xtnpd said:Character animations covers a few areas for me.
1) The physical representation of the player’s avatar
2) The fluidity of the character movement
3) Special ability animations / spell effects
Physical representations – as long as the game has an over-all consistent artistic feeling, I’m pretty non-biased when it comes to the actual physical appearance of the avatar. What I really don’t like is when the character art clashes with the environmental art and the avatar feels like a two-dimensional cutout pasted onto a mural.
Character movement is a big one to me. I like to “feel” my character move. There are two aspects that influence this for me. The first is the actual in-game movement control. Most modern MMOs have a good take on this (WoW, Skyforge, Wildstar). You can move the character easily and intuitively, and the character responds in a way you would expect (I’m not advocating twitch gaming, just smooth character control). The second aspect of movement concerns the animations that go along with every-day activities: walking, running, interacting with the environment, crafting, and even general auto-attacks. Watching my avatar interact with the world is very immersive for me. If the general “stuff” of everyday activities isn’t immersive, I can lose interest pretty quickly – even if the basic core dynamics of the game are intact.
And finally, the “special effects” category: I really appreciate when a game pulls in specialized graphics for individual character classes or enemy monsters. Special attacks that have recognizable in-game graphics and/or sounds are a fantastic touch. Spells that, when cast (or even while casting), can be recognized are also a great touch. I’d even love to see spells morph as they level up (although I haven’t seen this done yet): say the level 1 fireball starts out as a golf-ball sized projectile, and as the character levels, the spell gets a tad bigger each successive level.
Well said, and I agree 100%.
Rachael said:One of the most important animimations for me is how a model (player, npc, mob etc.) looks as it walks/runs, I don't like when the model is just sliding while moving its legs. I like when it actually looks like the foot is planted to the ground and propelling the model forward. When the movement doesn't match up with the animation it just looks weird.
In terms of melee combat I love when the animation looks like it has an appropriate weight to whatever weapon/motion is being animated.
Rachael
This times a million, the animations don't need to be super fancy or flashy, if they have "weight" and sync up well with the sound it will make them a whole lot better.
Character animation has a role in the connection we have with our character
when a dying family member still consious shows appreciation for our visits.We value those moments
When there is no longer response or feedback it hurts,but you know you have to let go soon.
Character animation is important as it brings character to life
Given not enough love to character animation ,we detach from our character soon.
Very important to fully connect with the experience
I was pleasantly surprised to see characters climb walls during the stream that showed off a dungeon.
It makes a huge difference.
Cool ability and class animations help too.
How a character is animated could also show much about the kind of race,or personality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c3ghAdaV8w
Maybe it might be worth thinking of e.g. races and if they would have tiny differences in ways of moving or stretching out
Shale was one of my favorite characters in dragon age :-D pigeon crap
A game does not need the best animations to be good.In my view it is a tool well used if it can leave an impression on the player
https://youtu.be/D2dTxSCGeNE?t=11
My favorite animation moment in gaming history. Not that the animations are new or great
It might be the music,a combination of all or the pretty lights <3
jpedrote said:Rachael said:One of the most important animimations for me is how a model (player, npc, mob etc.) looks as it walks/runs, I don't like when the model is just sliding while moving its legs. I like when it actually looks like the foot is planted to the ground and propelling the model forward. When the movement doesn't match up with the animation it just looks weird.
In terms of melee combat I love when the animation looks like it has an appropriate weight to whatever weapon/motion is being animated.
Rachael
This times a million, the animations don't need to be super fancy or flashy, if they have "weight" and sync up well with the sound it will make them a whole lot better.
It's all important, especially when put together. Me? I just want some memorable sounds/mobs. The most satisfying sounds in EverQuest for me were the skeletons cackle and rattling of bones when hit, the whoop whoop of the ghouls, and the crunching sound of hitting zombies. And of course the earthshattering *DING*.
Character animations are a huge thing for me, and I think many of us have experienced the phenomenon that as we experience games that have animations done right, it's pretty jarring experiencing a lack of good animations. I've brought up this example before, but I think games like Dark Souls do a really good job at this. You feel like you're the character and the immersion into the gameplay is on point. Although combat animations are a different story just because of the differences in style of game, I think striving for something like Dark Souls in terms of character movement would be a good thing. The way you walk/run feels so connected and weighty, and it feels natural. I'd really like something that can somewhat capture that for my character in Pantheon.
Character animations are a big deal for me, as well as others I know. The basics like most everybody else I won't spend a lot of time on just to add my +1 to others comments that have covered it pretty well
The feet need to be on the ground.
The characters shouldn't appear to be sliding when they turn, walk or run.
Animations should appear smooth from one to the next.
But those are basic's this is 2017, they are expected.
For the player characters as I always play casters, I'll stick with talking about staffs and for those the best I have seen as an example of an animation is already on the site in the first Video in this thread posted by Gomok
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/4452/guys-please/view/post_id/72610
The staff should always be UP like a walking stick. Seldom is it carried down flat like a club. And this first Video of Gomok's also shows a little more action when the character is just idle, I would like to see characters stand less stiff, sigh, stretch, cross there arms, uncross there arms, scratch there shoulder, wipe there brow, look ALIVE.
Next when in battle, or when casting... a Caster carries a staff as a Focus Item and uses it for his spells, not just a walking stick.
Here the two wizards are walking with the staffs as walking sticks prior to the fight and then in the fight in the tower between Saruman vs Gandolf the staffs are used as focus items for there spells.
https://youtu.be/TBMiyEzOJmI
Gandalf vs. the Balrog the staff as a focus item again, and also for his light source.
https://youtu.be/44kBN340vd4
Here with Crima Wormtongue saying "I TOLD you to take his Staff" then Gandolf uses his staff when he frees Theoden
https://youtu.be/iQExgALv9wI (disclaimer: entering the room on the forward takes Gandolf is clubbing his staff, on the rear takes he is walking it as he should be... Director of continuity fail)
And here (extended version only) where Saruman and Gandolf ... "Have Words" at the tower and Saruman launches a fireball at Gandolf channeled through the staff as a focus item.
https://youtu.be/n7NAi9QxZrU
I would like to see the staff duel purpose, a walking stick, and spell focus.
I realize this would take additional animations... because even without a staff the caster still needs to cast his spells... but if they have a staff I would like to see it used.
Maybe even more than all the above (ultimately we as players can help with a lot of those idle animations by using emotes assuming they have them) is I would like to see the NPC's with life.... the banker when not tending to a customer should be going threw the books or counting stacks of coin, The Baker should be taking bread out of the oven rolling out dough and loading it into the oven when not tending to a customer, Smithy's beating on some steel on the anvil and loading up the forge. Shop keepers sweeping floors or washing counters I would like to see LIFE in the town's. I would like to seldom see a NPS just standing there with a blank stare of his face... if somebody's not interacting with'em then tell the freeloaders to get back to work!
I know this would be a lot of work but I would think a lot of these animations would be reusable, if you have 3 bankers at the counter then you need three sets of Banker Animations then those you use in all the home Cities, a handful of general animations sweeping, wiping, pacing,
edit: Particle Effects are not a big deal for me, of course I like them, but for me they can be just a lot of unnecessary overhead, I would gladly sacrifice Particle Effects for animations.
For me the character movement is fluid and looks like the avatar is wakling not gliding. During combat should correspond to what they doing ( example two handed weapons moves slower than one hand weapon). Now does every animation need to be in the game for immersion probaly not but I would like to see the main ones for sure ( walking, running , combat and etc..).
One of my favorite things is animations.
I invite the developers to check out Final Fantasy XIV's idle pose system. They have a command that lets you swap between idle poses at will. They usually take effect a few seconds after standing still. Your character will either cross their arms, lean against nearby walls, put their hands on their hips, ect. It adds a LOT to the immersion.
Animations are ,for some people, the blood of the game. I remember when I went from Everquest 1 to World of Warcraft and was just thrilled with how smooth running and walking looked. Straifing in combat. And the animations for casting were different for each race and sometimes different for each school of magic as well. The next time I had an experience where the animations of a game caught my eye was in Neverwinter. Character animations on impact made me feel there was actual 'weight' in the fighting. Loved that game a lot for this reason.
Because combat is such an important thing in the game I think it a prudent decision to sink a lot of money into animations. But in the interest of saving money I could understand cutting a few corners.
Unique casting/ability animations for each race, and each style of magic/ability sounds a bit excessive. Instead, casting/ability animations can be the same for each race but each school of magic/ability can have different animation.
That to me seems like the best way of getting a 'large' part of the expensive out of the way. Where I would not cut any corners whatsoever for budget is oddly the simple stuff...
Things like. Walking, running, sitting, crouching, laying down. Its also very important to build a realistic strafe, going from running forwards to strafing sideways without looking clunky. Clunkyness really bugs me, so please get those run/walk/strafe animations down.
And the last thing I would sink a lot of time into is auto attack. Auto attack is going to be BIG. Lets make auto attack cycle through more than just 3 attacks. It would be more of a pleasure to see auto attack cycle through 5 or 6 simple attacks.
my 2c
-Todd
Character animations are very important to me. Characters that move awkwardly make me cringe. The character movement in the likes of Age of Conan were great, ESO has good animations also. The animations should be smooth, be realistic enough to convey properly what the character is trying to do and be in line with the environment around them. Bad animations are very distracting.
I will agree that walking / running is first and foremost of importance... I am also a sucker for good emote animations of all kinds!!
I thought Archeage did a good job with a lot of their animations... EQ I really liked how the characters buff animations went. They conjured the will to create the magic, then sent it flying to its target(s).
One thing that really gets under my skin is the inability to automatically walk over small obstacles, where the character gets stuck and has to small jump. Especially when the terrain has a decent amount of these small obstacles! The correct adjustment on this is very important in my book. No uneccessary inconveniences....
After the shitstorms that ME: Andromeda currently produces i guess animations are very VERY important. :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-msmx9yW5Q
Greetings
To me character animations belong in the same boat as graphics;
people have come to expect more and more of it as the better graphic cards allowed it.
How important are they?
I believe the majority of players have come to attach great importance to character animations(and graphics in general)
It is like how the new generation could never bear to work with the first original macintosh 128K with floppy disk,while they 'd all opt for the newest Imac pro if they had to choose between the 2
Considering the importance of character animations for the quality of gameplay and content,I'd say not that important.
I believe character animations can be simple,yet the game can be awesome regardless.
So the attention and effort best goes to another aspect of the game ,in my opinion.
All this focus on character animations,some games like elderscrolls online almost make a trailer for a movie,while their character animations are not that great.
The world itself feels static.When talking about animations it is also important not to overlook other kinds of animations,environmental animations(ingame)
For animations I think it is important to manage and prioritize.Even big budget MMO's often miss the ball here.
Maybe we all became so attached to graphics and animations it has become harmful to the quality of the actual games.
In the 90's games were better quality content-wise.Although the animations weren't that fantastic.
Could also be I'm not that picky because I've been gaming since the 90's,when animations weren't such a big deal.
I wonder if there is really a connection between the poor quality of games lately and the craze about graphics and good animations.
Leaving you with a combat clip of one of my favorite games. I could live with this now too.
Pyye said:I will agree that walking / running is first and foremost of importance... I am also a sucker for good emote animations of all kinds!!
I thought Archeage did a good job with a lot of their animations... EQ I really liked how the characters buff animations went. They conjured the will to create the magic, then sent it flying to its target(s).
One thing that really gets under my skin is the inability to automatically walk over small obstacles, where the character gets stuck and has to small jump. Especially when the terrain has a decent amount of these small obstacles! The correct adjustment on this is very important in my book. No uneccessary inconveniences....
Ah line of sight...wizard casts spell ..is obstructed by small pebble on ground in front of them :P Hope the Devs are on top of this. hehehe Also the looming question in my mind is: will gnomes be able to climb stairs meant for humans :D lol
I prefer social animations. I mean battle animations are cool, but usually the pace is frantic. However with social animations I am focusing on the person, or rather, pleasantly taken by suprise by an animation I was not aware of like "introduce" of course "wave" or "just kidding" but what I liked about the twitch was the all-too-short attention given to Kilsins dwarf dance, that just wen on a bit longer to be hilarious, pity I we did not get to see the whole routine- especially with light bearing torches in both hands.
I'm a little late with this reply but here it comes regardless:
I think aesthetics are very important, the animations included.
I love it when in a game a character's battle movements seem meaningful, fluid and kind of semi-realistic, taking the weapon's weight/shield into account. Even the original Everquest's slower pace was fine, it's been forever since I played it but if I recall it correctly the combat happened faster than the default combat animations let on. That'd be fine if it means the fighting animations won't look like the characters are all quickened gerbils on speed. Especially if the special attacks / abilities then have their own animations.
I've seen the Black Desert Online mentioned as an example in this thread, the game is pretty certainly, but personally I find the npc idle animations absolutely horrible in that game. Everyone is twitchy as heck. Someone already mentioned race-specific idle animations and I think the idea is great!
What bothers me about over the top combat animations is the absurdity of them in most cases: "Hold on Mr. Mob while I lift my hammer up in the air for a 30 minute heroic pose to invoke my megasuper roflstomp nuke from orbit -attack."
I was happy to see from the streams that this won't be the case in Pantheon :D. Some heroic posing is nice when kept on a reasonable level.
I'm hoping for nice and fluid walking and running animation for male and female characters, that'll be what we'll be watching our characters do the most after all.
For my part animation is king, and particle fx are just mud. I'm thinking back to WoW raids that looked like a pulsing mass of rainbow light. I want to be able to see the models, both friend and foe. Really hope that some restraint is used in terms of turning the game into a rave.
Kilsin said:How important are character animations to you and do you have some favourite ones to use as examples? :)
This and the models are extremely important. The Dark Souls community largely refers to the true game being called Fashion Souls. We want to have solid gameplay yeah, but it's important to look cool as possible while doing it. That doesn't have to mean extreme graphics.
silenthill27 said:Kilsin said:How important are character animations to you and do you have some favourite ones to use as examples? :)
This and the models are extremely important. The Dark Souls community largely refers to the true game being called Fashion Souls. We want to have solid gameplay yeah, but it's important to look cool as possible while doing it. That doesn't have to mean extreme graphics.
Fashion Souls FTW
The monk animations in the stream were very fleshed out, I hope we can that level of detail for all the classes.
