Embedded Files
Version 1
The frame duration I decided to set for this project was 100 milliseconds, this should be the same as the character walk animation and gave a fluidity to the animation. The walk cycle doesn't feel too fast at this speed either since there are 8 frames rather than 6 like in one of my previous walk cycles.
The main thing to realise here is that I considered my time for this project when designing the monster, I realised that making a different walk cycle for another character would be very bad as it would take so long to do. This led to me making the decision to make a mimic monster that imitates the player, this adds more depth to the game than just a generic monster so I think this choice was a good one, it also helps me save time and possibly reuse further animations from the character.
There isn't really anything different to the main character walk cycle other than the bleeding from the eyes and mouth. This blood drops realistically from the head from frame 1 to 2 and disappears a set distance from the head to make the walk cycle repeat more seamlessly.
I also tried my best to have the blood drop behind the arms of the character in order to add a sense of realism I think my walk cycle for the monster should have. The addition of blood actually dropping from the eyes rather than just appearing really adds to the animation, at least in my opinion.
Version 2
The second version of the animation features plenty of changes, the arm on the right is now cut practically in half and replaced with a bleeding stump, blood now drips from the ear starting on frame 3 to allow the drop enough time to drop down the body like the blood from the eyes and mouth of the character.
I also added the character being a different colour as the paleness of the skin helps to set the mimic apart from the normal character, helping to avoid any confusion. The pale skin also related to colour theory as yellow and this off shade would have connotations of sickness, this helps the player realise that this isn't someone needing help that is bleeding from injuries and instead is an active threat wishing to cause them some sort of harm. Realistically it should be shown through a widget but it's better for the character to figure some things out on their own.
Version 3
For the final version of the animation, I decided to add the minor change of the pattern on his shirt being yellow rather than white like on the original character design to make him seem more different like I did with the pale skin. The pale skin also relates to the choice of a sort of sick yellow as it implies some sort of sickness and further tells the player that this is a danger that needs to be avoided.
I also made the minor change of having a slight stutter in the walk cycle by not increasing the height on one of the up animation frames. This fits really well with the idea that the mimic isn't a perfect copy of the main character and has major flaws. It also fits really well with the major addition of the foot being heavily injured as well as the shoe being very torn. You can see this in the way that the the foot seems to deform and bleed as it is dragged across the bloor and into the air. The idea is by frame 6 the monsters foot is splitting in half and dragged through the air. This is obviously really painful and so it makes it more obvious through the enemies lack of reaction that the monster is unnatural and a threat that the player need to eliminate.
Conclusion
In conclusion, despite mostly being a copy of the walk cycle from my main character, the monster walk stands out in many very well thought out and visually pleasing ways, making it perfect for my project. The only thing I would change at this point would be making the monster more unusual and scary, though this would take so long that I wouldn't really be able to have time to make the game itself afterwards. This is obviously not a great result so I'll be sticking with this walk cycle throughout the entire production. I've also realised that the monster will only really need a walk, kill and death animation and not an idle or talking one. This realisation is great for keeping pace in this project and will stop me from making unneeded assets, leaving me time to do things near to the end of the project that I think needs changing.
I don't really think that I would do anything differently in terms of the animation quality or time of making it in future projects, instead I would probably go for a more researched monster with scarier features, features I could have researched into using primary research forms if I had the time. Still, this is a good idea for my future work and I don't see any major downsides to trying to be more original if I can plan my time better after this project.
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