Projectile Study #1

For trying to learn how to make impactful projectiles I am looking at multiple games and multiple genres to get an understanding how to make a good projectile system.

Falco - study source; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ221izS1bk

The stun from the bullet leaving the target unable to move for a small amount of time and seeing a small after affect considering the lack of damage.

This hit knocking the target off the ground a little and knocking them back a little.

The sound design being good.

Street Fighter VI - study source; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld3a2oiYOgc&t=15s

The hit having it when shielding it causes the defender to hold out for a bit longer.

When the hit lands on a non-shielding target because of the damage it deals you can feel the hit and the feedback from said hit. An actual feedback from the hit with a minor amount of time it lingers with it changing in form.

A weak hit of the same projectile form last for a short amount of time and acts on a short amount of time, a powerful hit lasting longer and feeling the impact more with the hit stop.

The hit even causing a non-blocking target to stumble back a little.

The sound design changing on a blocking opponent, non blocking opponent and even weak projectile form doing the same thing.

Street Fighter VI has a cool multiple hit projectile for Ryu and sure enough; it looks cool but I can see how something like that could get annoying after a while with it killing gameplay flow.

Ryu performs a charge move? It looks, cool and actually feels like he's powering up a shot that's going to power up.

When an opponent blocks the projectile you can feel the impact of the opponent trying to stop the hit, trying to fight off the projectile which is honestly cool. The projectile when the opponent is blocking even gives a slight push back!

The player firing off the projectile using Ryu has it where the footing/ stance of the attack actually changes.

After affect! Once the hit is done, it has a small practice affect it leaves behind once it's done! This is insanely smart to do! You can feel the power of the attack this way! Sure it can't damage the opponent but it helps sell the power of the hit!

Something else to note; the last hit an opponent performs seem to have a longer hit stop than the other attacks when finishing off an opponent. When doing so it feels like you're actually finishing off an opponent and feels quite cinematic for a fighting game.

The charged up projectile from Ryu is smaller, faster and brighter.

A light jab into a projectile with it being a smooth transition from a jab into projectile. I am wondering if I could do something similar.

When two projectiles hit; the collision shows a colored light show of the two colors mixing together and shows the original attack coming out the other side unscathed and charging towards the opponent!

To also note; the opponent using the projectile to trip up their opponent and force them to waste time dodging while they're charging up a faster/ more lethal version of the same hit. It is honestly clever and I never thought I'd see this kind of move being done in a fighting game outside of Smash.

Cup Head - Having actually playing the game study source; will add later

Cup Head has the worse feedback system for a projectile with little to no actual feedback for the damage that the projectile is dealing from weak to strong projectiles other than it's form and shape it takes up and even the sound design being off.

Ty the Tasman Tiger 4 - Having actually played the game and study source; will add later

The boomerangs giving no real feedback when hitting the enemies and no real responsiveness which fine but when the game feels, "meh" this is just a bore to watch go on.

Conclusion

A good projectile has these traits;

1 - Good hit stop

2 - Polished and refined details

3 - Feel the impact on the users side and the side of the person being hit

4 - Sound wise must change when dealing with the opponent in different states to signal to the player different info for different states of action.

5 - a push and pull with changing of positioning when doing so, the opponent must have a change of positioning even a little bit when blocking compared to a lot when not blocking.

6 - the attack should have an after effect or a responsive before hit like a flash.

7 - Powerful hits need wind up, even a small amount of wind up can go a long way.

8 - Each time the attack lands it must sound wise be responsive.

9 - Polish must have depth just like the mechanics.

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