"Operational compensation?"
The group looked at Lin Lixin writing this word on the whiteboard, and they were all somewhat puzzled.
This seems to be a term I've never heard of before.
"That's right, it can help us achieve a relatively perfect platform jump control system."
Lin Lixin smiled and drew two platforms spaced apart on the whiteboard.
Then he asked a completely unrelated question, "Have you ever watched cartoons?"
The group exchanged bewildered glances, until Will finally broke the silence.
" Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Tom and Jerry? Of course I've seen them."
"That's right!"
Lin Lixin snapped his fingers, pulled out a videotape titled " Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote," and pushed it into the projector.
"The idea for this piece comes from the classic character of the 'Wile E. Coyote'."
He adjusted the animation speed and fast-forwarded to the scene where the Wile E. Coyote was getting ready to chase the Road Runner.
The two ran swiftly along the cliff, and just as they were about to reach the edge, the Road Runner suddenly stopped.
Meanwhile, the Wile E. Coyote was propelled straight off the cliff by the powerful inertia.
"Stop! This is it!"
Lin Lixin reacted quickly and captured the moment.
Will stared at the screen, lost in thought.
Lin Lixin didn't give them much time to think and gave them the answer directly.
"I call this Coyote Time." The Wile E. Coyote can still run in the air and even perform various actions for a short period after it bursts off the platform. Don't you think this is perfect for video games?"
"Ah, I understand!"
Will suddenly realized, and combining what Lin Lixin had just said about the "perfect jump," he had a clue. "You mean—allowing the player to still be able to jump for a period of time after they leave the platform?"
"Eactly!"
Lin Lixin nodded.
Even in the era of booming video games, side-scrolling jumping, one of the earliest game genres, has not remained stagnant.
Every now and then, some excellent designs emerge, giving this seemingly ancient genre a renewed vitality.
The best of these is clearly " Celeste ".
"From the player's perspective, players always like to make their actions as efficient as possible."
If damage output fluctuates, then everyone will naturally strive to maximize damage.
If the jump distance changes, players will naturally try their best to jump further and to the limit.
This stems from an instinctual need for self-actualization.
Coyote Time is an optimization specifically designed to address this instinct, and can be considered the underlying logic of modern platform jumping.
Players tend to try to jump at the last minute to maximize their jump distance.
"And in this process, the closer you get to the limit, the easier it is to make mistakes."
As players get closer to the edge of the platform, the time allotted for both players and the system to react becomes shorter.
The detection range continues until the character has already left the ground.
In traditional video games, jumping can only be performed on the ground.
After all, no one wants their character to suddenly shoot upwards out of thin air.
Unless it's a deliberately designed double jump.
This means that at the program implementation level, the jump function always needs a pre-judgment.
That is, whether the character lands on the ground.
This condition is naturally not met when the player slightly veers off the platform.
This means that even if a character only moves one pixel, it is impossible for them to jump.
From a purely rational perspective, it is certainly correct to say that one cannot jump outside of a platform.
"I know! We need to put the player experience at the core of our design, not just pure theory!"
Will took the initiative to speak.
He also grew somewhat after designing " Momotaro Dentetsu ".
Will is currently working hard to find a balance between absolute science and the gaming experience.
"That's right! If a player's jump fails to execute for this reason, the sense of frustration is extremely intense."
Rather than attributing the error to a mistake, many people would attribute it to a problem with the game's design, or even suspect a bug.
Because pressing the jump button is a given fact for the player.
"We can give players about 100 milliseconds of reaction time."
"Hmm... I think we could add a buffer period before landing."
Sid Meier broke the long silence and succinctly offered a different perspective, "I remember a similar design in the King of Fighters, right? It would start reading the player's input well before a special move ended."
It has to be said that seniority really does make one more experienced; their thinking is much more flexible.
Lin Lixin laughed and said, "Right! Of course, besides that, we can also do a reverse Coyote Time."
He turned around and drew a dotted line on the whiteboard to represent the character's path.
One end of the dotted line extends slightly beyond the end of the starting platform.
The other end is located a little bit in front of the platform opposite.
"Platform suction: when a player is almost at the other side, we provide a small compensation so that they can still reach the other platform."
There's no need to say anything more.
These three elements combined are enough to create an unprecedented, ultimate jumping experience.
Lin Lixin's statement about a "perfect jump controller" is no exaggeration.
Even Nintendo's flagship title, * Super Mario Bros.*, doesn't have this level of controller complexity.
"However—" After a long silence, Will spoke again, "Wouldn't this make level design completely effortless?"
According to Lin Lixin's proposed Castlevania game, it is not a simple game like Super Mario that is suitable for all ages.
Instead, it's hardcore games like Fire Emblem, aimed at hardcore gamers.
Overly optimizing the controls can actually diminish the enjoyment of the game itself.
Just like in Fire Emblem, there are no explicit hints about the enemy's next move or whether an attack will hit or trigger a critical hit.
Too much of a good thing is bad.
"Mr. Will, I think it's probably because this is an action game, not a platforming game."
Kojima adjusted his glasses and gave his opinion in fluent English.
Lin Lixin nodded.
"That's right, this is an action game. Ideally, I don't want players to focus any extra attention on basic elements like jumping; the challenge should be in the combat."
"Monster design, equipment combinations, ability selection—I hope players will focus their energy on these aspects."
The less a company wants players to focus on jumping, the more Kung-Fu Master they will need to put into the jumping itself.
Perfection doesn't mean overshadowing the main subject.
It is precisely because of its perfection that the jump itself subtly and naturally constitutes the player's fundamental experience.