Acceleration/deceleration REQUIRED?!?!, Mario fangame wise

Okay, let me get this straight -- am I also led to conclude that in the case of Mario fangame attempts (platform wise) that in terms of our main targeted characters that have a lead role that acceleration/deceleration is required?!?! (I do understand that if that's the case, it can't be too much and it can't be too little)

As I said in my other topic, the next platforming project that I'm doing is in the early phases and I've been putting in animations for my main participants, but haven't considered doing the acceleration/deceleration aspect. Please don't tell me I have to go back to the drawing board on this front.

All right; help appreciated of course. Thanks.

Not sure I understand. You can make a fangame however you want. It doesn't have to follow any sort of guidelines at all really, just as long as it is fun to play. My first game didn't include acceleration or deceleration, but people apparently enjoyed it.

So no, it is not required, but it usually, though not always, makes the game a lot better.

Besides, it's not too much work to do program it.

*wipes his head*

Oh, phew -- that's a relief. All I know is that in case of platform installments you can't make the gameplay itself aggravating. Making sure of that on the next project.

it's really nice to have it, because ironically i find jumping harder to control if you start and stop on a dime as opposed to having inertia

but whatever

The only thing that a fangame needs is variable jumping

Anything else is fine

That's probably because regular video games train you to get used to this.

So playing a game without inertia takes a while to get used to.

Anyway, gradual acceleration, I think, is a better thing than instant acceleration. I'm more used to it as well.

Plus, like Giga Gamer said, it's not that hard to implement, but then again, I use Game Maker and not The Games Factory, so I wouldn't really know about that...

It isn't required, though it's definitely a plus.

Super Luigi Dreams did well without it.


If you do implement it (which is what I would personally recommend, as it gives a game a more advanced and "realistic" engine), please be careful to do the acceleration/deceleration right. If done incorrectly, it can make the controls tricky and the physics nonsensical. I found that one of the most obvious problems (to me) with Super Mario Stardust's engine was that when Mario's running and turns around, he doesn't slow down and then accelerate the other way, but instead goes instantly in the other direction at the same speed he was at before.

It's not necessary. It only makes the game feel more realistic physics-wise.

EDIT: Actually on a second thought, Grant summed up my thoughts.

This post has been edited by Ultramario on May 19 2008, 12:47 AM

Technically that's a lack of any acceleration programming where there should be, as opposed to incorrectly used acceleration.

I imagine incorrectly programmed acceleration would be one that made you feel like you were always on ice, or moving around on the moon, when it is obvious that you are neither in the arctic nor in outer space.

As someone said, most players are trained for acceleration in games, so adding it to your engine will make it feel much more natural to them.

Ah yes, I suppose you are right. I guess I worded my post faultily or something.

To be clearer, though, Super Mario Stardust does feature speeding up from a still position, and I'm sure it has slowing down to a still position as well. The described issue in its engine lies mainly or only in changing direction. So it may be sort of a scenario of "partial" implementation of an acceleration system, though the end result is still contradictions of laws of physics.

(I hope I'm not coming off as overly critical of that particular game or pointing it out as a bad example or something; it's just the most ready-to-mind example to me of a game containing that changing-direction acceleration problem (I think I have seen others too, though I can't remember them), although interestingly a lot of its major fans seem to completely miss this aspect of SMS's engine.)

haha i have no idea how SMS's was implemented, because the usual way of adding (right)/subtracting (left) from an "offset" value includes the side effect of forcing you to slow down and reaccelerate when you change directions