DoctorSockrates Lv 1
Hi folks, Sock here.
smortier requested a PM for feedback on the tutorial redesign additions in devprev so I went ahead and replayed the tutorial from the beginning with the new additions and took notes as thoughts came to mind. After sending those to her, she responded that jflat suggested I transfer these notes here for others to see and chime in on. So, below are those notes in their entirety, straight copy pasted from the PM I sent. Enjoy.
Blueprint tutorials and conditions are good so far, not fully fleshed out quite yet I'd say but a good introduction. Should encourage players to use structure mode in tandem with blueprint mode to create a protein all their own in 5-3. The whole thing with building blocks not being able to be removed is unfortunate, but is a consequence of how the game works I'm guessing. Ctrl=Z is your friend I suppose.
Still need tutorials on
- Rama dragging
- How to actually use cut and paste effectively, a technique has no good value unless you see it. I remember one person in black belt folding using cut and paste and laying out chunks of the protein like knolled out Legos for assembly.
- Recipes
- Guided strategies on puzzle types; think beginner puzzle tier but with a few blurbs of text beforehand that explains how to approach these puzzles rather than just throwing you to the wolves.
ALSO: I did replay the whole tutorial in its entirety when checking out the devprev build and I've realized something. There's a LOT of features in Foldit that get underused/unused when I play. Notes in no particular order below.
Not once have I had to mess with DNA in the weeklies that I've been able to play, and I can't recall any instances of me using sequences in science puzzles. That one exploration condition isn't really something I see either nor do I see native guides in weeklies. Electron density is another wayside feature too. Not to mention electron density is really salt inducing because of the score gate and not a lot of people really "get" how to work with those. I think the whole idea was to kinda wiggle the camera and wiggle the slider but it's still super finicky on score and it took me a few tries to crack the threshold (~100 points under for most of my wiggle stabilizations)
Remix is barely used in typical hand folding, rebuild isn't even mentioned, both are "recipe fodder" typically. Functions that don't really come up in hand folding, leave players scratching their heads as to why they exist, but are used in recipes to help poke at new solutions.
Idealize SS is used, "Idealize" is also recipe fodder.
6-4: CI tutorial is huge and I forgot it existed but it failed to explain wiggle power and what that does. Veteran folders told me about medium wiggle power pushes that get tons of extra score.
10-2: Super laggy. Maybe my buddy's old CPU is actually a downgrade, I'm not sure, but all I know is my game turned into a PowerPoint presentation when I wiggled sidechains.
I forget way too often that double shift-clicking 2ndary structures freezes the whole thing, that's pretty useful and should be reminded. Speaking of freezing it's never really explicitly taught that freezing a single segment and dragging whatever's on the other side (like a hinge) is a good tactic.
Sheet flipping isn't really used either. If Foldit wasn't an open ended research sandbox game and like a traditional puzzle game, I could see sheet flipping be a great move in say, a 5-move sketchbook puzzle with 1 set solution, but as it stands, it doesn't add anything to the game. Helix turning is still marginally useful but usually gets undone by wiggling anyways.
Features in 7-1 and 7-3 are just gone after the intro puzzles.
Final note: I like how 5-3 was sort of a "final boss" of the section. A rather underwhelming and open ended final boss, but that sort of level that synthesizes techniques into some combined challenge is neat and reinforced what I learned. I know it's impossible to get my raw impressions since I've weaned myself into experienced folder territory, but I can still see where my uninterested friends would lose interest or struggle if they played this.
