eagle0/docs/TUTORIAL_SYSTEM.md

Tutorial System Architecture

This document describes how the Unity client's tutorial system is wired together: the classes involved, the trigger catalog, the step lifecycle, and the expected first-session flow. It complements two existing docs:

• TUTORIAL_CONTENT.md — human-facing copy for tutorial steps and dialogues
• TUTORIAL_BATTLE_SYSTEM.md — the scripted opening battle at Onmaa

It also overlaps slightly with the in-tree Assets/Tutorial/TUTORIAL_PLAN.md, which is an older implementation plan.

All paths below are relative to src/main/csharp/net/eagle0/clients/unity/eagle0/Assets/.

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Current State (important)

There are two parallel subsystems that share the same trigger plumbing:

Subsystem	Status	Lives in
Step-based tutorial UI (modals, overlays, hints)	Dormant	Tutorial/TutorialManager.cs, Tutorial/UI/*, Tutorial/Content/*
Narrative dialogue system	Live	Tutorial/Dialogue/*, Resources/Dialogues/*.json

TutorialContentDefinitions.RegisterAll() returns early with the comment "Old tutorial content suppressed — replaced by narrative dialogue system." As a result:

• OnboardingSequence is never assigned, so StartOnboarding() no-ops at the "No onboarding sequence assigned" branch.
• No contextual tutorial sequences are registered with the trigger registry.
• The trigger registry still fires events normally, but nothing on the step-UI side is listening.
• DialogueManager consumes those same events and matches them against scripts in Resources/Dialogues/ (tutorial_strategic.json, tutorial_battle.json).
• Dialogue completion is persisted per game through TutorialDialogueProgressStore, so completed scripts do not replay after a reconnect or scene reload for the same game.

In practice today, the entire active tutorial experience runs through the dialogue system. The step-UI machinery is preserved for future use — content definitions still exist below the early return in TutorialContentDefinitions.cs for reference.

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Class Map

Orchestration

• Tutorial/TutorialManager.cs — Singleton. Owns OnboardingSequence, the active step queue, the trigger registry, and the dialogue manager handle. Initialized by EagleGameController.SetUpGame() and ShardokGameController.SetUpGame().
• Tutorial/TutorialState.cs — PlayerPrefs persistence. Tracks OnboardingCompleted, OnboardingStepReached, completed sequence IDs (HashSet for O(1) lookup), dismissed hints, and a global "tutorials disabled" preference.
• Tutorial/TutorialTargetRegistry.cs — Maps string IDs to RectTransforms for highlighting. Static targets are Inspector-assigned (ProvinceInfoPanel, SupportField, CommitButton, etc.); dynamic targets register at runtime (e.g., hero rows from HeroesAndBattalionsPanelController).
• Tutorial/TutorialDialogueCoordinator.cs — Recomputes durable dialogue triggers from the current strategic model and sends them directly to DialogueManager. This covers reconnects, phase-start tutorial games, and strategic beats that should be recoverable from state.

Triggers

• Tutorial/Triggers/TutorialTriggerRegistry.cs (~1100 lines) — Routes game events to both the step UI (when sequences are registered) and DialogueManager. Maintains one-shot session flags so the same first-encounter trigger doesn't fire twice.

Content (step UI — dormant)

• Tutorial/Content/TutorialStep.cs — Per-step record: DisplayMode, CompletionType, target path, copy, panel anchor, highlight options.
• Tutorial/Content/TutorialSequence.cs — ScriptableObject holding ordered TutorialSteps plus IsOnboarding flag and lifecycle callbacks.
• Tutorial/Content/TutorialContentDefinitions.cs — Static class that would register all sequences. Currently short-circuits before any registration.

UI (step UI — dormant)

• Tutorial/UI/TutorialUIManager.cs — Coordinates which presenter renders each step.
• Tutorial/UI/TutorialCanvasBuilder.cs — Builds the Canvas at runtime (no prefab dependency).
• Tutorial/UI/TutorialModalPanel.cs — Full-screen blocking modal.
• Tutorial/UI/TutorialOverlayController.cs + TutorialOverlayBuilder.cs — Dimmer with highlighted cutout, gold border, pulsing animation, and adjacent tooltip text.
• Tutorial/UI/TutorialHintIndicator.cs — Stub for pulsing-dot mode.

Dialogue (live)

• Tutorial/Dialogue/DialogueManager.cs — Loads all Resources/Dialogues/*.json scripts at startup, indexes by trigger ID, drives the panel.
• Tutorial/Dialogue/DialogueScript.cs / DialogueStep.cs — JSON-shaped records for scripts and steps.
• Tutorial/Dialogue/DialoguePanelController.cs — Renders the speaker headshot, body text, instruction line, optional highlight target, and Continue button.
• Scripts: Assets/Resources/Dialogues/tutorial_strategic.json, tutorial_battle.json.

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Step Lifecycle (Step-UI System)

1. Triggered — TutorialTriggerRegistry raises an event (e.g., game_started, battle_entered).
2. Queued or shown — If no active sequence, show immediately. If an active step is hidden (DisplayMode.None), interrupt it. If both new and active are command tutorials, interrupt for responsiveness. Otherwise queue.
3. Rendered — TutorialUIManager.ShowCurrentStep() dispatches to the modal/overlay/hint presenter based on DisplayMode.
4. Awaiting completion — One of:
   • ButtonClick — user dismisses
   • GameEvent — wait for a named event (e.g., province_selected)
   • Timer — auto-advance after delay
   • UIInteraction — wait for the highlighted target to be interacted with
   • Condition — custom predicate (rare)
5. Advance — AdvanceStep() moves to the next step or completes the sequence; completion writes to TutorialState.

Hidden steps (DisplayMode.None) deliberately don't block — they exist so contextual tutorials can fire while the onboarding sequence is waiting on an async event.

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Display Modes

Mode	Renderer	Notes
Modal	TutorialModalPanel	Full blocking dialog with dim background
Overlay	TutorialOverlayController	Dimmer with cutout + tooltip near a target
Tooltip	TutorialOverlayController	Currently same renderer as overlay
Hint	TutorialHintIndicator	Pulsing dot only (stub)
None	(invisible)	Waits for a completion event

Panels can be anchored via TutorialPanelAnchor (Center / Left / Right / Top / Bottom).

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Trigger Catalog

Most event-style triggers are raised via TutorialTriggerRegistry. Durable strategic dialogue beats are also recomputed by TutorialDialogueCoordinator on each model update and sent directly to DialogueManager.TriggerDialogue(). Both paths match against the dialogue JSON; if step-UI sequences are re-registered, only the registry path will route to them. File:line citations are for the registry unless noted; line numbers may drift.

Bootstrap / first-session

Trigger	Fires from	When
game_started	TutorialDialogueCoordinator.EligibleTriggers()	Any tutorial strategic model update; dialogue progress keeps it from replaying
first_battle_available	OnModelUpdated() ~L204	A RunningShardokGameModel first appears
battle_entered	OnBattleEntered() ~L793	User clicks Fight!
tutorial_battle_ended	CheckTutorialBattleEnded() ~L594	Tutorial battle removed from running models
tutorial_rebuild_support	CheckTutorialRebuildSupport() ~L616	Captured-heroes phase done
tutorial_taxes_collected	CheckTaxesCollected() ~L680	New Year action with positive tax delta
tutorial_in_town	CheckInTown() ~L500	Return command becomes available

Strategic-map contextual

Trigger	Site	When
province_selected	EagleGameController.ProvinceWasSelected()	Province click
command_issued	EagleGameController.PostCommittedCommand()	User commits
diplomacy_available	CheckStrategicCommandsAvailable() ~L243	Diplomacy command appears
weather_control_available	CheckStrategicCommandsAvailable() ~L249	Weather command appears
hero_recruitment_available	CheckHeroRecruitmentAvailable() ~L266	Free heroes detected
tutorial_ready_to_join	CheckReadyToJoinHero() ~L479	Free hero with WouldJoin
profession_<X>_encountered	CheckProfessionTutorial() ~L726	First time seeing each profession

Strategic guidance (state-derived, conditions checked each model update)

Trigger	Site	Condition
guidance_loyalty_danger	CheckLoyaltyDanger() ~L339	November + hero loyalty < 70
guidance_neighbor_danger	CheckNeighborDanger() ~L383	Hostile faction adjacent
guidance_recruit_heroes	CheckRecruitHeroesGuidance() ~L420	Province with support ≥40 has free heroes
guidance_expand	CheckExpandGuidance() ~L449	One stable province, hasn't expanded
guidance_sworn_kinship	CheckSwornKinshipGuidance() ~L549	Good candidate or 4+ provinces
tutorial_loyalty_warning	CheckTutorialLoyaltyWarning() ~L634	November + hero loyalty < 70
tutorial_support_deadline	CheckTutorialSupportDeadline() ~L654	December + province support < 40

Strategic action-result triggers (fired from OnStrategicActionResult())

Trigger	Site	When
hero_stat_gained	~L281	HeroStatGained action result
hero_profession_gained	~L284	ProfessionGained action result
tutorial_faction_appears	~L287	TutorialFactionAppears action — the Fracture Covenant landing
tutorial_hero_faction_appears	~L290	TutorialHeroFactionAppears action; has a four-step strategic dialogue today
tutorial_hero_departed	~L299	First HeroesDeparted action against another player (King's hero abandons service)
tutorial_hero_departed_again	~L302	Second HeroesDeparted in a different month than the first

Tactical (battle) — abilities and spells

Combat triggers are paced: _combatTutorialPending ensures only one fires per action, with priority archery > duel > melee > charge > fire.

Trigger	Site	When
shardok_placement_started	OnBattleEntered() ~L796	Battle in setup phase
shardok_battle_started	OnBattleEntered() ~L793	Battle begins
shardok_battle_running	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L948	Player's first turn
archery_available	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L990	Archery available
melee_available	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L991	Melee available
duel_available	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L1005	Duel available (non-Tarn target)
ability_charge_available	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L1001	Charge for Old Marek
start_fire_available	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L1021	Start Fire on enemy
hide_available	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L985	Hedrick can hide
thunderstorm	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L1056	Weather is thunderstorm
spell_lightning_available	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L960	Lightning available
spell_meteor_available	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L963	Meteor available
spell_holywave_available	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L965	Holy Wave available
spell_raisedead_available	OnTacticalCommandsAvailable() ~L969	Raise Dead available
spell_lightning_cast / spell_meteor_cast / spell_holywave_cast / spell_raisedead_cast	CheckTacticalActionType() ~L830-838	Spell action observed
ability_charge_used	CheckTacticalActionType() ~L842	Charge attack executed
terrain_fire_encountered	CheckTacticalActionType() ~L864	Fire damage / spread
terrain_water_encountered	CheckTacticalActionType() ~L867	Water crossing
engineer_near_enemy	CheckEngineerNearEnemy() ~L1105	John Ranil within 3 hexes of enemy
tutorial_reinforcement_engineer / tutorial_reinforcement_paladin	CheckTacticalActionType() ~L857	Reinforcement arrival
friendly_hero_captured	CheckHeroRemovals() ~L919	Friendly hero unit removed
enemy_hero_captured	CheckHeroRemovals() ~L928	Enemy hero unit removed
battle_action	ShardokGameController.OnBattleAction()	Any action result
turn_ended	ShardokGameController.OnTurnEnded() ~L1137	Battle turn ends
shardok_battle_reset	ShardokGameController.cs:627 (fired directly to DialogueManager, bypassing the registry)	Battle retry; the registry's battle flags and the battle dialogue scripts' completed-set are reset alongside, so per-battle tutorials re-fire

One-shot semantics

Most contextual triggers are guarded by booleans on the registry (e.g., a _diplomacyShown flag). These are session-local — they don't persist via TutorialState, but the registry has ResetBattleTriggerFlags() for replays. The strategic completion list does persist across sessions.

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Highlight Targets

Steps reference UI by string ID through TutorialTargetRegistry:

1. Static targets are wired in the Inspector on the registry.
2. Dynamic targets register at runtime (RegisterTarget(id, rectTransform)).
3. Lookup falls back to GameObject.Find() if not registered.

Step options:

• TargetGameObjectPath — primary highlight
• AdditionalHighlightTargets[] — multiple at once
• HighlightBoundsFromChildren — use children's bounding box
• HighlightPulsing — strobe animation

Dialogue scripts use the same registry via highlightTarget (and persistHighlight: true to keep the highlight after the dialogue closes).

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Sequences vs. Contextual Dispatch

• Onboarding sequence (IsOnboarding = true) — Single linear sequence, started by StartOnboarding(). Resumes from OnboardingStepReached. Counts only visible steps for progress.
• Contextual (IsOnboarding = false) — Single- or multi-step, dispatched on demand by TriggerContextualTutorial().
• Dispatch rules in TriggerContextualTutorial():
  1. No active sequence → show immediately.
  2. Active step is hidden (None) → interrupt.
  3. Both are command tutorials → interrupt.
  4. Otherwise → queue.

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Dialogue System (Currently Live)

DialogueManager is a parallel system, not a step-UI subclass. It loads every TextAsset in Resources/Dialogues/ at startup, parses them as DialogueScript objects, and indexes by trigger.

Script shape (see tutorial_strategic.json):

{
  "scripts": [{
    "id": "tutorial_opening",
    "trigger": "game_started",
    "panelPosition": null,
    "steps": [{
      "speakerName": "Old Marek the Learned",
      "speakerImagePath": "fixed/old_marek_the_learned.png",
      "dialogueText": "...",
      "instructionText": "Click <b>Fight!</b> to enter tactical combat.",
      "highlightTarget": "FightButton",
      "persistHighlight": true,
      "highlightProvince": "Onmaa",
      "completionEvent": null
    }]
  }]
}

When a registry trigger fires, OnGameEvent() calls DialogueManager.TriggerDialogue(triggerId). If a script matches and hasn't completed, it queues (or shows immediately) and the panel renders speaker headshot + body + instruction. Steps can pause for a completionEvent (e.g., wait for the player to click the highlighted button), allowing the dialogue to chain across game state changes.

Dialogue panel position defaults sensibly per scene (top during combat) and can be overridden per script.

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Persistence

TutorialState (PlayerPrefs JSON):

• OnboardingCompleted (bool)
• OnboardingStepReached (int)
• CompletedTutorials (List → HashSet at load)
• DismissedHints (List → HashSet at load)
• AllTutorialsDisabled (bool)

Reset paths:

• TutorialState.Reset() clears everything.
• Entering a tutorial game (GameType.Tutorial) resets TutorialState; dialogue replay is controlled separately by the per-game dialogue progress key.
• Settings → "Reset Tutorials" calls TutorialManager.ResetAllProgress(), which also calls DialogueManager.ResetCompletedScripts().

TutorialDialogueProgressStore separately stores completed dialogue script IDs per game under PlayerPrefs keys named Eagle0_TutorialDialogueProgress_<gameId>.

DialogueManager keeps the active game's completed script IDs in memory and saves them through TutorialDialogueProgressStore. ResetCompletedScripts() clears the current game's dialogue progress; ClearCurrentGameProgress() deletes the current game's persisted dialogue key.

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Bootstrap

1. TutorialManager is in the scene as a singleton; Awake loads state and creates the trigger registry. RegisterAll() is called here but currently no-ops.
2. ConnectionHandler sets IsTutorialGame and IsMultiplayerGame when the game is created/joined.
3. EagleGameController.SetUpGame() calls TutorialManager.Instance.Initialize(this, null). If IsTutorialGame && !OnboardingCompleted, it would call StartOnboarding() — currently a no-op because OnboardingSequence is null.
4. The first model update raises game_started. DialogueManager matches tutorial_opening from tutorial_strategic.json and the dialogue runs.
5. ShardokGameController.SetUpGame() calls TutorialManager.Instance.Initialize(null, this) when battle starts; raises battle_entered and battle-only triggers from there.

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Expected Tutorial Flow (today)

Driven by tutorial_strategic.json + tutorial_battle.json. Old Marek the Learned narrates almost everything.

Narrative arc

You play Sadar Rakon, formerly Ikhaan Tarn's most trusted lieutenant. Tarn's behavior grew erratic, the King wouldn't listen, so Sadar broke off and raised the Reclamation. He's been pushed back to Onmaa for a last stand against Tarn's superior royal army. After surviving, the real twist arrives: a new invasion — The Fracture Covenant, led by a mysterious figure called The Eagle — lands ships on the western coast and starts taking provinces. Heroes from the King's own service mysteriously begin to desert. The Reclamation's framing pivots from "rebellion" to "the only force that can stop the actual invasion."

Strategic-map flow (tutorial_strategic.json)

#	Trigger	What happens
1	game_started	Opening monologue (3 steps): Sadar's backstory, the Reclamation, last stand at Onmaa. Ends highlighting the Fight! button (FightButton, persistHighlight)
2	tutorial_battle_ended	Aftermath: Tarn has vanished; you've captured his lieutenants. Recruit them or hold them
3	tutorial_rebuild_support	Rebuild Onmaa (3 steps): Marek frames it; John Ranil introduces Improve (engineer bonus); Elena Fyar introduces Give Alms (paladin bonus). Goal: 40 support by January
4	tutorial_loyalty_warning	November-ish, low-loyalty hero may leave at year end → use Give Gold / Feast
5	tutorial_support_deadline	December nag if support < 40: have Elena give alms now
6	guidance_expand (script tutorial_expansion)	Once support is stable: keep developing, taxes coming in January
7	tutorial_taxes_collected	January: gold/food collected. Now expand — March your warlord + most heroes to a neighbor, leave 1–2 behind
8	tutorial_ready_to_join	A free hero in {provinceName} is ready to recruit → Visit Town + Recruit
9	tutorial_in_town	When you Visit Town: explains Trade / Arm Troops / Divine / Recruit / Manage Prisoners; Return ends the turn
10	tutorial_faction_appears	The twist: Fracture Covenant lands at Ingia and Soria. The Eagle commands them. Tarn may be with them
11	tutorial_hero_departed	First King's hero abandons service — "something deeper is at work"
12	tutorial_hero_departed_again	Second one in a different month — "something is wrong, I can feel it" (foreshadowing)
13	tutorial_hero_faction_appears	John Ranil and Elena Fyar leave Sadar's service and reappear as independent tutorial factions

Tactical battle flow (tutorial_battle.json)

#	Trigger	What happens
1	shardok_placement_started	Placement (3 steps): identify Tarn's units (knights, heavy infantry, dragoons), color legend (red/blue/black), placement instructions, highlight Commit
2	shardok_battle_running	Turn 1 strategy (2 steps): victory conditions for both sides, advice to hold castles and End Turn
3	archery_available	First archery opportunity → purple outlines, longbows vs. armor
4	melee_available	First melee opportunity → right-click adjacent enemy
5	ability_charge_available	Charge mechanics (Marek hams it up: "old scholar without a horse")
6	start_fire_available	Start Fire on enemy hex, fire spread mechanics
7	thunderstorm	Weather: archery disabled, fires extinguished
8	tutorial_reinforcement_paladin	Elena Fyar arrives mid-battle (2-step exchange) → Paladin profession intro (Holy Wave)
9	tutorial_reinforcement_engineer	John Ranil arrives (2-step exchange) → Engineer profession intro
10	engineer_near_enemy	Once Ranil is close to enemy: Fortify + Reduce (siege bombardment)
11	duel_available	Champion duel mechanics (Marek warns not to duel Tarn himself)
12	hide_available	Hedrick the Hedge-merchant: forest/swamp Hide + ambush
13	enemy_hero_captured / friendly_hero_captured	Capture mechanics, with {heroName} substitution
14	shardok_battle_reset	If you lose and replay: Marek "had the strangest sensation… as though we'd already fought this battle, and lost" — fourth-wall-adjacent retry framing

Most remaining "Tutorial / first-session onboarding" items in SMALL_EAGLE_TODO.md (Shardok tutorial, narrative hook, first-session goal, early small victory, guided first scenario vs. sandbox) map to adding new dialogue scripts against existing trigger IDs, or — if the step-UI is revived — to populating TutorialContentDefinitions.RegisterAll() and removing the early return.

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Notable Behaviors and Gotchas

• IsTutorialGame gates everything. Outside tutorial games, both subsystems short-circuit early.
• Combat tutorials are deliberately paced. Don't expect every available-ability trigger to fire on its first eligible turn — the registry intentionally spaces them.
• One-shot flags are session-local. A trigger that "already fired" will not re-fire even if TutorialState is reset, until the registry is recreated.
• TutorialTargetRegistry lookups silently fall back to GameObject.Find. Typos in target IDs will render with no highlight rather than throwing.
• TutorialContentDefinitions.RegisterAll() returning early is load-bearing. If the step UI is revived without auditing trigger overlap, dialogue and step-UI tutorials may double-fire on the same trigger.
• Tutorial/TUTORIAL_PLAN.md in the Unity project is an older implementation plan and partially overlaps this doc.