions. However, some of these lessons can be overwhelming and difficult especially for a first time player. There are 27 unique actions taught in the Basic lesson alone.

One constructivist solution is that the game will show an on-screen prompt that allows the player to view an A.I character performing this action (this feature is only available for select instructions). Another solution that is used is a practice match where the player fights against an A.I controlled character that is less capable, this is accompanied by a small list of actions to achieve. This too can be considered a constructivist approach as the player is allowed to experiment and use various actions previously taught. However this practice fight only happens in the first lesson. Overall, the approach for the lesson delivery is behaviourist due to the sequential tasks and their requirements that the player achieve each task. The delivery, while encompassing every control, does not allow for any flexibility, lessons cannot be skipped and every one of them must be attempted. It can be observed that constructivist methods are employed to further reinforce what has been taught.

Methods

These lessons use behaviourist methods when delivering knowledge such as repetition, the more complex actions like directional dodges must be completed a certain number of times. The implementation of this method is not uniform, some of the more arguably complex actions like combos are not presented as repetitivel tasks while others are. Repetitive tasks can be seen as suitable since the players familiarity with such controls would increase with each attempt. Another behaviourist method is the use of feedback, this comes in different forms in this tutorial. Upon completion of a lesson the player is given a positive message, encouraging further engagement with other lessons. There is also an extrinsic reward upon completion of all lessons, this being Crystals which is a type of in-game currency. For each task there is also some visual feedback highlighting successful attempts.

All of the tasks are given to the player as direct instructions, detailing exactly which button presses are required and using symbols to make this clear. This is another behaviourist method that is suitable in how it is used.

In terms of constructivist methods there is the employment of modelling (McLeod, 2019), in this case it is expressed as an A.I performing the actions for a task. This is used only on certain tasks, not all. One other constructivist method is experimentation(McLeod, 2019), upon learning the basic controls from the basic lesson, the player is allowed to fight against a less capable A.I controlled character using all of the actions learnt from previous lessons.

Overall, Injustice 2’s tutorial is pulling towards the behaviourist approach but there are some uses of constructivist methods. Most instances of the behaviourist approach seem suitable like the repetition of tasks. The lessons are also supplemented by constructivist methods too like modelling, these are more effective in some areas than others. Keschinger has expressed some of these lessons increase in difficulty to the point where players would give up attempting to finish a lesson.

“… the difficulty ramped up quickly, we have some data that shows that this one specific lesson on special move cancels had ten times the average dropout of the other lessons”. (Keschinger, 2020, 8:37).

Because of this, a significant number of players were not able to access the lessons after. As such there is room for a constructivist approach to be adapted. If there was a more open structure to the tutorial, then the more difficult lessons could be skipped, this does have a consequence of the player not fully understanding the controls however and if the next lesson relies on the previous lessons knowledge then it would compromise the tutorial.

Injustice 2 Legendary edition (2018)

Structure

The tutorial is organised in to five categories:

• Basic moves
• Advanced mechanics
• Combat strategy
• Characters
• Practice

The character category offers character specific tutorials that are similar to the previous tutorial approach.

Practice is a mode where players can set up matches with an opponent character with custom settings, these settings may define the state of the opponent. This can be many things including repeatedly performing a series of specified attacks, remain idle or apply a fighting A.I. This mode, while usually external from the tutorial lessons is still valuable to the player to fulfil their learning needs. This is because it allows the player to experiment and compose situations in fights to resolve or analyse. As such this can be considered as a constructivist method put in practice.

The Characters category is again the same in the previous 2017 version. No notable change in content or structure aside from additional characters.

Basic moves, Advanced mechanics and Combat strategy are the main categories that make up the tutorial, the amount of lessons are greater in this edition. Now all of the content is available from the beginning, this could be considered as a constructivist tendency as it allows the player to choose what to learn, the lessons are still designed to be played in a specific order. However, those players that have had experience with the game are able to choose lessons that compliment their learning needs. But there is no way to identify what their learning needs are, these players may need to explore the tutorial to find where their learning needs lie.

Within the Advanced Mechanics and Combat Strategy are sub-categories which hold several lessons and trials, trials being a playable section where players are given tasks to do without guidance, these trials are focused on reinforcing the skills and knowledge learned in the same category.

Another distinction from the previous edition is that there are several UI elements that reveal the players progress, showing how many lessons are completed in each category and which lessons are completed. Each sub-category also has animated thumbnails that preview the lessons and a list of lesson and trial titles to select from. This new approach to the UI can be seen as leaning towards constructivism as the player is given more information about the content and their own level of progress, allowing the player to reflect on what lessons they wish to engage with.

Delivery

The Legendary edition’s delivery of knowledge is largely similar to the previous, text instructions are still used, however in this edition keywords are colour coded to imply importance. This can be identified as a behaviourist element as it is a method of conditioning, the colour indicates importance and so ideally the player would recognise this.

Within a lesson, tasks are accompanied with the option of an A.I demonstration similar to the previous approach, however this differs in two ways. One is that it is now available for almost every task instead of a select few, another is that for every task there is an on-screen display image of a controller that highlights corresponding buttons presses in blue. This is implemented in combination with the A.I demonstration, during the demonstration the A.I button presses are highlighted in red, the player can also press buttons to emulate the red button presses. This serves to better teach the timing of button presses. This form of learning is largely optional, however it accomodates a player who struggles with a particular task, this can be seen as constructivist as it is additional information that facilitates their learning of the task.

A new addition is the text pop-up tip. Should the player find difficulty with a task a tip appears on-screen giving additional information on how best to succeed with the task. This difficulty that the player is experiencing is identified by a certain length of time being passed without the player succeeding. Because of this assessment of difficulty, it can be seen as a behaviorist addition as it identifies player difficulty based on their performance.

Methods

Operant conditioning (Skinner, 1971) is reinforced here as there are extrinsic rewards for every lesson completed as well as an additional reward for completing a sub category. This reinforces continuous engagement with the tutorial on the whole.

The same repetitive format of tasks is present here but in a larger quantity. These tasks are also accompanied with clearer and more instructive directions, considering the use of colour to highlight importance.

There is also the implementation of a visual timer for certain tasks, this timer teaches the timing of button presses for mechanics like combos. This timer also offers instant feedback, showing successful or failed attempts for button inputs. This too is a behaviourist convention as the player is shown by the game their skill gap lies. However, this is implemented in a way that encourages experimentation (constructivist), the player can attempt this until they succeed. This allows the player to experiment different timings for button inputs.

Other instances of constructivist experimentation is the inclusion of the practice mode within the tutorial (titled as learn mode in this edition). Previously it was outside of the tutoiral as a different mode. There are also trials which allow players to experiment with a specific challenge.

There is also the use of scaffolding (Sarikas, 2020), a constructivist method, that gradually increases complexity and removes supportive elements as the player progresses throughout the tutorial. This is evident in the inclusion of trials as described above. In a sub-category lessons are listed first and then trials are listed after, trials are considerably more complex as they instruct tasks and give no supporting information. Scaffolding is also evident in the overall strucutre of the tutorial, that is the increasing complexity from one category to another. The text instructions are simpler and fewer in Basic mechanics especially when compared to Combat Strategy lessons, these lessons use multiple text pop-ups to describe information like frame data.

Mortal Kombat 11 (2019)

Structure

In Mortal Kombat, the tutorial is titled as the learn mode, this being similar to the tutorial in Injustice 2 Legendary edition, here the learn mode is composed of three different categories:

• Practice – this is no different than the other implementations of the practice mode.
• Tutorial – this is where all the game lessons can be found.
• Fatality training – A mode dedicated to practicing the execution of a mechanic known as the fatality, upon inspection there is nothing that is unique in terms of implementation.

Focusing on the Tutorial category, there are four categories within the tutorial:

• Basic tutorial – Short set of lessons dedicated to teach the player the basics of the game.
• Advanced – Contains three sub-categories, all of which have a list of lessons to select from.
• Strategy – Similar to the advanced category only with an focus on complex mechanics.
• Character – Offers lessons on individual characters of the players choosing. Similar to Injustice 2 and the legendary edition.

Overall the structure does not change so much, there is the addition of text that further describes the content of each category, this aids the player in making more informed choices and helps them decide what lessons are most suitable for them. This can be considered as a more player centred approach.

Delivery

Mortal Kombat uses Injustice 2 Legendary edition’s learning mode and develops further, enhancing the core approaches and elements already there. For example the on-screen controller that reflects the player input is now accompanied with audio cues, this was done to better impart the timing of controller inputs. This use of audio cues is apparent in other parts of the tutorials. If a player successfully completes a task a specific audio cue is played, this is prominent when a repetitive task is given, the audio cue is played with every successful attempt. A different audio cue is also played upon the completion of a lesson.

This form of audio feedback is also reflected with visual feedback too, there are time sensitive actions that require players to react. The lessons freezes the game at the moment of input, shading the character in colour. This approach was used in Injustice 2 Legendary edition, but in Mortal Kombat this shading of character has been expanded to include different colours to better communicate frame data.

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Both of these changes in feedback are an inherent property of behaviourism as they serve the purpose of highlighting failure and success, making it clear to the player what is needed to succeed.

Another behaviourist element in the delivery is the unique selection of characters, certain characters are selected for certain lessons (Keschinger, 2020). For example, lessons in blocking use the character Jade because her attacks are highly telegraphed and easy to anticipate, while the character the player uses in this lesson is able to react with clarity. This adjustment in the use of characters also helps players expand in their familiarity with other character playing styles, this is a behaviourist approach as it is a controlled and directed, but it has a constructivist consequence as the player is exposed to different characters to learn from.

Methods

The approach to the lessons in Mortal Kombat are moving towards behaviourist approaches, specifically what can be seen as controlled practice (Controlled practice, 2021), here there is more feedback used to reinforce and highlight correct behaviour for the player.

In fact there is less emphasis on an independency in the tutorial lessons, the trials from Injustice 2 Legendary edition are removed entirely and now focus only on lessons. However, text pop-up messages at the end of some lessons encourage the player to experiment in practice mode to replicate the tasks with different characters.

This inclusion of the practice mode is behaviourist in nature as players can take what they have learned from the lessons and apply it to different situations with different characters, they can experiment and build upon what they have already learned. The practice mode can be considered as a form of problem based learning as players can create or encounter situations of their own choosing, allowing players to construct their own solution to that situtation.

Conclusion

There is a large change in the approach between Injustice 2(2017) and Mortal Kombat (2019), the change takes place in nearly all areas from the structure of the tutorial to how the lessons are presented. In Injustice 2, the approach can be seen as largely behaviourist with some leanings towards constructivism. This approach has been found to be detrimental in fulfilling the player’s learning needs and is detrimental to player retainment (Keschinger, 2020).

Injustice 2 Legendary edition’s tutorial exapanded the learning content, it’s possible to see this as a constructivist approach as the additional content was built to accomodate players of varying skill and knowledge. Keschinger explains that this change was motivated by a need to increase player retention (2020, 10:33), they developed a taxonomy that identified different levels of players, their goal with this tutorial was to further engage players and potentially move them towards the competitive end (2020, 15:50). This can be seen as fulfilling the player’s learning needs on the whole, certainly by implementing methods that have a constructivist nature that is apparent in the structure of the tutorial.

However, between these three games’ tutorials, the lower level elements of the tutorial being the lessons, the tasks and instructions have more behaviourist developments over time. As such it can be seen that a behaviourist approach in the lower levels of the tutorial is most effective in teaching the discrete mechanics and controls of a fighting game. But the tutorial would benefit from a constructivist approach to it’s structure.

This is proven in the Mortal Kombat 11 tutorial as the practice mode is more ingrained in the tutorial structure, but there is more evidence of behaviourist methods in the lesson-to-lesson activity, consider the use of visual and audio cues.

In the case of these NetherRealm games, there is a balance between constructivist and behaviourist approaches. At the highest level a constructivist approach is the most suitable, it allows players freedom to choose what knowledge to acquire and accomodates a player’s varying learning needs as player skill can vary greatly, especially with fighting games. In order to communicate and teach the player well, a more behaviourist approach can benefit the player as it offers instant feedback. The nature of fighting game mechanics are demanding and require quick reflexes and knowledge of the game’s systems, this is taught with a behaviourist approach. There is still room for some constructivist elements too at this level, consider the use of A.I demonstrations and practice fights. These allow the player to learn in a less direct manner than text instructions and encourages experimentation. An important consequence is that winning a practice fight aids in the process of onboarding (Salmond, 2016, p. 211) the player, combining this with player celebration and rewards helps incentivizing the player to learn and play more (Keschinger, 2020, 19:05).

It can be seen these fighting games benefit from a balance between behaviourism and constructivism. The implementation of both of these approaches must be carefully considered as one approach can undermine another. Look to Injustice 2(2017), the character tutorial is available from the beginning, a constructivist choice but this requires some advanced knowledge that is locked in the other lessons of that tutorial. A consequence of this is that the player may become confused as the lessons may instruct the player on mechanics they are not familiar with. As such the fighting game tutorial can be composed of both pedagogical approaches with a carefully curated balance between these approaches.

Bibliography

• Dynasty. (2017, March 21). Injustice 2: New Updated Training Mode & “Learn Hub” Feature Fully REVEALED! (Legendary Edition). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5lj6BKI4Tw&t=3s [Accessed: 24 May 2021]
• Keschinger, B. (2020, August 4-6). Mastering Kombat: Designing Mortal Kombat 11’s Empowering Tutorial Mode [Conference Presentation]. 2020 Games Developers Conference. Available at: https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1026766/Mastering-Kombat-Designing-Mortal-Kombat [Accessed: 12 May 2021]
• McLeod, S. A. (2019, July 17). Constructivism as a theory for teaching and learning. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/constructivism.html [Accessed: 5 May 2021]
• Salmond, M. (2016). Video Game Design: Principles and Practices from the Ground Up. London: Fairchild Books. From http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781474222426 [Accessed: 5 May 2021]
• PS360HD. (2017, May 16). INJUSTICE 2 – Tutorial Mode Walkthrough (1080p 60fps). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIhomqZQ8as [Accessed: 20 May 2021]
• Sarikas, C. (2020, January 4) Vygotsky Scaffolding: What It Is and How to Use It. [online] Blog.prepscholar.com. Available at: <https://blog.prepscholar.com/vygotsky-scaffolding-zone-of-proximal-development> [Accessed 24 May 2021].
• Skinner, B., 1971. Operant Conditioning. In: The Encyclopedia of Education. New York: MacMillan, pp.29-33. Available at: http://butleratutb.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/55756771/Edith%20Costa%20Project%231.docx [Accessed: 25 April 2021]
• TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. 2021. Controlled practice. [online] Available at: <https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/controlled-practice> [Accessed 24 May 2021].

Ludography

• NetherRealm Studios (2017). Injustice 2. [Video game] Android, iOS, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
• NetherRealm Studios (2018). Injustice 2: Legendary Edition. [Video game] Android, iOS, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
• NetherRealm Studios, Shiver Entertainment, QLOC (2019). Mortal Kombat 11. [Video game] Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.