Motion Blur and Screen Shake Make All The Difference (In Racing Games)
Motion blur and screen shake are the two most hated effects in video games, and for good reason - they make it harder to see and identify what's going on on the player's screen, and are especially annoying in games that allow free camera movements. It's entirely natural that most players developed a disdain for them after they began appearing in nearly every other game in the mid-2010s.
However, in racing games, where quickly identifying the exact shape of the objects surrounding you is far less important than following the curve of the track, screen shake and motion blur play a crucial role in creating a sense of speed. Racing games that underutilise these two techniques often have players complaining that the cars feel like they are floating across the track.
Therefore, I decided to create a video to examine how motion blur and screen shake affect speed perception using the example of Split/Second - a 2010 arcade racing game with excellent camerawork, and dated, but still serviceable, motion blur that can be toggled on and off.
(Apologies in advance for YouTube's compression murdering the illustrative value of this video.)
The song in the video: Race Driver Grid - Replay Theme 6