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The popular online game known as Warframe, an experience where you might encounter bizarre cosmic entities and pilot futuristic vehicles, has released a major update. The Vallis Undermind highlights the distinctive charm that has come to define Warframe in more recent times.

This expansion, made available this week, introduces a new mushroom-themed warframe that does a little dance, along with a whole new explorable fungal area. But it’s also going back to basics, with another quest geared at making sure this complicated, expansive long-running online game is understandable by new players.

A Quest Called "The Teacher"

Named “The Teacher,” this is the highly anticipated mission that instructs Warframe players on how to use one of the game's most basic — yet most intricate systems: the mod system.

In Warframe, mods are augments that can be added to your character or your weapons to improve their stats. These can be simple (increase damage or speed up reload rate) to the devastatingly complex. Content creators often produce extensive guides about optimized loadouts that use synergistic enhancements to create overwhelming power.

“I think a lot of people were maybe getting into the early game, encountering mods without grasping their purpose,” noted a lead narrative designer. “I think it was really important, upon completing the mission, for players to think, ‘Hey, modding is cool. I want to try more of this.’”

A Collaborative Effort

“The Teacher” was created through a partnership between the original developers, who provided the narrative sauce, and a supporting studio, who crafted the gameplay, which will be introduced to new players.

In the quest, the player is asked to retrieve a component for their ship, but they’re interrupted by a menacing, powerful warrior called Teshin, who takes away the player’s abilities and melee weapons, and compels them to use the mod system to effectively show its potential.

Several developers were already fans of the game, but some were newcomers, according to a lead designer. It was this outside perspective that was essential.

“The first thing we did was basically sit behind them and have them experience the introduction and document extensively on all points of confusion,” the designer said. Early-game menu pop-ups presented the mod system. But the team noted that they didn’t work on everyone.

“Some people didn't see basic instructions where the game highlights it saying equip the modification,” he said.

Addressing a Real Need

Warframe’s mods allow players to create incredibly strong combinations that turn the screen into a blitz of numbers. But "The Teacher" focuses on different aspects. Veteran users who wish the quest was geared more towards their needs, like optimizing for endgame challenges. But it became clear that the mission addresses a genuine oversight for newcomers — and that executing this is quite complex.

“There’s lots of little tweaks and background details there to just sort of show you what it can do rather than explain it outright,” the designer said. For example, one of the mission's objectives is to show how mods can create elemental damage types; in this case, Magnetic damage that eats chunks out of enemy shields.

“We had to change the weapon to be a rapid-fire gun, because it better demonstrates the effect frequency,” the designer said. “However, the goal isn't to explicitly tell players, 'with a basic modification, you only got a low probability to proc an elemental effect.' So how do you tutorialize that without changing it?”

Experienced players will instinctively look for that kind of weapon effect and grasp their function, but beginners require instruction to notice these details.

“It’s not a kind of game development that we've had to worry about as much just because that hasn't been our focus,” said a story developer. “However, this oversight meant that players weren't properly taught the modding system.”

Significant Investment

“A tremendous amount of work is required for just making a really simple mission that — honestly — you can complete quickly,” said the designer. “But it's months and months of work for loads of people.”

The designer was clearly enthusiastic over being able to work on a game that he loves — and to craft a mission for one of his favorite characters.

“I love Teshin,” he said. “He embodies everything my younger self found awesome.”

Streamlining the Beginning

In the decade-plus since launch, Warframe has been in a ongoing struggle with its own player onboarding process. There are lots of complex systems that players don’t need to worry about — and won't encounter until much later. And others, like modding, that scale in complexity depending on your level of engagement. A previous patch improved the introductory experience so that players could reach Warframe’s complex narrative arcs with reduced repetitive play up front.

With “The Teacher,” it’s clear that the developers are doubling down on a commitment to make sure Warframe’s early game experience doesn’t stay locked in 2013. New players can get their foot in the door — even if they miss the menu prompts.