-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Uncharted 4 lead animator on making Drake more responsive
- Thread starter Hoje0308
- Start date
Jak felt really good to control (outside of vehicles), among the best in any platforming game ever imo. I remember a reviewer for Jak 3 (at IGN I think) saying that playing other games was a pain after Jak 3 with how smooth it animated.
FranXico
Member
I did hold the triangle button.
OverBlood 3
Banned
I wish they'd show us what sort of things they're doing with sound cause everything I've heard from the game so far is underwhelming.
His actual climbing animation is also just like actual rock climbers instead of the more game-like animation we see in a lot of games where characters jut jump up rock faces.
dat crack climbin
PeterLegend
Member
do metal arms generate lactic acid? Dude could hang up there all day long.
Long interview with audio director (Same guy who was audio director on TLOU) and senior sound designer on Uncharted 4 about their work on the game.
https://soundcloud.com/soundworkscollection/video-game-sound-design-rob
Awesome gif but his pupils should be shrinking on drugs not growing bigger.
Snake's running animation in particular is probably the smoothest i've seen in any game
And then there are small details like this
His actual climbing animation is also just like actual rock climbers instead of the more game-like animation we see in a lot of games where characters jut jump up rock faces.
Wow. So smooth. And the show of fatigue while climbing. Fingers in natural looking handholds too.
If Uncharted 4 controlled like Max Payne 3 that would be amazing. Just tune Drake to be a little lighter and more athletic to fit his size and strength and that would be perfect.
Icyflamez96
Member
Jak = Ball
Drake 4 = Ball
Jak = Drake?
Drake 4 = Ball
Jak = Drake?
I was thinking something more along the lines of this:
So this is what Drake did with all his treasure from Uncharted 1. I should have known.
So this was Drake's Deception.
D
Deleted member 80556
Unconfirmed Member
On cocaine? I don't think so.
Oh yeah lol ignore me I was thinking of heroin.
Jacksinthe
Banned
Let's not forget the camera work. Even though you can turn it yourself there's a lot that goes into making it feel right. That has a HUGE impact on how what is on screen translates to what is in your hands. That can easily make or break how a game feels and looks.Snake's running animation in particular is probably the smoothest i've seen in any game
And then there are small details like this
His actual climbing animation is also just like actual rock climbers instead of the more game-like animation we see in a lot of games where characters jut jump up rock faces.
Shin-Ra
Junior Member
Nope, after 150+ hours you know how to Fulton shit out but do it standing in the wrong spot and you'll still sometimes get in an AA gun, start aiming a mortar or whatever despite holding triangle.
Venom Snake's running animation is beautiful and tight feeling but also robotic, very little if any variation in his stride. His slow climbing would quickly get you killed in single player vertical combat, multiplayer no chance.
This thread is going places.
Definitely agree with those bringing up MGSV, it feels so, so good, weighty yet perfectly responsive with some incredible animations, it's possibly the best feeling action game I've ever played. Now, do I think Uncharted 4 could/should go as far as MGSV? Probably not - I think the super impressive animation in the Uncharted series is a lot of the context specific stuff (which MGSV isn't anywhere near as good at) and getting that sort of stuff right I imagine is a huge challenge on its own, let alone in combination with a weighty yet responsive set of movement mechanics.
I'm interested to see what improvements they've made with Uncharted 4, I'm glad it's something they're thinking about, either way.
I'm interested to see what improvements they've made with Uncharted 4, I'm glad it's something they're thinking about, either way.
im not gonna say i know from experience... but it depends on the drugs... X, Acid, Coke all make your pupils HUGE.
To be fair pretty sure Assassin's Creed did this first.
Stereogatari
Banned
Good to hear. When I saw the thread title I assumed it would be about Drake reacting to things happening.
This responsiveness thing is a problem of a lot of realistic games since the HD era. Feels like the characters are on puppet strings, surrounded by invisible walls and not mobile enough.
This responsiveness thing is a problem of a lot of realistic games since the HD era. Feels like the characters are on puppet strings, surrounded by invisible walls and not mobile enough.
Using Kotaku's rock climbing post I seeSnake's running animation in particular is probably the smoothest i've seen in any game
And then there are small details like this
His actual climbing animation is also just like actual rock climbers instead of the more game-like animation we see in a lot of games where characters jut jump up rock faces.
Edit: I'm joking btw.
Using Kotaku's rock climbing post I see
Edit: I'm joking btw.
Funnily enough the author of that kotaku article did a follow up about Uncharted 4's climbing.
http://kotaku.com/nathan-drake-maybe-the-greatest-rock-climber-in-vide-1669544207
tattooed_dwarf
Member
To me Drake felt too much like he's walking on ice, especially when moving slowly.
Ivan
Member
Animation in MGS V is far from perfect. It just doesn't look good as a whole. It's very nice to control, but transitions are really bad, some animations are just plain awful, and you can't judge animation of a character in a game just by looking it running.
You have to look at how all that blends when you move the character in different situations.
Individual animations are not bad, but as a whole it still looks very "Japanese" in terms of style, speed and "robotism". It's not realistic.
Speed is just wrong in many situations (like in most Japanese games), etc.
There's no weight and inertia at all.
Everything still looks robotic, even if it's much better then in earlier games.
MGS is nowehere near perfection animation wise.
Even old Uncharted games look better as a whole, but they feel much worse.
You should look at David Rosen's approach here in a game called Overgrowth. It's very interesting.
How to keep responsiveness and rich animations (procedural in this case) at the same time.
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1020583/Animation-Bootcamp-An-Indie-Approach
Imagine something like this on a higher level. Some big team with lots of funds and knowledge.
That U4 stuff they showed reminded me of this for some reason, I hope I'm not wrong...
You have to look at how all that blends when you move the character in different situations.
Individual animations are not bad, but as a whole it still looks very "Japanese" in terms of style, speed and "robotism". It's not realistic.
Speed is just wrong in many situations (like in most Japanese games), etc.
There's no weight and inertia at all.
Everything still looks robotic, even if it's much better then in earlier games.
MGS is nowehere near perfection animation wise.
Even old Uncharted games look better as a whole, but they feel much worse.
You should look at David Rosen's approach here in a game called Overgrowth. It's very interesting.
How to keep responsiveness and rich animations (procedural in this case) at the same time.
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1020583/Animation-Bootcamp-An-Indie-Approach
Imagine something like this on a higher level. Some big team with lots of funds and knowledge.
That U4 stuff they showed reminded me of this for some reason, I hope I'm not wrong...
Ghost Slayer
Member
What's special about MGSV's shooting mechanic?
Thanks for the link.I know that Uncharted 4 utilizes inverse kinematics and Drake has physics on all of his secondary motions. Funny how Jeremy's quote of Drake now feeling like a ball is exactly how David Rosen started in Overgrowth.
Unknown One
Member
Nothing.
DarkJak101
Member
You mean they didn't tone it down in the remaster? Was sure they would...
Fancy Clown
Member
Ah yes, the wonderful traversal of not being able to climb up waist high rocks.
MGSV does control really, really well though. I also went back to Uncharted 2 after playing a lot of Bloodborne and I did not remember Nate being so sluggish to control at all.
thelastword
Banned
I think the animation improvements coupled with the tech they implemented in the order 1886 to reduce input latency will be a big boon to 30fps games. 30fps games may actually feel as responsive as 60fps games in such situations.
D
Deleted member 325805
Unconfirmed Member
Not as responsive, but more responsive than traditional 30fps. The Order felt noticeably better, but it didn't feel like 60fps.
Cave Johnson
Member
Here's the irony of your post. Jak controls were directionally oriented, hence there was no resistance between the player stick and the character movement. The problem with this is that your character is nothing more than a weightless texture and is the animations feels independent in the surroundings. 3D Mario on the other hand moved like a ball, it has weight, inertia and resistance which casts a better illusion of the character operating within that world which is exactly what this animator is trying to accomplish with Uncharted 4.
So when you're saying this direction is "excellent". You are essentially advocating moving away from the Jak controls.
RustyNails
Member
Absolutely true. Controlling Big Boss actually does feel like controlling an older, 50 year old man but who's at the pinnacle of military trained-responsiveness. Like the way he sprints for example.