100% More Bacon

I'm adding a third enemy to my game, and would love some feedback on its animation. It's a standard strength enemy, with a spider being weak, and a stag being tough.

Wild Boar:

<center><img src="http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc212/darkstorne/Boar.gif" border="0" /></center>

Think he looks bulky and... piggy enough? <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

UPDATE - second pass: Now with snout, tail, and speed!

<center><img src="http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc212/darkstorne/Boar2.gif" border="0" /></center>

UPDATE - third pass: Attached the tail properly to the back, improved ear movement. Slightly altered the "bounce" in his run.

<center><img src="http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc212/darkstorne/Boar3.gif" border="0" /></center>

C+C very welcome, and please don't hold back if you think he could do with some improvement!

Many thanks,

-Silver-

The animation looks good to me, but it's snout seems too pointy more wolf-like than pig-like.

Maybe something more like this:

<img src="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/90589590/Boar%20Snout.jpg" border="0" />

Wild Boar do have quite pointy snouts, but I agree that mine looks more like a wolf's nose than a boar's snout. Not by the shape (silhouette would look fine I think), but the colour?

<img src="http://www.willridgeimages.co.uk/Latest%20Images/Latest%20Images%2010/Wild-Boar0511.jpg" border="0" />

I agree about the snout... It is slightly long. I think the only critique I could have on the animation is that the torso seems like it should move a little more vertically.

Yep, I agree with you Blight <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" /> I'll be playing with hotspots to raise his torso more in-game, and give him a little more height in his jump.

I'll rework the snout and update tomorrow. I still think it's an issue with the end looking like a nose instead of a snout, rather than the length, but if people still think it doesn't look right tomorrow I'll edit the length too.

If anything, I made the snout shorter than it should be <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

<img src="http://www.britishwildboar.org.uk/lewisboar.jpg" border="0" />

<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Wild_boar.jpg" border="0" />

Looks tasty.

I'll rework the snout and update tomorrow. I still think it's an issue with the end looking like a nose instead of a snout, rather than the length, but if people still think it doesn't look right tomorrow I'll edit the length too.I think it is the combination of the end looking more like a nose plus the eyes. They are more or less round, but to make it look more aggressive you painted the eye more lengthy (man, that is hard to explain without using my main language, hopefully you understand it anyway). When working on the snout, why not reworking the eye area as well, just a test?

EDIT: um, where is the tail? <img src="smileys/smiley4.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

um, where is the tail? <img src="smileys/smiley4.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

Hehe. I was planning on adding the tail at the end, but wondered if it would look fine without since the tail isn't a core feature of a boar. But I guess not <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle" /> I'll add a tail tomorrow too.

Interesting point about the eyes, and I understand what you mean. I quite like the evil look, but you've got a good point. If it still looks odd tomorrow I'll definitely play with the eyes as well. I think they give him character at the moment <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" /> but I won't mind getting rid of them if it leads to an improvement.

The running cycle looks like that of a wolf's or something similar. I imagine a boar running at full speed would look quick and goofy due to it's massive body and tiny legs...more like a trot I suppose. I think the snout could be fixed by flipping the end (nose) upwards a bit like in the pictures. Also yours looks pretty slim in comparison. Aside from that it looks pretty good :)

The running cycle looks like that of a wolf's or something similar. I imagine a boar running at full speed would look quick and goofy due to it's massive body and tiny legs...more like a trot I suppose.I don't think so. While the animation could run a bit faster, a running boar doesn't look goofy. In fact it looks a lot more like -Silver- animated it:

Yep, they do trot too, but I don't have the VRAM budget to include animations for every speed. I'll certainly make him animate faster though! Thanks for the feedback <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

Here is a sample from one off the world off warcraft boar animations.I learned a lot from these animations especially animal anims.

<img src="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7658043/boar.gif" border="0" />

I actually started off with WoW's design for the boar as a reference, but after checking real life videos and images decided they were too exaggerated for my liking. It works great for WoW, but I'd rather go for a little more realism in how they move. Boars don't get much height when they run, or much movement in their torso, moving more like a freight train of muscle and tusk. Tulamide's video link was a perfect example.

I've updated the OP with my second attempt, but I'll post it here too:

<center><img src="http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc212/darkstorne/Boar2.gif" border="0" /></center>

Hopefully that comes across as a snout now! I've sped him up significantly, and added a tail. Thoughts? Still in need of improvement?

Thanks for all the comments and feedback so far <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

Third pass is done, and I think I'm happy with him now! Any other recommendations? If not, I'll assume he's passable <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

Improved ear movement, fixed the tail so it attaches properly to his back instead, and ever so slightly altered the height he gains:

<center><img src="http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc212/darkstorne/Boar3.gif" border="0" /></center>

I hope you get a few more comments. I personally like the movement, but still am not satisfied with the snout <img src="smileys/smiley9.gif" border="0" align="middle" />