What? Why is there a logo for a famous Nintendo game on here? Well, Capps sometimes is a tournament organizer for the game especially on the /r/smashbros subreddit. Today he was working on some new rules for their tournaments and while watching I found a really cool subject to talk about!
First, why don't you check out the rules. These rules are seriously different then average rulebooks, but a lot of the premises are still there. You could even fit this into the simple graphic narrative structure that we talked about recently on the blog.
The biggest issue Capps was running into at tournaments, was people not understanding a procedure called "stage striking". If you've played the game a lot competitively, you may already know this term or understand it. But with lots of new people joining tournaments this was a complex idea to them.
This is how he wrote it out in a technical format for the players who were used to the idea:
-Character select
-Stage pick
-Starter Stage list
-Ban order: 1-1-1
-Players will decide who chooses first
-Both players will select the chosen stage in-game
I'm going to guess you did not understand that at all unless you are a competitive Super Smash Bros. player of some kind. Many times when you are writing a rulebook you may not have space for a visual example due to size constraints, or maybe you have to use a non-visual example for other reasons. Capps was strapped for time and needed to have something workable so he went with the text route.Want to see how that difficult jargon was untangled? Click here and then scroll to the bottom to see his example.
When writing a non-visual example it's best to actually name players, not just call them Player 1 and Player 2. It helps personalize the example for the reader. In this case Capps wrote about two fictional players named Steff and Robert, just names found randomly in a baby name book.
Capps's example drew out the scenario quite a bit to make absolutely sure everything was understandable as well. If you know you have to use a non-visual example and have the space you should try to be detailed. But if Capps was limited on space he could have cut out the lists with the stages and let the players remember stages themselves. Just remember to be as clear and concise as possible and write as much as your space allows without leaving anything important out.
Hopefully something from Super Smash Bros. has helped you learn how to write a rulebook today. If you think you could write a better example please give it a shot in the comments! Hopefully Capps will get to make a visual example we can talk about another time. But until next time: Every Game Deserves A Good Rulebook.
First, why don't you check out the rules. These rules are seriously different then average rulebooks, but a lot of the premises are still there. You could even fit this into the simple graphic narrative structure that we talked about recently on the blog.
The biggest issue Capps was running into at tournaments, was people not understanding a procedure called "stage striking". If you've played the game a lot competitively, you may already know this term or understand it. But with lots of new people joining tournaments this was a complex idea to them.
This is how he wrote it out in a technical format for the players who were used to the idea:
-Character select
-Stage pick
-Starter Stage list
-Ban order: 1-1-1
-Players will decide who chooses first
-Both players will select the chosen stage in-game
I'm going to guess you did not understand that at all unless you are a competitive Super Smash Bros. player of some kind. Many times when you are writing a rulebook you may not have space for a visual example due to size constraints, or maybe you have to use a non-visual example for other reasons. Capps was strapped for time and needed to have something workable so he went with the text route.Want to see how that difficult jargon was untangled? Click here and then scroll to the bottom to see his example.
When writing a non-visual example it's best to actually name players, not just call them Player 1 and Player 2. It helps personalize the example for the reader. In this case Capps wrote about two fictional players named Steff and Robert, just names found randomly in a baby name book.
Capps's example drew out the scenario quite a bit to make absolutely sure everything was understandable as well. If you know you have to use a non-visual example and have the space you should try to be detailed. But if Capps was limited on space he could have cut out the lists with the stages and let the players remember stages themselves. Just remember to be as clear and concise as possible and write as much as your space allows without leaving anything important out.
Hopefully something from Super Smash Bros. has helped you learn how to write a rulebook today. If you think you could write a better example please give it a shot in the comments! Hopefully Capps will get to make a visual example we can talk about another time. But until next time: Every Game Deserves A Good Rulebook.