Poor quality horn

Quite often, beginner animators make two mistakes here – they make a too-detailed horn with many extra bones or vice versa – it is not detailed enough. The bones and the horn as a whole must be thought out in advance. For example, a hairpin does not need to create an additional bone. The exception is if you plan to use it in the animation – for example, the character will remove it from the hair. If it simply serves as an element of decoration on the hair, tie it to the prominent bone of the hair. This is a relatively simple rule, but only some follow it. You can continue here for a long time because the topic of the horn for the character is very vast. It should be examined in more detail in a separate article.

Too detailed mesh

This is one of the most common mistakes animators make. Often, beginners must pay more attention to the mesh without thinking it through. Instead, they make too many vertices, which significantly complicates the animation process because, depending on the situation, each of these vertices must be assigned the influence of bones, or each must be deformed in the animation process takes a lot of time. We have already discussed the mesh issue in more detail in the previous article, but it is worth reminding you that there is no clear and direct rule for creating a mesh for this or that object. It all depends on how exactly you plan to animate this object. It is important to remember that the most detailed mesh / the highest number of vertices will have the part with folds (elbow on the blouse, curl of hair, etc.)

Hierarchy

It is worth following her. After finishing work on the project, unnecessary slots, attachments, etc., are often kept. And sometimes, some places remain unlinked to bones. It is necessary to remove unnecessary empty spaces because our task is to make high-quality animation and follow the order in the hierarchy.

Constraints

The spine has three types of conditions- Path/Transform/IK. Often, animators neglect them because sometimes it is easier to achieve the desired effect in other ways. However, why pay more attention to the constraints from the start and save yourself considerable time in the future? The only point is that they should be used sparingly because they significantly affect the weight of the export files.

Principles of animation

Adhering to the cherished 12 principles of spirit is not just excellent but very necessary because without knowing and not using them, the character will look “lifeless,” and the effects will be “boring.” We will not consider the principles in detail because this topic deserves more attention, but we will try to use them until this process becomes automatic.

Slots and attachments

If you have multiple sprites for a specific body part, placing them in different slots doesn’t make sense. Instead, move them to one space, and then, depending on the situation, turn on the animation you need. Thus, you do not have to do extra work – look for the attachment that needs to be disabled, and only then enable the necessary one. Just click on it, and the others will automatically turn off.

Identical duplicate images

If an object in the animation repeats twice or more, it is not necessary to export both sprites to Spine. One will be enough, and in Spine, you can multiply it. Thanks to this simple rule, you can save space in the atlas, which will never hurt.

Graphs

This is quite an essential tool in animation because it can change the nature of the character’s movement – make it smoother or, if necessary, sharper. Knowing how to use graphs, you will always be able to achieve the desired effect. Pay attention to this rule and experiment.

Horn of the face

Quite often, when setting up the horn for the look, animators do not take into account the fact that for the beginning to be alive and the emotions to be read as best as possible, it is necessary to pay sufficient attention to the weights of our face, namely, when creating the mesh, add vertices in the area of wrinkles, cheeks, etc. Be sure to snap the brow, lip, and eyelid bones to the face sprite and give it the effect of those bones by manually adjusting them. For example, by tying the browbones to the peaks on the forehead wrinkles, you can achieve the result of a living face. When connecting the bones of the lips to the area of the cheeks, when “smiling,” the cheeks will rise, giving the effect of a more playful smile.

References

There are many sites for finding connections. Sometimes animators don’t look at the authorities and decide to do without them, but it can give you many ideas. Some animators use their photos as references. It’s pretty simple. When you are faced with portraying a particular emotion, immerse yourself in this feeling as much as possible and take a photo or film yourself. If you don’t like this method, look for references on the Internet. In any case, they are essential.

2.5 D effect

To create such an effect, it is necessary to use the bones as much as possible, without manual deformation – with the help of a mesh. If you need, for example, to make a 2.5D face effect, try to adjust it as much as possible using weights so that you do not have to deform specific vertices during the animation process manually. In general, always try to configure everything you need as much as possible in Setup mode, and if necessary, improve details already in an Animate manner.

Root bone

It is never used in animation, should not be involved in any way, and serves only as the prominent bone of our skeleton. Your horn should always be tuned with this golden rule in mind.

Invisible pixels

We have already considered this topic in the previous article – it is necessary to carefully check during preparation in Photoshop whether there are no extra pixels in the sprites. This can be done quickly by applying an Outer Glow effect to the layer we need to test.

Friends, if you found yours among the most common mistakes in this article, don’t worry. Making mistakes is normal. Each of us has made them or still makes them. The main thing is to learn and love animation!

author Kodatska Maria

Запис A guideline for Spine animators спершу з'явиться на 4Enjoy Mobile Games.

There are quite a lot of programs for the animation of 2D characters, and each of them has its features and differences. However, when we look at the situation in terms of in-game customization, Spine is a perfect choice. It not only allows you to use one skeleton for different variations of the character but also has a significantly more straightforward interface, unlike existing analogs. This feature for customizing various character variations is called the Skins tool.

The essence of the Skins

The tool uses one skeleton and animations for different characters with different body proportions or one character with different sets of clothes, hairstyles, shoes, etc. Each skin can have its unique images, bones, and constraints. Identical in shape and size, skins that differ only in color can have the same mesh (linked mesh), which allows you not to pay attention to each skin individually. Instead, one is usually configured, and the others automatically take over all its settings.

The linked mesh

The tool is essential because it saves a lot of time. To begin with, let’s recall that the concept of mesh in computer graphics is a collection of faces or vertices that start the shape of a particular object. It is worth pointing out that the linked grid uses the same grid for the same images, which are identical in form, instead of differing only in color, the presence of additional elements.

For a detailed review, let’s use two hairstyles of the same shape and create two different skins for them.
Now let’s create a mesh hairstyle for the first skin. Remember that the mesh must be thought out in advance. Avoid too many points. Instead, try to detail where a bend is a little more. This will be needed in the animation process. When creating a mesh, think about exactly how you want to use this image and how you plan to animate it. For example, if it’s the back of the hair that only serves as “lining” and is barely visible behind the shoulders and clothes, it doesn’t make sense to make the mesh too detailed. The mesh is necessary for this part to tie it to the bones in the future. For example, usually when creating pseudo 3D, the back part of the hairstyle, like all its other parts, is also tied to the bones, so the face turn is natural and looks realistic. Here, it is necessary to think in advance about the practicality of specific points in the mesh. Otherwise, too many points in the Spine project can overload the game with a lot of space, overloading it. So, after creating the mesh, we should bind it to the bones, then check the weights and ensure that we are satisfied with the bones’ influence on specific points of the mesh. Adjust if necessary and start creating a miracle. Now it’s time to make the linked mesh in two different ways. Each animator should choose the one that suits him best.

Two ways to create a linked mesh

1. Click on the mesh that we want to duplicate. From the bottom, select “Create-linked mesh.” In the hierarchy, we can see that a duplicate has been created. It is already automatically bound to the same slot in the hierarchy as its parent mesh. We click on the skin FOR which we need this duplicated mesh and drag it to the skin placeholder – with the icon of orange shoulders. So these skins have the same grids. Now it remains only to change the image in the desired skin. To do this quickly and without unnecessary complications, we indicate the path where our vision is located and its name in the attachment, separating them with a slash “/.” Chosen and done! The second skin adopted the grid of the previous one, remembered the influence of the bones, and behaved in animations similar to the parent skin.

2. Select an entire hairstyle skin, and duplicate it. When dubbing, check the “Linked meshes” box, giving the new skin its unique name. In the hierarchy, in the same way, as in the previous method, we change the name of the attachments to those necessary. In the example considered in this article, we duplicate a skin with a blond hairstyle and name the new duplicated skin, for instance, hair-red. Instead of attachments of blond hair, enter the name of branches of red hair. And voila! Linked mesh is applied. However, if you do not check Linked meshes, the new skin will not inherit it. So be careful.

Both methods are quick to implement, but each animator uses their own, and they work perfectly. Remember that we can bind bones to skins that belong only to them. This tool is called Add to Skin. The image shows exactly how it looks after implementation. We highlight the bones we want to bind to particular skin and press Add to Skin. This helps significantly in the animation process. When animating a specific hairstyle, you will see only those bones to which it is attached. Instead, you will be able to avoid getting confused in many bones. The bones can be repainted in any color for a more comfortable animation process.

Here we have considered such interesting tools as Skins and Linked Mesh and quick life hacks for working with them. Now you can use this knowledge to customize any character and make the player feel like a natural fashion stylist. Use life hacks and love animation!

author Kodatska Maria

Запис Character customization in Spine. How does it work? Skins and Linked mesh tools спершу з'явиться на 4Enjoy Mobile Games.

Preparing a file for animation

Is the most uncomplicated process in an animator’s work. Yes, it is easy, considering that developers are constantly trying to make it easier for animators by creating various scripts that help export with just one click. To begin with, a Photoshop to Spine script makes exporting from Photoshop much more accessible. Thanks to it, you can save each cut image separately and spend time creating a composition in Spine. It can help import an already assembled character skeleton by remembering the position of each sprite.

But before getting acquainted with the advantages of the script in detail, it will be essential to consider some elements. When preparing the file for animation, please pay attention to the layers, namely, whether they have any extra pixels you may have accidentally made while overdrawing. This is very easy to check by clicking command+t on Mac/ctrl+t on Windows. Thanks to this command, Photoshop will select the working area of this layer, and you will be able to see and remove the extra pixels.

The absence of extra pixels

It is essential. Of course, they can be removed in Spine with the mesh tool, in simple words – cut so that they do not interfere with animation. However, there are better scenarios than this. Such sprites will still take up more space, and if there are too many of them, the export files will increase because the atlas will become too large. So, on the contrary, we have to save the space of Spine export files so as not to overload the game. Also, before exporting, you should carefully examine the layers you plan to ship. Avoid having the same layer names because the script will need to give each of them a unique name in the future. Be sure to pay attention to additional layer settings and clipping masks. If they exist, remove them because the layers must be the default for a complete and successful export. In addition, to avoid being disappointed by a significant difference in colors after export, it is worth using the RGB mode.

We will carefully consider what possibilities the script offers us.

Ignore hidden layers. If there is a checkmark, the script will ignore the hidden layers and will not export them. This is exceptionally convenient if you want to avoid removing specific layers in your PSD file but do not see the need to use them in Spine.

Write Spine JSON. This is the most interesting. The script will create a JSON file with the assembled skeleton, which can be easily imported into Spine. The skeleton image hierarchy will be identical to how you set it up in Photoshop. Thus, you can save time and effort creating the necessary composition for animation separately and even more on setting up the correct draw order. All you need to do is click Import Data and choose the desired JSON.

Ignore the background layer. This function ignores the background layer in your PSD file. Usually, it is used in Photoshop for comfortable drawing, but in animation, it is only sometimes needed, so the function is quite helpful.

Write template image. The script will create an additional frame image with all layers enabled, commonly used for easier positioning in Spine. This will be useful if you want to avoid generating JSON and place all the photos manually. The frame image, in this case, will serve as a reference.

Trim whitespace. The script will automatically trim the transparent pixels around each image. If the function is not active, each layer will have the canvas size.

Scale. Adjusts the hierarchy of layers before exporting. Functional when the scale of the images in the PSD file is too large to use in Spine, and you want to adjust it. This way, when preparing the PSD file for animation, you can handle the size of your PSD file. You can use the one you need. If, at the output, your PSD turns out to be too large, you do not need to adjust it further for export. You can use the scale function.

Padding. Adjusts the number of empty pixels around sprites. They can be artificially added or, conversely, reduced. Useful when you want to add or reduce open space around spirits to make them easier to animate.

Output Paths. Paths where the script will create a folder with images and a JSON file if needed.

In conclusion, knowing all the above export details will make this process much easier for you so that you can pay much more attention to the animation process itself. And this moment cannot but comfort. So, make your workflow easier, look for life hacks, and love animation!

author Kodatska Maria

Запис Photoshop to Spine. Everything about export, and even more спершу з'явиться на 4Enjoy Mobile Games.

Definition of goals

At the beginning of your work, you must sit down (stand up, lie down) and think carefully about what the game is being created for. What goals are pursued? Prove to yourself that “I can”? Brag to friends and acquaintances that “I can”? Throw it in some application store, so it hangs there for several years with a dozen downloads? Perhaps, after all, the goals are somewhat higher in creating a product that will really “fit” players and get tangible profits.
If, for the first option, you can not worry too much and twist anything as you like, then for the latter, you need to put much more effort into planning and analysis.

Analysis of own strengths

It is necessary to clearly understand that the process of creating a game is a lot of spent person-hours. Of course, there are always Napoleonic plans at the beginning of development to create something incredibly cool that will surpass all cult games combined. But this is quickly followed by despair because it is worth remembering that the same cult games like The Witcher, GTA, and so on are usually developed by a massive team of more than 50 people. Even simpler casual games, something in the genre of three-in-a-row, are an enormous amount of time spent on development.
That is why it is imperative to assess your capabilities and the capabilities of your team, if any. Otherwise, the project will be closed before it has even started.

Market analysis

If the development is more serious, aiming to release a trending game that will bring real profit, it is essential to do market research before starting to develop something. Based on the analysis of one’s strengths, it is necessary to decide on the genre in which the game will be created and to research already existing projects in this genre.
Walk through all the crucial tops, check which mechanics are the most popular, and which themes are most liked by players. It is worth playing the most popular games and trying to analyze and understand what they want so much, what is the reason for their success, and what are the pros and cons.

The tops can be viewed, for example, on SensorTower.

And based on the received analysis, decide what your game will be.

Detailed plan and MVP

After determining the main direction of the game, it is necessary to create a detailed plan. Think clearly about what and how it will happen. Ideally, write down all the main tasks set before the game.
To begin with, it is worth calculating what will be included in the MVP (Minimum Viable Product), a minimally viable product – a minimal set of basic mechanics of the game, without which it simply cannot work – and focus on these tasks. Everything else, not so important, is better left for later.

Of course, the plan may change in the process, something will be added, or something will be dropped, but clearly defined tasks and processes greatly facilitate the development and more clearly show the total amount of work.

Testing

An essential part of any development is testing. Usually, the algorithm “make – test – analyze the results – redo” is repeated several times, and the testing process can take several months.
You must understand and prepare yourself for the fact that it will not work out perfectly the first time. That there will be millions of corrections, changes, strange bugs, and ideas on how to improve everything that will need to be introduced – and this is an entirely normal work process.

And most importantly, you should always understand that all the above points do not mean that you will get a perfect game at the exit, which will instantly occupy all the tops and bring incredible profits.
There is always a possibility that despite all the efforts and fixes, the game will not get the desired result and will not perform well. This is also normal, although not very pleasant, work process. In such a case, it is essential not to lose heart and not to give up, and it is necessary to take it not as a failure but as an experience.
Analyze all the mistakes made, come up with something else, and rush into battle again with new strength.

author Yevheniia Andrukhina

Запис Helpful tips for those starting game development from scratch спершу з'явиться на 4Enjoy Mobile Games.

Understand The Basics

The sub-genre of fusion games is among the puzzle types that offer the most basic game mechanics. The idea is that you drag and drop similar items to create another higher level item. The basic concept is that higher level items have more value. Considering the number of merges it would take to get them. Merging is a simple but effective method to induce a sense of excitement.

A prerequisite for merge games must be:

• limited space on the board
• different types of elements that cannot be combined together
• gradual opening of boards
• tasks with different types of tasks
• generators produce 2 main lines of items

When planning a meta game, you should immediately determine what resource is consumed to perform actions. The best way would be to use energy.

How it works? For example, you have an energy limit of 100 for playing a puzzle merge board. It replenishes every 90 seconds. Merging items does not consume energy, but tapping supplies costs 1 energy. For the full restoration of the devastated energjibar, you can lay 15 minutes. Around such a scheme, it is easy to build additional activity that can be monetized.

Sequential execution of tasks

So that the gameplay does not cause a feeling of monotony, you should create restrictions of various types.

Objects for restrictions:

• space on the board
• amount of energy
• the number of items to complete tasks
• number of generators

Using these restrictions, you create conditions in which the player will choose different strategies to achieve their goals. The general strategy is to choose the mission that is easiest to complete. It is also worth alternating the complexity of tasks. If each mission requires only one item, it will be too easy. Missions should challenge the player’s strategy and organizational skills.

Free space on the board

As the level grows, the player needs to create conditions in which he will have to save space on the board. This will encourage the player to use various upgrades and make in-game purchases for crystals, coins or bucks.

In Makeover Merge, the player quickly gets used to the idea that the most valuable resource is free space. The player strives to have more free space to work.
To increase the interest in clearing space, Makeover Merge uses locked items that need to be released. The items obtained from the merger are needed to complete tasks. This logic is visible even to an inexperienced player, which gives meaning to the monotonous work in the game and motivates them to strive to complete the game to the end.

Additional storage

The Extra Storage is a full-fledged secondary storage board for items that can be used in future fusions. The game mechanics of the vault is based on the fact that most of it will be blocked when accessing it. The gradual unlocking of cells creates an additional task, causes a feeling of growing progress.

Additional storage can serve as a source of monetization. For example, in the game Riversayd Merge and Makeover Merge, during a special event, you can open up to 5 slots when spending a resource.

Free bonuses and advertising

Daily and additional rewards create a powerful motivation to complete tasks in the game. They accelerate progress, which helps to get rid of the feeling of monotonous work. The system of bonuses and additional resources received for viewing ads encourages the player to spend more.

For example, you have a maximum of 100 energy and it replenishes every 90 seconds. You can easily spend everything, especially if you play very actively. The game provides an opportunity to receive additional energy as a reward.

Sources of additional resources:

• complete special missions
• viewing ads
• play Wheel of Fortune or similar events
• get a reward for daily entry into the game

Any opportunity to get some more energy or extra lives pushes the player into action. Receiving encouragement, he tends to play more. Small gifts have a positive effect on retention and engagement rates.

Запис 5 Secrets of playing in the Merge subgenre спершу з'явиться на 4Enjoy Mobile Games.

Character customization features

By entering the settings of the character’s appearance, you make the player feel like a stylist who solves certain issues. For the user, this is an opportunity to try different images that he might like to try on himself. Some of the customization techniques are so great that you can practically transport yourself into the game!

It is because of this that games with the tag Makeover or Fashion have gained popularity. They open the world of high fashion and style to the player. Customization gives a new meaning to the performance of the main activities of the game. Because the player gets additional goals that he is interested in achieving.
Let’s take a look at the various character settings that increase player engagement in order.

Naming

A very simple and useful function. When the player can name the object himself, the distance between him and the game is shortened. The player can give a name as the main character. But if specific images are written in the game, it is enough to allow giving a name to the mascot animal. An example of such a misnomer is the feature that allows you to name a cat and a dog in the game Merge Villa.

Appearance of the character

A whole series of games is built around the topic of changing the main character’s image. Projects showing the world of high fashion are popular. An example of such a game is Makeover Merge and Fashion Link.

The internal narrative of these products focuses on the theme of reincarnation. Being part of a team that creates a real show is a powerful incentive to play and come back again and again.

Reincarnating the appearance of the character for the player is not just a change of colors and hairstyle. This is a success story that happened because of his efforts. That is why it is important to create an interesting story that will stick and lead.

In Fashion games you can change:

• skin and eye color
• hair color and hairstyle;
• makeup;
• clothing and accessories.

The gradual change in the details of the hero’s appearance activates the desire to see things through. Since it is nice and fun to do this in the game, it becomes more and more difficult to quit the process. The more creativity a player can show, the stronger the internal atmosphere will hold him.

The advantage of appearance customization mechanics is that, having a constant number of characters, you can add many options of clothes, hairstyles and accessories to the game. The Emily’s Life event in Makeover Merge lets you play as the first character in a cruise setting. The idea of ​​collecting an additional set of clothes and seeing your favorite character in it creates additional interest and significantly increases player engagement.

Easter, Halloween, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Thanksgiving, and many others are popular in Western Europe, America, and Asia. Each event provides an opportunity to create a new interesting collection that will add variety to the game. Such events provide an opportunity to optimize efforts in creating new content and arouse the interest of the target audience.

Special game modes

If you don’t change the pace of the game, it can cause fatigue in the process. Character customization with a time limit will help to add intrigue. These are separate events that last from 3 days to a week. During this period of time, the player is forced to quickly complete the game tasks in order to collect the premium set.

This is exactly the idea used in the Emilys Life event, which immerses the player in the atmosphere of vacation on a cruise ship. Acceleration of the pace does not cause discomfort, because the scenario of the game event is completely organized. Such a move causes a feeling of excitement, a desire to reach the end and see your favorite character in a new set.

In conclusion, customization techniques are additional tools that make the game more interesting. They allow you to fully reveal the potential of the content and create a reality that will increase the interest of the target audience in the project. Thanks to customization, the developer optimizes efforts to create additional objects. This is a plastic technique that allows you to create interesting combinations with other game mechanics and convey them attractively to the player.

author Vaclav Yeager

Запис Why should you do character customization? спершу з'явиться на 4Enjoy Mobile Games.

Battle Pass Benefits

In a nutshell, the Battle Pass is a limited-time feature with a low participation cost for the paying player. For the player, this is an opportunity to diversify the gameplay and get additional prizes. The simplicity of the mechanics is the basis for the success of the Battle Pass.

Examples of Battle Pass rewards:

• items
• skins
• in-game currency (for example, coins)
• experience boost
• chests
• new characters
• new levels, etc.

Participation in the Battle Pass gives the player a sense of rapid growth and easy rewards. Additionally, moral encouragement is connected, thanks to the visualization of the progress bar. The user wants to go through the entire Battle Pass in order to get the main prize and experience the pleasure of a successful completed work.

Battle Pass Balance

For the Battle Pass to work, the prizes must be valuable, and the difficulty of the passage should grow evenly from the simplest tasks to the most difficult ones. However, it is important to strike a balance so that the rewards received do not give the player too much of an advantage in the game.
As a monetization tool, the Battle Pass delivers high conversion rates. But its ARPPU potential is limited. Most income comes from pre-purchase.

Upselling strategies are influenced by:

• ensuring regular purchases
• increase in the number of passes sold
• alternative higher previous prices

If the game has low spending depth or low progression pressure, Battle Passes override other purchases. This is due to the fact that the player gets enough game resources for a relatively low price and loses the motivation to spend money on other offers. To avoid losses, you should track the total income and inventory of players, as well as the ARPPU of profiles with high costs.

The influence of the setting on the mechanics of the Battle Pass

If you compare the Battle Pass in different mobile games, the principle of operation will be the same. How then to use what has no expressive originality? The answer is a close relationship with the setting of the game. If each element of the Battle Pass is adapted to the theme of the game, the feeling of secondary does not arise.

A striking example of Makeover Merge, in which the Battle Pass is built around the beauty theme. The main view is that the user is playing as the nominees who get a makeover through their participation in the show. By participating in the event, the player receives additional resources and premium clothing. It is the inability to obtain certain items outside of the Battle Pass that makes this challenge unique.

Premium items are a powerful incentive for a player to switch to a purchase. In Makeover Merge, you need to make a one-time payment to get these things. In addition to things, the Golden Bough gives more resources and intermediate grapes. Since both branches are adjacent, the user can compare the benefits of this acquisition. This is a powerful tool to encourage the non-paying player to start spending money, and to give the player the opportunity to increase the size of the check.

It is the acquisition of unique items remaining in the game that the song at the end of the Battle Pass is the last incentive for the player. By dressing the nominee in things that cannot be found in the game, the player achieves aesthetic pleasure. This is an addition to customization that allows the user to express their creativity. Which, in turn, is a powerful incentive to keep active and make efforts to win the next Battle Pass.

The Battle Pass mechanic adds even more incentive to play. It encourages non-payers to move on to spending through its attractive buying nature. The simplicity of how the Battle Pass works makes it possible to implement it in any setting. The presence of a feature in the game increases retention, monetization and acquisition rates while maintaining a balance.

author Vaclav Yeager

Запис Battle Pass is a hot trend in mobile games спершу з'явиться на 4Enjoy Mobile Games.

Casual games are designed for short sessions and are easy to learn thanks to simple mechanics and easy gameplay. The graphics created for this game are characterized by a simple design but bright recognizable thematic objects. These are primarily stylized objects and characters that we are used to calling cartoons. Their peculiarity is that they are easily perceived and remembered.

When developing casual games, the tastes of a broad audience are taken into account in order to create a product that will suit the majority of users. Accordingly, in working with form and color, you need to maintain a balance, keeping gender and age neutrality as much as possible, but at the same time, keep a unique style of the game that will distinguish it from others.

When working in a casual style, you need to pay attention to the following characteristics:

Form

The casual style is aimed at simplification and easy reading. Thus, it is very important to simplify and stylize objects so that without looking at the object, we can understand what it is. For example, if you look at such a simple object as a chest in reality, from a distance, it will look like a block with straight lines, the thickness of the parts will be barely read, and only by looking closely will we understand what exactly the chest is and what material it is made of. Creating such an object in a casual style, the elements that make it recognizable are hyperbolized so that the naked eye can read the object even in silhouette form.

Color

Bright saturated colors are mainly used in casual graphics. It is very rare to find the use of black and pastel shades because the main task of an image in a casual style is to attract attention and be remembered. Just like form, colors are somewhat simplified and exaggerated and are not always true. For example, the leaves of trees or grass, in reality, will not be as bright green as we see in the game, and gold is mainly depicted as yellow, with bright highlights. Also, a widespread technique is the use of cold reflexes on objects. It adds atmosphere and makes the image more interesting.

Detailing

The details are enlarged and thickened to emphasize the texture and shape of the object. The main thing is to make the object recognizable, so very often, it is possible to abandon a believable number of details or to simplify their form as much as possible. For example, depict only two or three buttons on the hero’s jacket instead of six, or remove additional buttons from the cameras, if they do not carry any meaning. Similarly, in wooden elements, cracks will be depicted in smaller numbers but more pronounced, and such thin materials as fabric or paper are depicted much thicker with more pronounced villi.

Render

For easy perception, the drawing is mostly soft. There are no contrasting transitions and sharp brush strokes. Everything looks quite smooth and somewhat plasticine.

Of course, you also need to consider that each company and game will have its own stylistic features to stand out from the rest. Some games may use a certain angle or stroke for objects, and some will pay more attention to textures and thickness of details. Casual style evolves and changes. Despite its visual simplicity and certain stereotypes, it teaches an understanding of forms and their stylization, how to abandon the superfluous, see the overall picture and at the same time keep it recognizable, unique, and most importantly, interesting and attractive to the player.

author Nataliia Isai

Запис Casual style спершу з'явиться на 4Enjoy Mobile Games.

Social Features: The Effects

Players love competition, and Friends of feature help create a sense of rivalry. This list includes the familiar leaderboards, comparing results and inviting friends to the game. Social features in mobile games motivate the player to stay active. Especially if the use of these features brings them a reward.

The use of social features allows the player to find his community of like-minded people. The opportunity to share with someone the joy of achievements or to compete creates a positive image of the game. Players invite other players to join the game, share their achievements on social networks.

Typically, in-game communities are made up of players with a shared view of play style. Which simplifies the task of collecting application statistics and gives more clear information about the improvement of the application.

All this should have a positive effect on user retention and game revenue.

After all, social features have an impact on increasing the competitiveness of the application.

Top Social Features

Let’s move on to what Friends of feature have already proven their usefulness. They can be conditionally divided into two large groups:

1. Social elements that are part of the gameplay. For example, shared tasks, PvP gameplay, guilds, etc.
2. Social experiences that occur outside of the main gameplay. Such features include living rooms for group communication.

Let’s consider the examples of Friends of feature, which are most often used in mobile games.

Send and Ask for Help

If the player is stuck in the game and he does not have enough resources, he does not always go to the store. Here the opportunity to ask for help from friends comes to his aid. Usually, in games according to this scheme, you can get:

• In-game currency
• Energy/lives
• Army units
• Items or characters

In our games Riverside Merge and Merge Villa, the player often experiences a lack of energy. He can send a request to his friends and, after receiving help, continue the game. This feature allows you to make sending aid part of a unique monetization strategy.

Запис On Social Features in Mobile Games спершу з'явиться на 4Enjoy Mobile Games.

Today we will tell you how our team developed a Tile Trials feature.
We will tell you the main ideas we pursued during development and the problems we faced.If you haven’t had time to play our feature yet, here’s what it’s about:

Tile Trials is an event with a certain number of tasks the player can complete during the game and receive a reward.

Stage 1: “Challenges are cool!”

The task before us was to make it so that during the game, the player had the opportunity not only to perform the main tasks and progress through the plot but also to receive interesting challenges for performing various activities in the game.
In this way, the main idea of ​​the future feature was formed:

The player plays the game -> the player uses different aspects of the match -> the player gets a reward for actively using the activities -> the player receives new challenges every time.

At the same stage, the first “rough” models of the future feature began to appear.

As a basis for creating challenges, we decided to take various activities and divide them into:

1) Activities that the player does intuitively and constantly (for example, flashing objects or spending energy)

2) Activities that the player sometimes performs but without a clear need (for example, spending coins/crystals or using boosters)

3) Activities that the player performs only if he has played the game for a long enough time and he plays actively (Burn the trinkets with items or buy decor in his villa)

This approach allowed us to understand exactly what challenges we wanted to see in the feature much faster.

Stage 2: “Too difficult challenges are not cool”

The next stage: To ensure that the player, regardless of his level or experience in the game, does not feel that the challenge turns into a routine process and no longer brings pleasure.

To do this, the team of game designers began the process of dividing future tasks into categories by complexity and number.

The main goal is not to scare the player with many tasks at the start and gradually increase their number. At the same time, they are progressively expanding the difficulty of the challenges.

There were challenges in terms of complexity divided into:

1) Simple
2) Average
3) Complex
4) Super Complex

According to the number of challenges a player can perform simultaneously, we divided them into ten types.
The player will receive 4 to 6 tasks at the beginning of the feature. Later, this indicator will increase to 12 tasks simultaneously.

The more the player closes the tasks, the more difficult they will be in the future.
It was essential to maintain a balance of easy-medium-difficult challenges that the player received at the same time.

Thus, the optimal balance between the complexity of the challenges and their number was found through the method of painstaking work and many hours of discussions.

Stage 3: “An understandable feature – an interesting feature”

The visual comprehensibility of the feature is a key part of which it was special attention is paid.

Task tiles should comprehensively describe precisely what the player needs to do.

And to make the feature less visually monotonous, it was decided to create different figures from the “tiles” of the tasks each time.

This is how it looked on the layouts, and finally, in the game:

Result

Of course, there are still a lot of steps to be taken before the Tile Trials feature is finished, but even now, the work is not stopped.
Our team is working to ensure that this feature and many others provide exactly the experience for the player that he hopes to get.

Best wishes, Merge Villa developers!

Until We Meet Again!

Запис Tile Trials спершу з'явиться на 4Enjoy Mobile Games.