Shananimals

Developers:

Three

Months:

Four

Platform:

Windows

Engine:

Unreal Engine

My Roles:

Modeler, programmer, sound designer, animator, & level designer

Problem and Solution

As an animator, I took care of many of the animations in Shananimals, reworking and improving them as time passed.

One of the many goals with the animation was to implement eight-way directional movement. However, the game did not have said movement initially.

At first, the running animation only consisted of running forward no matter the direction of the input, which felt unnatural and strange upon playtesting.

To fix this issue, the character animation blueprint was modified to consider rotation and the input(s) the player would hold at that point in time.

Before

After

Additionally, a Blend Space specifically focusing on directional running was made for easier access and modification wherever necessary.

With these additions, the character is now able to visually move in different directions based on the player's inputs.