Manuals, In-Game Text, and Credits - Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing - page 44

Following are some of the things you'll want to include in your long manual.
Tutorials
Long manuals can sometimes do what manuals were originally intended to do: be
a long tutorial on how to operate the software. This is especially true for manuals
for games that are intended for serious simulations and other products of a “serious�
nature. In these products, less emphasis is given to teaching the player as he plays the
game, and thus it is up to you, the manual writer, to provide that education.
When creating a tutorial-style manual like this, you'll rarely want to keep any
information hidden. The player is not expecting challenge in how to run the game,
where he may need to learn new controls or functions as his avatar increases in powers
or abilities. The controlling of the game is a known quantity; it's the difficulty in
controlling that is the hard part.
There are entire topics dedicated to writing technical manuals, so I won't delve
into this too deeply. Once again, readers will want to skim through the tutorial to
get to the parts that concern them, so make sure everything is well structured and
labeled so they can flip to it quickly. As much as we'd like for players to sit down
and read the manual before touching the software, it is much more likely that they'll
want to learn while they are in the midst of playing, with one hand on the controller
and one hand trying to find the appropriate page in the manual.
Try to include a quick-start section, so users can get in the game as fast as possible
and get a sense of what the software is all about. This quick-start section should
ignore extraneous menu information and unnecessary details and just concentrate
on the vital information the player needs to get in and survive the first ten minutes
of the game. For many users, this will be all they'll need, and they'll attempt to learn
the rest of the game through trial and error.
After the quick start, start over and do the tutorial right. Start with basic descrip-
tions of all the controls and menus, using lots of graphics to show what the different
screens look like. If appropriate, insert short examples of play in narrative to reinforce
the dry information of the lists and pictures. I would suggest that you keep things
light and funny, but that isn't always appropriate given the nature of some games.
Use your best judgement to relate the information to the reader in a way they'll find
both appropriate and entertaining.
Story
Long manuals have a lot more room for story. You might find that you want to
include narrative about what has brought the setting to this dire state. Describe the
main antagonist (or at least the main apparent antagonist if there is a puppet master
working behind the scenes) and what they are doing to make them the bad guys. Talk
about the benevolent allies of the player: the wise council leader, the crusty general,
the understanding significant other, etc. The story is here to give those players who
crave backstory something to read while their game is installing. Well, and to give
clues about where the game might take them. Remember that you're not writing a