kasdeya
when I call a game “over-juiced” this is the type of shit that I’m talking about
Sep 18, 2025 at 5:10amWeb
Show threadkasdeyaSep 18, 2025

I think a really good rule of thumb for too much juice is: pause the video at any frame and measure how long it takes for you to identify:

  • where the player is
  • how big the player’s hitbox is
  • whether or not the player is attacking
  • whether or not the player is taking damage
  • which directions the player can safely move to without taking damage

if you can’t tell all of these things almost instantaneously then the game is too juiced

Show threadkasdeyaSep 18, 2025

for reference, here’s a screenshot from Doom (1993) (the good one). notice how your eyes are instantly drawn to the zombie shotgunners and imps, because they’re the most relevant things for you to be looking at. notice how quickly and easily you can identify everything that’s happening in this picture just from a glance

maybe I’m biased because I’ve played a fuckton of Doom (1993) (the good one) but I think that the visual style of Doom (1993) (the good one) is very visually appealing, very stylish, and most importantly very very clear at a glance

Show threadBiscuits of DeathSep 18, 2025
@kasdeya doom is so cool! I love it. I haven't played the original in a long time. I forgot if this is your mastodon or pixelfed. I haven't been on in a long time.
Show threadeli (ˈe̝ːli), vampire kitsuneSep 18, 2025

@kasdeya i think visual clarity is becoming increasingly devalued as indie/AA studios try to make their game stand out in the sea of saturation. on one hand, i appreciate that developers are valuing the impact of player action but i think there are other ways to do it that don’t sacrifice visual clarity. techniques like hitstop, exaggerated animations, and good audio design go a really long way in this department without flooding the screen with 76 simultaneous particle emitters.

i wonder if some of it isn’t also in line with the high-adrenaline gameplay that a lot of them are going for – i find that a game can sell a really impactful action if its given time to do so. i know it’s possible to do in a fast game though – for example, the ko effect in smash ultimate: sidechaining or lowering the game volume in combination with an animation with heavy anticipation and time slow/stop on impact with a pronounced sound effect. this same technique is used for the entire match but it’s much, much subtler until the (usually) very last hit.

Show threadtempestSep 18, 2025

@kasdeya we feel like some of this may be a preference thing, like we haven't played this game so we obviously don't know what all the effects are doing but this seems readable

like it's zoomed in a bit tighter than we want if we're going to be expected to see things coming and navigate a space, but that's probably just for the promo stuff

. . . but also we're very used to this style so we're being benefited by familiarity, and we think there's a lot of good utility in being able to tone things down if it's hard to follow because that familiarity won't be universal, even within a target audience