Animation Showcase Video: Needs and Emotions
Added 2022-11-18 15:22:43 +0000 UTCHello!
For today’s Patreon post, I wanted to showcase some animations that Alice has recently created for our Parafolks. She created a nice video to share these animations with you which you can watch at the top of this Patreon post. ⬆🎥
The Animations in the Video
- Need to pee
- Need to eat (hungry)
- Laugh - Chuckle
- Laugh - Generic
- Laugh - Uncomfortable
- Laugh - Out loud
- Flirty
- Flattered
- Touched
In our previous Patreon post about animations, Alice shared a look at sitting and exercising animations, locomotion and emotion animations and Anna also explained how she adapts animations to make them work for characters of different heights. The new animations in today’s post are about expressing needs and emotions. This is only a small part of what Parafolks will be able to express and we are looking forward to sharing more info about emotions and needs in Paralives when we make progress on these systems.
The Character Animations We Have So Far
Overall, Alice has already created 172 character animations for Paralives. This is without counting those for the babies and toddlers showcased in last week’s post.
The text is really tiny and we blurred it because there are some secrets in there but here’s what Alice’s list of created animation looks like at the moment:
That’s a lot of animations! Many many more are still to come.
What’s Next for Animations
Here’s what’s to come regarding our work on animations for Paralives. I’m looking forward to sharing our progress on these tasks!
- Animations where the character is holding and using items. This can be eating with a fork, mixing ingredients in a bowl with a spoon or speaking on the phone. Alice already created various animations like these but right now, in the game, these animations play without the actual object being in the hands of the character. You can see that in a previous Patreon post where Sebastian is speaking on the phone while dancing but he isn’t actually holding a phone. Jérémie is about to work on the system to attach objects to the characters for specific animations so this should be working soon!
- Animations where the character is physically interacting with someone else. This would be hugging, kissing, dancing together or holding a baby. In the past month, Alice created 4 animations where there is physical contact. Soon, we will be working on the systems to integrate these animations which require some thinking: Where do characters meet in the world before performing an animation together? What happens if one of the characters is busy doing something else while the other wants to initiate the animation? How do we make sure that people of different heights animate well together? Regarding that last question, we will surely be using Anna’s procedural animation adaptation tools that I mentioned earlier in this post.
- Improve multitasking support for animations and interactions.
- Mass production of animations. The previous bullet points are among the last big milestones for animation features we need for Paralives. Once our systems are all in place and working, Alice will be able to accelerate the production of animations for the game and we will be able to showcase more and more of them which will be pretty exciting!
I hope you enjoyed today’s post and don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you have any feedback or questions for Alice!
Cheers,
Alex
EDIT - January 12, 2023: This post is now public, feel free to share it!
Comments
This is so exciting ^-^
Sashi
2023-02-03 09:51:18 +0000 UTCWOW!!! Please keep building on this! I can see the hunger one being a great reminder instead of us having to look at the needs bar. This all adds so much depth to the game
Anna
2023-01-23 22:53:53 +0000 UTCI'm still at "Awe!" in how Alice's animation make the parafolks even more believable. "...Where do characters meet in the world before performing an animation together? What happens if one of the characters is busy doing something else while the other wants to initiate the animation? How do we make sure that people of different heights animate well together?..." These type of questions are what make animation, character designing, and programming part art AND part problem solving.
SketalDaz
2022-12-23 00:27:18 +0000 UTCSo great and lovable ❤️😍❤️ this game will be amazing
Nathalie Carluccio
2022-12-09 01:22:22 +0000 UTCthe touched really touch me,the unconfortable animation with laugh was so human,i love the way you work with the whole body on your animations and how they "speak" with each other the paras get a soul with your art. You are so talented Alice :) i can't stop watching this video as more i see more in love get
Cinderelabaiana
2022-12-02 12:34:59 +0000 UTCI love these so much !! Fantastic job yall are doin 💜💜
Kat
2022-11-26 02:40:11 +0000 UTCStill in early development. They do have an idea of an estimated launch date, but for now they are keeping it for themselves given that it may change.
John PT
2022-11-25 13:34:56 +0000 UTCLooks great! When is the estimated launch date?
Arkadia Love
2022-11-25 11:03:06 +0000 UTCCould you make an animation that occurs by default due to the character's emotion? for example: if a character did a romantic interaction while being flirtatious (assuming this is going to be an emotion in the game) he wouldn't get serious after the interaction ended he would keep winking at the Parafolk he just flirted with even after we put them to make a friendly interaction. I feel like that way the emotions would be more immersive and realistic and less robotic. But this is just an idea.Thx u for your wonderfull job, i love it
Cinderelabaiana
2022-11-22 20:06:20 +0000 UTCThis is not good is wholesome OMG how do you do this so natural im literally crying ugly now, thank you Alice :)
Cinderelabaiana
2022-11-22 19:53:16 +0000 UTCI wonder if there will be paras who are annoyed if they are working on something like a hobby and don’t want to be interrupted. They could give like a side head animation looking at the other para like not now, or shoo them away with their hand. This it could also be a part of a trait too of focused or something.
S&M Gonzalez
2022-11-22 18:05:13 +0000 UTCYesss I would love this. And the paras show annoyance from this or maybe be like an animation to say it’s okay
S&M Gonzalez
2022-11-22 18:03:17 +0000 UTCHappy you like them!!
Alice
2022-11-21 15:19:09 +0000 UTCThanks Sarah<3
Alice
2022-11-21 15:19:04 +0000 UTCI'm so happy!
Alice
2022-11-21 15:18:44 +0000 UTCThanks so much Katie <3
Alice
2022-11-21 15:18:29 +0000 UTCThank youuu, I like that too ^^
Alice
2022-11-21 15:18:12 +0000 UTCI'm so happy you like them!
Alice
2022-11-21 15:18:00 +0000 UTCThank you, I do to! :D
Alice
2022-11-21 15:17:41 +0000 UTCAw thank you<3
Alice
2022-11-21 15:17:25 +0000 UTCThank you so much! <3
Alice
2022-11-21 15:17:17 +0000 UTCHi! Thanks so much i'm happy you like them :) I see what you mean! This is something that we are thinking about. I can't give you a precise answer right now because everything is still in the works, but I know how in some games it is frustrating to feel like you don't have time to do as much as you want during a day, especially if each action take a lot of time. Right now, I'm trying to create animations that are not too long exactly for this reason. We'll have to test all of this a lot to find a good balance for sure :)
Alice
2022-11-21 15:17:03 +0000 UTC<3<3!
Alice
2022-11-21 15:11:37 +0000 UTCThank you so much Haley! <3
Alice
2022-11-21 15:11:27 +0000 UTCHi! Interesting suggestion, thank you! :))
Alice
2022-11-21 14:27:02 +0000 UTCThank you! <3
Alice
2022-11-21 14:26:23 +0000 UTCThank you Amy for your sweet words!! <3
Alice
2022-11-21 14:26:11 +0000 UTCAw thank you for your support Mar! <3
Alice
2022-11-21 14:25:46 +0000 UTCThanks Tini, it's not always easy to find the right balance but I'm so happy you like them <3
Alice
2022-11-21 14:25:23 +0000 UTCThank you Lisa! <3
Alice
2022-11-21 14:24:43 +0000 UTCAw thank you!!
Alice
2022-11-21 14:24:28 +0000 UTCThank you Trixia! It really is our goal :)
Alice
2022-11-21 14:24:14 +0000 UTCThank you Fran, I'm really happy that you like them! We're really excited too!
Alice
2022-11-21 14:23:44 +0000 UTCThank you so much Colten!!
Alice
2022-11-21 14:22:10 +0000 UTCThank you so much! <3
Alice
2022-11-21 14:21:44 +0000 UTCTotally agree! The sims taking too long to do things was one of my biggest annoyances. This applies outside of animations as well. Examples: - Taking 1 game hour for a shower, should be option for fast shower (2 game min), or normal shower (10 game min). Baths could be 30-45 game minutes. - 3-4 game hours for eating dinner with family members. This should be 1 hour normally, maybe a fancy dinner 2 hours. Eating along should be 10-30 minutes depending on personality/meal. This stuff drove me crazy!
Nicole Forrester
2022-11-21 10:23:57 +0000 UTCVery valid and I think the team will take that into account to be honest! Like maybe if your Para is idle they'll do the animation to let you know and then take up tthe task to eat (if autonomy is on ofc, or just keep standin if it's off). And if you make them eat they won't show the animation or cut it off or something like that. I'm sure someone will adress that :)
Star Zoë
2022-11-20 18:58:02 +0000 UTCThe animations look so alive and laughing melted my heart, well done! Ya'll have worked hard on this game. ❤
Anna-Maria Kuru
2022-11-20 16:58:18 +0000 UTCThese look really great! However, I'm a little worried. In the Sims 4, the sims perform these kind of animations too which makes them take longer performing the task that the player wants them to do. For example, if my sim is hungry and I order them to make food, they'll first perform some sort of hunger animation before actually doing their task. The animations themselves only take a few seconds but if it happens more often and with all other needs too than it'll feel like your sims take way too much time to do things which feel frustrating. I really hope that the same won't happen to the Para's.
Iman
2022-11-20 15:04:00 +0000 UTCYou guys are doing an amazing job ❤️ Every time I log in, I’m impressed with the sheer progress you guys are making :)
Haley
2022-11-20 13:28:28 +0000 UTCOh these look so so good! I get more excited for this game every time I see new sneak peeks! 🥰
SIMplycoya
2022-11-20 02:34:31 +0000 UTCIt could be cool if Para's had a trait for willingness to interrupt, and that determines what happens when one wants to perform an action with somebody who's busy. If they don't mind interrupting people, they go perform the interaction right away, if they do mind maybe they wait or go do other things until the other person is done, or just cancel the action. Or you could choose when assigning a partnered action if you want it to be interrupting or not. "Hug Mom" "Mom is cooking, do you want to interrupt this action?"
theOnlybody
2022-11-19 17:26:59 +0000 UTCi love it's very well
rénette
2022-11-19 15:57:24 +0000 UTCAww, they really came to life through these animations; they are so expressive. Great work on this!!
SymmaGe
2022-11-19 14:33:47 +0000 UTCThe genuine laughter animations are so affecting—I found myself wanting to laugh along with them. I was definitely smiling at the incredible progress you're all making!
Amy Joscelyn
2022-11-19 14:19:17 +0000 UTCThese are amazing, I have a soft spot for the laughing out loud one, it made me so happy for some reason. It’s natural and heartwarming 🥺 the progress you’ve made since the beginning is impressive, words can’t express how amazed I am.
mar
2022-11-19 13:40:53 +0000 UTCI love that there are different types of laughs!
Jodie Fong
2022-11-19 09:41:09 +0000 UTCThe animations look so realistic, it’s so natural and not childish or too goofy-like. Great job Alice! ❤️
Tini
2022-11-19 04:24:29 +0000 UTCThe animations are just so natural I love it!
Trixia Lacsamana
2022-11-19 02:54:50 +0000 UTCFacial expressions are impressive. Looks great so far!
Kvisten
2022-11-19 01:56:33 +0000 UTCThese are really wonderful! The facial expressions are so natural! Yet, so obviously recognisable! The perfect balance in my opinion. They really make you feel for the character! I can't wait to see the emotion system under the hood that drives these wonderful animations!
Fran Smith
2022-11-18 23:47:32 +0000 UTCI don’t mind 30 fps at all
Maxx
2022-11-18 23:47:00 +0000 UTCThe facial expressions look SO incredibly realistic, I’m beyond stoked and excited to see my Parafolk interact
Maxx
2022-11-18 23:45:41 +0000 UTCYesss 😍
Keosha 6
2022-11-18 23:45:02 +0000 UTCYes! Love this music! Love solo instruments too, particularly piano!
Fran Smith
2022-11-18 23:34:32 +0000 UTCI love these so much!! They’re so expressive! I love how much expression is in the eyebrows alone! 🤩❤️
Lisa Hedlund
2022-11-18 22:54:39 +0000 UTCHi Junio! Good question! We are planning to have seperate facial animations that will be layered on top of the animations to express different feelings like happy, sad, exhausted, etc. We will be working on that later!
Alex Massé
2022-11-18 22:20:37 +0000 UTCI love that the animations already seem so human and have a lot of variation.
Salem M.
2022-11-18 22:04:39 +0000 UTCThat's reasonable so long as the animations are being interpreted by the game engine and are not being played at the 30FPS no matter the in-game framerate. There are games were this is a problem, most often seen in particle effects. I wasn't sure whether this was the case or not since I don't know what engine they are using or what animation software they use.
Gage Eakins
2022-11-18 21:47:43 +0000 UTCI love how there are different animations for different laughs depending on the mood!
Megaira
2022-11-18 20:43:50 +0000 UTC<3
breah
2022-11-18 20:25:15 +0000 UTCOKAY, but Maggie's flirty "look up and down" was EVERYTHING! The video was soooo entertaining to watch!! I am absolutely in love.
Lyyo_
2022-11-18 20:19:41 +0000 UTCYeah, I'm on mobile! Shame, I'll try it on PC later, hopefully it'll work there.
Edyta Kowalewska
2022-11-18 19:46:04 +0000 UTCI like they look realistic!
I kinda forGoT
2022-11-18 19:26:43 +0000 UTC<3!
Alice
2022-11-18 19:18:42 +0000 UTCThanks Sara! <3
Alice
2022-11-18 19:18:32 +0000 UTCI absolutely love what you are doing! The small details mean so much. Cannot wait for this game to come out. (Please keep taking your time on it though. As excited as I am, I am all for giving your studio all the time it needs to make a fantastic game.) Keep up the good work.
Colten Harrison
2022-11-18 19:14:10 +0000 UTCThanks Jenny! <3
Alice
2022-11-18 18:55:38 +0000 UTCHi! Yes, I believe this is the standard video games use most of the time for 3D animations, at least when it comes to handmade keyframe animation. AAA titles probably capture animation with suits at 60FPS. But for keyframe, animations on 60FPS sounds a bit crazy (it means it doubles the amount of frames in one second which get hard to manage). I'm no expert so here's an interesting explanation I found, hope it will help! "Even in AAA game dev we still animate at 30 fps in our software, even if our target in game is set at 90-120 fps. In game your animation will still "look" the same, since the same amount of time will have passed (in the real world). You won't notice the interpolation unless you slow down the play-back of the game-engine itself, which is exactly what you'd see if you could do the same thing in your animation software. To re-iterate what others here have said, there are no real "frames" when animating for games, the engine is always interpolating the bone positions anyways, and realistically unless your animations are 100% uncompressed (unlikely) you will always have to live with a slight loss in quality for the in-game anims."
Alice
2022-11-18 18:54:45 +0000 UTCOh my God Alice you're working so hard ! That list is impressive, and to think it's only a tiny bit of what's on your plate... The "laugh out loud" is really lovely. My first reaction was to go "oh, he has a great laugh" even though I didn't hear anything XD
ladyteruki
2022-11-18 18:50:49 +0000 UTCAw thank you Michael, doing my best! <3
Alice
2022-11-18 18:42:55 +0000 UTCIt makes me super happy <3
Alice
2022-11-18 18:42:33 +0000 UTCThank you Danielle! :D
Alice
2022-11-18 18:42:19 +0000 UTCWeird! I have no idea, but I think some people reading Patreon posts on phones have issues as well :o
Alice
2022-11-18 18:41:59 +0000 UTCI'm so happy that animations are realistic and not childish or cartoonish.
Ricardé
2022-11-18 18:05:07 +0000 UTCThis is so cool to see!
Jenny Heller
2022-11-18 17:44:24 +0000 UTCHi Alex 🇧🇷❤️. Eu notei que nos post anteriores algumas animações como sentar, exercitar e correr os personagens ficam com o rosto serio e duro. Por exemplo, quando estou correndo muito rápido ou me exercitando eu tenho expressões de respirar e aspirar mais fortes. Além de fazer algumas expressões de careta. Teremos isso quando os personagens estiverem executando ações? Animações sem expressões deixam meio que robôs os personagens.
Junio Jose
2022-11-18 17:28:43 +0000 UTCSomewhat concerning is the seconds in 30FPS. Is that indicating that the animations only play at 30FPS? If so, that is a really outdated framerate. The animations should play at 60FPS if not matching the framerate of the game overall.
Gage Eakins
2022-11-18 17:27:35 +0000 UTCI love the animations. They look realistic and not cartoonish and over the top.
Thaaeroprincess87
2022-11-18 17:26:31 +0000 UTCLove love love love this!!! The animations look so smooth and realistic!
Michael Green
2022-11-18 17:08:20 +0000 UTCAll of the animations seem so genuine and wholesome. I love them!
IAmALeaf
2022-11-18 16:46:47 +0000 UTCFantastic work!!!
Danielle Ellis
2022-11-18 16:42:17 +0000 UTCDoes anyone know why it cuts the video for me? The audio still plays but couple seconds into the video the image just freezes.
Edyta Kowalewska
2022-11-18 16:39:14 +0000 UTCAw thanks, I really wanted to have different laughs, different types of reactions. I'm happy you like them! <3
Alice
2022-11-18 16:20:10 +0000 UTCThanks Nala! <3
Alice
2022-11-18 16:18:57 +0000 UTCThank you Alyssa!! <3
Alice
2022-11-18 16:18:19 +0000 UTCAW THANK YOUUUUUUUU
Alice
2022-11-18 16:17:56 +0000 UTCThanks Zedef! I can't wait either <3
Alice
2022-11-18 16:16:59 +0000 UTCThank you Sarah, I'm happy you like them! :D <3
Alice
2022-11-18 16:16:31 +0000 UTCAw thank you for your nice comment, we're working hard to create our dream game and it's so great to be supported by all of you! <3
Alice
2022-11-18 16:16:06 +0000 UTCWe did! :D
Alice
2022-11-18 16:15:22 +0000 UTCAMAZING AS ALWAYS!!!
Bangtan TaeTae
2022-11-18 16:11:14 +0000 UTCThank you so much for your support Amber! I'm really happy that you like them.<3
Alice
2022-11-18 16:10:33 +0000 UTCThank you so much for your kind words ! <3
Alice
2022-11-18 16:09:42 +0000 UTCThank you so much, I'm very happy you like them! Chloé did the cactus, she did an amazing job (tbh all the plants look amazing). <3
Alice
2022-11-18 16:09:16 +0000 UTCI'd love that! I can't say for sure as this would be a lot of work to have additional variations each time. We have to have a good base for everything before being able to add this kind of details. But we really want to have specific animations for specific personalities!
Alice
2022-11-18 16:07:07 +0000 UTCThank you so much! <3
Alice
2022-11-18 16:03:48 +0000 UTCThe animations look very realistic and convey emotion/need well. Great job! Looking forward to seeing objects integrated into the animations as well as interactions between paras. Wishing Alice and the team the very best of luck!
Zedef
2022-11-18 15:59:38 +0000 UTCI am beyond impressed at how well done the faces are in all the animations so far, not just the ones in this post. It brings the Paras to life so well! Great job, Alice!!
Sarah
2022-11-18 15:59:12 +0000 UTCI think you have made a lot of progress on the live mode in 1 year for a small team like yours.
Lucie Baha
2022-11-18 15:58:29 +0000 UTCFantastic work, as usual! I look forward to these updates every week and they are never disappointing :)
Katie Bellissimo
2022-11-18 15:48:34 +0000 UTCThese animations look amazing!! Love them so much! You have come so far since you started developing this game! I remember when we thought it would be a simple low poly game and I was happy with that, but everything that has been shown since then has really exceeded my expectations! Couldn’t be more excited! You’re all doing an amazing job with this game!!
BekkiRoss
2022-11-18 15:42:04 +0000 UTCIt’s so charming! I love the animations you’ve chosen. The uncomfortable laugh is so relatable. Love this all so much. I’m excited to see the finished project and happy to be supporting this along the way! ❤️
Amber Rodriguez
2022-11-18 15:40:59 +0000 UTCO m g! I love the way they laugh almost in a anime type of style and how paras show emotions. It feels so real and cozy and you get so happy when you see your para laughing ❤️ You get a stronger connection to them! I am so in love with this! You are doing an amazing job and i am so happy to see this! Thank you for your amazing work! ❤️
Lisa-Marie Berzelius
2022-11-18 15:40:54 +0000 UTC<3 <3 <3
Alex Massé
2022-11-18 15:37:28 +0000 UTCYes! Andrei made two versions : piano only and orchestrated
Alex Massé
2022-11-18 15:37:17 +0000 UTCAlice, you are amazing!! I love that the emotional reactions aren't overly "in-your-face". it is a really nice change. also... whoever did that cactus... wow... gorgeous... and outside the window... eurgh... i am ready for the game now. thank you. :)
Stewby
2022-11-18 15:36:05 +0000 UTCI love the uncomfortable laugh, haha. Will there be different types of each animation regarding different traits? If not, I understand lol
Stacia Nugent
2022-11-18 15:35:53 +0000 UTCOh I see you've made a piano version of music revealed earlier, nice!
NikoDelux
2022-11-18 15:35:46 +0000 UTCLove these!!!
Gill Reid
2022-11-18 15:35:10 +0000 UTCIt must be so difficult to be exploding with a million ideas while you hammer out the basic systems, but I know that step 4 (mass production of animations) will be extremely gratifying for you all. Sending Alice lots of strength and energy for the upcoming sprint. ⚡️
Sean McDorman
2022-11-18 15:34:12 +0000 UTCThis is so awesome
Tee W
2022-11-18 15:34:07 +0000 UTCAmazing!!
Sarah Rodrigues
2022-11-18 15:32:28 +0000 UTCSlay
Eliza Haruvari
2022-11-18 15:31:20 +0000 UTCthese animations are incredible with so much life to them! I love the different types of laughs. great job!! :)
Kasia
2022-11-18 15:29:47 +0000 UTCThe paras seem so alive!! Eli just remind me of that puppet that finally become a real boy. So cute.
Nala Craig
2022-11-18 15:29:40 +0000 UTCSeeing Paras of different heights interact with one another will be absolutely major. Can't wait.
Christie Black
2022-11-18 15:29:35 +0000 UTCI love it 🥰
Mary G
2022-11-18 15:28:58 +0000 UTCWow I love it! Very realistic looking animations! I especially love the laughing animations
Queen Alyssa
2022-11-18 15:28:57 +0000 UTCThese are so good!!! Thank you for sharing. The range of emotions is phenomenal as well
Sara Morgan
2022-11-18 15:27:36 +0000 UTC😍😍😍😍
Nala Craig
2022-11-18 15:27:00 +0000 UTC
