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[LuisAnton]

In this classic article from Gamasutra http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130848/how_to_prototype_a_game_in_under_7_.php?page=3, Kyle Gabler et al tells us to 'Make it Juicy' (your game, that is). Petri Purho also talks about juiciness in his blog. But they just say this:

Make it Juicy!

“Juice” was our wet little term for constant and bountiful user feedback. A juicy game element will bounce and wiggle and squirt and make a little noise when you touch it. A juicy game feels alive and responds to everything you do – tons of cascading action and response for minimal user input. It makes the player feel powerful and in control of the world, and it coaches them through the rules of the game by constantly letting them know on a per-interaction basis how they are doing.

Some juicy examples you may have experienced might include:

Alien Hominid – enemies exploding and flinging blood to an almost unjustified extent
Mario Bros. – bouncing through a room full of coins, blinging with satisfaction
Pachinko - a never-ending gush of balls all under your control
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo – animation and sprites abound on multiple chains

Now... PopCap is a master of Juiciness - games like Peggle are an Ode to Juice, where every element emits flashes and sounds that create a constant feedback.

I've been looking for a good read about all this: the design of visual and auditive feedback in video games, to no avail. I guess it goes deep into the psychologic side of games, mixed with a big part of design.

I'm currently developing a game that is simple enough to allow me to experiment with feedback. I'm making things pop, grow, flash, move, rotate... I guess it's all about immediacy and attractiveness. But I would like to know more about this. Do you know any good read? Or what kind of details do you take care of when designing feedback?

[Ninja Dodo]

I would say look to animation theory and Disney's 12 principles: arcs, timing, squash & stretch and follow-through especially (but all of them really).

Also sound design (which personally I don't understand very much, but I can appreciate its importance).

I was having a look at Diablo recently and why it feels satisfying to play and (beyond the compulsive grinding aspect) those were two things that stood out. I wouldn't say it has very elaborate animation exactly, but it puts visual feedback where it counts.

[Capntastic]

I was having a look at Diablo recently

Are you talking about the hour long art talk they gave?  It's very interesting how a lot of the little details and touches I noticed from the beta had huge currents of thought going on behind them.  The sound, likewise, also adds a good deal to every little thing 'making sense'.  The elemental effect sounds instantly tell you what they're doing, be it electrocuting or sizzling an enemy, etc.  Enemies casting spells will cackle while they're just coming onto the screen, letting you know they're doing sneaky things.  A lot of games do this, because a lot of this is intuitive-- but it's when you truly understand on deeper levels how all of this unconscious mental feedback works-- that you can take control of it and make it perfect.

[Ninja Dodo]

Actually, no... but I am definitely watching that lecture now.

[Ninja Dodo]

That was rather good (the lecture).

I'm surprised no one else has posted any links or thoughts.

Anyway, if you want to really dig into animation theory (and practice) I highly recommend The Illusion of Life (Thomas & Johnston) and The Animator's Survival Kit (Williams). As far as *juicy* visual feedback goes a lot could be learned from that.

[LuisAnton]

I'm surprised there's no more... feedback, too. It's a quite an interesting subject! But I fear that most developers do it just following their instinct!

I knew about animation principles, thank you a lot for the link. Let me contribute with a video. While not very deep, it's quite dynamic and summarized



But this post about Darkstalkers sprites is much more detailed http://art-eater.com/2010/07/test-1-darkstalkers/ I remember reading a similar one about Street Fighter, but this one is great.

I guess I could apply those principles to more mundane things like scores, completed goals and failures. Particles, ingame messages and other visual feedback may easily follow those animation principles in order to look more appealing.

Sound is a different beast : )

[Ninja Dodo]

Yeah, the link was just the first thing that came up on Google that seemed to have a half-decent description. The Darkstalkers article gives a good overview, but if you want the definitive explanation you should read those two books.

I'm hoping to learn more about sound in future cause I feel it's really a big gap in my understanding of making games. I've been trying to read up on it though (and make some feeble attempts at sound on my own projects).

This seems interesting: http://www.soundingames.com/

Also: http://www.gameaudiopodcast.com/ (only listened to one episode so far but seems good)

[LuisAnton]

Fortunately one of my colleages masters sound and music in a way that amazes me (http://israelcastro.es)

But if someone is interested, some basic understanding of scales, mayor, minor and seventh chords may do wonders in auditive feedback :D

[Ashkin]

I love the concept of juiciness. Thanks for the article, it's good to put a name to that thing that just makes a game FEEL right. I think that the best thing you can do is look at examples of other games- I'm not sure of any that have a major focus on juiciness (my mind is just clogged with Puzzlejuice), but someone should be able to recommend some.

[Azure Lazuline]

The first things that comes to mind are all first-party Nintendo games. If I had to choose one, I'd say to check out Super Mario Galaxy. Even things as simple as entering the level-select menu or selecting a star feel really satisfying.

[zovirl]

Steve Swink's book Game Feel might be of interest, he has good analysis of why the movement feels good in Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter, etc. I don't recall the book spending on a lot of time on flashy/blingy feedback though.

[vinheim3]

A juicy game element will bounce and wiggle and squirt and make a little noise when you touch it.

[SHilbert]

I don't have anything to offer to read, but I would spend some time looking at arcade games. Arcades are an environment where the game with the flashiest attract mode pulls in the most customers, so there's a natural evolution towards "juicier" games. I specifically suggest relatively modern Japanese arcade games (like fighting games or scrolling shooters), since (1) relatively modern games have the benefit of hardware that's capable of especially fancy effects, and (2) to my knowledge Japan is one of the only places where there's still an arcade industry to speak of, so you'll find more modern arcade games.

Japan also has that whole tradition of orgiastic visual effects from anime, which helps.

[SHilbert]

The first things that comes to mind are all first-party Nintendo games. If I had to choose one, I'd say to check out Super Mario Galaxy. Even things as simple as entering the level-select menu or selecting a star feel really satisfying.

Seconding this.

Also, I'm not much of audio person, but this reminds me: music theory contains a lot of knowledge about the emotional effect of sound, which is what you're going for... For example, major chords sound happy. Super Mario Bros.' sound effects are all in C major, making the player feel happy. There's about a billion times more detail on that here: http://www.losdoggies.com/archives/1302

[Udderdude]

If you're going to add overwhelming visual stimulus, it's better to keep it to parts of the game where the player isn't expected to be doing much.  Otherwise, it just gets in the way of the game and clutters up the screen, making it hard to see what's going on.

Good examples :

Mario Bros. – bouncing through a room full of coins, blinging with satisfaction

The small parts of the game where you do get to collect a lot of coins are usually bonus areas with little to no enemies to get in your way of collecting them.

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo – animation and sprites abound on multiple chains

The extensive chain clear animations are your reward for getting a large chain, and while it's going on, you don't have to do anything but watch it happen.

Bad examples :

Alien Hominid – enemies exploding and flinging blood to an almost unjustified extent

The constant explosions and shit flying around the screen just get in the way and make it hard to see what's going on.

Pachinko - a never-ending gush of balls all under your control

It's difficult to control them all, and the player can feel overwhelmed.

[Sir Wolf]

I tried to find some rules or policies regarding resurrecting old topics, but couldn't find any. I was browsing through old threads (darn, there is some really interesting stuff down there), found this, and it seems to me friction is very relevant to this topic.

I've been looking for a good read about all this -- Do you know any good read?

Well, that link right there. I really suggest you to check it out. It's a rather long read, but I think it's well worth the time. It's maybe a little tangential, as it's not purely about visual and auditive feedback, but I feel it's relevant enough to be told about here.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

uh, this is tigsource, posting in a 1 month old thread is not "resurrecting"

anyway i don't like the term juiciness at all but i understand what it means and am all for it; usually it's just called sensory feedback. i feel like most of the reason a game feels amateur or pro has to do with differences in sensory feedback, not differences in game quality or even graphics quality

[RabidFrog]

uh, this is tigsource, posting in a 1 month old thread is not "resurrecting"

anyway i don't like the term juiciness at all but i understand what it means and am all for it; usually it's just called sensory feedback. i feel like most of the reason a game feels amateur or pro has to do with differences in sensory feedback, not differences in game quality or even graphics quality

I just don't like the term "juiciness"

I think its reinventing the term "higher production values"

[Ninja Dodo]

Something can have high production values and be really static though. I think "feedback" is accurate. A game that reacts to the player can feel much more alive and believable than something really detailed that just sits there.

Creating good feedback is a lot of work but you get a lot more mileage out of it than simply adding more stuff.