Game Mechanics Game Feel

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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?
 

Yal

šŸ§ *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
I could probably write an essay on this if I wasn't half-asleep at this point. But I'll try to at least make a bunch of points.
  • I generally make the simple movement engine and the core gameplay aspect first, then test plays and tweaks it iteratively until it feels just right. (And if it feels "just wrong" I end up scrapping the project). If you can't make the game feel fun and stuff from the very beginning, the project is doomed to fail, since if you can't get the most important part right, you won't be able to get any of the less important details right either.
  • Have people test your game and OBSERVE THEM WITHOUT INTERFERING. You can learn a lot about how people expect the game to play from this, and anything they avoid doing might either be poorly explained (if they never find out about it) or poorly executed (if they try it a bit and then stops using it altogether).
  • TIME is also a very important factor - anything that takes a lot of time, can't be skipped, and happens often WILL pile up and become a huge annoyance, and things like that can easily make a player ragequit. If you're making a hard platformer like Super Meat Boy, make sure to make reviving as fast as dying. If you're making a game where you explore large dungeons, make sure the room transition effect plays out really quickly. And so on.
  • Also, smooth movement is also important for 'feel' in my opinion. Slight acceleration and decelleration for movement instead of jumping directly between full throttle and completely still, things bouncing and losing 20% of their momentum at each bounce, debris rotating when it flies all over the place... things feel choppy if you don't have movements and animation happen constantly and in small increments.
 

BretHudson

Member
Game feel is super important when going in to polish your game. However, I've always argued to be careful with game feel - if you introduce it too early, you might "mask" the game with this nice layer of juice, and forget to make the underlying game good, because of the illusion game feel can create. Game feel can make bad games good, and good games great.

Beyond that, excellent post! You've got some great info here, and linked some good videos. If you haven't seen this one already, I've always particularly enjoyed it because JW (one of the Vlambeer guys) goes through his process of making a game nice and punchy. Of course, with any rules, they're made to be broken, so experiment with your own and find what works for you. Don't overdo it (especially the screenshake!).


I suppose since you asked about our experiences with game feel, I'll bring up Pwanet Pwotector, a game I worked on for Ludum Dare #34 (which placed 10th in the jam! :D) We had one artist, one musician, and then two programmers. Nathan worked on the core gameplay and balanced it, and then my job was to go in, fix a bug or two, and then juice that game up with game feel. We're super glad we teamed up instead of working on our own projects. I added tons of super small things, some of which players don't even notice (there's three music tracks that it cross-fades between as you progress through the game). One of the things almost everyone mentioned was how cute the planet was. On the menu, the face follows your mouse and smiles when you hover over PWAY, but gets concerned when you hover over QUIT. When the planet takes damage, it makes a hurt face. We credit the small interactions the planet has with how people voted, even though it didn't change the gameplay at all. So, next time you're in a game jam, devote a day to juicing it up, adding small things, because they do pay off in the end. :)

  • Have people test your game and OBSERVE THEM WITHOUT INTERFERING. You can learn a lot about how people expect the game to play from this, and anything they avoid doing might either be poorly explained (if they never find out about it) or poorly executed (if they try it a bit and then stops using it altogether).
All of Yal's points are great, but this one was one that I've always loved. I met a developer a while back who uses showing his game at festivals as a way to get honest feedback. He'll lurk around his booth without making it obvious he's the developer, as people tend to sugar coat their opinions (or play it longer than they'd like to not be seen as rude) when one of the game's developers is present. The thing that I love most about his method, is he'll approach people playing his game and ask them "whoa, what is this? as if he were just another attendee. People have given him insightful and honest feedback, allowing him to gauge their interest in and understanding of the game in a low-pressure environment for the player.
 
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nvrogers

Guest
Game feel is super important when going in to polish your game. However, I've always argued to be careful with game feel - if you introduce it too early, you might "mask" the game with this nice layer of juice, and forget to make the underlying game good, because of the illusion game feel can create. Game feel can make bad games good, and good games great.
Good point. Of course, it depends on what kind of game you're making. My games tend to be heavily focused on game feel. Instead of making a game that is focused on something like tricky platforming or puzzles, I often make games where the other aspects of the design support the game feel. It's kinda like how abstract paintings are aesthetically beautiful without having a real subject, so I make game feel a priority from day one. Of course, for something like a strategy game, the actual mechanics take priority.
 
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Fuzenrad

Guest
Nice tips nvrogers, i believe that to improve the 'game fell' you must to have an extensive game experience, know a lot of games (as a player), in various styles and mechanics (eg platform, puzzle, action, shmup, rpg..), and foremost, always check references to your own game, to have a sufficient bag to develop a mechanic that holds the player's attention. Already said Picasso: "Good artists copy, great artists steal", obviously is a dangerous phrase, because can make a dubious interpretations.
 
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Snail Man

Guest
I know it's been said before, but it can't be stressed enough: Invest in quality background music. The investment of course depends on the context and the developer's composition skills, but if it means devoting another two hours of a game jam to composing the background track, or searching through the depths of soundcloud for a bit longer, then I urge you to do it. An annoying, or even poorly mixed music track can really shatter game feel, especially if there's only one or two tracks. What Yal said about time also applies to music; the fewer background tracks you have, the shorter they are, the better quality they have to be to avoid breaking feel. If you have a beautiful background music that loops after 15 seconds, it's going to become grating very quickly.
Also sound effect design is something far too many developers postpone until the last second, then throw in without much thought. Put emphasis on the word design when doing sound design.
 

Tim

Member
A lot of great stuff already said. I would add something else to the pile and that is ... one sure way to lock onto feel is to finish things. A lot of those game jam games and many other games you can buy or download are the result of a rushed or incomplete dev cycle. Feel is something you will probably take into account from the start and being dealing with all the way to ship. Now you may ask what all this has to do with animation, sound, screenshaking and the like and I can only say this. It has everything to do with it. Your personal dedication is your foundation to making a good game and one that is whole (has all the components working together including feel). If you start there you are far more likely to head in a good direction and address things early.

Many times Game Jams and other quick projects are great for putting out an idea in the rough. Really though - making a game is about many iterations and polish. Very rarely will you knock it out of the park on a weekend jam though that might happen. I would liken it to playing a piano, drawing or maybe even weight lifting. Any activity that you want to do seriously requires you to be serious in your dedication to learn and improve. That doesn't mean you can't have fun but it does mean you can't fart around once in a while making games and expect to advance your craft.

As for a formula for directly addressing 'feel' I would recommend making a game loop as soon as you can. This would be a representational slice of a typical game session or round. From there you can look at this as your foundation and start weighing it against your design goals.

A lot of times you are as good of judge as anyone and you should start being a thorough critic of your work. The word definition here is to judge, evaluate and criticize the work in context. Are you just having fun, making a Game Jam game, making a game you will sell, etc. Once that is out of the way you can start the process of observing your work from a dispassionate position. "Does this feel fun?" "Does my game compare favorably to other games like mine?" "If I didn't know I made this would I pay for it?" The list goes on and on.

Bringing in others will help speed things up but at the core you need to accept and understand the process too. Look at companies like Valve, Nintendo and Blizzard. They tend to just keep plowing ahead until it's done and it feels right. That takes time. Mind you they have tons of money and the power to do that but they weren't always in that position.

Hope that helped and as always your mileage may vary.

-Tim
 
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nvrogers

Guest
If you have a beautiful background music that loops after 15 seconds, it's going to become grating very quickly.
I would like to add that the background music needs to match the emotion you want to get from the player. You can take the same gameplay and pair it with different music and get vastly different results. I actually experimented with that in one of my earlier jam games, where I put calm classical music where upbeat rock would normally go, which made the game very tense instead of thrilling.

As for a formula for directly addressing 'feel' I would recommend making a game loop as soon as you can. This would be a representational slice of a typical game session or round. From there you can look at this as your foundation and start weighing it against your design goals.
Gameplay loops are such a huge concept in game feel. To elaborate on what you said, you can have loops for actions, levels, and overall game structure, but each needs to be designed in a satisfying way. For example, you can change the overall game feel (as opposed to moment to moment play) by structuring the game to have very frequent and noticeable progression or by making the progression more nebulous (like Minecraft or Sim City).
 
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Paolo Mazzon

Guest
very good video using lots of games to show off individual points
 
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Snail Man

Guest
Building off of what you said about progression, I'd add that time pressure is a huge factor when it comes to game feel. Imagine for a moment that minecraft had a 14 day time limit to beat the end dragon, or that NAL's madnessMADNESSmadness series didn't have the wall of death chasing you: the former would be an intense survival challenge to scour the earth's surface for the materials needed to avert the destruction of the planet, while the former would become a sedate puzzle/platformer. Time pressure doesn't even necessarily apply a lot of tension to a game, it just gives it a sense of direction. Imagine that Roller Coaster Tycoon didn't have a time limit to achieve 1,000 guests by: it would still be the same game, but it would lose direction. The game is by no means frantic in its current state, but without the time pressure, you could construct a massively dysfunctional theme park and still win when 1,000th visitor stepped through the gates in year 33. When used correctly, time pressure gives games structure and purpose, or urgency depending on what you're going for. If used incorrectly, it can make simple tasks frustrating, or completely spoil openness and freedom.
 
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Fuzenrad

Guest
A very important thing that should be mentioned here, it's about the rewards during the game, it needs to be designed to motivate and prevent the game becomes monotonous, distribute items is a calibration of points and rewards, bonus stages are especially important in this aspect .

The content of this topic is generating a nice study material. :)
 
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nvrogers

Guest
Imagine that Roller Coaster Tycoon didn't have a time limit to achieve 1,000 guests by: it would still be the same game, but it would lose direction. The game is by no means frantic in its current state, but without the time pressure, you could construct a massively dysfunctional theme park and still win when 1,000th visitor stepped through the gates in year 33.
The later games in the franchise (or maybe all of them?) have an "unlimited" mode with no resource, money, or time limits. That changes the game from being in any way about management to being purely about creativity. So time limits can change a lot more than pacing and basic game feel.

A very important thing that should be mentioned here, it's about the rewards during the game, it needs to be designed to motivate and prevent the game becomes monotonous, distribute items is a calibration of points and rewards, bonus stages are especially important in this aspect .
With rewards you have to be careful not to create a Skinner Box, where rewards are outside of the gameplay. Bonus stages are great because they reward you with more game to play, but arbitrary rewards like gold or more powerful loot create a system where the player keeps playing even if the game isn't that fun. The goal of game feel is to make the gameplay itself rewarding enough to make a Skinner Box unnecessary.

EDIT: This topic is straying pretty far from basic game feel and into some really interesting concepts. I am very happy with this.
 
I think this is something many people ignore for sure! But don't forget the current limitations on mobiles. Really focus on core game play and special effects can come after.
 

The M

Member
I use to write down a list I call "content of 3rd degree". The idea is that the first degree is making the thing work in a physical manner. The second degree is adding enhancements, improve textures, add particles and other effects. The third degree is where you'd be if you could go all out bonkers with polish and details (the game feel part), never mind if you can ever make it work. It's the dream scenario. I find that it helps me set goals for each part of the game to push for, you just have to be careful not to go too far or feel bound by the list; it's more like a reference.

With that said, I'm not sure if it works well with what you've just been talking about. It's more about polish than using small mechanics to change the tone of the game.
 
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nvrogers

Guest
The third degree is where you'd be if you could go all out bonkers with polish and details (the game feel part), never mind if you can ever make it work. It's the dream scenario. I find that it helps me set goals for each part of the game to push for, you just have to be careful not to go too far or feel bound by the list; it's more like a reference.
Aside from limited resources, going too far with game feel can really be a bad thing. When you include too many small details (which aren't so small), the game can become so visually/auditorilly busy that everything loses its impact. That's why you focus on making the main mechanics feel satisfying, while downplaying minor mechanics (like slowly walking in a Mario game) and stuff in the background.
 

The M

Member
True, you've got to draw the line somewhere. If you add stuff in iterations you should be able to tell when it's good enough.
 
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Snail Man

Guest
The point about mobile is good though, not only on a technical level but also an aesthetic one, because something that might look fine on an iPad screen might look far too busy/noisy on an iPhone screen. If your game supports multiple devices, be aware that different screen sizes can greatly affect the impact of your little details.
 
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nvrogers

Guest
The point about mobile is good though, not only on a technical level but also an aesthetic one, because something that might look fine on an iPad screen might look far too busy/noisy on an iPhone screen. If your game supports multiple devices, be aware that different screen sizes can greatly affect the impact of your little details.
That also applies to sound design with different headphones. Since you can't control what kind of speakers/headphones your audience uses, you have to make sure to listen to all of your music and sound effects through multiple speakers so that you can mix them such that they are distinct when playing through anything.
 
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