The second intro screen, with panzer driving and letting a plate fall: 1. You think first, this is a animated cool menu, but it's not 2. the animation of this plate is looking wrong and not smooth
The menu UI: hat no „Options“ e.g. for resolution
In New Game > Campain Menu: Tutorial Campaign is in the center of the screen, i clicked before reading names on the most top left picture labeled as „1939 early Blitzkriegs“. Think the tutorial button should be seen first or as first tab (three tabs: Tutorial, Campaign, Scenario)
Game Options of Tutorial: First of all I think you ask a new player questions and decisions, he don't have information, skill or experience about. Why should a player choose level of difficulty something so hard) as „Rommel“? The people who choose a tutorial option want to learn managing the game. Also, the 8 difficulties seams to overwhelm and give no tooltip on impact (e.g. in Rommel all enemy Tiger I will make +50% damage?) . Suggestion: no difficulty to choose or self explaining words, players know – easy / normal / hard. Also try to suggest (glowing or arrow) that the best difficulties for a new player is.
Game Options of Tutorial: Options of the Game: Weather, Supply and Fog of War needs an explanation. As a new player i don't know if the weather is more a graphic feature (off, CPU will be fast) or will have impact on my tactics. Supply – do i get something: a bigger army, points to spend that regenerate? Does my enemy also get supply? Same goes to Fog of War, does it goes back? Suggestion: tooltip this options and perhaps get rid of them on the tutorial screen, please also say what is the benefit or loss if I choose this and that. Think players want so see numbers
Next Text Screen: this is way to much text to begin the tutorial, you could even lose people. Also I would like to get first list of to-do tasks (look storytelling of Panzers 1) and not plain text. What I think I should get on this screen: who am I (nope) why I do this (ok), what I have to do (nope, your talk about soulless objectives). Blue marking and red marking: use a little screenshot or infographic and show the difference in this screen, same for rings. Why is the enemy having blue color and not red (prejudice of game design)? Also, why should I do my tasks quick? It's not that a city will fall, towns even have no city names, it's training grounds. There is also no meaning in doing a tutorial quick. A tutorial is an effective and efficient way to learn in calm your game design / UI => your game is about patience and tactics, not time and stress and egoshooting. Text Suggestion on secondary object: “you can try to destroy the enemy artillery to master your commander skills even better, but that's a cherry on a cake Commander xxx!” What happens (storytelling view) if I fail – will my home country be ashamed of me? Suggestion: decide if you want storytelling, than work more emotional and historic, or trainable, than give more help on metagame level. Now it's mix of both.
Starting the game: black screen: I see date on a black screen and the UI. I should see the units first, cause the graphics is looking very very well. Suggestion: Give the date on the first screen and show units, then after a click fade first text suggestion and UI.
Tutorial message: wrong place, should be in the middle and I should get to cancel message or tutorial. Also I should get the number of this messages to know how much I will learn (message 1 of 10). Suggestion: best, you can click back and forward in this messages like in a browser.
Map screen: there is no screenshot on this map on this message (you have semantically two maps on this screen, show which one you mean), I have to search it on UI and so get distracted from text. Suggestion: name your main map “tactical screen” and name your map map (the little one in the right) minimap! If you tell the player about “small item”, why don't show in the infographic this to him? [Unit Picture, *this is flag*, *this is strength*]. If you don't do this, the player will have to search all this elements every time on screen, it's possible he will get boring and click references away you want him to ream, so he can actual start to play.
Scrolling the map: well, I can't scroll the map on the right first, only to the left. If you want to show left/right map scrolling, but the first tactic view in the middle, so you can left scroll and right scroll.
Map zooming: bugs: didn't work for me, can I also use + or - on keyboard? Here comes again you text narration problem: how does the strategic mag button look's like? I did not find it. Is the zooming that important in this tutorial?
Giving orders: so, how does my unit's looks? The gray ones or the green ones? How does the end turn button looks? (acting dumb, I know it, but that's gaming experience, not self explanation of you games graphics or UI). The button for “next unit” is not self-explaining, it looks like a button which gives orders to a tank to move forward. Suggestion: think of another button iconography or move the arrow down, the goal is the player should not think this arrow suggests orientation for a tank, but a scrolling by units. Its nice to use “P” for last and “N” for next unit, but on keyboard it's not usable. Suggestion: make next/previous to keys lie close.
Graphics: not very much difference of axis and enemy soldiers by colors, try to make the colors stronger. Explosions and sound are awesome. Dead units fade out to fast.
Purchase screen: in text you say important data player can found on the left. Suggestion: say top left.
The game itself: strange pickup image. Will my soldiers be vulnerable to attacks, sitting in this truck? Explain short. Hills (17,1) didn't see this bunker belongs to me, only after clicking at “Toogle Unit List Button”, think also they are useless on first level. Buttons close defence and ground defense: what is the difference (give tooltip)? Button “Toogle Stats Page” looks are an information button, people will search there for help on all kind of problems. Think of other design for this button. Units have strange shovel symbol, it's 0 all the time. Good place to display experience points instead
Game mechanics: to loose experience points is very wrong idea of gaming. Experience in rollplaying games is something you will never loose, aside from reskilling your avatar. Why penalise the player, for playing good? And what's at all the point of having normal and elite replacements? Odd. Also say, that you will lose a round for a unit on replenish button. And I cound not find how to show the experience of current unit (the exact one, not the stars). Also if we are talking about experience, how much do I need to get for next star? That's my benefit of stars = how strong will my unit be? If I see stars I think of different stat upgrades in Tower Defense flash games, I found later you only raise up straight (= one stat, not many).
Shock: tutorials goes onward in next tutorial mission. But you didn't say, the player will have more than one tutorial. Second shock: why would you not replenish the units automatically or give a button “replenish all”? Odd. Suggestion: Avoid micromanagement of not tactical UI and controls.
Next mission units: is a grenadier a granat-unit or is it an machine gun unit?
Game mechanics: the enemies are at first boring and do nothing to attack. I am overpowered a lot. Also I should see the range of enemy units and not have to search for them on UI, clicking buttons. To make it clear: you should see the *important* buttons first and click your way for the ones you do not need so much. For example I find my self never looking at the small cistern icon. Look at the game civilisation 5, the design and placement of fight stats, when to units will start fighting. Than upgrading infantry units, the truck should be by default selected. Some of the units are taken away by the tutorial, you don't know which one will stay (exept marine).
Controls: there is no button for “sleeping for than one turn”, so unit can hold ground.
City: give historical names to rowns on the map, so player have meaning to take them in.
Battle end: not only exit, give player a statistic of success (see Shogun 2 end battle screen)
My favorite tutorial: the one before navy part.
