10 Video Game Design Rules You Can Never Unsee
10. "Coyote Time" In Platformers
Ever played a platforming game and felt like it was a little over-generous with registering your late button presses?
That's what devs like to call "Coyote time" - named after Wile E. Coyote, naturally - a minor yet significant gravity delay which gives players that extra split second of time to press the jump button when leaving the safety of a platform.
It's a trick so commonplace in the platformer genre that it proves incredibly jarring when a game doesn't use it.
Case in point, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy actually reduced the amount of Coyote time compared to the original games, which left players missing jumps, screwing up timings and dying far more often than they expected to.
Platformers are all about precision, but that little extra lee-way is vital to ensure players aren't left unjustly fuming.