What Happens When You Shift the Center of Gravity? [Design Specifics]

Let's say you want an object to fly from left to right across the screen. That's easy to implement, but that's exactly why it's important to think of ways to change things up a little!
By the way, this is the final video in the Design Specifics category!

[@thecunninlynguist]

"wobbly cannonball" definitely funner than a straight shot one. Cool he showed example of the differences between the two.

[@SonicTheCutehog]

Sakurai casually rewrites the laws of physics

[@ProductofSeebach]

Laws are strong suggestions, especially when it comes to Kirby.

[@williamsanborn9195]

Perhaps nobody in the Kirby universe studied law. 😜

[@Haymdahl]

Nah it's still within energy conversion to have a moving rotation axis. It's far more realistic and close to physics compared to flying objects that never change trajectory or rotation axis.

[@bearman_1826]

As expected.

[@ince55ant]

"try to find ways to avoid the blandness that can come from simply following your software's tendencies"

[@Chadius]

Glares at Unreal Engine "remakes"

[@Ziffer777]

Sakurai casually dropping a metaphor for how to live your life.

[@Pirateyware]

I always thought of Shotzo's wobbly cannonballs as being a kind of exaggerated spin from a rifled barrel.

[@luigiclone0286]

Maturing is when you start to understand that Smash Bros is a Kirby game

[@josedeleon1923]

I realized that when i played SubsSpcae Emissary

[@Neoxon619]

Or more accurately, Smash is the child of Kirby & KoF.

[@Antasma1]

@@josedeleon1923I mean, a bunch of the levels tried to mimic the type of gameplay of the character you’re playing as in that segment

[@rifasclub]

@@Neoxon619 nah, Smash borrowed way more elements from Tales of Phantasia than KoF.

[@bearman_1826]

@@Neoxon619 Who would have thought that combining all of the movement mechanics in Kirby and KoF would be so rad?

[@CarbonRollerCaco]

Meanwhile Miyamoto's solution to giving life to a projectile: literally personify it.

[@Big-Mic7878]

Pretty much sure.👌

[@GerardMenvussa]

How are you supposed to tell a cannon ball is dangerous if it's not staring angrily at you? :)

[@seekertosecrets]

0:19 Wait, the cannon had a name?!

[@TwinDragonsOfChaos]

As well as all the enemies. Which you would see when beating Extra Mode in Dream Land 1.

[@KirbyMasterArchives]

Of course, shotzo is a series staple

[@seekertosecrets]

@@TwinDragonsOfChaos On the Gameboy, right?

[@TwinDragonsOfChaos]

@@seekertosecrets yeah

[@Big-Mic7878]

There's also the Big Shotzo from newer Kirby titles but has no spin due to how much force it takes to get it started to begin with so it goes in a straight line.

[@37TrillionWasps]

The "wobbly cannonball" defies physics in some goofy ways, but somehow it just feels right. How do you make a small projectile that is slow enough to easily dodge but still looks like it carries enough kinetic energy to hurt if you get hit by it? Make it do rapid loop de loops as it flies through the air. The magnitude of its speed is high while its average velocity remains low.

[@RebelliousTreecko]

"Animation is putting a soul into something unmoving" Fantastic way to put it.

[@lohto3]

That's also literally what it means. Latin animatio, the act of giving life to a thing, used as-is in English when making the images come "alive." That's how it got the name.

[@Neoxon619]

This is the third category finale in a row, it really feels like we’re approaching the end.

[@NovaTedd]

we had like 2 more before...

[@docsy4529]

5/14 categories lack a finale now Audio, Grab Bag, Work Ethic, Game Essence, Team Management

[@jasonball3496]

@@docsy4529 thank you, I haven't been keeping track. so I guess this means 5 more videos and then that's it!

[@Aperez]

Sakurai was on a roll with these animations! 😅

[@milddiffuse]

This one I find extremely interesting. I'm sure a lot of people use this technique even without realizing it, but like so many other videos on this channel I find it really helpful for making intentional choices, without a lot of experimentation or just having a really experienced "gut instinct".

[@SobmicSSBB]

Thank you for the advice to change the center of rotation sometimes. Now if only all those animation programs would cooperate more that you don't have to change every keyframe when changing said center! 😥 I also like how the wobbling makes the cannonball look slower than it would be when flying in a straight line while also more erratic at the same time making you want to dodge it with all your might. One more thing that makes Kirby a good easy game. Thanks also for the advice that said center might not be the most obvious place, like how with Pyra's sword it's not the grip.

[@zarfa-de1266]

I wish wobbly cannonball was in real life

[@Deeheeheee]

instructions unclear I am flying towards the sun

[@DarkBloodbane]

Thanks for sharing this Mr Sakurai! Having good animation is good but we might need to add personality too sometimes.

[@PantaroParatroopa]

For those of you who want to keep track, Sakurai has posted his final videos on categories C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L and N.

[@kirimusse]

Only 5 more categories to go… The end is nigh! Or maybe he has like 10 more grab bag videos to upload, lol.

[@Professor_Utonium_]

and then he can finally be free of Smash forever I hope

[@shuccle6161]

This is my favorite KZbin channel of all time

[@ToddBlackToddTalk]

Only Sakurai can help ensure we understand the...*puts on shades*...gravity...of each video...

[@FlameLFH]

I thought the thumbnail was Toad's face texture from SM64. My brain is so rotted from playing that game.

[@gustinex]

" *After all, animation means putting a soul into something unmoving* " Love this quote, its why I fell in love with live wallpapers / animated artworks and started doing them

[@jedisquidward]

A perfect video as always. Notice how this property was applied to K Rool's cannonball, and in Ultimate, also given to Bpwser Jr's cannonball, though this wasn't the case in For. Additionally, If you're playing a game like Kirby where the camera is almost always moving, but usually on only one axis, a sedentary projectile with no animation may look harder to distinguish as an active element rather than part of the level geometry.

[@ElTaitronAnim]

Pyra's Blazing End is one of my favorite moves, aesthetically; the animation, effects, and sound effects are just perfect in a way I can't describe.

[@Poyostar]

Okay, I had no idea that the shots fired by Shotzos are called wobbly cannonballs. That's... actually pretty funny!

[@ExploDjinn]

Making the cannonballs spin like that definitely makes them stand out. Most others in games tend not to stick in my memory, but I always took note of these.

[@denischen8196]

I used to think the wobbly cannonballs in Kirby games are caused by a bug that offset the center of rotation, and they kept the bug as a feature in the later games.

[@theramendutchman]

The wobbly canonball looks like it makes a sound like ドロドロ as it goes, this gives it a very heavy feel

[@restorasenrisei9991]

This works particularly satisfyingly when used with something that has a centre of mass that isn't aligned with the middle of the object's visible bounds. The cannonball makes for a pretty wobbly (but fun) example, but the bombs and the sword work great since the centre of mass is notably not in the middle of the sphere / on the handle, so the centre of their trajectory, and the point they visibly revolve around should be appropriately off-centre. This means the wobble becomes both more visually interesting and highly believable than just spinning the object around.

[@Mrpomeraniafino]

桜井さんの一番好きなカービィのゲームは何ですか？

[@connordarvall8482]

Shifting things over by one pixel to give something more animation reminds me of old Gamemaker projects.

[@Big-Mic7878]

Oh Oh so the spin was on purpose!😮 that's really good to know also when I look at other titles that try to go for something similar I can see that this practice is much more effective than just going for something that's well obvious I know I'm going for something here but I just don't know how to put in words here either way this is one lesson I'll keep close to my chest You have my thanks Samurai🙇

[@TaliesinMyrddin]

"After all, animation means putting soul into something unmoving" ...Damn I never realised that. Anima does mean soul.

[@gamegroomps]

I remember being captivated by those wobbly cannonballs as a child! They were so unlike anything else.

[@Amonimus]

I think this isn't gravity but the anchor of animated rotation. There is no physics in a game sense.

[@Artista_Frustrado]

I was today years old when i learned the Cannons are called Shotzos

[@vipermoon_]

1:30 dang so he literally modifies his game real quick just to get footage for his video

[@herobrinesbestminion6766]

really brings us back to the fact that everything has look natural rather then clean (symetrical).

[@shawnheatherly]

Adding that bit of personality is definitely a good call.

[@Nekotaku_TV]

Fomal Design Specifics nooo

[@TheHylianBatman]

Always add style and character!

[@PhilipMurphy8]

Wonderful information from Sakurai

[@KirbyMasterArchives]

Shotzo appearance!

[@Brods11]

Great info👍

[@Joeynator3000]

...Seriously thought the title said something else for a split-second. lol

[@CyberDragon10K]

This is where subtlety and nuance plays a big role in what you're trying to convey. Although a completely different medium, *Animist* on KZbin has a lot of stop-motion shorts/videos that inject a lot of personality into the action figures they use. *counter656* is another good one. I believe one of them has mentioned something similar to Sakurai's comment about adding personality in that an stop-motion animator is unlocking an inanimate object's soul.

[@WarioGBA]

awesome

[@mrchinosofexodar]

There's so much I've taken for granted, this series is humbling to say the least

[@Corncake1337]

W

[@teero121]

Speen?

[@Shantae1188]

Spinny Canonball

[@TramiNguyen-oi3kp]

Good morning!

[@GraceofGod247]

😮

[@luckykaaby1629]

💖

[@animatrix1490]

Sakurai knowing and saying the actual definition of “animation” made me so unreasonably happy; he appreciates and loves animation and it makes me glad

[@GamerFunOriginallyAarush]

It’s ending soon…

[@skyguysZ]

We’re almost at the end of the sakurai videos…

[@Leopez02]

Kirby Air Riders, Sonic Riders, Super Mario Galaxy 1&2, 3D World Space Worlds and Super Mario Odyssey 2 the Moon has the most INTERESTED Gravity in a video games defienitily Sonic Riders and Super Mario Galaxy 1&2! Would you make a video about of Super Mario Galaxy games how they were made? That would be so EXCITING WAHOO! 😮❤

[@extraful1]

Sakurai did not make the Mario Galaxy games. He doesn't know anything about how they are made.

[@TheDuoDreamer]

Are we getting Rayman at the next game of smash bros?

[@competitively3315]

No sakurais cat is going to be the next fighter

[@Flamemorph]

pretty sure he confirmed that the next smash game will have a roster that consists of wario exclusively

[@EnigmaticGentleman]

Dude, everyone knows the next fighter is Fukurashi (Sakurais cat) it was announced several months ago. Like at least try to keep up with the news before asking questions like this.

[@TheDuoDreamer]

I hopefully Pyra/Mythra gets cut out in smash bros 6 btw

[@EvilCrash3000]

​@@Flamemorph🙏