Thread by @danil_tat

FEEDBACK IS EVERYTHING
I was amazed by this short footage.
The game responds to every player’s action with a tone of feedback!
So I decided to break down what makes it so tactile and alive and counted 27 methods.
1/15
#gamedev #GoMechaBall #madewithunity #indiegames #vfx

EFFECTS
1) The ball leaves dust and a trail that has a fixed lifetime, thus it stretches when the ball moves faster - conveying speed
2) Dust ring, sparks, and distortion effect on dashing with the spider - conveying dashing feel
2/15

3) The ball has an orange effect - responding to dashing
4) There is dust on the character's steps - adding life to the movement
5) Shells fly out on every shot - adding feel to the shooting and changing environment for a time
3/15

6) Projectiles are significantly stretched - conveying the power of every shot
7) Muzzle flash (bubble + sparks) - adding feel to the shooting
8) Shots hit effect (bubble + sparks)
4/15

9) The spider flashes white on every hit and collision - this is a cheap and flashy way to show enemies' response to hits
5/15

10) In other GoMechaBall footages, enemies leave parts on death
This changes the environment for a time too, which adds a lot of feedback to the player's actions
6/15

ANIMATION
11) The ball stretches while moving fast - conveying speed
12) The ball is squashing when colliding - conveying the power of the hit
13) The gun in the character’s hands twitches on shots - adding feel to the shooting
7/15

14) The character’s tail waves on steps - adding life to the character’s body
15) All parts of the spider squash, stretch and have inertia - adding life to the enemy's movement
8/15

UI
16) When the ball's (apparently) yellow energy is filled by another chank, it flashes white - notifying the player that he can do more dashes
17) Shots counter stripes twitch on every shot - adding feel to the shooting
9/15

On the other GoMechaBall footage points counter animation can be seen
18) The counter's value doesn’t change instantly but instead, it flips through from the previous number to the new one - making it easier for the player to notice the change and just making it jucy
10/15

19) The counter's value flashes white on the change
20) The counter’s value squashes and stretches on change (even with a little bit of inertia)
11/15

CAMERA
21) There is a small camera shaking in every shot
22) There is a big camera shake on collisions with the spider
23) The camera doesn’t follow the ball strictly. It moves slower than the character - this type of camera movement emphasizes character acceleration
12/15

SOUND
The following actions are emphasized by the sound
24) Gunshots
25) Projectiles hits
26) Dashes
27) Changing modes between walking and rolling
That’s all that I have found by now
13/15

This was quite fun to decompose those 15 seconds of footage
Some of those methods I use personally in my game (will show it later)
Some of the methods I will start to use now
(I had to rewatch it 9999999999 times)
14/15

If you want to learn more about making your game feel, there is a wonderful essay about it on @gamemakerstk channel

15/15

Also, check out my decomposition of an older game)