Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
New phases, let's call them
intermediate
, should include a posture. When one of
the character's legs is at a straight angle to the ground, the arms are almost parallel
to the body and the head is in the highest position.
By testing and approving the animation with intermediate phases, you can finally
switch to the fine-tuning of the walking sequence. Some elements need manual ad-
justing. So, for some parts, such the feet and palms, as many key frames as possible
should be created. The most tricky part is, of course, the feet because they need to
follow the level of the ground.
To give the animation an ideal look, you can use some advanced methods. First, re-
call that the walking cycle is always unique. The next step has some minor differen-
ces, the character's walk should not be too uniform. If it is technically possible, it is
good to have alternative frames for specific phases. They can have some tiny differ-
ences in the basic frame: another angle for the foot, the character offsets his eyes,
and so on. The game can randomly choose between the basic frame or its alternat-
ive version; therefore, the final animation may look very natural because the motion
is not monotonous.
Another way to increase the attractiveness is to add some extra sequences to illus-
trate when the character begins to walk or stops moving. By default, the game uses
a sharp switch between the characters, that is, from the standby mode to walking or
vice versa. This is not a big problem, a player usually doesn't notice such things, but
animation with smoother transitions between states is perceived more profession-
al. Such tiny details increase the overall level of visual quality. The most important
sequence is the stopping process. This is because in the real world, the character
would have some amount of kinetic energy and his body would not stop immediately
because of inertia. So, it is very likely that an object that is suddenly stopped ex-
presses some signs of
insubordination
to the new circumstances. The object would
tilt a little forward and then recoil, followed by a final attempt to move forward; this
would last for a short period of time, till the object reaches quiescence. In case of a
character, before he finally stops, the body tilts forward, the arms continue to move
straight, and he almost falls. Finally, he recoils backward, followed by a small fluctu-
ation, and the sequence is over.
