When it comes to making the games we love, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes which we never actually get to see. The world of game development is a crazy, stressful and rewarding place, but there’s apparently lots of tips and trick that us gamers don’t know about. Thankfully, TikToker swissevans86 is enlightening us all with a series of videos exploring his knowledge as a game developer.
In one of the creator’s now-viral videos, they explore – and expose – five ways in which game developers “trick” players, whether that’s disguising loading times or making purposefully bad AI companions. It’s a great video so I recommend you give it a watch below, or check out swissevans86 on TikTok here.
@swissevans86 Tricks us game developers use on players ##gamers ##gamedev ##gamer ##videogames ##funfacts ##tiktokuk ##fyp ##trivia ##gaming ##uk
♬ original sound – swissevans86
Here’s just a few of the tips covered:
- Sneaky loading times. Admittedly, this is one I knew about, but for those who don’t, it’s somewhat common for game developers to conceal loading times through the use of what’s known as a “squeeze through.” Squeeze throughs show characters squeezing between rocks, pillars, and anything else, as a form of hiding your wait time. You can read more on that here, or learn about why this works in the video above.
- Damage buff. According to swissevans86, game developers frequently give players a damage buff the first time they play a multiplayer game, to ensure that we’re going to have a good experience and want to come back for more. Sneaky!
- Bad AI. We’ve all dealt with some awful companions in our time, and swissevans86 explains that it can be pretty normal for developers to make them suck on purpose (albeit temporarily). They explain that AIs are often programmed to miss shots on purpose, to prevent games from being too hard.
There’s a lot more of these tips and tricks to blow your mind a little, including “coyote time” and health bar “lies.” Check them out via swissevans86!
Featured Image Credit: Epic Games/TikTok