You shouldn't notice this video game animation

[@polygon]

Mark your calendars! Polygon is holding a SPECIAL TIER LIST LIVESTREAM on March 22, and 3PM ET! We're going to be in studio, getting weird, and making tier lists. Bet channel points to have your say in the fun. That'll be at Twitch (dot) tv (slash) Polygon, which you should... subscribe to now! See you there!

[@isamekailmahmud9302]

Hello, Polygon will you ever make a video on the history of mirrors in video games?

[@WallaceWinchester]

Hello can you please get BDG back on for one last unraveled about how to maximize survivability in the SCP universe

[@heatherheath3834]

Are you going to be posting the livestream on here? I missed it :((

[@tubaterry]

My partner, who has an art degree, immediately walked across the room to the shelf, pulled the exact book out that you're using around the 2 minute mark, and showed me the page that you showed us. That's awesome

[@ryanstevens3822]

try to find his Thief and the Cobbler workprint animation, it's nuts even if it's unifnishede

[@StraveTube]

My spouse has that book, too! While I, on the other hand, pulled out my PS2 copy of Enter the Matrix

[@LemonMoon]

I’m just going to assume it’s the animator survival guide Edit: yep

[@samc1074]

Yeah lmao I was like oh hey it’s the animators survival kit. We’ve all got that book lmao

[@joolian4763]

The Bible of animation

[@GeorgiaPeche13]

As an Anatomy and Physiology teacher for high schoolers, I love that you guys put out videos on subjects that aren't often talked about or do a deep dive on subjects that require knowledge outside of just technology that I can show to the kids to get them thinking about video games in a different light. Awesome!

[@bucca2]

I don’t know why but calling Link “very worried” was so pleasant and cute to me

[@sydneygorelick7484]

Jenna is continuing her quest to become an animation expert and I am so glad she's taking us with her

[@gbzld]

4:30 Poor Harry. He's just mirroring the player's feeling of shitting himself.

[@JosefTrejbal]

Me, every time a Silent Hill game appeared in this video: "Never Before Have I Been So Offended By Something I One Hundred Percent Agree With"

[@harberiondeanothemagician4697]

I still the the GDC talk on how the animations in overgrowth were managed is one of my favourites. Shows how different states blended with Inverse Kinematics and algorithms can create some pretty neat animations

[@troyjohnson2137]

nier automata has absurdly detailed and expressive walking/running animations and i am so glad you included them. uneven surfaces, speeding up, slowing down, turning, climbing stairs, it's all incredible

[@HelloMisterJAMWAH]

I wonder if any games deliberately unsync walk speed for nightmare sequences. It'd be pretty authentic to have that 'stuck in sludge' feeling.

[@LeoFieTv]

I really appreciate that note about disability. An important topic that gets forgotten far to often.

[@vhawco0620]

Really loving these "inside baseball" looks at video games!

[@1Thunderfire]

So this isn't just walking animation but... Luigi's animation in Luigi's Mansion 3. It's just so dang good!

[@cdutson]

Oh my god, you put in a clip of ALUNDRA, a game that I have never seen anyone mention literally ever.

[@deltamonke103]

I'm so mad you refer to most characters by their names but call Agent 47 hitman. That's like calling Samus Metroid or Link Zelda.

[@collin4555]

Halo is a pretty cool guy, he shoots aliens and doesn't afraid of anything

[@sydneygorelick7484]

My favorite protagonist is Portal, she's an interesting silent character and Glad0s is mean to her but in funny way

[@alexmott507]

Is "Donkey Kong Country" Donkey Kong 64's maiden name?

[@samehomar1993]

My name... is... The Matrix

[@marcosm1223]

I know that he's called Agent 47, but those are different situations though. Link is not a Zelda, Samus is not a Metroid, but Agent 47 is a Hitman

[@gorimbaud]

Calling out Vanille for a silly walk is weird when you, not a minute later, have a segment focusing on silly walks that communicate characterization. If Lightning had Vanille's walk cycle, that would be worth furrowing a brow over, but the way Vanille walks is absolutely indicative of the type of impression she's trying to give others.

[@_._---.]

5:59 I got so pissed when you called Agent 47 'Hitman', even though it's probably a joke. lol

[@lookatdemijipers]

8:55 this was a very Griffin McElroy sentence lol

[@Densuii]

A great way to deal with foot sliding is turning the character model around and saying "they're always moonwalking". Now it's a stylish feature!

[@DontProf0akMe]

I absolutely love these types of videos Polygon puts out, it makes you really notice and appreciate really small details in games you might otherwise overlook. Also, Jenna is so enjoyable to listen to! (Best 🐀 Lawyer ever)

[@chexagon7656]

Not a SINGLE shout-out to Naughty Dog's motion-mapping in TLOU2?!?! Literally the best to ever do it.

[@MusicMyBeloved]

Is that Lode Runner at 2:28? Man I haven't seen that game in ages! It was one of the only two games my Dad had for our desktop when we bought our first computer when I was a little kid. Well before we ever got internet there was good ole Load Runner and Jane of the Jungle.

[@lizzzylavender]

That swapped Batman and Catwoman animation is hilarious

[@SlayerSeraph]

2:58 one of the first games I ever played, probably the earliest game still vivid in my memory from my childhood. Played it back when it was new & just released. The Animations back then seemed so realistic and uncanny. When I learned it was based on real person motion capturing via Rotoscope (years later) - that fact totally blew my mind away! Even today it looks pretty real, unique and precise.

[@erronsaa4932]

While I was on the seat h for comparison of 2D or pixel art cycle frame comparisons, I stumbled upon this. I really like it! I never personally thought of a walk cycle being important, or well at the service level, but it for sure makes sense! Thanks for the knowledge I gained!

[@thomasmaier7053]

Nice piece! Root motion animation helps with foot sliding today because the mocap position in space is just transferred to the game. No code is moving the character anymore - it's all mocap.

[@TrueTempleDog]

Really great breakdown about character animation and personality of walk cycles, nice!

[@caseysailor9301]

Hey this kinda reminds me of this pretty niche youtuber called uhh.. Pat something. He mostly works for a gaming/media company, but I mention him because he did a video on walking in certain video games once. I thought it was 10/10 and you're amazing aswell so I think if you collabed you could both totally blow up.

[@MrDelord39]

Paragon was so good. I'm still sad they shut the game down.

[@xliquidflames]

I had a debate (read: argument) with someone recently that video games aren't immature or childish. Their argument was that video games are for children and adults shouldn't play them. This video backs up part of my argument that, among other things, they're modern works of art. It takes a lot of skill and talent to pull this off and make it look, not just right, but good. This was so well explained and an excellent video. I'm totally sharing it and tagging the person I was arguing with.

[@polygon]

That's such an odd opinion for someone to have in 2022! - Simone

[@Wyrmknave]

I will say almost nothing good about FF13 but Vanille's walk is perfect

[@codyjackson923]

Seeing Alundra gave me so much joy. 😂

[@jixzaw]

Anyone know the game at 3:49, it unlocked a memory and I have no idea what the game was called.!!

[@ArchbardWava]

Yooooo, Syphon Filter!!

[@speedtracker9556]

Why should I not notice this video game animation?

[@ifyoubuildittheywillcome]

No mention of RDR2, the worlds most violent walking sim?

[@bingoccolon]

YOWWWWWWWWWW

[@polygon]

YOWWWWWWW

[@Zenrey]

Last

[@polygon]

i hope not

[@bingoccolon]

microseconds after this comment was posted, the entire universe suddenly ceased to be. this was the true last comment

[@deniseaduh7592]

2nd?

[@wellspokenrambler]

the extremely "real Benny Hill hours" music is "Runaround" by Ron Aspery, and a very fun example of how library musicians often just get commissioned to do "sound-alikes" of popular songs (the original being "Yakety Sax")

[@thewingedporpoise]

this is a very fun and interesting thing to note, I hope to remember this fun fact

[@hummingmostbird]

Took longer than I was expecting to reference the ministry of silly walks. I was fully expecting it to be within the first 3 minutes lol

[@polygon]

thanks for sticking around, haha

[@josepholiveira2873]

I kinda want a whole Polygon video on "doing things 'wrong' for the sake of stylization or comedy". Because the bit toward the end about intentionally making weird walking animations was really interesting to me.

[@alchemistarcher02]

So glad you included the Silly Walkin' Perk from West of Loathing. One of my favorite visual gags in games.

[@cholsreammos]

Same here

[@BucklingSwashes]

Such a great game, and wonderful that the humor of KoL made the transition so well.

[@buckhunt6832]

Time stamp please

[@victoriaj2129]

@@buckhunt6832 13:36

[@buckhunt6832]

@@victoriaj2129 ❤

[@Baggytrousers27]

Mark my words: the next level of 3rd person walking animations will have a character trip over their feet slightly if you change direction too quickly.

[@samicat93]

thank you for going out of your way to point out that the rule of thumb for walk cycles is specific to the non-disabled, visibility is extremely vital for us right now so taking the time to add in just a line or two about it makes a big difference

[@mattceccotti]

Walk cycles are the HARDEST thing to animate. I am glad someone is explaining the world the plight of us animators!

[@polygon]

Thank you for what you do! - Simone

[@rachelrachel9152]

It's so funny that you said the speed/sliding/turning problem was the most egregious part of lower quality walk animations, because I've just so normalized that happening in games i didn't even see the problem in the examples you were showing for it at first lol

[@Sam-iu8nb]

This felt like an epiphany moment for me. I seriously thought "Wait a minute... that DOES look ridiculous".

[@Feyraligatr]

Nothing can top the Morrowind walk cycle.

[@vazzmatazz]

Which one?

[@Azure9577]

@@vazzmatazz WALK cycle

[@noskes1]

5:10 Pokemon S&S still have this type of turning in the cut scene :D

[@kelthulhu]

I thoroughly enjoyed the outro subtitles.

[@polygon]

YOWWWWWWWWW

[@Exmachina223]

Walks not ridiculous enough. Look up Guilty Gear's Zappa for a horrifying walk cycle. Voldo's got nothing on him.

[@Lavarpsu10]

Secret for Enter the Matrix that no one cares about but me!!! Want to beat the game SUPER EASILY? 1. Pull out a gun 2. Walk up to any enemy other than an agent (maybe agents too? I don't remember) 3. Press the throw command (circle + triangle on playstation I think?) 4. Victory It's a one-hit kill on almost everything except the enemies in the Merovingian's Chateau and the game never tells you about it! Just in case you want to beat an almost-20-year-old game via cheesing.

[@polygon]

W H A T

[@polygon]

does this work in elden ring

[@Lavarpsu10]

@@polygon yea but you gotta unlock the guns option by leveling up to the industrial revolution stage. (full disclosure I have never played Elden Ring)

[@Michael_Lindell]

Nice Walkie-Talkie Jenna!

[@polygon]

hey

[@Michael_Lindell]

@@polygon Or is it an Amble-Ramble?

[@leefitzgerald8765]

I appreciate Polygon's video team for doing as much content as they do on stuff a lot of people just wouldn't spend a lot of time thinking about otherwise.

[@blackandwhiteful]

I remember being so impressed when I was playing the Witcher 3, running through novigrad, and then one foot stepped in a puddle so there was 1 shallow splash sound. Blew my mind

[@wallacesousuke1433]

🤢🤢 The Witcher

[@darkowl9]

It'd be interesting to see more footstep-driven animation in games, rather than faking it by moving the model and sorta syncing the speed to the feet. You'd also get things like proper ability to stand on staircases at different elevations too, something many games either don't bother with, or sorta fake.

[@matthewgilson9834]

there's so much to love about this video, not least of which is how well-researched and informative it obviously is while remaining engaging, but i just want to call out two little things that made me smile, namely the line read on "wiggle" when talking about sonic's ears, and the frankly incredible yakety sax facsimile you managed to find royalty-free which manages to sound exactly right without being yakety sax at all.

[@polygon]

Royalty-free yakety sax for all!! Thank you.

[@nathanjohnson5088]

Loved the line about getting a third walk frame and being grateful for it lol. Splendid video as always :)

[@polygon]

Ha, thank ya!

[@hollyfelis4197]

i'm guessing Jenna just wanted to talk about making walking animations and chose the Matrix Resurrections tie-in to make the video more topical, and it just took so long to make that it's not topical anymore

[@2live4u95]

They shot the treadmill scenes at the gym I used to go to with my mom as a kid😂

[@polygon]

oh, wild!

[@limo_was_here]

paragon mention is cool, loved that game :C

[@drewbrew444]

i remember the first time i played LA Noir and the characters feet did a quick little shuffle when he went down stairs, and my mind was completely blown

[@joshdoesthingsallthetime]

OMG THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT ENTER THE MATRIX

[@meander112]

Engagement for the engagement god!

[@eopatcjo]

Killari? Paragon? COME BACK!

[@PlutoTheSynth]

5:59 Ah yes, Hitman from Hitman, what a classic and memorable character Round of applause for Hitman from Hitman

[@Corbomite_Meatballs]

He's a real Hitman's Hitman, that Hitman is.

[@WireMosasaur]

This reminds me of a lot of the walking details in the Mad Max game, which like... is objectively not a great game but some parts are clearly made with great love and attention. Part of Max's legend is his busted knee, which isn't mentioned whatsoever in the game but he has the leg brace and it reflects on his movements; he's slow to break into a sprint, stepping forward bracing his shoulders with almost reluctance, his jump is weak and full of apparent effort, and if you drop down from any significant height he walks with a pained limp for a few seconds afterwards.

[@29once]

Stop mentioning Paragon I'm still in mourning.

[@polygon]

sorry for your loss

[@BlakeTheDrake]

I just love the fact that, once the Benny Hill Music starts, *it does not stop*. Nobody can stop Benny once he's on a roll!

[@quefluxwinger3212]

10:17 I own the Midway Arcade Classics on PS2, Joust was a blast!

[@A_real_Wizard]

I try not to think about the fact all characters just slide around frictionlessly and just play an animation while doing it.

[@Cleverconveyence]

another Stoeber banger about animation, yesplz

[@etbadaboum]

Great video as usual! My first appreciation of character animation was with Mario 64 where you can get up to 4 different movement animations

[@ticron]

Appreciate the inclusion of Jade from Beyond Good and Evil. I haven't forgotten Ubisoft. 😞

[@wriqhts]

one of my favorite video game walks is kiryu's in yakuza 6.. for purely unhorny reasons i promise

[@Sethar1234]

Great video! And definitely very informative, however I'm left with the thought- this doesn't really have much to do with The Matrix, does it? hahaha

[@jwaffles9269]

I’m convinced that Jenna only made this video because she was desperate to put that ending line in something.

[@lektik2941]

There are some truly hilarious walks in Dark Souls 2. At long range from the player, Alonne Knights do this weird slanted moon walk sort of thing.

[@sapateirovalentin348]

Also the falconeers that willpower themselve into moving forward while their legs fight to move to the side

[@sicilianmammalian]

Man you guys are exactly what I needed for game dev

[@0Gumpy0]

It's insane how much work goes into every little detail to make a game. great video!

[@HobokerDev]

The Last of Us Part II had almost 2.5h of locomotion clips just for the player. That's walking, running, crouching and crawling, none of the combat or interactions.

[@Keepit10011]

I notice. It's one of the things that can make me hate a game. Because I feel like if they run like they are walking in a way that is visually distracting I lose focus on things in front of me. One best example is dark souls running/walking animation. It looks so bad like a lil Muppet in slippers trying to steal from Santas workshop, like a little rat or roach running, but let's use hellblade or the latest God of war. The walking animations have weight and muscle movement are more focused on making it feel like the character is actively a part of the world you are playing in. Also assassins creed games walking animations have gotten more terrible over recent years.

[@TheDudeManBro]

The run cycle of Raymond Bryce from Disaster Day of Crisis was one singular moment that made me smile and love a brand new character. It’s unbelievably silly, determined and somehow clumsy.

[@hannahyamauchi839]

Your characters' walk cycle in Pokemon Legends Arceus looks kinda janky when you look at them from the side, since the walk cycle was made to be seen from behind. Not to mention the (lack of) turn animation for not only the NPCs but the Pokemon too. I wish the Pokemon company had more faith in the franchise and that fans are more than willing to wait for more than 2 years for a new game so the developers had more time to really polish everything up.

[@terricon4]

And this is why developers love makign floating characters, if they jsut float and bob you have so much more freedom, and so much less work ahead of you.

[@Roxor128]

I remember watching a GDC talk about game animation. The dev giving it built a sort of virtual trundle-wheel to measure distance along the ground and trigger the various frames of the character's walking animation. It started out with just two, (minimum and maximum feet separation) then by adding interpolation, turned it into actual movement. He ended up with a decent variety of possible animations from a bit of code and a dozen or so poses. Can't remember the name of the dev, studio, or game, but I do remember he used an anthro rabbit character for his demonstration.

[@gravityvertigo13579]

Fuckin heresy to imply Shadow of the Colossus doesn't have a walk cycle that contributes to the breathlessness of the game's vibe!!

[@skadoosher7747]

If i was a video game character my walk cycle would like one of those physics based walk cycles but it actually just be me randomly changing the way im walking because im nervous

[@star2705]

My favourite locomotion animation detail is from State of Decay 2, where if you run fast enough, and then slam the stick in a different direction, your character will dramatically slide, their hand even touches the ground! But I don't think it always happens, or it's just really hard to trigger, and it is FAST. The animation begins and ends almost faster than you can notice it.

[@Dayviono]

Bayonetta has the best walk in video game history.

[@artofadval]

What an incredible video. This is so useful to me as an animator. Thanks!

[@HijackHornet]

"Walking cycle were making big steps", ahah i see what you did there

[@suryapanditi3161]

So happy ghost of tsushima animators are getting the love they deserve. It still has some of the best traversal and fighting animations I’ve seen in a game

[@imnotyourfriendbuddy1883]

hey developers, please make games for people who PLAY video games instead of games for people who make games.

[@AndroChimera]

shadow of the collosus animations are perfect '-' what is wrong with you

[@rosearachnid879]

Those over-animated characters can talk the talk but they really can’t walk the walk

[@mooninite99]

Oh ye KZbin comment section gods, I invoke thee! Can ANYONE tell me what game the footage at 4:39 is from!? I recognize it very strongly from my childhood, but have no memory of the name of the game.

[@dandeliondew]

having 'dragging a dead body' and 'walking on slick ice' right after each other, as equally important gameplay info xD

[@TylerJMacDonald]

Jenna, I hope you see this: what are those cool framed pictures behind you? (Great video btw!)

[@moonbeam714]

2:03 thank you for including this note! i'm a cane user and i was actually just wondering how mobility aids might factor into walk cycles like this :)