Just another walking monster [CC]

[jahasaja]

Tried to create my first monster. First he looks liked a donkey now he looks more like a wolf I suppose.

But what do you guys think about the walk animation? I have some problem with the leg muscles and I guess a lot of other stuff that i can't even see.




Thanks in advance!

[scarmy]

I think the weight distribution may be a problem; e looks so hunched, I think e's gonna fall.

[Jellybit]

I agree. The lean forward with the legs far behind makes it look like he's using the swords as crutches.

[r1k]

I cant tell if hes supposed to be holding swords or what.  To me it looks like he has those cane things like this: http://reachingforthestars.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/boy-with-CP-canes1.jpg
part of the reason being that he moves both arms together at the same time like you would with crutches rather than moving one arm foreward while the other goes back.

[astraldata]

lol, he's got a sort of NBA Jam pasted-head thing going on there it looks like with his body turning and wobbling so much. I do applaud your lighting though. Very well done. If this is going to be a game sprite, however, you might want to consider some sort of overhead lighting instead since the sprite will likely be mirrored.

As far as the animation goes, the arcs of movement for the arms are definitely wrong. After all, everything in nature tends to move in circles and arcs. This is something you should trace out in your animation. One glaring problem is the height of his left hand when passing over his body going forward.

Most other stuff I'd critique has been said though.

[jahasaja]

Thanks guy I thought it was so bad that nobody was going to comments :-P.

As for the hunched thing, Yeah I think you guys are right. All my other enemies have very boring walk animation so I wanted to make this one a bit more gorilla like. Guess I went overboard.. It does not even look scary??

As for some other things:

I cant tell if hes supposed to be holding swords or what.

He is supposed to have blades tied to his arms. perhaps that is more apparent in the attack animation? : 

you might want to consider some sort of overhead lighting instead since the sprite will likely be mirrored

Acctually, I am trying to make a game where the enemies never turns.

As for the things about the arms swings: I was trying to walk this hunched myself and it felt more correct to swing the arms with your legs instead of the normal way. I guess this go back to the problem of him being too hunched.

I will take all you feedback into consideration on my next edit (including the NBA Jam thing even though that is a good game) 

[astraldata]

Yup, NBA Jam rocks lol.

Anyhow, the biggest problem I think is the fact that he appears to be looking at the ground rather than straight ahead. Even if he is hunched, he should look like he's walking with some purpose (unless he's a zombie dog-wolf of course, but I doubt he'd have the coordination to use swords lol). If you angled his chin a bit upward more, you could both turn the head a lot more easily as he walks (by shifting pixels a little left and right) as well as give him a bit more fearsomeness since he looks like he'll look more like he's coming for you.

I think the only other issue is that his neck may be too long -- it kind of looks like a man wearing a dog-mask rather than that being his actual head.

Finally, for the sword swinging animations, give the guy a little arc in his motions -- as I mentioned before. Lean him in and make his arms and legs swing the sword together while following the arcs that you think will make the attack look more powerful.

Also, add some blur on the blade between such a long swing of the blade in such a short amount of time. This blur will help you visualize the arcs better too, and, in addition to that, it will pull the frames closer together, making the swing read more clearly on such a small amount of frames.

Hopefully that helps clarify some of your issues.

[r1k]

I made this from scratch for practice.  Its not that good but I might as well post it, maybe itll help somehow.  I thought on yours the arms didnt swing enough, but I made mine swing too much.  So atleast it shows you what not to do haha.  I tried giving him more wolf like legs.  I was gonna give him a tail too but didnt want to spend the extra time on it, but I think it would look cool.



for the sword attack, as said already, his body is far too stiff.

[jahasaja]

First, thanks for all the responses!

I tried to make a new edit according to your ideas. However, I did not change the hunched over problem as i kind of like that part of the animation.

I changed the head according to astraldata's ideas. I think he/she became much more wolf like in the process. Also I hope the NBA jam feeling is gone.

R1k thanks so much for your version. I tried to correct the right arm to make it swing more. Yours is nice and I really like the legs (I would hade change into that if i had the time) However, as i said before i kind of like the hunched feeling of a wolf who really does not know how to walk (or something).

Anyways, here is the new version I hope it is better than the last.



As for the attack. I agree that it is stiff. it is still a WIP. However, it is one out of 3 attacks that he does in quick order so I cannot change it too much.

[HarveyDentMustDie]

Head on your last edit is much better. I agree with astraldata, lighting is great.

Leg movement is very odd, almost like ice skating. Maybe this will help you http://youthvoices.net/sites/default/files/image/2564/dec/screen_shot_2012-12-10_at_7.59.07_pm.png

I think that his feet should be bigger, current shape is bad, and doesn't give much balance to the character.

You should add some wrinkles on front part of that cloth while he walks, it looks to stiff.

Also you should change the shape of those blades and add at least two more colors to it. Be creative, cause straight blade is to plain.
https://www.google.com/search?q=prince+of+persia+swords&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=iai0UtCnHcPNtAbDooCIBw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=832

I don't have the time for edit, but I hope that this was helpful.