Hello humblets! 🌱
Today we want to talk about animations and show you some behind the scenes clips 🤸 And if you want to see the final animations in action, you can also check out our latest video on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube!
We spent weeks going through animations for the humblet with our amazing animator. Constantly pulling out our Switches, opening up every Nintendo and stylized game we own. Each movement and character state we’d do repeatedly, trying to catch all the subtle details that really sell movements. In the end, we feel like it paid off!
Walk and Run 👟
We explored a bunch of different walk styles. We wanted something cute and cartoony, but also smooth enough to loop without getting distracting. The one we landed on felt just right once we tested it in the engine. It had a soft bop and lightness to every step which felt really nice when moving around. We also had a version of the animation which was more feminine and wondered if choosing your walking style should be an option to add to the game but we chose to focus on adding more animations instead and will revisit this idea later down the line.
The run is basically a more exaggerated version of the walk, with a really satisfying hop. We didn’t want it to feel urgent or panicky, just playful and fun. It has leaning added to it when turning, so the character tilts slightly in the direction you’re moving. And when going up or down hills, they lift their knees higher or lower to match the slope.
Idles ⛅
Above are some of the first idle drafts!
We explored different types of idles, some calmer and others more energetic. The final idle we ended with has the character gently swaying side to side, with their arms moving along with it. If you stand still for a bit longer, they start rocking on their feet. Wait a little more and they’ll sit down on the ground, while looking around propped up on their hands. Eventually, they’ll lie back with their hands behind their head and look at the sky, or with the arms to the side and drift off into a nap.
We definitely want to add more idle variations, so if you have ideas please tell us in the comments!
Jump 🦘
We went through a few jumps before landing on our current animations. There’s a lot of different ways to approach this and we realised games were surprisingly varied here. With all our animations, we had to step back think what has the most humblet energy?
Our animator always liked to throw in one or two fun possibilities for each animation. With the idle jump we were given the wide leg frog leap. It’s similar in energy to Mario’s third consecutive jump, you can almost hear a “yahoo!” with it.
There are also falling and landing animations that trigger when needed, like if you drop from a bigger height. These can be tricky to implement since the impact of the landing has to carry through to the next pose post-landing.
Swim 🌊
We looked at different games for inspirations for the different animations. Not many cute and poppy games have swimming, and we realised a lot of characters like Link in Breath of the Wild, their swim is too realistic. We ended up looking at 3D platformer games as starting references. Although they’re often hyper energetic, the movements are simple and proportions similar.
So the swimming is a simple breaststroke with kicking legs. Both the swim and swim idle are pretty lively, with constant limb movement. And if you look closely, you’ll see a gentle sway to imitate the movement of floating in water.
Sneak 🤫
The crouch is relaxed, we really didn’t want it to look like a combat stance, ready to take off at any second!
If you move while crouched, the character will go into slow and quiet sneaking. They’re slightly more upright than in a full crouch, but still not standing tall either. Sneaking will be especially useful when approaching wild animals or trying to stay hidden from opponents.
Pick up 🫐
We’ve added new animations for interacting with items and tools too.
For picking something up from the ground, the character bends down, grabs the item and stows it in their backpack. There’s also a quicker simpler version for when you’re moving and need to grab something like berries off a bush. The character won’t bend down but will do a subtle pocket tuck so it stays clear to the player that the action happened.
That’s a look at where some of our character animations are at right now. It’s been really fun adding them to the newest humblet models and getting to play with them. We have other animations like interacting with pets, sitting on furniture or playing card battles, which we’re very excited for you to see!
As always, we’d love to hear what you think so please leave a comment!
Stay cozy,
Daria and Aaron, Berry Bite 💚