I’ve been working on my 3D platformer, but when people play test it they find the actual platforming part hard to control. I am using the thirdpersoncontroller from unity assets - is there a guide or a book out there that walks you through fair level design and player mechanics? I don’t even know what I should be targeting

  • flashmedallion@lemmy.nz
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    1 year ago

    Golden rule of platforming is that its about timing.

    Don’t fall into the trap of making your “hard” jumps the ones where you have to perfectly jump at the last possible frame and then barely scrape your toe on the other ledge to make the jump.

    It’s about consistent jumps, predictable arcs, and intuitive falls, and then slowly adding pressure to the player to make them correctly execute where to land while correctly predicting when they’ll land.

    Your levers are:

    • Technical execution - vary the complexity of command chains (eg jump, then dash, then swoop)
    • Accuracy of prediction - vary the window of time that the correct movement will land safely (eg platform moves left and right on a loop)
    • Finite preparation - limit the time they can plan their next move, or the info they have of what’s ahead (eg a series of platforma crumble when you step on them, or lower the visibility distance in a section)

    So if people say it controls bad it’s because they’re not being tested on these things. If you’re looking for help in the actual movement, you want to think in terms of dampening and acceleration - how quickly does the character become predicable to control from a standing start? The longer they take to speed up and slow down, the higher you are setting your second two levers .