I was thinking something like this when I was killing the poison headcrabs in HL2, and how important the screeching sound effect they make when the jump is. That sound makes them so much more satisfying to kill, esp. with a crowbar.
Extra Punctuation: A Hard Weapon Is Good to Find
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I hate to get all 'when I was a lad' on you, but that's how we used to do things. My first few games were purely me. And then the NES came along and I had the luxury of having an artist alongside me.... I still had to do everything else though. Ah, those were the days.... ;-)captainjackofms said:
Seriously, though... it will actually be very beneficial to you to learn all disciplines so that you understand and appreciate them (even if you don't enjoy, say, the audio portion of it). The industry today is full of people from 'game development courses' (ugh) who have narrowly focused on one discipline and, even worse, a subset of a discipline - an example being a programmer who has *only* focused on shaders, and can't really do much else. A person like that is of limited value to my team.
Making kills satisfying isn't just limited to weapons, nor does if necessarily have to make sense. I remember in the first Mercenaries game you would get money from blowing up vehicles. I don't know how it was supposed to make sense, but it meant that with every destroyed vehicle you got a nice, satisfying "CHA-CHING" in addition to the bright fireball and flying ragdolls of its former occupants. It really made blowing up jeeps and helicopters a true joy.
Oh I enjoy it all (maybe programming the least), but it can still provide a challenge. I started working with game maker to work on the programming, majored in art and graphic design to work on my artistic skills, and have been in various bands and worked with music programs to work on creating my own sound. The idea's are plentiful, but it's the time and resources that take a toll.DiamanteGeeza said:
What I'm very interested in is that you've been working on games for awhile, and if I could I'd like to talk to you sometime to ask advice. Though in this industry, you normally have to charge for that, so I won't be surprised if that is answered with a no.
Probably one of the scariest aspects of the Fatal Frame horror series is the absence of conventional weapons. The camera obscura has the point and shoot mechanics of a gun without the satisfaction of a powerful crack or significant reaction from the enemy. You're defending yourself with a freakin' camera after all.
Have to say I agree here. In the end for Oblivion I made an on touch spell that dealt 100 points of damage in every area (Frire, Frost, Thunder etc..) purely since if its going to feel like I'm massaging the enemy to death it might as well look like it.Phlakes said:
All guns also have to feel unique when they're fired. A very old multiplayer does that perfectly - Counter Strike 1.6
All guns sound equal to the damage they do. Guns that do the most damage are louder and stronger (AWP, AK47, Desert Eagle)
CoD 4 did a good job too. But MW2 guns sounded like someone's chopping wood. I don't understand how they could let that happen.
All guns sound equal to the damage they do. Guns that do the most damage are louder and stronger (AWP, AK47, Desert Eagle)
CoD 4 did a good job too. But MW2 guns sounded like someone's chopping wood. I don't understand how they could let that happen.
The alt-fire Plasma thingies from the Combine Energy Rifle in Half-Life 2. They had a delicious pre-fire warmup noise/action, and you could easily feel/imagine feeling the recoil on it. Plus it bounced around and disintegrated enemies.
It's funny how 10-20 years ago, none of these things listed mattered, and now we can't do without them. It's game evolution baby.
I think certain games like Bulletstorm would not have been as good if the enemies reaction to each damage intake was not believable. Like a shot to the groin making them grab their cluster and kneel down.
I think certain games like Bulletstorm would not have been as good if the enemies reaction to each damage intake was not believable. Like a shot to the groin making them grab their cluster and kneel down.
This is why I always preferred Just Cause 2 to Mercenaries 2. Causing general chaos gave you additional resource availability, and access to new missions because it destabilized the order of the island. [sub]Plus the grapple hook was genius[/sub].sgtshock said:
COMPLETELY disagree. Maybe it depends on your sound card and whether you have a base system, but for me the guns always sounded far-off and weak, like the whole thing was happening in some distant, far-off battle. Additionally, your character was unable to keep a firm grip on his weapon, and rather than a "straight-back" force that conveys that this gun is powerful even for your bulky commando, it jitters around in the ironsights simply conveying that it will not have perfect accuracy. Plus, some weapons like the smoke grenade launcher were surprisingly ineffectual.Phlakes said:
Two games I can recall having very "forceful" realistic guns: Killing Floor and the Call of Duty series (surprisingly, all of the CoD clones have utterly failed what makes CoD's guns good)
This is one of many things that Mount and Blade gets right.
You can call the graphics a bit retro and the quests repetitive, but for a game called "Mount and Blade", they really nailed horseback combat. You run a spear through someone from horseback and you can practically feel the wet solid thump in your arm as the tip strikes.
You can call the graphics a bit retro and the quests repetitive, but for a game called "Mount and Blade", they really nailed horseback combat. You run a spear through someone from horseback and you can practically feel the wet solid thump in your arm as the tip strikes.
I quite like the energy weapons in Fallout 3, especially the Plasma weapons. I like the satisfying squishy noise when enemies liquidise!rollerfox88 said:
Incidentally, as someone who used to go clay pigeon shooting and target pistol shooting now and then when I was a kid, I have to say that actual guns, while satisfying in their own way, are nothing whatsoever like sex.
I wanted to write something more insightful than "yeah, I agree with Yahtzee and my favourite gun is X" but that's really all I got. I do totally agree with Yahtzee here. As soon as a game fails to include one or more of these methods of feedback we've grown accustomed to, it feels unsatisfying. We might not even be able to say why the game is unsatisfying, it just is.
I remember playing games before they included things like reload animations and hit reactions from enemies and I didn't realise those things were needed until someone thought to include them. In really primitive 2D sidescroller/platformers enemies would at least flash or slide back a few pixels (or in the case of Super Mario Bros., the enemies generally die in one hit).
I remember when Killzone 2 was being hyped up, people were going on and on about the hit detection - in particular I saw one clip where the player ran up to an enemy and unloaded a clip into him. The enemy reeled back and shook all around like he was having a seizure.
"Look at that awesome hit response" people said, enthusiastically rubbing themselves through their sweatpants.
"Why the fuck is that guy still standing after being hit point blank by a full clip from an SMG?" I asked. Ok, the reaction to being shot, great. You know what else is a great reaction to being shot? Falling the fuck down.
I remember playing games before they included things like reload animations and hit reactions from enemies and I didn't realise those things were needed until someone thought to include them. In really primitive 2D sidescroller/platformers enemies would at least flash or slide back a few pixels (or in the case of Super Mario Bros., the enemies generally die in one hit).
I remember when Killzone 2 was being hyped up, people were going on and on about the hit detection - in particular I saw one clip where the player ran up to an enemy and unloaded a clip into him. The enemy reeled back and shook all around like he was having a seizure.
"Look at that awesome hit response" people said, enthusiastically rubbing themselves through their sweatpants.
"Why the fuck is that guy still standing after being hit point blank by a full clip from an SMG?" I asked. Ok, the reaction to being shot, great. You know what else is a great reaction to being shot? Falling the fuck down.
The one thing that bugs the hell out of me in Silent Hill 1 (aside from the weird walking controls) is how fake the gun shots sound... The same can be said for System Shock 2 (though thankfully there's a mod for it).
Capatcha:
˙˙˙ʎɐʍ ʇɐɥʇ pǝuɹnʇ pɐǝɥ ɹnoʎ ɥʇıʍ pɹǝıʍ ʞooן noʎ
Capatcha:
˙˙˙ʎɐʍ ʇɐɥʇ pǝuɹnʇ pɐǝɥ ɹnoʎ ɥʇıʍ pɹǝıʍ ʞooן noʎ
Spot on. Just Cause 2 did this wonderfully--the only gun that really felt weak was the assault rifle; even the starting pistol made a satisfying pew-pew noise, to say nothing of the glorious pounding of the revolver or minigun. The explosions were the the same way--they sounded perfect, and there was the added thrill of seeing a differently-shaped fireball depending on what you blew up.
Ooooh. Now I have to go play it some more.
Ooooh. Now I have to go play it some more.