My first walk cycle

t3l3c0n · Mon 19/02/2024 15:19:13

So in my continued quest to try and figure out if I've got the skills to make the point and click adventure I've always dreamt of I've taken my first stab at animating a walk cycle. I'm actually a lot more pleased with how it came out than I thought I would be (he is definitely walking!), but there is still plenty of room for improvement. I'm really just looking for feedback on what people think and if there are any suggestions for how to make it better. Two points I would definitely like to improve are the wrinkles in his coat that seem to jump around a bit during the animation despite my best efforts, and putting some more 'personality' to the walk as it feels a little robotic at the moment. I had also been playing around with getting emotions onto my sprites face so couldn't resist him taking a few deep breaths before taking his first steps, then looking a little please with himself when he succeeds

RootBound · Mon 19/02/2024 16:28:51

This looks really good.

The walking actually does have personality in my opinion. It's a very forceful walk, as opposed to a gentle or leisurely one.

I see what you mean about the jacket wrinkles. I don't think they jump around, but they seem oddly placed. I feel like the wrinkles might look better if they were more vertical. The ones on the sleeve look good but rather than moving should maybe shrink as the elbow and sleeve unfold.

The expressions are good too but if he puffs and grins every time he walks it will take forever to move him anywhere.

As a player I'd get tired of that within minutes.

Great work for your first go at it!

t3l3c0n · Mon 19/02/2024 16:48:07

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I'm glad to hear you felt the walk did have some personality. A strong walk is what I would have gone for if it hadn't been complete luck

. I may try repositioning the wrinkle on the jacket to a more vertical position to see if it looks more natural. The sleeve wrinkles are the ones I felt were jumping around but I think your advice of shortening or lengthening them based on how 'open' or 'closed' the elbow joint is might do the trick.

I just added the puffing and smirk because I couldn't resist, but these would not be part of the normal walk cycle, I agree that would get old very quickly if he did it every time

heltenjon · Mon 19/02/2024 16:56:06

Quote from: t3l3c0n on Mon 19/02/2024 15:19:13(I was trying to get the image to embed in the post but failed miserably)

Press quote on my post to see what I typed. Did you forget the gif suffix?

t3l3c0n · Mon 19/02/2024 17:15:48

Quote from: heltenjon on Mon 19/02/2024 16:56:06
Quote from: t3l3c0n on Mon 19/02/2024 15:19:13(I was trying to get the image to embed in the post but failed miserably)

Press quote on my post to see what I typed. Did you forget the gif suffix?

Thanks I've edited my post to show it (It doesn't bode well for my scripting skills

)

Kastchey · Mon 19/02/2024 17:18:30

I do see those tiny glitches when I pay attention, but honestly, this looks better than many walk cycles I've seen in completed games and I doubt anyone would notice while playing. The character clearly has a personality already, great job!

AndreasBlack · Mon 19/02/2024 22:24:52

Quote from: Kastchey on Mon 19/02/2024 17:18:30I do see those tiny glitches when I pay attention, but honestly, this looks better than many walk cycles I've seen in completed games and I doubt anyone would notice while playing. The character clearly has a personality already, great job!

Agree 100% there are completed games with walkcycles that are not that amazing. No titles named to avoid conflict

Keep it up OP! You can do it

t3l3c0n · Tue 20/02/2024 08:54:49

Thanks for all the positive comments. I struggle sometimes to look at my work objectively so having somewhere I can get honest feedback is invaluable. The Goal for this weekend is to tweak some of the folds/wrinkles then get on with the other directions to complete the cycle. After that its time to draw some rooms for him to walk around!

Thanks again for all the help!

Creamy · Tue 20/02/2024 21:38:14

Nice character. I don't think he lacks personality.
When the animation is played so fast, it's hard to spot the inconsistencies.
I tried a few things, you take what you want:

- smoothen the back motion of the right arm
- changed angle of the left arm
- gave each feet a different shade and put them on different levels for readability.
- lower coat less jerky.
- reduced wrinkles when right arm is unbent.

Snarky · Wed 21/02/2024 08:27:58

Nice work! As others have said, it's already better than a lot of walkcycles used in AGS games, and I'm sure you'll only improve with more practice.

One thing I notice is that the head bounce is one pixel higher for one leg than for the other. I see this in a lot of walkcycles, and to me it always makes it look like the character is limping. The jerky back motion of the arm (fixed in Creamy's version) increases this impression.

t3l3c0n · Wed 21/02/2024 08:59:20

Quote from: Creamy on Tue 20/02/2024 21:38:14Nice character. I don't think he lacks personality.
When the animation is played so fast, it's hard to spot the inconsistencies.
I tried a few things, you take what you want:

- smoothen the back motion of the right arm
- changed angle of the left arm
- gave each feet a different shade and put them on different levels for readability.
- lower coat less jerky.
- reduced wrinkles when right arm is unbent.

Thanks a lot for that! I'll definitely be incorporating the smoother arm movement and the tweaks to the coat (I particularly like the subtle shadow down the back edge). I also hadn't considered raising the back leg by one pixel but this definitely helps provide some clarity.

These tips are invaluable and will hopefully help with not only improving this animation but on the many more I'll have to do going forward.