"Sense of speed" - WTF?

[Fake Boris]

Why is it that so many reviewers will write about a racing game's "sense of speed"?

Isn't that, programming-wise, a case of simply having the background defile faster anyway?

[Kassiopeia]

I'd interpret it as a flow of gameplay, the pace at which stuff happens. In a very speedy game, events are thrown at you all the time, like in some shooters where you've barely finished one firefight when the next one already erupts.

[Fake Boris]

Oh wait, I meant to talk about racing games.

[Kassiopeia]

Oh. Then I'm pretty much as miffed as you are, to be honest.

[Verto]

Re: "Sense of speed" - WTF?

Originally posted by Oncle Boris
Why is it that so many reviewers will write about a racing game's "sense of speed"?

Isn't that, programming-wise, a case of simply having the background defile faster anyway?

In some games, you can be going 110 MPH and "feel" like you are really going half that; in others, such as Need for Speed Underground, there is a good sense of speed - everything around you begins to blur, making it harder to see and react to things as they come up.

[DrSpike]

There definitely is a sense of speed that can be discerned. It's partly graphical, and partly gameplay I'd say.

[Fake Boris]

Yeah, I agree that it's something you can feel, but why is it that some would not get it right? Isn't it easy to just blur the background and make it move faster?

[DrSpike]

Do you remember Motorhead? You felt like you were travelling at 1000 miles per hour in that game, and it wasn't just whizzy graphics.

[child of Thor]

And on the other scale you had games like 'Baja Buggies' or 'Pitstop' that even when the speedometer said you were doing a few hundred kph, it felt more 20kph

[vovan]

Originally posted by Oncle Boris
Yeah, I agree that it's something you can feel, but why is it that some would not get it right? Isn't it easy to just blur the background and make it move faster?

I don't think it is simply a matter of graphics though. I think it is also largely affected by how the game controls. The background can be blurry and fly by at incredible rates, but I think if to control the car, you only have to hit a turn button like two three times per second, and if you don't have to correct your moves, oversteers, etc, you won't feel the speed. On the other hand, if as you speed up in the game, you also have to speed up as far as hitting the buttons is concerned, then you would have a better sense of speed, and would enjoy the game more. IMO.

[Fake Boris]

Originally posted by DrSpike
Do you remember Motorhead? You felt like you were travelling at 1000 miles per hour in that game, and it wasn't just whizzy graphics.

The name reminds me of something but I've never tried it.

[Fake Boris]

Originally posted by vovan


I don't think it is simply a matter of graphics though. I think it is also largely affected by how the game controls. The background can be blurry and fly by at incredible rates, but I think if to control the car, you only have to hit a turn button like two three times per second, and if you don't have to correct your moves, oversteers, etc, you won't feel the speed. On the other hand, if as you speed up in the game, you also have to speed up as far as hitting the buttons is concerned, then you would have a better sense of speed, and would enjoy the game more. IMO.

Hmmm... so this would mean that creating a genuine sense of speed is really a challenge...

[vovan]

Originally posted by Oncle Boris
The name reminds me of something but I've never tried it.

Don't know about you, but the name reminds me of this.

Originally posted by Oncle Boris
Hmmm... so this would mean that creating a genuine sense of speed is really a challenge...

Well, the way I figure it, if it wasn't a challenge, then every idiot who got their game to be published would get it right. But there are way too many counter-examples in the real world, unfortunately.

[DrSpike]

Indeed. It's easy to say the game gives a sense of speed, but less easy to make it that way on purpose.