Posted in Animation, Design, Games on Feb 25th, 2009 No Comments »
There was something else I wanted to talk about in Shadow of the Colossus.
There are many things that set apart this game, but there is one that’s rarely mentioned: This game has anticipation, one of the key principles of animation so often deliberately ignored in games.
It is interesting that Ueda chooses not to sacrifice a [...]
Posted in Animation, Design, Games on Feb 22nd, 2009 No Comments »
For the next couple weeks I’ll be doing a series of posts on the use of interactive animation in a number of notable games…
Two this time…
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus: Not the most recent, but still remarkable both, for their daring use of animation in making you feel connected to the world and the [...]
Posted in AI, Animation, Design, Games on Feb 19th, 2009 1 Comment »
For the next couple weeks I’ll be doing a series of posts on the use of interactive animation in a number of notable games…
Today, Outcast…
It may be cause for concern that a ten year old game still merits inclusion, but it is a testament to just how far ahead of its time Appeal’s open-world adventure [...]
Posted in AI, Animation, Design, Games on Feb 16th, 2009 No Comments »
For the next couple weeks I’ll be doing a series of posts on the use of interactive animation in a number of notable games…
First up, Assassin’s Creed…
No doubt its movement and environment interaction are a milestone in game animation, weaving elegantly through crowds and running effortlessly across rooftops… but there is another aspect of this [...]
Posted in Animation, Design, Games on Feb 15th, 2009 No Comments »
A few years ago I developed a thesis “To explore how in-game animation can be used to drive interactive storytelling and gameplay“… Part of the project was to test out some ideas on how animation could be used to communicate with the player. Another part was to examine what had been done so far. I [...]
The intertubes of course are a never-ending supply of interesting things to read, so here’s a selection of the intriguing persuasion:
Splinedoctors walk three ways…
Jordan Mechner has an epiphany about player motivation
… and expands on the development of Sands of Time.
Hans Bacher makes an interesting point about restraint
and 10 things are learned in making a short [...]
Posted in Travel, Work on Feb 10th, 2009 No Comments »
BOOM! It’s been an eventful winter.
I went to Sweden for the holidays and I spent six weeks in Paris (pictures) where I helped with some animation at Darkworks. Now I’m back in Lyon. We’ll see what 2009 brings…