Wow. Lots of dislike in here.
So, to explain the thinking behind some of these ideas...
Yes, the walk is slow right now - it was mostly a test to make sure the rig worked. The final animation is meant to be much quicker, more acrobatic, and smoother. I've since improved the rig to include bending the torso, neck, shoulders, and made the feet smaller, so I can do more with the motion of the legs. There's also a major element missing right now - the gun. As originally intended, this guy would have a shoulder-mount weapon (that upgrades as the game progresses) that independently tracks enemies. Something along the lines of this:
And yes, the Karmans from AT 43 have been among my main inspirations for this guy - them and Cygor. I'm still very much in progress of working on this character.
The scaling of this guy is also off - the camera was improperly set up - It's about 25% closer than it should be. The "facing away from the camera" issue is another thing entirely. I was trying to be utterly consistent in the camera angles used by these sprites - which lead to the camera being slightly behind the character. If I'm honest, I sort of like this - seems a neat diversion from the standard sidescroller formula where the main character is the main focus of the scene. This way you're more focused on what's going on *in* the scene, than what your character's doing. *However*, I have tried the camera facing the other way, and it doesn't look nearly as jarring as I might have thought. I'll do a post with both options whenever I get the animation and character to a good point.
As for the name of the game, here's the basic story:
Your character is an uplifted, human-level intelligence scout gorilla (who's been genetically altered to have several other animals survival traits, sense of smell, hearing, balance, reflexes, that sort of thing think 50% Cougar). You're returning to your home planet for debriefing. While in orbit, you signal your controllers of your arrival. As soon as your signal is sent, your ship is targeted, fired upon, and shot down. You wake up next to your wrecked scoutcraft somewhere outside the city. Your goal is to find out what happened to your controllers, and why all the dwellings and city outskirts seem to be deserted.
Thus the name - Absent Eden. There are no people here, just psychotic utility and police bots. All of them intent on eliminating you.
Not the most original, but hey.
One final note: After reading some of the criticisms posted in response to the gorilla, I considered replacing the gorillacat with a more conventional character - even an anime-style guy pulled almost directly from the video I posted as inspiration. I ran this idea past my friends here at work, guys and gals who's opinion I trust enormously, and I was
threatened with physical violence if I replaced the monkey. So for now, the monkey stays. I shall try and make it more interesting, however.
Give me a few days to work out the animation. It's not my strong suit (I've never really animated characters before) and I'm still learning.
