Punch and impact
Learning paths through this topic
Auto-walking to a marker should hand control back the moment the player or the world calls
Long walks across a big map are dull, so many adventures let the hero walk itself to a quest marker. It only feels good if touching the stick takes over at once, a monster stops it, and it can pick up again afterwards without starting over. Here is the rule set and the path walk that does not stutter at corners.
A spell that fizzles because the stick twitched, or can be cast while running away
Spells with a casting time ask the hero to stand still. If any stick movement cancels the cast, light touches or a controller that does not rest at zero ruin the spell. If nothing cancels, there is no cost. Here is a rule that cancels on real movement only, with a short grace at the start.
A charged attack where a quick tap still works and the levels are easy to feel
Holding a button to power up a strike is satisfying, but a short press must still give a normal attack, the glow must not flash on every tap, and a long frame must not skip a level cue. Here is a small timing table and the three details that make a charge easy to read.
The hero shakes at the spot you clicked, or walks forever into a wall
Walking toward a clicked point seems simple until the hero overshoots and jitters back and forth, or the point lies behind something solid and the walk never ends. Here is how to arrive cleanly and how to notice that the walk has stopped making progress.
Clicking a person makes the hero walk into them instead of stopping to talk
With point-and-click walking, the path leads to the spot you clicked, but a villager, a statue or a big gate should end the walk at a polite distance, facing it. And a target that wanders must not make the hero recalculate its route every frame. Here is where to cut the route.
A free-roaming companion that keeps up without jittering or sticking to your heels
A helper that walks exactly your speed falls behind at the first obstacle, one that always runs at the target jitters back and forth when you stand still, and one that is far away must not stay lost. Here is a way to catch up smoothly, settle quietly and give up fairly.
Skipping a cutscene leaves characters in the wrong place or the story flags unset
Scripted walks bring the party into a room and start the next scene. A player who skips them should land exactly where they would have ended up, with every door opened and every flag set. Frame-by-frame movement makes that impossible. Here is how to describe the script so that any moment, including the end, can be computed directly.
Walking through a door sends you straight back, or lets you walk during the fade
A new room puts the hero on the doorstep of another door, and the game promptly sends it back. Or the screen fades and the player can still walk into a trap. Both come from one missing idea about when a door may fire. Here is the sequence of phases and what it blocks.
The hero gets caught on the frame of a door it is clearly aimed at
A door is one tile wide and a hero is almost as wide, so walking in a little off centre stops you cold against the frame. Players blame themselves and press harder. Here is a gentle sideways help that opens the way, and how far it may go before it becomes cheating.
Random battles that come in clumps right after the last one, or never at all
A flat chance every step produces two fights in a row and then a long peaceful stretch, and players feel the game is either mean or broken. Counting steps instead of time matters too. Here is how to give a breather after a battle, let the danger build, and guarantee an end to the calm.
Heavy armor should make the dodge roll shorter step by step, not fall off a cliff
Role-playing games let you carry more and more, and the way the hero moves should tell you how heavy the pack is. Hard tiers make players weigh their gear to the last gram. A smooth curve rewards every choice a little. Here is a table and the way to read in between.
Fall damage that is fair: small drops free, rolling softens, never a surprise death
Adventure maps are full of ledges, and a fall that hurts for a one-tile hop feels petty while one that does nothing makes cliffs pointless. Measuring from the wrong point also punishes jumping up. Here is where to measure from, what to forgive, and what a well-timed roll does.