13 More Tips for Making a Fun Platformer

edited in Questions and Answers
Source == Dev.Mag
Author == @Dipso

This article is a follow-up of a previous article I wrote, 11 Tips for making a fun platformer. Once again, this article focuses on platformers, but the philosophy behind each idea can be applied to any type of game, whether 2D or 3D. This time there are a few more practical tips.

Comments

  • Nice article.

    2. I personally dont like how it is phrased, I believe you should lose some manouverability in the air (due to the fact that you cant just turn around mid air). I feel more that you should have the mnouverability, but limit it so it still feels like you have full control, while actually it is more realistic from the sense that you can feel the difference between air movement, and ground movement. (It is something that makes quite a difference in how a prototype I have done some work on would feel).

    Similarly for 7 wouldnt it feel more fluid to keep inertia but you rather make it responsive by making the time the inertia lasts really short? (even 1/3rd of a second would work)

    Lastly, point 12 needs a <3
  • I think some of these are situational; I feel as if I've seen some tips broken in classic platformers with success. They're great starting points though, and at least if you choose not to go with something, you're doing it consciously.

    I could be wrong, but I remember Mario using inertia (did this actually improve the experience though?). And Sonic used a camera that lagged behind the player when he did a spindash (which emphasised Sonic's speed), but then transitioned to moving in front of the player so you could see more of the world. I also frequently see avatars snapped to ladders when they climb so that cannot move horizontally.
  • You both made good points, which I agree with :)

    Elyaradine, funny you should mention Sonic.
    I wanted to include a paragraph at the end of the article about Sonic, but decided to leave it for a future article.
    When I was a kid I played Sonic 2 on my friend's MegaDrive. It's a brilliant game :)
    The last few years I've been haunted by something in Sonic 2, and often think about it when I think about design in platformer games (or any games which have a character).
    I'll write about it in a future article :) (I first need to clarify it for myself.)
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