Halo: Combat Evolved and Game Feel
Real Time Control:
There are several individual mechanics in Halo: Combat Evolved. They include:
- Walking
- Looking
- Jumping
- Switching Weapons
- Reloading
- Shooting
- Melee Attack
- Throwing a grenade
- Switching Grenades
- Turning on/off your flashlight
- Scoping in with your weapon
- Crouching
In all these cases, there is always a continuity of control (response time to a button press is less than 100 ms) with the exception of some mechanics where there is a temporary loss of ability to perform certain other mechanics (a lockout period). These are as follows:
- In the “melee attack” mechanic, there is a temporary loss of control for shooting and throwing a grenade.
- In the “throwing a grenade” mechanic, there is a temporary loss of control for shooting and performing a melee attack
- In the “switching weapons” mechanic, there is a temporary loss of control for shooting, performing a melee attack, and throwing a grenade.
- In the “jumping” mechanic, there is a temporary loss of control for moving.
However, in all these mechanics, there is a never a complete lockout period for all other mechanics. For example, when you melee, you are still able to control where you walk and look, and when you jump, you are still able to shoot, reload, etc. Thus, despite there being some aspects of the player’s correction cycle being temporarily broken, the player still has the feeling of real time control as they can still perform other mechanics. In considering all the mechanics together, Halo: Combat Evolved has real-time control.
Spatial Simulation
Meanwhile, Halo: Combat Evolved also demonstrates spatial simulation as you are able to control your avatar and interact with various in-game objects such as buildings, the ground, enemies, and vehicles through collisions and other interactions. The player is able to control any of these in real-time interactions using the mechanics listed above.
Polish
Halo: Combat Evolved also has polish. Things such as muzzle flare particle effects when shooting, blood splatter animations when hitting enemies, animations for both avatar and enemies interactions, and sound effects for vehicles make the game world seem real and alive. Any of these polish effects may be triggered by the player or other in-game elements as they interact with each other.
Comments are closed.