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CloseJust finished a round of playtesting VSA and feedback remarked about how one character:
-Had much faster attacks
-Did much less damage
-Good for quick precision attacks but not good at mobs
And the other:
-Had slower attacks
-Did more damage
-Hit multiple targets
-Was good for crowd control
Because of this, the second character was said to be overpowered and way more useful.
This feedback was interesting because both characters had exactly the same animations, exactly the same speed, did exactly the same damage, and neither of them hit multiple targets or were better or worse at crowd control. However, the second character's attacks had a heavier sounding hit SFX and had a flashier weapon trail - literally the only difference between them.
The audio/visual of the game has much more impact on the player's perception than what's mechanically happening, so it's important to make the style reinforce the mechanics in order to ensure the player's impressions are in line with what they should be feeling.
EDIT: Also worth noting that big numbers pop up showing how much damage you did, so it wasn't a matter of the mechanics being too hard to perceive.
-Had much faster attacks
-Did much less damage
-Good for quick precision attacks but not good at mobs
And the other:
-Had slower attacks
-Did more damage
-Hit multiple targets
-Was good for crowd control
Because of this, the second character was said to be overpowered and way more useful.
This feedback was interesting because both characters had exactly the same animations, exactly the same speed, did exactly the same damage, and neither of them hit multiple targets or were better or worse at crowd control. However, the second character's attacks had a heavier sounding hit SFX and had a flashier weapon trail - literally the only difference between them.
The audio/visual of the game has much more impact on the player's perception than what's mechanically happening, so it's important to make the style reinforce the mechanics in order to ensure the player's impressions are in line with what they should be feeling.
EDIT: Also worth noting that big numbers pop up showing how much damage you did, so it wasn't a matter of the mechanics being too hard to perceive.
*Some. Some players do. Just remember that all people are different and like different things. Ultimately, make the game you want to see without catering to idiots too much. Make things simple, but make them interesting. You do not have to compromise your game just to get people to play it.
There's a lot of science around sound design actually. Companies spend a lot of money making sure their products 'sound' satisfying when you use them. The 'click' of a mouse, the 'crunch' of a chip, these are all engineered to be appealing. And when something doesn't sound right, doesn't it seem like something is missing?
I wouldn't be so quick to discount these sorts of things, Liberty.
I wouldn't be so quick to discount these sorts of things, Liberty.
author=Liberty
*Some. Some players do. Just remember that all people are different and like different things. Ultimately, make the game you want to see without catering to idiots too much. Make things simple, but make them interesting. You do not have to compromise your game just to get people to play it.
Well, ultimately it comes down to whether you're making your game for people to enjoy or not. If you don't want people to enjoy it, then you don't need to let playtesters' experience affect your design.
As Solitayre says, there's a lot of psychology behind this stuff. It's not just audio, too; you can make people perceive weaker attacks as stronger by making the screen shake when they hit, even if the screen literally tells you that it did less damage.
author=Sailerius
Well, ultimately it comes down to whether you're making your game for people to enjoy or not. If you don't want people to enjoy it, then you don't need to let playtesters' experience affect your design.
This brings me to question: who exactly is your audience?
This is some excellent advice, Sailerius. Advice that a lot of RM users could stand to follow, too- deliberate, mechanical sound/visual design is hardly ever thought of in the medium, which is sad.
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