N
nvrogers
Guest
After years of making games, a good few jams, and countless hours of playing WIP game maker games, I can safely say that the most common mistake made by hobbyist developers is ignoring "game feel." Game feel, in brief, is how a game feels to play on a tactile level. Of course, except for haptic feedback (controller shake), there is no physical sensation involved in playing games. Game feel is the combination of sounds, animation, and endless other factors that help prompt the player to "feel" what they see on the screen. For example, when you shoot an enemy in a good action game, you "feel" a satisfying crunch. Or, in the best versions of Tetris, there is a satisfying impact every time a block locks in to place. In great racing games, you can feel the tires sliding across the road as you drift. A lot of designers seem to be more focused on mechanics and concepts than the nitty-gritty of animations and sound design, and those that do try to create good game feel often miss the mark. As game feel is one of the most nebulous, yet important, aspects of game design, I thought I would write up a little tutorial thing on how to make your game feel good.
Weight
Without some sense of weight, objects in game feel artificial and movements feel "floaty." By weight, I don't mean gravity. I mean momentum. If the character is moving right at a high speed and can instantly turn around and run left, it feels like the character is weightless, and therefore artificial and, well, weird. Mario counteracts this by having Mario slide whenever he turns. The early Sonic games had an even more in-depth momentum system that gave Sonic a sense of weight that Sega never truly matched in later entries.
Animation
All too many indie games have no animations other than a walk cycle, an explosion, and maybe some death animations. However, while important, those alone are not enough to sell the action on screen. Subtle animations give the player a sense of control and make the game visually satisfying. Mario kicks up dust when he turns. Meat Boy squashes and stretches when he jumps and lands. Link's sword leaves a huge trail behind it as it swings. My game, which uses physics, draws a trail behind the player to emphasize the direction it is travelling and a thrust animation to show which way you are applying force. All of these are visually satisfying and provide extra information to the player, making them feel more in control.
Sound
This one is simple. If something is a background sound (footsteps, wind, water), make is subtle. If the player has to hear something, make sure they hear it. Give guns a big, bassy, thud when they fire (although, you can give weak guns a wimpy noise to make them feel extra ineffective). Taking damage should play a distinct, harsh, cutting noise. The severity of the sound should match the severity of the action.
Priorities
Finally, focus your game feel efforts on what the gameplay is focused on. If your game is about shooting, make powerful animations and sounds for shooting and bullet impacts. If your game is about running and jumping, make make extra animations and sound effects for that. The last thing you want is for the most important part of your game to feel limp and lifeless.
Here are some videos on game feel that I found helpful:
What are you guys' experiences with game feel? Anything I missed?
Weight
Without some sense of weight, objects in game feel artificial and movements feel "floaty." By weight, I don't mean gravity. I mean momentum. If the character is moving right at a high speed and can instantly turn around and run left, it feels like the character is weightless, and therefore artificial and, well, weird. Mario counteracts this by having Mario slide whenever he turns. The early Sonic games had an even more in-depth momentum system that gave Sonic a sense of weight that Sega never truly matched in later entries.
Animation
All too many indie games have no animations other than a walk cycle, an explosion, and maybe some death animations. However, while important, those alone are not enough to sell the action on screen. Subtle animations give the player a sense of control and make the game visually satisfying. Mario kicks up dust when he turns. Meat Boy squashes and stretches when he jumps and lands. Link's sword leaves a huge trail behind it as it swings. My game, which uses physics, draws a trail behind the player to emphasize the direction it is travelling and a thrust animation to show which way you are applying force. All of these are visually satisfying and provide extra information to the player, making them feel more in control.
Sound
This one is simple. If something is a background sound (footsteps, wind, water), make is subtle. If the player has to hear something, make sure they hear it. Give guns a big, bassy, thud when they fire (although, you can give weak guns a wimpy noise to make them feel extra ineffective). Taking damage should play a distinct, harsh, cutting noise. The severity of the sound should match the severity of the action.
Priorities
Finally, focus your game feel efforts on what the gameplay is focused on. If your game is about shooting, make powerful animations and sounds for shooting and bullet impacts. If your game is about running and jumping, make make extra animations and sound effects for that. The last thing you want is for the most important part of your game to feel limp and lifeless.
Here are some videos on game feel that I found helpful:
What are you guys' experiences with game feel? Anything I missed?