Agenda

Great traversal doesn't require a AAA team, just intentional design and clever use of physics. In this talk, Salaar breaks down the core principles behind responsive, satisfying movement in indie games. Learn essentials like input buffering, defining move sets and metrics, leveraging physics for movement and animation, and building mechanics like grapples, wallruns, dashes, and jetpacks that feel great from input to pixel. Whether you're building a tight platformer, an expressive FPS, or just want your character to feel good to control, this talk offers concrete that scale to small teams and limited budgets. Perfect for indie devs looking to make movement a core part of their game's identity.

Takeaway

Attendees gain practical techniques for designing responsive, satisfying movement in indie games. Salaar covers input buffering, movement metrics, and physics-driven traversal, showing how to build and tune mechanics like grapples, wallruns, dashes, and jetpacks, even with limited resources. Ideal for teams making movement a core pillar of gameplay.

Intended Audience

This session is for designers and engineers building games where movement is a core pillar. While tailored for small teams, the principles apply to projects of any scale. Attendees should have a basic understanding of game development and algebra.