Walking Animation : V

» Sat May 28, 2011 4:27 am

I remember reading somewhere that one of the focuses during development of Skyrim was the animation system. Something I hope to see is a variation in walking animation. I want to see people with distinct walking styles, limps, hunches...swagger. Imagine if your skills allowed your walking stance to change while in third-person. A muscle bound, hammer wielding Orc should walk much differently than a wizard. If Bethesda could implement this type of diversity into the game...I would cry. Tears.

» Fri May 27, 2011 7:23 pm

Agreed. Specialization should factor in. Warriors should walk confidently with their chests high and heads high, thieves should walk with a light foot and just 'look' paranoid. The amount of health and fatigue should factor in as well an injured person should stagger and a tired person should walk slightly slower and breathe heavily.

Other things like level could influence walk level 1-5 should look like pushovers while level 10-20's should have more poise and confidence. Alcoholic beverages should also make people stagger and fall over I can imagine walking around a Nordic city and seeing the local drunk falling down some icy steps.

» Sat May 28, 2011 8:42 am

Agreed. Specialization should factor in. Warriors should walk confidently with their chests high and heads high, thieves should walk with a light foot and just 'look' paranoid. The amount of health and fatigue should factor in as well an injured person should stagger and a tired person should walk slightly slower and breathe heavily.

Other things like level could influence walk level 1-5 should look like pushovers while level 10-20's should have more poise and confidence. Alcoholic beverages should also make people stagger and fall over I can imagine walking around a Nordic city and seeing the local drunk falling down some icy steps.

Exactly. This would add so much to the immersion factor.

» Sat May 28, 2011 10:31 am

haha i have actually been thinking the same thing for a while.
even if it was like just five different walking animations, just imagine how much more immerse it would feel.

» Sat May 28, 2011 8:40 am

I think it would be awesome and although something simple it would add a lot of realism to the game.

» Sat May 28, 2011 2:37 am

I just don't want to be a male and look like a woman when I walk backwards

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:10 am

I thought Red Dead Redemption had the walking animation perfect, and Assassin's Creed had the running animation perfect.

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:49 am

I just don't want to be a male and look like a woman when I walk backwards

Yes, oh my god. The males and females need different animations. I am not saying to make the girls walk like prosttutes but make them feminine at least.

» Fri May 27, 2011 7:42 pm

I thought Red Dead Redemption had the walking animation perfect [...]

Yeah, if you're a bad ass gunslinger from the early nineteen-hundreds.

I agree with the thread as a whole, however. Animations are something I really hope Bethesda has paid a fair amount of attention to. It would make the game better in just about every aspect. Good animations can simply make a game. Look at Half-Life 2; the animations in that game (those games) is a big part of what makes characters like Alyx seem so real.

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:58 am

Anything but Morrowinds'. :mellow:

» Sat May 28, 2011 7:47 am

I think especially the transition between animations is VERY, if not most, important!!!

» Fri May 27, 2011 10:55 pm

I thought Red Dead Redemption had the walking animation perfect, and Assassin's Creed had the running animation perfect.

Nobody on Earth runs like Ezio or Altair do in Assassin's Creed. It's possibly the least efficient way a human being could run. He has absolutely no knee drive, and his are legs are way too far behind him. It may look smooth but it looks absolutely ridiculous if you, yourself are a runner.

» Fri May 27, 2011 10:53 pm

I think that the game with the best walking animations was Star Wars Knights of the old Republic. Men and women both had distinctive gaits, although gaits weren't specialized for certain types of characters. I remember playing Kotor 2 and really missing that feminine hip sway.

» Sat May 28, 2011 7:09 am

i think having different animations would make you feel more submerged into the game. i can see myself already pushing drunks or nudging addicts hopped up on skooma just to see them stumble and freak out

» Fri May 27, 2011 10:12 pm

Nobody on Earth runs like Ezio or Altair do in Assassin's Creed. It's possibly the least efficient way a human being could run. He has absolutely no knee drive, and his are legs are way too far behind him. It may look smooth but it looks absolutely ridiculous if you, yourself are a runner.

I thought it looked really realistic :unsure:

» Sat May 28, 2011 4:50 am

Agreed. Specialization should factor in. Warriors should walk confidently with their chests high and heads high, thieves should walk with a light foot and just 'look' paranoid. The amount of health and fatigue should factor in as well an injured person should stagger and a tired person should walk slightly slower and breathe heavily.

Other things like level could influence walk level 1-5 should look like pushovers while level 10-20's should have more poise and confidence. Alcoholic beverages should also make people stagger and fall over I can imagine walking around a Nordic city and seeing the local drunk falling down some icy steps.

The Resident Evil games (Code Veronica & RE IV) had animations to where the more you were injured, the slower you walked and you'd also walk with a limp. My favorite was Code:Veronica game even though the graphics are crappy by today's standards, the animation of Claire Redfield limping as she was hurt and then practically dragging her feet as she was near death, was very cool to experience when playing. It gave you that sense of excitement like "oh crap, will I escape out of here before I'm killed!?"

» Sat May 28, 2011 1:33 am

I think the real limiting factor for things like this is the size of the 360 DVD. They were struggling for space in Oblivion, I would imagine additional unnecessary content like various walking animation would be the first on the cutting floor.

I expect (unless Skyrim comes on multiple disks) that there will be a lot left over on the cutting room floor. One can only hope for a multiple disk game.

» Sat May 28, 2011 4:28 am

I dont know is that so important but that u jump like you have $h1t in ur pants is more disturbing.

» Sat May 28, 2011 4:46 am

At the very least I'm glad they understand that the animations in their games are an issue and are addressing them.

» Sat May 28, 2011 1:54 am

I thought it looked really realistic :unsure:

Well in truth, there are a lot of people who do run with awkward styles, so it is believable in that sense. It's just not an efficient or technical way of running, which makes sense I guess. I take that back then, it is realistic, just not correct form. I'm really picky about that since I'v been a runner my whole life. :tongue:

» Sat May 28, 2011 3:41 am

I think the real limiting factor for things like this is the size of the 360 DVD. They were struggling for space in Oblivion, I would imagine additional unnecessary content like various walking animation would be the first on the cutting floor.

I expect (unless Skyrim comes on multiple disks) that there will be a lot left over on the cutting room floor. One can only hope for a multiple disk game.

I don't believe an "animation" takes up much space at all. You have to realize that animation is just a manipulation of an already existing graphic asset. It's a few lines of code, a few movements of a few points on a skeletal rig. It would be challenging to do it correctly, but storage shouldn't be an issue.

» Sat May 28, 2011 9:37 am

Well in truth, there are a lot of people who do run with awkward styles, so it is believable in that sense. It's just not an efficient or technical way of running, which makes sense I guess. I take that back then, it is realistic, just not correct form. I'm really picky about that since I'v been a runner my whole life. :tongue:

Yeah but remember, Altair and Ezio are trying to be quiet while running as well, so they probably need a different form to keep the noise down.

» Sat May 28, 2011 10:49 am

At the very least I'm they they understand that the animations in their games are an issue and are addressing them.

true

» Sat May 28, 2011 6:46 am

Maybe old people with walking sticks?

» Sat May 28, 2011 5:18 am

Maybe old people with walking sticks?

Or wizards? It would be much cooler if 'sheathing' your magical staff would make you use it as a walking stick, rather than putting it on your back.