My thoughts regarding the Mass Effect: Andromeda animation issues

First, some links regarding the animation issues in Mass Effect: Andromeda

This from Jonathan Cooper on Twitter (if you're not following him, then you should start doing it)
https://twitter.com/i/moments/845012187231895552

And this one from the AnimState site, which includes some very savvy animators like Gwen Frey, Simon Unger and Tim Borelli.
http://www.animstate.com/round-table-mass-effect-andromeda/

Both links pretty much sum up what most game developers will tell you: Animators alone are not to blame. I understand (in a way) why most gamers do this: They have no idea all the systems involved in a game of this scope and that's not excuse though to justify insults towards people, so let's be clear on that subject too.

For me, this game reminds me of Assassin's Creed 3. It was a game that tried to do too many things, with limited time and not enough resources, though that last part is weird given how Ubisoft tend to do their games (multiple studios come in to help if needed).



Both games lacked a lot of polish and that, in my opinion is the root of all this trouble. I think at some point, producers and decision-making people should have sit down in a quiet room and ask themselves an honest question: What do we need to cut in order to make something else better? It is a difficult question because it implies (in a certain way) defeat, but is a question that at some point you need to ask to yourself and your team if you see that your game is full of bugs and there's not enough people to fix them.

Simon Unger said it best in the AnimState round table linked above: Focus on what the people will see most. Personally, for a game like Mass Effect, that's the main story and combat gameplay. Additionally, you need to be sure that your tools are working properly. This is especially true given that ME:A changed from one engine (Unreal) to another one (Frostbite).

Once that's done, focus on less important stuff. For example, have less side quests. Or remove some parts of the background story that are not important. Multiplayer? Who needs it when the story is so compelling that you want to replay the game just to try a different ending?

And if you're worried that some people might complain for the lack of content... Seriously, people will always complain about something, but I prefer that people say "This game doesn't have procedural side quests!" instead of having tons of videos of weird facial expressions and funny walk cycles.

Mass Effect is a huge franchise, with a huge fanbase. And every time there is a new ME game coming out, there are HUGE expectations. I thought at some point that the gameplay trailer that was shown last year increased the hype of the game from what it normally is, but a friend of mine told me something that I agree 100% with: The hype for a Mass Effect game is always there.



Finally, I honestly think that issue with the game is not exclusive to the animators (as most people think), or the designers, or the programmers (though every single person that worked on the game has a share of the blame when a game doesn't meet expectations). If I have to point my finger to one department in particular, it will be the people doing the planning. Those are the people that need to ask themselves the tough question of what to remove in order to make the overall experience better. If they don't, you will end up with a half-made huge game that people complains about, not because the lack of content, but because the lack of effort.


DISCLAIMER: I have no idea what the planning was for ME:A. What I've put in this post are my opinions on why I think the game failed to meet expectations. And for the record, I have nothing against anyone at Ubisoft, but ME:A reminds me so much of AC3, that it's difficult for me not to make comparisons. Cool thing is though, after AC3 came AC4, which is a hell of game! So, I hope the next ME game will be incredible! :fingers_crossed:

Links, enlaces et liens - GDC 2017 Edition

www.animstate.com/free-gdc-2017-animation-talks/
A list of all animation talks from GDC2017.

http://www.animstate.com/animation-exchange-2017-recording-feedback/
The link above contains links to each section of the excellent #ANIMX talk that was held during the latest GDC. Below is the full stream (8+ hours!) in case you want to watch the whole thing (as I did).


Watch live video from TwitchOffice on www.twitch.tv

The Motion Capture Pipeline of The Last of Us

Remember to Relax! Realizing Relaxed Behaviors for AI in AAA Games

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Early Access Announcement Trailer

The game I'm currently working on :)

Cuphead Platforming Gameplay Reveal

Allright Rig For Unreal Engine 4

This is the future of animation for video games.

Links, enlaces et liens

http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/download-free-versatile-3d-characters-11618979
Free rigs!!

http://www.catsuka.com/news/2016-02-07/dofus-livre-1-julith-en-salles-depuis-cette-semaine
I love the style of this film! The link is in french though, but you can still watch the videos.

http://www.animatedspirit.com/weight/
A nice post about adding weight to 2D animation.


http://venturebeat.com/2016/03/16/epic-games-shows-amazing-real-time-motion-capture-demo-for-ninja-theorys-hellblade/
I find this tech more helpful to both the director and the mocap actor because they can see the character realtime. For animators, they still have to clean up the data, so no change there.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/tech/toonz-software-used-studio-ghibli-futurama-made-free-open-source-138111.html
It's out! Download it here!

http://www.dualshockers.com/2016/03/15/ubisoft-introduces-motion-matching-the-first-step-to-next-gen-animation/
I've seen a similar demo last year when I was working at Ubisoft.

Overwatch - Alive Animated Short | PS4

Below - Death's Door

This game looks crazy good! The mood and the music (by Jim Guthrie) fit so much with the overall theme of the game.

BELOW -- DEATH'S DOOR from CAPY on Vimeo.

Unity GDC demo - Adam - Part I

The lighting looks excellent in this demo! Looking forward for part two. :)

PC Gamer Weekender Divinity: Original Sin 2

A peek of what our next game here at Larian will look like. It's a very ambitious game, but if we pull it off (and I'm sure we will), we'll change the RPG landscape.

And by the way, Swen didn't memorize the presentation. He really knows this much about the mechanics (and the story, and the features, etc) of the game.

50 Game Camera Mistakes

Links, enlaces et liens

https://www.toolchefs.com/?page_id=225
Some really good tools for Maya.

http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/creating-the-illusion-of-speed/
Cool read with some tips about motion blur and how to create the illusion of speed.


http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1021791/Animation-Bootcamp-The-Animation-Process
The animation process behind Ori and the Blind Forest video game.

http://www.cgmeetup.net/home/making-of-uncharted-4-a-thiefs-end/
A brief behind the scenes look at Uncharted 4 video game.

http://ow.ly/Wbjrd
DreamWorks pipeline explained by Skipper

http://www.twitch.tv/finespline/profile
Ben Sanders Twitch channel. He has A TON of hours of content about animation. Worth to check it out.

https://www.patreon.com/morganloomis?ty=p
Morgan Loomis has created a Patreon page to support him create tools!  
 

Hellblade Development Diary 20: Movement & Control

Epic explains animation tech behind Paragon game

These two videos are long but totally worth it. There is a lot of stuff that could be very useful (and applicable) to other systems.

Mark of the Ninja animations by Bruce Chang

Mark of the Ninja, stealth kills medium goon from Bruce Chang on Vimeo.

[GDC 2015] Animation of The Order: 1886

What is Spec Work and Why you shouldn't work for free

Always get paid for yor work. There are other ways to build a portfolio.

Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition Release Trailer

We just released Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition! Go get your copy (for PC, PS4 or XBoxOne)!