Thursday, February 14, 2008
Maybe the space suits weren't flexible. |11:59 PM| I finished Mass Effect the other week, and I enjoyed it. It had some great moments, but something that bugged the shit out of me was how static everyone's standing position was. Their cut scenes showed that the animators were aware of joints on the body beyond the elbow, but every conversation was about as dynamic as the elevator transitions.
(these interstitial elevator rides hid loading screens, which was a neat idea, even if the rides seemed to be a bit awkward; The characters standing around, unmoving, like someone just made a really inappropriate comment)
Now, I understand how not knowing where the player characters might be at all times might interfere with say, random leaning against walls, but I don't think anyone's hands are raised above a shoulder level in any conversation. Almost no one walks around, looks at points of interest, or expresses anything non-verbally outside the plot related cut scenes.
Whenever you talked to Liara or Kaidan on the Normandy, there was this brief dialog-free sequence of them noticing you, and turning to face/acknowledge your presence. It's a little surprising, given that every other interaction in the game immediately launches into the blah blah-ing. It's also more striking when the dialog starts and the NPC's suddenly go back to "I cannot nod and I have no waist" movements. While it gets boring since it's repeated every time you speak to them, that few seconds makes the character seem much more real for a brief period, thus throwing other interactions into sharper contrast.
The character's faces were damned impressive looking, but other than the occasional switch from "neutral" to "ironical smirk" I don't recall any real facial expressions.
No one fidgets. Again, in contrast, the alien kill-machine Wrex encounters a moral conundrum, and after the introductory dialog wanders off to "think". He starts shooting at fish in a nearby lake. It's great, and it's one of the few times a character isn't just standing still waiting for you to talk to them.
Since every interaction and conversation was spoken aloud (and none of them in an alien language, allowing for re-use of sound clips), the conversations went well beyond "a couple dudes scripting/writing some text dialog". Writing a script, getting voice actors, recording that audio, syncing in-game, that makes any dialog a big deal. With that level of involvement even in small side quests, why then was there no change in the animation of the character models for those sequences as well?
(2) comments
Maybe the space suits weren't flexible. |11:59 PM| I finished Mass Effect the other week, and I enjoyed it. It had some great moments, but something that bugged the shit out of me was how static everyone's standing position was. Their cut scenes showed that the animators were aware of joints on the body beyond the elbow, but every conversation was about as dynamic as the elevator transitions.
(these interstitial elevator rides hid loading screens, which was a neat idea, even if the rides seemed to be a bit awkward; The characters standing around, unmoving, like someone just made a really inappropriate comment)
Now, I understand how not knowing where the player characters might be at all times might interfere with say, random leaning against walls, but I don't think anyone's hands are raised above a shoulder level in any conversation. Almost no one walks around, looks at points of interest, or expresses anything non-verbally outside the plot related cut scenes.
Whenever you talked to Liara or Kaidan on the Normandy, there was this brief dialog-free sequence of them noticing you, and turning to face/acknowledge your presence. It's a little surprising, given that every other interaction in the game immediately launches into the blah blah-ing. It's also more striking when the dialog starts and the NPC's suddenly go back to "I cannot nod and I have no waist" movements. While it gets boring since it's repeated every time you speak to them, that few seconds makes the character seem much more real for a brief period, thus throwing other interactions into sharper contrast.
The character's faces were damned impressive looking, but other than the occasional switch from "neutral" to "ironical smirk" I don't recall any real facial expressions.
No one fidgets. Again, in contrast, the alien kill-machine Wrex encounters a moral conundrum, and after the introductory dialog wanders off to "think". He starts shooting at fish in a nearby lake. It's great, and it's one of the few times a character isn't just standing still waiting for you to talk to them.
Since every interaction and conversation was spoken aloud (and none of them in an alien language, allowing for re-use of sound clips), the conversations went well beyond "a couple dudes scripting/writing some text dialog". Writing a script, getting voice actors, recording that audio, syncing in-game, that makes any dialog a big deal. With that level of involvement even in small side quests, why then was there no change in the animation of the character models for those sequences as well?
(2) comments
View My Stats
-->
