syedpractice2

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GDC talk – Game design and Easter Eggs

I was watching GDC talk about how to give yourself a creative boost than can sometimes cause a big and positive change in the future. The spokesperson for the talk was “Daanish Syed”, a Principal UI Visual Designer at Respawn Entertainment. He talks about how fun with your tasks having can increase your creativity overall and can sometimes leads to a brand-new idea. It can be silly or just simple a fun divergent.

He mentions one of the ways to have fun is adding easter eggs in the game. This is not just easter eggs for the players who play it but also for yourself when a player finds it and uploads it on the internet. You will see and be like “Oh yeah, I put that in that day.”. As Leonardo Da Vinci said:

“Art is never finished, only abandoned”.

In an example, Daanish mentions how in Mortal Kombat 11, they changed joker’s shop animation as an easter egg to the class 1989 Batman’s Joker’s shop. Apart from that, he also mentioned how putting some meme references are quickly picked up by the players and they appreciate your effort.

As a result of adding the small Easter Egg of joker in Mortal Kombat 11, he mentions how they were able to introduce the idea in Injustice games. When you select your players, they do an animation on the selection screen of hitting one another. It was a unique and brilliant idea, but it all originated because they added the joker easter egg.

His talk about micro-decisions in game design and easter eggs was very refreshing as it was a very new information for me, and I understand the purpose of small efforts better now.

References:

GDC (2024). GDC Animation Microtalks. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvT0lpaQhsk  [Accessed 1 May 2024].

Skillicorn, N. (2022). ‘Art is never finished, only abandoned.’ [online] Idea to Value. Available at: https://www.ideatovalue.com/insp/nickskillicorn/2022/10/art-is-never-finished-only-abandoned/

Jim’s Gaming Cave. (2017). Injustice 2 - The Flash’s Secret Character Select Interaction/Animation! [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/04mIRHNB48g?t=9  [Accessed 1 May 2024].

NetherRealm Studios (2019). Mortal Komat 11. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

NetherRealm Studios (2017). Injustice 2. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

#Youtube

[syedpractice2]

God of War Character Animation – Inspiration

I want to do character animation for games and one of the best character animation games I’ve recently played is God of War, both 2018 reboot and Ragnarök. The character animation in the game shows so much diversity when it comes to body mechanics. A few examples are how Atreus is nimble and small so he can jump on enemy characters’ head and stun them. Similarly, there are enemies with different weight, height and wings that make them animate differently while in air and when they are carrying big rocks and stuff.

They also made some animations using motion capture. This is what earlier versions of different animations looked like. How different principles are involved in making 1 animation. How the dragon is animated while being attack on. These are all body mechanics that rely on one another to create momentum.

References:

Santa Monica Studio (2018). God of War [Video Game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Santa Monica Studio (2022). God of War Ragnarök [Video Game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Ebensteiner, J. (2018). Jack Ebensteiner - God of War Animation Reel. [online] Vimeo. Available at: https://vimeo.com/275888180  [Accessed 1 May 2024].

Trikosko, M. (2018). God of War Animation Reel. [online] Available at: https://vimeo.com/268288680  [Accessed 1 May 2024].

#Vimeo

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Final Major Project – Idea 4

Another idea was to make a video of different intermediate to advanced animations that involves weight manipulation, body mechanics, weight shifting in body parts. This is very crucial thing for an animator as these things makes the animation better. It is a very difficult thing to get masters of. I watched a different video during my research.

There is a huge difference between someone who knows the fundamentals of a good body animation and someone who doesn’t. And I want to learn these things sooner than later as I want to not only get good at animation, but also want to be able to have a career in this field and grow.

For my animations, I’m thinking of doing 3 things:

Get up from a chair - from sitting animation to a standing animation. For spine overlap and momentum.

Jump Forward – From a standing position, jump forward. For Spine overlap, foot peel offs and change in shape of body.

A simple Dance. For fluid movements, shifting focus from one action to another, carry the momentum.

I can add more animations if I still have more time, but I think I need to get the basic to intermediate animation strong, so I don’t have to learn after graduation.

References:

Rusty Animator (2019). How to Get Hirable Animation Skills Fast. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9U_Z2rDe_Q&list=PLKWZthytMP59I0qRJpxOxm719OiRsr6kY&index=1&t=645s&pp=iAQB  [Accessed 1 May 2024].

Jean-Denis Haas (2022). 3 Tips to improve your SENSE OF TIMING for animation! [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaQqg3VtrUo&t=3s&pp=ygUYYm9keSBtZWNoYW5pY3MgYW5pbWF0aW9u  [Accessed 1 May 2024].

#Youtube

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Final Major Project – Idea 3

Another Idea me and Wayne came up with is “Spider-dog”. So, during our discussion, Wayne mentioned sometimes it’s the accessibility of resources that makes our ability to make a choice or decision harder. He asked what resources I already have and use them. I mentioned I have a spider-man and a dog 3D model rigged and then it clicked.

The concept of Spider-dog is that Spider-man’s dog goes out with him and has the same abilities as spider-man. As a rough sketch, me and Wayne came up with some script and actions the dog can perform.

Spiderman is walking while looking at this phone. Spider-dog is walking beside him.

Still busy on the phone, spider-man starts walking on a building and doesn’t notice the dog is also walking on the building.

Spider-man, still looking at his phone comes down from the building along with his dog.

Then walking the dog climbs up the lamppost.

Spider-man keeps walking and suddenly notices the dog is missing.

He looks back and the dog is using web to sit upside down on a lamppost and sniffing it.

Spider-man comes and motions him to come down.

After coming down, they get a spider-sense signal. Spider-man carries the spider-dog and swings away.

These are just some rough ideas and script we came up with.

For the dog model, I found a model on CadNav.

References:

www.cadnav.com. (2024). Full Rigged Cartoon Dog 3d model Maya files free download. [online] Available at: https://www.cadnav.com/3d-models/model-53128.html  [Accessed 29 April 2024].

Rusty Animator. (2020). Rusty Animator - Make your Animation Career A Reality. [online] Available at: https://rustyanimator.com/blog/  [Accessed 29 April 2024].

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Final Major Project – Idea 2

The second Idea I have is, to create a JRPG type game, like Final Fantasy IX. I really love the game and back in my working days, I made hometown area for a game. I can use that and add different town people who interact with one another. Just like in the start of Final Fantasy IX.

Town close-up.

Top down town image.

Something like this. I have an environment made for a stylized game with houses, windmill, bridge, and a river.

The sword is the town treasure

Windmill on the hill was a last minute addition. We can the characters walk up there in a cutscene.

In the night time, the lanterns come on and light reflects outside.

The house beyond the bridge. According to the stories, ghosts live there and elders tell children not to go there after sundown.

Just make some NPCs walk around and have few characters who I will animate to talk and do perform actions. Like a cutscene from a JRPG game.

References:

Square (2000). Final Fantasy IX [Video game]. Square.

[syedpractice2]

Final Major Project – Idea 1

For my final major project, I came up with some ideas. I sat with Wayne today and discussed a few of them. First Idea was to animate a scene from an animated movie or clip, just not a Disney movie. I can take a 2-3 min scene and try to animate it.

The above video is a good example. I can use this as a reference to create a 3D animation for the project. I even have the avatar Aang 3D model that I got from Rusty animator’s website. I also watched some videos for timing during my research.

This video from AnimSchool is very great. As he goes in details how to use reference but still learn more out of it.

References:

Jared Koh. (2023). Avatar Element Animation 2. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5vdPy7nbRQ&t=12s&pp=ygUgcmVmZXJlbmNlIGFuaW1hdGVkIG1vdmllcyBzY2VuZXM%3D  [Accessed 29 April 2024].

Rusty Animator. (2020). Rusty Animator - Make your Animation Career A Reality. [online] Available at: https://rustyanimator.com/blog/  [Accessed 29 April 2024].

AnimSchool (2021). How to Film Good Reference for Animation. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAUmgEzR1xA  [Accessed 29 April 2023].

#Youtube

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Research for Animation

Last semester, I did a walk cycle, which was my first time animating a character. For my next project, I did some research. I wanted to research some exercises I can keep doing to improve my animation at a beginner level and improve my already skills. I found a good advice by “RobynO” was that I should practice with brick and a flour sack. This will give me a good insight on how different weighted bodies fall or drop.

After that I watched some demo reels made by different people over YouTube. I also watched the ones made by students at our university last year.

Reference:

RobynO (2020). 5 Best Animation Exercises for Beginners | Animation Basics. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kobTNuoPs5c&t=417s  [Accessed 23 April 2024].

Tyagi, F. (2022). 3D Animation Portfolio 2022 | Animation showreel | Faizan Tyagi Animation. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSHRkgcyJjM  [Accessed 23 April 2024]. siykey. (2021). 2D ANIM DEMO REEL ((University of Hertfordshire : semester A)). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fae6zOkqsOY [Accessed 23 April 2024].

#Youtube

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My interview with a Game Developer

I completed the assignment and I have gained a lot of new information regarding how decisions are made in the game companies and how much a game’s success and failure matter. Because big companies have more money and resources, they are also expected to make a good game that majority of the audience will enjoy. That is why they tend to go for a method or formula more people are familiar with and like it.

I interviewed a game developer from nDreams company as well. He also mentioned how they stick to one method because they know it works for them. He also mentioned that despite the risks, there are companies who release games of the same IP, but they are different from one another making them fun and exciting to play. His example was Nintendo’s games like Legend of Zelda, Mario etc. Audience looks forward to how they will get a new Mario game because unlike games like FIFA and WWE, new Mario game will be different from its previous one.

You can watch the interview here: https://youtu.be/qQj77pQsVYI

References:

Leon (2024). Why are video game companies choosing to repeat a game formula instead of innovating? [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/qQj77pQsVYI [Accessed 22 April 2024].

Nintendo EAD (1985). Super Mario [Video game]. Nintendo.

Nintendo EAD (1986). The Legend of Zelda [Video game]. Nintendo.

Michael, D. (2003) The indie game development survival guide. Hingham, Mass: Charles River Media.

[syedpractice2]

Indie Games – Top 5 Highest Grossing Games

I talked about AAA games being same in my last blog. One other thing that came up was how successful the indie has become over the past years. I personally enjoy the indie games more than the AAA titles these days like “Hades”, “Hollow Knight” and “Lies of P”. Indie game companies have more sales on steam than these big AAA game companies.

Like, Palworld and Helldivers 2 have more sale this year than Baldur’s Gate 3, which is the game of the year 2023. I think AAA games studios need to step up their game if they want to be in competition because why would I go to a company where I’m just going to follow a formula, do overtime, work myself to death with no creativity? I would prefer to work in an indie company where I can be creative and learn new stuff and try out different types of styles and art with the benefit of working from home or more benefits than big studios.

References:

Lindner, J. (2024) Indie Game Industry Statistics, [online] GITNUX. Available at: https://gitnux.org/indie-game-industry/#:~:text=Between%202010%20and%202019%2C%2082,while%20holding%20down%20another%20job  (Accessed: 17 April 2024).

Konoy (2023) The era of the indie game, The Era of the Indie Game. [online] Available at: https://www.konvoy.vc/content/the-era-of-the-indie-game#:~:text=The%20dominance%20of%20indie%20games,in%202018%20(VG%20Insights)  (Accessed: 18 April 2024)

Pocket Pair (2024). Palworld [Video game]. Pocket Pair.

Arrowhead Game Studios (2024). HellDivers 2 [Video game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Larian Studios (2023). Baldur’s Gate 3 [Video game]. Larian Studios.

Supergiant Games (2020). Hades [Video Game]. Supergiant Games.

[syedpractice2]

AAA games – Repetitive Formula

While doing research, I realized that most of the AAA games now-a-days feel a little too similar. I mean, we all heard about the Ubisoft formula. Take made assassin’s creed 2, players like it then they started using the same formula in their other games like Watch Dogs, Farcry etc. At the time, they were considered genius of the AAA genre. However, with the passage of time, players caught on to their strategy and formula they are using to implement their games, started calling it “The Ubisoft formula.”

Recently, other companies have also started using the formula in their games like horizon zero dawn and spider-man. I understand creating a game takes a lot of time and resources and its hard to come up with a creative approach if you know the risks involve. But there are games who have been very creative in their genre giving fans a breath of fresh air. Games like Sekiro, Lies of P and recently, Final Fantasy remake. They are very good examples.

References:

Archer, C. (2021) Assassin’s Creed and the problem with the ‘ubisoft formula’, [online] The Oxford Student. Available at: https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2021/10/06/assassins-creed-and-the-problem-with-the-ubisoft-formula  [Accessed: 17 April 2024].

Going Indie (2023). Why Most AAA Games Have No Soul. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GxzPymc8u4 [Accessed 17 April. 2024].

Ubisoft (2009). Assassin’s Creed II (2009) [Video Game]. Ubisoft Montreal.

Ubisoft (2014). Watch Dogs (2014) [Video Game]. Ubisoft Montreal.

Ubisoft (2012). Farcry 3 (2012) [Video Game]. Ubisoft Montreal.

FromSoftware (2019). Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice [Video game]. Activision.

Square Enix Business Division 1 (2020). Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020) [Video Game]. Squire Enix.

#Youtube

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The Glassworker – First Pakistani Anime Movie

Pakistan is releasing their first ever anime-style hand drawn animated movie called “The Glassworker”. I have been following them since my undergrad and I’m very happy to finally get to know it releasing this July. Osman Riaz, the writer, and director of Glassworker has worked tirelessly since 2016. A kickstarter was launched back in February 2016 for this project and back when its pilot was released in 2018, it earned so many praises. It was amazing.

Now it has been confirmed that the movie is releasing in July of 2024. This is a very big deal because growing up in Pakistan, I never found any company or community who wants to work in animation, especially the anime style animation. It was not taught anywhere; the awareness was next to nothing. This movie will be a steppingstone to quality animation and people who want to work on anime style animations.

I really loved the art-style as I’m a very big anime fan. We need more studios like Mano Studio in Pakistan so young people who want to pursue a career in animation can learn and work in their own country and making amazing animations.

References:

The Glassworker (2024). Directed by Osman Riaz. Karachi: Mano Animation Studios.

Mano Animation Studios (2024). THE GLASSWORKER | Official English Trailer. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTuPHCyV6mw&pp=ygUTZ2xhc3N3b3JrZXIgdHJhaWxlcg%3D%3D  [Accessed 3 May 2024].

#Youtube

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Final Video

Lou provided the final environment and audio file for the cutscene. I finished the composition and then worked on the cutscene with the team and rendered the final version.

The environment really increased the mood and eerie-ness of the cutscene. The light effect gives the perfect souls like feeling.

This is the final version of the cutscene.

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Block out 3 - 5. Implementing Monster animations and Adjustments

Fedor gave the custom animations for the monster today and I implemented it in the scene. And adjusted the timing and of each scene and character’s positions.

These are the animations done on the recent model of the monster.

Adjusting to when the monster will grab the siblings and the positioning and railings.

Adjusting camera angles for shots and cover photo of the project.

Made a rough version after importing all the animations. Will make the final cut and composition after getting the final environment and discussing camera angles with the team.

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Block out 3 - 4. Rough Video

After adjusting the animations and retiming the cutscenes to 30 seconds, I did a sample video of the final video. Also got the new completed model of the monster with the sword. The sword will be the shinning object that the character will go after.

The sword had no rig so I was unable to adjust it according to the character's arm motion. Guess we'll have to improvise.

This is a rough video I exported to check if the animations of the characters and the siblings are ok. They seem fine but can use polishing.

[syedpractice2]

Block out 3 - 3

After searching a lot, I came up with a solution that can import animations directly from mixamo to Unreal engine. There is an plugin called “MixamoAnimToUE5” which I found after following this post

https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/missing-plugins-in-unreal-engine-5/747924 and this youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjQeUbGt4-4

This plugin allows me to import animations and run in UE5 directly without any bone editing. I uploaded the character on mixamo and selected whatever animation I needed and downloaded it. After that, just import it in unreal and use it.

 I imported all the required animations from mixamo and started implementing them. After that, I adjusted some distance and put the animations in the sequencer and arranged them accordingly. Have to retime the scene with animations now.

These are the Animation for the Main character.

These are the animation for the siblings.

References:

Epic Developer Community Forums. (2023). Missing Plugins in Unreal Engine 5. [online] Available at: https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/missing-plugins-in-unreal-engine-5/747924  [Accessed 2 May 2024].

UNREAL ENGINE JOURNEY (2022). Mixamo Animations to UnrealEngine 5 in A Few Clicks (With Free Mixamo IK Retargeter Plugin). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjQeUbGt4-4

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AccuRIG Tool

I tried to rig the sibling model in AccuRIG. It is a free tool to rig models. Although it was my first time, the rig came out quite good. And will definitely use the tool again.

The arms are not right but it was my first time and it still rigged most of the model well.

References:

Reallusion. (2017). 3D Animation and 2D Cartoons Made Simple - Reallusion Animation Software. [online] Available at: https://www.reallusion.com/

[syedpractice2]

Block out 3 - 2 - Importing Animations

Made a list of and imported animations for the character and siblings from Mixamo. Fedor added bones to the main character while I watched videos on how to import animations from Mixamo to Unreal. The video mentions to use a software called Mixamo converter to fix the root bone issue.

Despite using the software, I was unable to import animations into Unreal engine and put them on the characters. I tried searching different ways but no luck.

References:

NumenBrothers (2023). Fastest Way (and free) for Retargeting Mixamo Animations to UE5 Mannequin - Unreal Engine 5, Aug 26. [Youtube] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH02x-VdQDs

terribilisstudio.fr. (n.d.). Mixamo Converter. [online] Available at: https://terribilisstudio.fr/?section=MC

Gorka Games (2023). How to Import a Character and Animations from Mixamo into Unreal Engine 5. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyXeB1QtC0A&t=108s&pp=ygUXbWl4YW1vIHRvIHVlNSBtYW5uZXF1aW4%3D

Evans Bohl (2022). Mixamo to UE5: the ULTIMATE Guide [Youtube]. Available at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYal6taYUfE&t=310s

#Youtube