Fix boring gameplay

I don't know if there's really an answer to my question, it's a shot in the dark I guess.

I've made a game, all the mechanics are working, but the gameplay just doesn't feel right; I tried stripping it down to the basic gameplay, still doesn't feel right. It feels sluggish and boring.

At this point, I just don't know how they do it, those people who make games with quick, energetic gameplay (real gamey games).

Is there something I'm missing?
I'd appreciate any help

 

I guess when I was writing this, I was thinking of my problem as a phenomenon, like the uncanny valley phenomenon in 3d characters that endeavour to be photo real. I thought maybe it was a wall developers sometimes run into, and there was a logic or methodology that could be used when tweaking game mechanics.

My problem is mostly with movement, it's good on the keyboard, but on touch screen, it's sluggish.

I was hoping someone who's made some of these smooth, quick, responsive games, could share some pointers on how to make a gameplay focused game, theories that can be applied to any arcade games.

 

The first thing anyone is going to ask is, what kind of game? You haven't really given enough information for anyone to comment usefully.

 

There is a bit of a user input delay on touch screens if I'm not mistaken.

 

Maybe get some friends/family to playtest it? There might be something that they find that could help point out the problem that you seem to be having.

EDIT: Didn't see your 2nd post! Could you go into more detail in what you mean by sluggish? Is there a high latency between the touch and action, or is it some other issue? If you are not sure what the problem is, maybe my original post would help!

 

It's one of those bullet hell types; so the the PC's movement is very important , it's got to be smooth, quick, and just fun, all on its own, without other functionality, and obviously the NPCs who are shooting at you need to move well too, and increase speed over time to give the player a challenge.

My problem, I don't ever feel a sense of urgency, there's no danger, things in the game are moving fast enough, but they feel slow and boring. If I increase speed any more, it gets too hard and things start to go through colliders.

The movement lag on touch screen is at trivial levels, but I don't get that feel of finely tuned gameplay, like in Platinum games. I don't know, my game doesn't have energy, it's not exiting, it feels mechanical; maybe I should look into Tweens?

I'm starting to think that this phenomenon (I'm calling this a phenomenon) is what separates game devs from people who can just write code, like a rendering by a machine and a painting.

 

One thing you want to be aware of is that the more you play the game you are making, the easier it is going to feel to you. If you constantly tweak the game so it feels 'difficult enough' for you, likely what you are actually doing is over-tuning it, and making it unplayable.

Give it to someone else to play. Give it to loads of other people to play. Try to give it to a bunch of people who play games at different levels. Don't be afraid to give it to people who don't play that type of game very often (if at all). Then collect the feedback from those people and tweak your game accordingly from there.

 

If it's a bullet hell, maybe try messing around with different types of bullet patterns or enemies instead of just scaling up the speed? Keep on trying to play around with different parts of your mechanics, and definitely try to get some people to playtest it! Sometimes your playtester might bring up a point you haven't thought of before. Also, the sense of urgency you are looking for might be in the audio or visuals. Mechanics alone can't make someone feel specific emotions.

I'm not sure how many games you have worked on in the past, but being able to make a game that contains the feeling and mechanics you exactly want takes A LOT of practice. Try to keep your scope small and get as much feedback as you can to refine your mechanics!

 

If you want the troof, I'll tell you the troof. I have to play it, first, though.

 

post a screenshot.

 

What player feedback do you have? That can have a massive impact on the sense of urgency. I play the marvel puzzle quest game, I also tried a match 3 RPG which had a much tougher AI & more in depth gameplay but I dropped it as matching stuff, especially power ups & 5 items etc, had no feedback that made it feel special. All the items just seemed to match & disappear whereas the Marvel one has screen shakes, flashes etc so it just feels more awesome.

Another example, we are paper play testing a mini game & simulating recharge times before the next action. Every x-seconds dice were rolled to see if you were detected. There was no urgency, players took their time making decisions. We then hid the dice roll from the player & played with the dice so there was a constant sound of the dice. Players then said they felt some urgency as they didn't know how many dice were left to roll, when they were being rolled for real etc.

So, look at your feedback: screen effects, sound (faster sounds with a beat/bass line can get the heart beating faster) etc

 

I'm using primitives, so screenshots probably won't help explain my problem any better, my game has no sound, no effects. I probably should have mentioned this.

I'm going to try adding feedback, and see if that fixes my problem.

I thought that I had to finish and polish the mechanics, get the gameplay to feel right before I added the art.

I'm gonna try to make the game pretty and see if this makes it play better.

Thanks for the help everybody

 

Part of the strength of a Game development community is that you have access to people here that can understand what a blocked-in level is supposed to represent. Save yourself some time and post some visuals- it certainly can't get you farther from a solution.

I'm surprised nobody has said anything about adding juice. Making your game responsive can go a long way to making things feel better.

 

okay a bullet hell. Look at this boss battle, you got red bullets, blue bullets, laser-beam, saw blades, rockets, plants start mixing up the pattern, I'd say its more about the boss battles. The regular enemies are kind of easy/boring. in 3 minutes the boss battle goes crazy

 

@LMan thanks

I believe Juice, is, what I was lacking in my game.

 

These are actually really good, I watched both of them, it really explained why I hate so many games and can't explain why. They just weren't giving me enough feedback!

 

Wow, can't believe I haven't run into this term before! It really sums up that extra bit of visual and audio polish I've been wanting to add to my games. Already looked into a couple videos about it and it's helped quite a bit!

 

I've been doing game design for about 11 years now (blizzard and riot games specifically).

If you're interested, I think a few posts on my blog might be what you need:

http://www.xelnath.com

Take a look at the "Learning from my Past" lecture series.

 

Audio can play a huge role. Something organic and primal.
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/91436

 

Good gameplay is really more of a talent than a skill.

I would suggest relying on playtester for feedback.

 

Maybe try add some form of adversary like a really tough enemy what kind of game is it i could better aid you in this common problem that happens to us all .Also it may feel boring because you have been testing it and playing a lot through development which can be quite draining on the experience maybe give it to a friend or stranger to play and get feedback also i found keeping ego in check will help when making games a lot i always try make it better and better but have come to terms with my limits which is a good thing cause you can work around those limits and add some unique features this way try look at the over all game play say for example movement this is a basic motion we all expect to work fine why not make it harder to move around for player so makes getting from point a to b more of an accomplishment i hope this helps a little making a game fun is the hardest part of making games friend its easy to learn how to make and how code etc its actually using what you learn in a way to challenge the player is the true mastery of the art form look at games like dark souls.

 

I don't think anyone can answer this question in just a forum post. If they could then you'd have only incredible games in the world - and that isn't the case.

Overall though I think the best direction for you is to learn about design.

Just keep putting yourself in the position to curate and critique and do a lot of reading and watch a lot of critique videos.

Play a lot of games as a designer, not as a player.

There are A LOT of sources to learn from on YouTube, Ted Talks, various Art Expo's, and etc. Consume it all and you should find yourself at least making some better products.