Preferred type of player movement

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Malvineous
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Preferred type of player movement

Post by Malvineous »

Hi all,

One thing that's often bugged me about some sidescrollers is the inertia that's often applied to the player. Keens 1-3 suffered from this, which I found quite difficult to control - if I tried to jump long way and land on a single block, without fail Keen would land on the block and the inertia would carry him right off the edge (long after I'd let go of the movement keys) and he'd fall. This is the main reason why I find those jumping puzzles so difficult, because I find it really hard to land on those blocks without sliding right off. (Or over compensating and falling short.)

I'm curious as to what other people's opinions are of this. Keens 4-6 seemed to reduce this inertia quite a lot, and consequently I find them much easier to control.

Do others feel the same way? Is it easier to control when there is less inertia, or is it harder? Do you prefer the challenge of having to cope with this, or would you rather controls that weren't so frustrating???
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StupidBunny
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Post by StupidBunny »

I have played all the games enough that at this point I'm used to both kinds of movement, so I don't really have too much trouble. However, I know that the added inertia of the Keen 1-3 engine will screw me up sometimes, and the not-so-slippery movement of Keen 4-6 is probably more favorable for me.

Don't the old Mario games use the higher-inertia movement too? If I recall, Mario has a lot of inertia, which can make controlling him a bit of a challenge.
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Post by KeenRush »

I haven't really played many other side-scrollers than Keen, so I don't really remember anything about others or even know. But the movement of Keen 1-3 suits me the best and I've always found Keen to be much more difficult to control in 4-6. :crazy
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XkyRauh
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Post by XkyRauh »

Hmm. This one's tough for me, because there are aspects of both that I really like.

In Keen:Vorticons, I think it's crucial that Keen have a "wind-up" before his jumps. I like the way the jump physics work (gravity and weight of the Keen character).

In Keen:Galaxy, I like the "impossible pogo trick," and the way the pogo feels overall.

I guess if I had to have one or the other, I'd stick with Keen:Vorticons, because I think the deceleration and momentum are fun. :)
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Post by Genius314 »

Keens 1-3 suffered from this, which I found quite difficult to control - if I tried to jump long way and land on a single block, without fail Keen would land on the block and the inertia would carry him right off the edge
That's because you're supposed to keep going and jump over the next pit. You can't stop! :p

I think Keen 4-6 has the nicest engine in any platform game I've ever played.
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Post by Roobar »

Yeah I agree with Genius314.
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Malvineous
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Post by Malvineous »

Haha, I can't think quickly enough to keep going, I have to stop and then work out where to go next ;-)

Xky's point about the jump wind-up is interesting too - I found that a little annoying as well, because of the delay - when I press jump, I want to jump *now* :-)
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Post by Genius314 »

Malvineous wrote:Xky's point about the jump wind-up is interesting too - I found that a little annoying as well, because of the delay - when I press jump, I want to jump *now* :-)
That annoys me so much when I try to run from a Garg or a bullet... :dead
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Post by XkyRauh »

I always thought that was part of the balance between jumping and using the pogo--the pogo comes out faster and goes the same height as a full jump, but it's got (arguably) less control.

Also, if you're having trouble with the ice/slippery stuff, just use the pogo on it--for whatever reason, it ignores slickness, so all you have to worry about is controlling the pogo!

:)
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Post by Malvineous »

Which in itself is quite annoying, because if you're moving in one direction and you want to go the other way, when you press the arrow for the opposite direction Keen momentarily speeds up in the direction he was already moving, i.e. he goes a bit further the wrong way before slowing up and turning around...
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Post by XkyRauh »

Depends on how you do it... hehe. Wait for the bounce, turn the pogo off, hold back the other direction, and then turn the pogo back on before you hit the ground! ;)
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Post by jonnyspeight »

i used both ways, the original two-button firing on vorticons, and the spacebar firing on the rest
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Post by MortimerInBlack »

I think it depends on who you are. If the first platform game you played (or rather, the first one you really played a lot) uses type A, then you're "biased" towards the type A and probably find type B annoying.

But I think it's a fact that having inertia makes it more difficult to control/master.
The Viking II lander actually did land on a 'rock' on Mars.
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