It depends on the game but what do y’all prefer in 2D games? To me, taking contact dmg from enemies feels like thinking about them as environmental obstacles, while dmg only from enemy atks is more about situational awareness. Tho contact dmg requires less animation bc you don’t need as many atks 🤔 - ThreadSky

persona.bsky.social • 2 days ago

It depends on the game but what do y’all prefer in 2D games?

To me, taking contact dmg from enemies feels like thinking about them as environmental obstacles, while dmg only from enemy atks is more about situational awareness. Tho contact dmg requires less animation bc you don’t need as many atks 🤔

Reposted from AUTOMATON WEST

Ender Magnolia devs removed contact damage in response to player feedback: “It felt unconvincing to take damage just from bumping into an enemy”

automaton-media.com/en/news/ende...

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evilh.bsky.social•2 days ago

If there's lots of backtracking then it's annoying as it's a lot harder just to run past things. I image with no contact damage you have to be much clearer about what has a hitbox and when, for melee type enemies especially.

biggestsonicfan.bsky.social•2 days ago

Imagine if you didn't take damage in Super Mario Bros by bumping into an enemy...

phantomilian.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Super Mario Bros came out in 1985 however, I felt like this is a fact worth noting.

purifierunit37.bsky.social•2 days ago

MegaMan 3 definitely makes a compelling argument against contact damage because those Doc Robots brush up against you and cleave 1/3 or half your health while their projectiles do an understandable amount of damage

arone-start.bsky.social•1 day ago

Mostly a case by case deal imo. It makes sense in the play spaces of megaman or castlevania but you don't see a lot of raw contact damage in scrolling beatem ups so it depends on the desired experience of the game. Combat heavy and stubby limbs with contact damage would be harrowing.

arone-start.bsky.social•1 day ago

Though there's certainly times in Megaman it's kinda bullshit. Giant enemies like General in X4 when you don't know were the contact damage spot is. Took me ages to figure out I could walk under his feet without damage when he was flying.

bangtakeuchi.bsky.social•1 day ago

If I remember correctly, I was having major difficulty with Minoria because I kept parrying a boss’s attacks, only for her body to shift forward and count as another hitbox I couldn’t deal with. The more the combat asks of you, the less I think contact damage should be there.

baronvonjiggly.bsky.social•2 days ago

Depends on the kind of 2D game. It's more combat heavy then contact damage, I find to be kind of annoying. This is because accidentally bumping an enemy on attack swings sucks.

If it's more platform heavy, then contact damage to me is a must because enemies are part of the environment obstacles.

fyscuit.cafe•1 day ago

I don’t mind either way, but contact damage makes the game feel more platformy to me. Your position matters more and in general you feel less in control of the game.
Ender Lilies was veeery platformy so this is a bold decision from them 🤔

legionlx.bsky.social•1 day ago

Likewise, I think it depends on the game. I’ve been conditioned to contact damage from an early age (Sonic 3, Tomba 2, Klonoa) so I always assume that’s the default. Contact damage makes me (slightly) think more about my plan of attack and approach

ohfivepro.bsky.social•1 day ago

I'm easy either way tbh, depends on how the game's designed really

Rolling Thunder = contact damage, awesome game
Rolling Thunder 2 = no contact damage, awesome game

kimimi.bsky.social•2 days ago

I think at modern levels of detail it often depends on the enemy/setting. I can easily see why a bubbling knee-high glob of slime/giant flaming dragon is harmful to touch. But some robot/angry guy/large rock creature? If there's no visual tell it can feel unfair/inconsistent.

cosmo0.fr•1 day ago

Exactly.
I'd even add that it depends also on the game design. A platformer where you bop on ennemies or attack them from a certain distance (shoot, whip etc) lends itself to contact damage. Replace attacks with beat'em up style brawling and it suddenly feels unfair bc you're always close.

fudgeworth.bsky.social•1 day ago

The way I see it is this: if you need to physically fight enemies with a melee combat system, then it usually just feels unfair if touching the enemy hurts you and not them.
If you’re shooting enemies or platforming around them, then the whole point is to avoid them, in which case I’d say it’s fair

earlfriend.bsky.social•2 days ago

I think I prefer no contact damage by default, because it gives you the option to selectively incorporate enemies that have it. Gotta communicate that to players somehow, though.

Haven't played the game in question but it's a good design consideration. Fascinating that they made that adjustment!

iiotenki.bsky.social•1 day ago

If we're talking pure sidescrolling and not, say, a belt scroller, I feel it's harder to justify excluding contact damage since you only have so many ways to navigate and not having it can trivialize movement if not done well. But obviously there are games where that does work like Ninja Gaiden.

iiotenki.bsky.social•1 day ago

In those, I think the key is not only do enemies appropriately telegraph their attacks insofar as the NES can, but you're usually given ample space to react once you know what to expect. The birds suck, for example, but the first time you encounter them, they're on the other side of the screen.

beylasoul.bsky.social•2 days ago

Ender Lillies had it bad though. The main character's vulnerability was emphasized by having weak movement options, which never get to really competent dashes and the like. it felt bad a lot of the time

boredmanda.bsky.social•2 days ago

Personally I'm a fan of this compromise:
Knockback when colliding with enemies
&
Knockback + Damage when getting hit by their attacks (or if the enemy is made out of hazardous things)

phantomilian.bsky.social•21 hours ago

I'm fine with either, but perhaps in a game where the combat is built upon dodging and parrying, contact damage might be a bit unnecessary, if not overkill.

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