Video: Understanding why your game 'feels' bad (and how to fix it)

Let's talk about "game feel" for a moment.

It's a nebulous concept, to be sure, but at GDC Europe 2015 indie developer Nicolae Berbece tried to break it down as more than just "that thing that makes you say 'this game feels great, but I don't know why,'" and offer practical steps that you can follow to make your game feel great.

As an example, Berbece walks through an underwhelming interactive in-game death animation, asking members of the audience to play the game as he takes practical steps to amp up the "feel" of the animation.

From the first lines of code, to asset animations and sound effects creation up to screen shake, particles, displacement maps, composition and polish, Berbece offers a step-by-step guide to making your death animations (or any aspect of your game) "feel" more satisfying to the player.

It was a great, succinct talk, and you can now watch the whole thing for free over on the GDC Vault .

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vaultand its new YouTube channeloffers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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