After you've downloaded the game and it's running, you may not be sure what to do next. 

The following topics are covered in this post:

• Starting playing for the first time / Creating a new character (game save)
• Controls
• Saving your progress
• Loading an existing character (game save)
• Getting Stuck

If you felt that something was not made clear within the game itself or if something is not functioning in the way you'd expect it to, please feel free to give feedback about this so that we can improve upon communicating what players should do within the game itself. Please leave this feedback in the currently-active Playtest community post, if there is one. Otherwise, you can make a new post mentioning your feedback.

Starting playing for the first time / Creating a new character (game save)

1. From the main menu, press the Game Saves button. This will take you to an interface where you can create or load game saves, each of which will store progress independently from each other. 
2. While in the Games Saves interface, press the Start new game button on one of the Unused game saves. This will begin the process of creating a new game save.
3. When prompted to Create your character, enter the name you would like your main character to have for the game save in the input field labeled 'Character name...'. Then press Start game to complete the process of creating the new game save. In the future, we may add character customization features, which will be handled through this interface.
4. After pressing the Start game, you will be taken to a screen where you can choose a place to start at. When the game is complete, this will not appear on a player's first playthrough - they will automatically be sent to the Tutorial. However, until that is ready, you are able to see this screen and choose where to do. Pick any choice whose button is able to be pressed. The options that include 'Testing' in their names are temporary and are meant to show off content in a more condensed format. They are recommended for experiencing the game's mechanics, but not the overall story or world.
5. After selecting a starting location, you'll be taken to the corresponding level. You're now playing your character and are ready to explore the world! Check out the Controls in-game if you need help figuring out what to press to do different things.  

Controls

In order to understand the basic controls of our game, we recommend spending some time looking over the Controls interface in-game. This can either be accessed from the main menu by pressing the Controls button, or while playing by pressing the Y key. The latter will only work  while you're in levels that you can move around in, though; it will not work while in combat.

The left side of the Controls interface describes controls relevant to maneuvering in and interacting with the world, while the right side of the interface describes controls relevant to operating or opening the game's various interfaces.

While the main interface is open in exploration levels, you can press the tabs at the top of the screen to switch between different interfaces.

Saving your progress

Our game requires that you save your progress if you want to maintain it for playing in the future. If you close the application or return to the menu without saving, progress on a game save will not be kept. We may add an auto-save feature later on, but for now, it's important that you manually save the game, and doing so more often is always a good idea when the game is in development.

You can save the game by navigating the Pause Screen (press Escape/Esc) and then pressing one of the Save buttons. If you want to want to continue playing, press the Save Game button; if you want to conclude your playing session, you can press the Save and Exit to Menu button. The restriction is not implemented yet, but we plan to only allow players to save the game while they're in a safe part of the world.

The reason the game works in this way is intentional. We do this so that you can have more control by, for example, choosing to reload the game save if you made a mistake or used something (like an ability that consumes a rare item) that you realize you didn't want to, and to raise stakes, such as by having the game return to the last save should you die. 

Loading an existing character (game save)

1. From the main menu, press the Game Saves button. 
2. While in the Games Saves interface, press the Load game button on one of the game saves that do not say Unused game save. They will have the character's name you choose in place of that message, if you entered a character name. This will load the character.
3. After pressing the Load game, you will be taken to a screen where you can choose a place to start at. Pick any choice whose button is able to be pressed and you will start the game at the corresponding checkpoint. As you discover more checkpoints while playing, more of these choices will unlock on this screen.
4. After you've pressed a button, you should be loaded into the corresponding location and should be once again playing on your old character! All of your progress should be loaded. 

Getting Stuck

On rare occasions, you may find yourself stuck and unable to do anything. If you think you're in this situation, look for any buttons on the screen; if you see any, press them, as doing so will often restore functionality to your . If you are in a level that If this does not fix the issue, you will likely need to close the application and open it again.

We have observed this kind of issue happening only in limited situations.  

Known circumstances:

• When beginning Combat with an enemy - sometimes things seem to just freeze and combat does not advance. 

Recommendations:

• We recommend saving the game often. Doing this will ensure that even if you run into an issue that requires restarting the game, less progress will be lost. To do this, navigate to the Pause Screen (press the Escape/Esc key) and then press the Save button. You can resume your gameplay immediately by pressing the Resume Game button or pressing the Escape/Esc key again.