SP - General [Suggestion] Revision for Walking and Running Cycle animations

[Terco_Viejo]

As far as animations are concerned, Bannerlord has improved significantly if we compare it directly with its precursor (You can watch some animation comparatives in this video made by @Artem1s )

Having said that, there are certain animations that need to be polished, especially those that affect combat. But there is one that strikes me as more than all the others; the one concerning the walk and run cycle.
In my eyes there is something that doesn't work in these animations, so much so that it gives me the feeling that the avatars suffer a considerable itch in the crotch and for that reason they don't perform that motion correctly.

Take a look at these comparative videos; animation-biomechanics.

For more accurate viewing set the playback speed to 0.25 in the youtube player options.

Certainly in my eyes, the animation seems "stiff" to the point that the knees do not fully unfold (Much more acute in the walking cycle). With a few small corrections, this itching effect or "Bee Gees moment" would be mitigated, obtaining a much more natural locomotion imo.

 

[Peanut_Brother]

+1

I agree. I feel like the quality of animations in bannerlord vary greatly. I'd love to see ground units get polished to the same quality of horse movement and death animations(the 2 best animation areas imo).

 

[black_bulldog]

As someone who has taking several kinesiology classes your not wrong they do look off. But to play devils advocate there are plenty of people who have strange gates (that's technical term for running/walking motions) so you do see people who short leg run like that but it's very uncommon. But unless someone has an injury it's almost unheard of to see someone walk without almost hitting full extension when they push their leg forward. Walking like that looks very inefficient and would lead to some serious back and hamstring issues in the long term. It just looks bad.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

I have been keeping an eye on the animation pool, which is really extensive and in which there are very good and very interesting animations. However, I find it difficult to understand why such an orthopaedic and unnatural cycle walk has been chosen, even though I know that a much better solution is available.

Take a look at this comparative video:


The animation speeds up and slows down on purpose.

Run_forward_unarmed: It is certainly a correct animation for its running function although it could be tuned a little more.
Walk_forward_unarmed: Totally unnatural, robotic and orthopedic. The stride is too long for this kind of march.
Khuzait_tavern_walk: Much more natural walking animation by means of shorter strides.

Therefore, my question is; couldn't "the footwork" be transferred from the Khuzait_tavern_walk animation (with mirroring motion of the left arm on the right arm) to the Walk_forward_unarmed animation with a fine tuning of the arms? Could the running animation be slightly rectified?

 

[Rycon Caldestan]

@Terco_Viejo : I think I'm officially joining your fan club ???

I have nothing to contribute other than my +1 to another great recommendation containing clearly articulated fixes backed with easily digestible visual data.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

@Terco_Viejo : I think I'm officially joining your fan club ???

I have nothing to contribute other than my +1 to another great recommendation containing clearly articulated fixes backed with easily digestible visual data.

Bring beers!

Nah, now seriously...maybe all these suggestions may seem too nitpicking but with little you can get a lot. It is also true that Taleworlds has always stated to be open to criticism and to consider feedback... well... here is my purpose.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

After a thorough review of the animations available in the pool, many of which are really good; I can point to the ideal candidate to replace be the source for adapt the one currently in effect.

Here is a test:



The comparison between the animations is like comparing the night and the day and they (the picked ones) certainly fit much better with the walk_right/left/backward series.

 

[Piconi]

Even though the animation has an "unarmed" suffix, it is used in walking with armor both with and without weapons, if my memory servers, so my only guess is that they probably wanted to simulate the weight and uncomfort made by the armor worn, but the walk they depicted is almost impossible to be achieved wearing most of the in-game armors, and the existing alternative you presented is certainly both much more appealing to eye and logical, making smaller steps to be able to balance the extra weight put on you.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

Even though the animation has an "unarmed" suffix, it is used in walking with armor both with and without weapons, if my memory servers, so my only guess is that they probably wanted to simulate the weight and uncomfort made by the armor worn, but the walk they depicted is almost impossible to be achieved wearing most of the in-game armors, and the existing alternative you presented is certainly both much more appealing to eye and logical, making smaller steps to be able to balance the extra weight put on you.

Of course, it is good that an animation gives the feeling of weight of an armour; but when it is equipped with some...But it seems that Bannerlord's armour weighs a lot...


The animation that I have proposed is not a replacement A x B, perhaps I have explained it wrongly; but rather as a reference for an adaptation/revision.?

 

[Lusitani 5th Empire]

The animation that I have proposed is not a replacement A x B, perhaps I have explained it wrongly; but rather as a reference for an adaptation/revision.

Will it be possible to edit, create and import animations?

I found this - https://forums.taleworlds.com/index...s-skeletons-for-3d-models.432261/post-9550274 ?

Animation isn't my specialty, but from my understanding, we do not need an animation editor. We would need Bannerlord's skeletons and would animate them in an external program like Maya, where we could export the animation and then import it to the resource browser.

@Terco_Viejo you are one of the most critical guys on this subject and probably more informed than most.
So, if devs don't fix all of this skeleton, animations problems could modders fix it?

 

[Terco_Viejo]

I found this - https://forums.taleworlds.com/index...s-skeletons-for-3d-models.432261/post-9550274 ?

@Terco_Viejo you are one of the most critical guys on this subject and probably more informed than most.
So, if devs don't fix all of this skeleton, animations problems could modders fix it?

Of course the Community will inevitably put all its will and attention into fixing things which appear to it to be broken or which do not work as they are supposed to (it is doing so at present). That is a fact.

However, once again we are (indirectly) demanding that the modder Community take care of certain basic things. Arma 3 for example, the devs after the criticism received changed a series of animations, among many that of the running cycle.


The old animation (left) looks like the bot is ****ting itself and runs with its ******* tight to the toilet.

I know that these kinds of "suggestions" in the eyes of people may look like in " again Terco with his picky ****s"; it may be...? However I know that Taleworlds behind the scenes checks this kind of thing (here an example and other).

Therefore, animations can be modified? no doubt about it. However something as basic as walking, running or certain combat moves should come out of the oven perfectly cooked by devs. Then the modder will already worry about adding extra animations that you don't find in the Native game like throwing spells, wielding dual swords and that kind of stuff... that's what modding is all about.

 

[Dejan]

Hey, thank you for bringing this up.

The reason we don't unfold the knees fully is to prevent inverse kinematics glitches. The inverse kinematics system adjusts the feet according to the movement speed and causes the knees to not unfold completely. That's an issue that we won't be able to solve fully, however, we will work on improving the movement animations.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

Thanks for the clarification ?