Animated Stag

[-Silver-]

Been a loooong while since I posted about my game's progress. Here's a GIF of a red deer (an 'enemy') going through a single run cycle and then launching into an attack:

Spoiler

So this is two different animations for the Stag put together into one GIF. I have a grazing animation too, where he looks up from the ground when the player is nearby (you play as a wolf). Thing is, I'm running really low on time, so all of these animations are first attempts. As a comparison, it took me FIVE different attempts to get my wolf's running animation to a level of quality I was happy with (you can see it here: viewtopic.php?f=159&t=75968).

So what do you think? Passable? I know there's quite a few errors, but so long as it's good enough I think I will stick with this for now. Don't hold back though! If it sucks, let me know. I love you guys for your honest critique :heart:

EDIT: I know the GIF plays too fast. I couldn't tinker with it in Photoshop well enough to vary the speeds, but in-game the attacking part will be slower

 

[Xhukari]

Its very nice!
Nice details, pretty smooth animation. My only complaint is that the first leg seems to jump out of joint for the jump. I personally find it really noticeable , which could detract from the rest of the game. (I looked at that link with the wolf, and the rest looks gorgeous!) I love wolves

How are you 'running out of time' though? How do you have a deadline? Most personal projects I know of don't have deadlines x.x

 

[-Silver-]

You mean it goes out of joint after he's landed and starts jumping forward again? If that's the case, it's because his placement isn't correct. He moves backwards after he lands, and in-game I can reposition his actual placement to ensure the running animation starts from the correct point. But in the GIF, it just loops back to where it was before.

If you mean it goes out of joint when he's rising up on his hind legs, then that's something I will definitely need to smooth over with a second attempt. That section will be slower in-game, so hopefully it won't look as jarring.

And I'm making this as a full-time project right now. I had a choice between a full time job in Ecology (what I studied for at uni) or the chance to say "fuck it, you only live once" for the summer and try creating an Indie game. Obviously, I chose the latter :P I only have so much cash in my account though, so I can't keep up like this for too long. Plus, Christmas is coming up soon, and despite how supportive my partner is being, I doubt she'd appreciate the lack of presents :devil:

 

[Xhukari]

Oh, very nice!
Well I wish you all the luck in the world.
You're making a game I have huge interests in. I even tried to make a similar game, but discovered I cannot draw nor animate wolves, so that died quick ;D

It reminds me back to the days when I used to play Furcadia, playing as a wolf, hunting deer and the like within the Order of the Wolf.