Smaller progress today, as I spent an hour failing to get some calculus working in GameMaker. One of the changes does still involve some math, however: The left is the old, the right is the new. I slapped a simple sine curve over the icon's x-scaling and reoriented it with some math, and boom--it spins. This is one of the many small changes and additions that give the game "juice"--i.e. satisfaction. It's already more fun to look at, no? More will come near the latter stages of development, especially when polished art is a priority. Though, UI juice like this is often applicable very early, and the only limitation is your creativity. On that note, I would highly recommend a super entertaining talk I watched in college that simply--and quickly--goes over game "juice" in the most candid, visual way possible. This talk is a bit of the inspiration behind this particular change, and you can expect future additions to reflect similarly. (The combo multiplier swelling in size when you harvest a crop is another one of these juicy additions). The other thing, however, is a minor change to how the combo bar works: Those with a keen eye may notice right away--the combo timer is not exactly linear. It slows down a noticeable hair as it nears depletion, a small change that subtly lies to the player, but for a good reason.
This is an effect seen in a number of games, though you'll primarily notice it on health bars. Sometimes, gauges are coded to decay slower the lower they get to achieve a sense of suspense--i.e. prolonging the "danger zone" effect of the bar being low as well as giving the player a slight extra edge when they're at the most risk. This ultimately contributes to a stronger sense of accomplishment, as (to the unknowing player) the suspense hangs for longer and they can succeed when lingering on the precipice more often. Health bars often do this by slightly buffing the player at very low health--e.g. giving them a cheatsy extra hit or two to live before they perish. Games lie to players very often. As you play it's often hard to see, but as you design it is very often exercised. Games lie in a multitude of different ways from health bar second-chances to botched RNG, bending the rules in subtle ways to mainly provide a more satisfying gameplay experience. After all, your average player will not notice these subtle differences, but they will notice the positive effects they take on the gameplay experience whether they are aware of them or not. Comments are closed.
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