Animation and Modern Consoles

[Acert93]

IGN is running an article on animation and I thought it would be a good time to maybe take a look at the state of animation in current products, what we should expect over the next couple years, and maybe get some dev feedback on the issue.

Personally, animation is as important as the still visuals in presenting the game. And in general I think most games have thus far taken the approach of, "More animation samples and capture rate" in regards to their approach to games. So while the visuals have improved a lot in many ways the end "graphical" impact is being hindered a bit by the animation--especially in regards to object interaction. "Next Gen" has let me down a bit on animation, although BFBC and the new Star Wars games have me excited that we may see some games break the mold.

I would love to hear everyone elses feedback on this topic, especially since I think animation is often overlooked in graphics and technology discussions.

For the developers here: What is your take on the NaturalMotion products? Is this the right approach to some of the issues you are facing? Or do you see better solutions? What are the bottlenecks in animation: man power, processing power, memory, other? Are we beggining to see sizable overlap between more traditional boundaries like AI, physics simulations, and animation?

 

[LunchBox]

That lucas arts demo looks really good!
That's quite true i agree on the sentiments of last gen's animation on this gen's games.
Aside from that lucas arts demo, the only other smoothly animated demo i watched was heavenly sword

 

[ATI-liens]

The main problem with game motion is the artificial response , I think there are 2 aspects that need to be brushed up on.

Repetitive motion & Making unpredictable outcomes with control.

This is a senario to show what i mean by brushing up on repetative motion: You control a character to turn left: the full body turns left. In real life we don't usually suddenly think to turn 180 unless we forgot something or if we're running away from something.

So in plane English, if there is no threat surrounding you and you want to turn 180 "suddenly", it should only result in a look over the shoulder. Realistic games today give us way too much freedom of movement we would never consider performing in reality.

As for unpredictable outcomes during control. It's sad because after you play a game for 10 minutes you already know when you press the A button it's going through exactly the same motions as last time. I think devs should divert the motion randomly every time.

With good physx support on the cell, PS3 devs should take full advantage of reinventing basic moves.
the little differences will pay off.

Also, (going off animation/ motion a bit) this AI invisible "path" has to stop. inmost games it's obvious to see when the enemy picks you up in their "invisible radar" , or your AI buddy follows you like they have an invisible leash.

Don't get me wrong, not all games are as predictable as others. But to me..90% are