Exclusive Animations Sneak Peek #2
Hi, Alice here! :y
These last months I have been having fun creating locomotion and emotion animations for our Parafolks and today we’d like to share some of them with you all. I’ve already shared many animations in a past Patreon post so today is the second edition of my animation showcase videos. And, in case you’re wondering, the music in today’s video is one of the tracks that Andrei recently made to try different musical directions for Paralives!✨
What We Have to Keep in Mind
The goal for the animations in Paralives is to make them good-looking of course, realistic, but also generic. That last point is very important because one animation isn't created for a specific Para, but all of them! Therefore, they MUST fit on all body types.
Our animations are also essential in giving our characters life and personality, so "generic" doesn't mean that we want them to look bland! Doing it this way allows us to save time to create other various animations that will give more life to your future Paras!
Here’s a small example: when I created our run animation and tried it on Maggie, our first female Parafolk, it looked great, but then I tested it on Marvin, our most recent male Parafolk. Something about his movement made him seem very feminine, and this is not a specificity we want to be applied to every Para. Later on, we'll be considering giving you the option to choose your Parafolk’s own walk style. It might also be impacted by numerous things like emotions, needs, or even your Parafolk’s personality.
Locomotion Animations
In the first part of the video, you can see 3 of our main locomotion animations: a walk, a jog, and a run. Because they are the ones you will see the most, locomotion animations are very important. This is why I like taking a bit more time to create them, and even start over completely if they don't turn out the way we envisioned (I started over for the walk, jog and run animations, but it was for the best believe me, haha)! The goal here was to have generic movements that have to look good at the right speed. For example, we need a walking animation that is fast enough and has big enough steps so the Parafolk will cover a good distance. This way, your Parafolks won’t take forever to go from A to B.
Emotion Animations
(EDIT: The Uncomfortable and Tense animations are swapped in the video!)
In the second part of the video, you can see our animations for some of the principal range of human emotions, like surprised, sad, stressed and so on. These will be used as emotion reactions of course, but also as reactions to events or during conversations. As you know, we are starting to focus on the live mode, so we will share more details on this later.
While emotion animations also have to follow our main goals, we cannot be 100% realistic and we may need to exaggerate them a bit, as the emotions need to be distinctive and quickly comprehended by the player. Fortunately, we'll have a variety of different indicators on your Parafolks emotions and states, such as the interface and sounds that will help you understand what is going on! Here’s an example: In real life, you would probably never see someone shaking from fear, but as you can see, I decided to add “shakes” in our first scared emotion anyway. In my opinion, that was a good way to make the animation clearer without being too cartoony, but for each case, we have to find the right balance.
We will also have facial animations that, like the name suggests, will only impact the Parafolk’s faces. These will temporarily take over the Parafolks’ facial expressions if they have a significant change of mood, except if an action needs its own expression. In case you missed it, I explained this further in this Patreon post from last year. :)
That is all for me today, I had a lot of fun working on these new animations and I really hope you like them! If you want to know more, I could write another Patreon post going more in-depth about the animation process: How does it work? What software do you need? Are real-life video references really important? (yes they are) and so on. Let us know in the comments below!
I would also love to read your thoughts on emotion animations, so please be sure to participate and share your vision in our new monthly community brainstorming “Emotions & Mood” in the comment section of last week’s Patreon post or on Discord or Reddit!
Happy Friday!!!!
Alice (•◡•) /
EDIT - May 25 2022: This post is now public so feel free to share it!
Comments (231)
I love how realistic these are including the walking/jogging/running ones!
Will there be more than one emotion because it would be bad to see more than one character expressing the same emotion at the same time. Another thing is when the character finishes expressing her emotions, for example the character was crying, and when she finished crying, she immediately returned to her normal face as if she had not been crying. If it was me, after the character finished crying, her face would be sad, her eyelids, and her nose would be red, and she would have sad expressions until the player herself changed her expression to something else.
Loveeeeed it
The animations are so natural and realistic! I'm in love. Also the music is so amazing. My favorite piece so far!
Wow, the animations are amazing!
The animations look so smooth tho! I'm in love 😍
The animations are successful 😍 and the music is really nice 😍
This is beautiful 😍 🤩
I love soooo much! And the design, is just.... Wohw! ( i'm french, so sorry if my english is not verry good)
Absolutely love the subtle differences between scared, tense and uncomfortable. Like, 'tense' looks like an internal conflict (stressed, overwhelmed) while 'uncomfortable' looks like an external conflict (socially uncomfortable, lonely). Just the way I can read (or even imagine) those differences shows how expressive these short animation are.
Crying and sobbing should be switched. Sobbing is worse than crying. Otherwise, maybe sobbing could be renamed "disappointed"? Jogging looks a little too smooth. Maybe add a bit more bounce so it looks less like a glide. Unless all Parafolk have really long legs, the strides used in running are quite large, perhaps shorten them just a bit so they look more natural. In any case, these look amazing! I'm so excited for this game.
im in love with those music and with the animations i see Maggie like a human now
- I would really like the paras to detect emotions of the others paras through the facial expressions, gestures, through looks, intonations of voice, and react or not to the moods of others. (e.g. parents with their children, between friends...). - I would really like the paras not to live their emotions all alone and all time in an isolated way and, that they pass in front of the others paras without interacting with the emotions of the other paras and without feeling anything for and with others . - Maybe the developers could code and categorize facial expressions, gestures, voice intonations by classifying them into the 6 main groups of primary emotions * (joy, sadness, disgust, fear, anger, surprise ), and each group of emotions would have its facial expressions, looks, gestures and intonations of voice which could also give rise to different interactions, and the paras could recognize the emotions of other paras and interact with in autonmous way (or not). I think that perceiving the emotional states of others is an important component of social interactions. * The 6 groups of primary emotions are also composed of secondary emotions (example: confident, relieved, rough, irritated)
It would be so fun to be able to choose a running style like Cam in modern family, you know with the hands
so nuanced and subtle but not underplayed, love it
Gorgeous!
The animations are fucking gorgeous. Sorry for swearing.
The emotion animations look incredible! Incredibly well-done. The Positively Surprised animation gives me a strong Disney vibe, I love it!
Looks amazing! 🤩 Also love the music direction! I think it fits the game so well! 😊
Alex and team I worked with some mocaps for real movement a number of years ago and I still believe they are open source would you be interested in exploring these ?
Amazing! They certainly look natural enough. I always hate the over-exaggerated emotion of the certain game we know.
I literally love Maggie's lil jog! Would any of these also be incorporated while sitting? for example being shocked by something someone at the dinner table says or crying desolately on the couch lol
I am late to this but I am sooooo impressed! And seeing the Paras in action really makes them feel 3D. I’ve been one of the ones concerned about the 2D feel of the paras but seeing them moving and making facial expressions makes them so real and I’m 100% behind everything now. Great job!
What I mean is when I asked the creators of Sims 4 if they could add something with a Christ like theme like going to church on Sunday I was told it was to political and I just felt that was unfair to allow other themes like Homosexuality. just to give you an example, I was playing with my niece and her girl sim was approached by another girl sim that gave the flirt and my niece's sim flirted back automatically in the game the choice was not offered.. Now I know now days if you say you are a Christian that means your a hater but let me assure you true Christians do not hate anyone but we do not like our choices taken away either this is all I will say on the matter
I swear I thought there was a church mod circling around 🤔, interesting I usually have to use mods to force my sims to like people of the same sex more. Does your niece have any mods in her game perhaps?
I'm a Christian and I had enjoyed the sims 4 but now the game pushes stuff I do not agree with can you tell me what kind interaction you will have with the towns people?
Surely you aren't talking about the wedding pack coming out tomorrow?
I love these! The locomotion animations felt a little too "smooth" on first watch, but watching it again it wasn't as bad; I think part of that might be due to the angle of the room. The emotions are wonderful, especially the slight lip purse on some of them, it really adds a lot to the feeling!!
j'ai hâte de tester cela en jeu !
I really like all the animations. Nice job!
Looks great!
AWESOMMME
Nice
This game is going to be so awesome. I love the art style and animations so much.
All I ask is when the Paras need to go to the toilet from low "bladder" need, PLEASE have them jog or run there instead of that unrealistic waddle they do in The Sims 4!!! Please and thank you :)
🙏🏾
amazing! <3
Awesome and well thought out.
I like all but the Uncomfortable one. That one looks more bored than uncomfortable
Oh, I made a mistake while editing the video! I switched titles for the Uncomfortable and Tense animations. Maybe this is why you feel that way, sorry for that! We'll put an edit note in the post :)
These all look great and I love the new music!! I thought the tense emotion was very cute, but perhaps bordered a bit too close to shy? Overall a super exciting update. Thank you!!
Thank you for your feedback, I agree Andrei did so well, again! I see what you mean, thankfully we'll have a few animation variations for these emotions 😊
OMG! I love it! I have nothing to add, great!!! 😍
I love it!
I'd love an in-depth post!
Awesome, it is in the plans then! 😃
I just want to watch you work on it. I know we’re still so far away from a release but every time you post something I’m blown away and get more and more amped to dive into this when it is finally released!!
I'm so happy you enjoyed the post!! 🥰
The animations look so incredible and fit the game beautifully! Well done :) The music is just lovely and peaceful!! The only add up I want to mention would target the running interaction, because since it's faster, we won't control our body as well, so the moviments (especially arms and the stepping) would be more rough that smooth, but I also know it will still be worked on, plus it looks amazing already! Congrats for Andrei, Alice and the team!! «3
Yes the locomotion animations might stil evolve again! Thank you for your feedback and the sweet words😊
It just looks so magnificent! I was one of the people who were a bit unsure about Parad and the environment, but they looks great in motion, also lighting and shadows will probably be improved in the future anyway. The animations are great. Distinctive, but realistic and just so detailed. I agree with the feedback about the right side having slightly more motion than the left in some reactions, so maybe for crying right hand can wipe the eyes and left one wipe the nose, so they both do something? Just a suggestion, I don't think it's a massive problem. I'd also love to see reactions like excitement (you're excited to go on a date and you hear the doorbell, so it mist be that person; or you just delivered pizza and are excited when you hear the doorbell) and sort of "sense of achievement"/overjoyed (you got a promotion, you found out you're pregnant etc.) And of course massive congrats to Andrei on another great track, even if it doesn't make it into the game, i love how peaceful and inspiring it feels.
Hi Domon, thank you for your feedback! 😊As I replied above, the right side having "more motion" is because I shoot my references myself for the most part, and I am right-handed. I'll keep that in mind. I agree, Andrei did an amazing job again, I could choose which demo to use and I'm glad I chose this one, I really like it 🥰
I love it! Such an incredible work!
Thank you!! 🤗
I would loooove to know more about the animation process !! You did an amazing job, the combination with the art style, music and well made animations is resulting in a very emotional video. Thanks to all these elements the atmosphere of Paralives is clearly noticeable and unique !
I'm glad you enjoyed the video! It's noted then, I'll be happy to let you know more about that process 🎉
This looks amazing! :)
I am at a lost of words. You guys are amazing I loved Maggie's animation and her running gave me vibes that I would be playing on my ps4 console. Keep up the good work. The music is great as well.
Thank you so much! I agree, Andrei did an amazing job, again! ⭐
Great job Alice!! This looks amazing! 😁 Keep up the great work!
Aw thank you!! I'm glad you like them😊
This is incredible, I love all the animations, it looks so realistic and you really create real personality for the paras! and become more a person, And they seem more real And suit the overall world! And you care about their needs and emotions, I love the walking, jog and run animations, I love how they look and it looks so good! They are animations you will see often and they look so realistic and so good! They look like real running, and not too much, This is what I always have wanted, I love it! Such amazing work!
Thank you so much for taking the time to write that, I'm very happy you like them! 🥰
Really good job congratulations
These are great animations, they're so natural-looking. I especially like the little details like the finger-tapping on the uncomfortable animation.
Thank you so much, I like that one too 😄
Omg !!!! All look so natural !!!😳 good job 👏
Woooow you guys are doing such a good job. These reactions all look so natural and realistic, I love it!!!
So natural and not over the top love these!
incredible work!! the emotion expressions are so so natural looking, i love that they aren't overexaggerated but fit nicely into a realistic reaction.
This is amazing!!! You guys are all doing such an amazing job!!
Her little crossed arms!!!!
Unbelievable, the eyes moving, body n' face expressions, everything looks fantastic! Congrats!!
Thank you, I'm really glad you like them! ☀️
I love all the emotions - scared1 is my favorite as it expresses the emotion clearly without being over the top. I think the locomotion looks good but it looks a little too weightless. Like the para isn't affected by gravity. I'm not sure if that's intentional or how it could be addressed (more emphasis on the down step?). Thank you for sharing!
Hi! Thank you for your feedback! Locomotion animations are, I think for a lot of animators, one of the hardest things to create. They will probably change and evolve along so way, so I will keep that in mind, thank you! 😊
wow I LOVE the tense animation especially!
It's also one of my favorites! 😄
My goodness. I'm so psyched for this game. Every little thing y'all show each week gets me so pumped!
The crying animation made me genuinely sad. I must be a masochist, because I immediately thought : "YES, that's what I want to feel !". I think life simulations (including plumbob-oriented ones...) are at their best when they can make us feel real emotions, and not just superficial entertainment ; that's how you get invested in the game. Of course gameplay is part of that, but the animations need to convey it too, and though I liked all the animations you showed, this one really made me feel good about the direction of Paralives :) Keep up the good work !
Aw thank you so much, I'm really glad you like them! 😊
I'm in love, i can see exactly how these emotion animations can be used in gameplay. It really has charm and I enjoy the range of emotions. This was such a lovely video. It really reminds me of my favorite abadonware simulation game in the best ways.
Thank you for you kind message 🥰
The game is coming to life more and more!!
oh it's just so lovely to see the paras come to life step by step!
Question! In Paralives, is it live mode as in “we are now live!” Or live mode as “you gotta live your life”?
Not sure I got the question right, but I'd say it's more the "we are now live" one. Like you pressed play, your Parafolk is live to be living their life! (In comparison to the "build mode" mode)
I'm not sure if it's me, but the running animations seem a bit... slow, and the walking a bit stiff? Nothing I couldn't live with though. Otherwise, I really love this. The emotions are absolutely on point and everything looks so good.
Hello Amor! Thank you very much for your feedback, it's greatly appreciated! The locomotion animations might evolve and change along the way, so I will keep that in mind :)
OMG Alice your work speaks volumes! I was squealing with excitement as I saw Maggie strut and sprint. The emotional animations are VERY CLEAR. I loved the shaking, the ways to show disgust, the types of surprises! I can't wait to see some social interactions and object interactions like sitting on flat/cushioned surfaces or how talking with a person you dis/like affects the Para.
Thank you for sharing, I really love this animations ! They are so smooth and delicate but also easy to understand 😍
I really like the philosophy and goals behind the animations. It's perfectly reasonable that some facial expressions, animations, etc have to be exaggerated to be apparent and distinctive but it comforts me knowing you are aiming for realistic, generic (but not bland!) animations. So far, every animation I've seen seems to fit meet those goals so I couldn't be happier!
Thank you a lot, we're trying hard to follow that vision 😃
I really like them but i have something that might affect the repetitions. Its a bit of focus on the characters right side in all the emotions. Maggie is clearly right handed and does all the turns and reactions with that side of her body. Might be something to think about, so that it doesnt become too symetric in a crowd or in a family setting with everyone turning to the right side or only using their right hand/arm.
Hi! Thank you for your feedback. There is a good reason for this, it's because I am right-handed and I shoot video references of myself for most of the animations! 😄But it is a good point to bring up! I'll keep an eye on this, thank you !
They are really super good and smooth so far, I am so excited to see more of it. Thank you for sharing this video 🥰
I’d love to see a bit of bounce in the walk and run animations! They’re super good and smooth so far. Very impressive. Love all the work you’re putting in!!!!
Thank you for your feedback, it is always very helpful! The locomotion animations might evolve and change along the way, so I will definitely keep that in mind :D
The uncomfortable animation is my personal fav
Very happy you like it! I just noticed that I made a mistake and switched the Tense and Uncomfortable animations while editiong the video. Just so you know, the Uncomfortable is actually the Tense one 😥😄
They look amazing. Everything. I agree with the general ‘no impact when running’ feedback but they still look fantastic. Always love to see a bit of Maggie
Me too! Thank you a lot for your comment, I'm happy you like them🤗
I just love this. Love it.
Thank youuu 🥰
While I agree with the general feedback on the movement animations (no impact on the body), I'm just writing this to praise the "tense" animation. It's full of subtlety and much better than most emotion animations out there. Also, Maggie kinda looks adorable when she's angry. Just saying. But the animation itself is pretty good.
Thank you a lot, I'm really happy you like them! 😊
Those look great!
Thank you!! 🤗
AMAZING animations! :D I love the facial expressions with the movement, especially the angry one is kind of sassy, I love it!
Haha yes! I'm glad you like them 🥰
The flow of these is incredible! I'm so excited, you guys are doing such an amazing job! 🖤🖤🖤
Aw thank you a lot 💕
I really love these different emotions! Maybe emotion could also affect other animations? Like not every single one, there could be a sad walk, angry walk, scared walk, happy walk. Or maybe when a para is angry they slam the door instead of closing it.
Yes, I'd love that too!
love the animations :)
Thank you! 😃
This 😍
It's so cool to see the progress you are making, this is a great first step! For constructive feedback, a few areas I would focus on are:the corners of her mouth, the impact of movement animations (running etc.) on the entire body,
I meant to add that the corners of her mouth curl up in a weird way for some of the emotion animations and as Sean McDorman said, there isn't much sense of impact on the body for the movement animations. Also, maybe this is just for testing, but when her emotional reactions immediately return to "normal" it looks weird.
Just seconding that there’s no impact on her body for the walk or run which stood out to me as well. It makes her look like she’s floating. I also think the walk looks a bit robotic because the hips tend to move off center upwards more as the balance moves on one foot with each step but I think that also goes back to the no impact on step thing. Additionally, the body similarly seems a bit stiff on the lower half in the emotions, which is why the ones that are supposed to be stiff (like uncomfortable or scared) look amazing but more emotional or dramatic ones like crying look a bit doll-like. Regardless of the small details, it really does look great though! I love the choice to go natural and Maggie fits right into that scene. A job well done altogether
Hi! Thank you so much for the feedback, you can be sure that I will keep all of this in mind. I'll try my best with these tricky locomotion animations 😊
Love the emotion animations, they are perfect. However, I think the locomotion animations could use more work. My immediate impression is that Maggie is not experiencing any impact on her body when her feet hit the ground. A step, especially a harder step such as a jog or run, should resound throughout the whole body, and I feel as if Maggie’s frozen upper body is not capturing that. It hits the eye in an uncanny way, making it seem as if she is floating and not fully interacting with the world. One suggestion I have for gameplay: In The Sims, you can click on any point on the lot and select “Go here.” This feels burdensome and redundant, and you feel less connected to the world. The act of moving your body from one place to another is so crucial and so foundational, as you know from beginning your live mode work. Games should be fun just to move around in. Wouldn’t it make more sense to add a functionality to a key (say, W for walk, J for jog, R for run… just an example) so that, if you click on any spot in an environment and press that key, your Para would automatically move there at the desired speed? Even when you move a doll in a dollhouse in real life, it is a natural movement of your hand from one spot to another, performed without thought. Thanks as always for listening to us, keep up the good work, team!
If they don't implement a key for it, I think it might be good if we could click "go here" and then have 3 options, walk, jog, run and select on of those?
You are insanely talented. The emotions and the walking were perfect to me (an untrained eye of course). You did amazing! Good job! Can’t wait to see more
Aww thanks, it is not always easy to share one's work like this, but I am so happy you like the animations! I'll keep doing my best 🥰
Absolutely beautiful! How smooth and natural all her movements are. These Devs never disappoint, always the element of surprise <3
I am very happy you like them, thank you a lot 💕
Wooowww. Very nice. I'm amazed.
I love these! They definitely flow well. And the music is on point!
Omg these are amazing
Very impressive 💯
Thank you for clarifying about the 'labels' post, Michael. I get it now. 🙂
They all look so good!! I’m so excited to see what you guys do next!!
Love these animations! I particularly love that her face literally comes alive with each animation (even the waving one)! I love that her eyes kind of screw up with disgust and anger. And that much of the expression is in the EYES!! Yay!! Awesome!! The emotions really look real. So much so that, in my mind's eye, I can almost see real life videos you used for inspiration in the animation. I love these kinds of posts. I would love to see more posts like this on how the animation is done, particularly these fabulous facial expressions!! :-)) Congratulations!!
Thank you so much! I agree, eyes are very important to convey emotions, and they're really fun to animate. 😃
i LOVE THIS SO MUCH 😭😭😭😭😭
Thank youuu, it means a lot! 🥰
I honestly didn't think I would tear up watching this, but I really feel like I'm going to be able to tell real impactful stories with my paras, and get more invested in their lives than I do in other similar games. They don't look shallow and empty! Everything is more smooth and natural, and not over exaggerated!
agreed!!!
I loved the walking animation! It looked so natural. All the animations looked relatively natural. I think the Sims tends to exaggerate their emotions too much and it makes it a little ridiculous. If there is some exaggeration, thats fine, but it needs the right balance and I think you are on the right track.
Thank you so much, I'll do my best to keep that vision 😃
wow
I love these!! Can't wait to see more positive emotion animations :)
Thank you! I'll make sure to share some positive ones as well next time 😄☀️
Alice, you're animation work is wonderful and shows how talented you are and how amazing our Paras will be!! Well done. One of my favorite body movements is the one transitioning from a standing to sitting position on the floor being so fluid and natural... it's so beautiful to watch!! And now the facial animations you're working on coordinating so well with the associated body movements had me saying, "Wow" all throughout this video and the previous one you shared in June 2020. I also noticed during the walk, run, and jog animations how Maggie appeared to get closer in one direction and then farther away going back the opposite direction giving a definite impression of the room's dimension and size which only adds to the authenticity of movement. Brilliant! The more the Paralives team shares the more impressed I am with all the talented people brought together in this space and time to create what I view as a truly unique gaming experience. I applaud all of you for your talent, dedication, and integrity in striving to achieve all elements of game play to be in sync and not lacking in any way. I know the best will always be yet to come from this team... lucky us!!
I love these animations! Especially the walk, I dont know what it is but it looks so realistic, actually all of them do!
Cute
These are amazing! I've never been disappointed by one of these posts. Good job!
These animations r soooooo amazing!!!
Excellent work! Looks amazing!
Very, very smooth animations!!! Great job!!
Alice you killed it! Really amazing work!
Thank you, I'm so happy you like them! 😊
Alice let me get you a hug! you did an outstanding job with these animations!
Aw thank you!! 🥰
AHH SO CUTE I LOVE IT
THANK YOU SO MUCH 😄💕
Hi Paralives Team, I was wondering can there be facial expressions that are hereditary (and can be passed on to the next generation) ? (It's a suggestion) Thanks for you for this beautiful work !
Hi! Thank you for the kind words 🥰Great question, that'd be really fun. We haven't really thought about this yet and might focus on the base for now, but I will keep your suggestion in mind.
I like that there are expressions for both positive and negative surprise.
You did a really good job, I love it ! 🤩
Thank you so much 🥰
My favorite is the "Uncomfortable" animation! I feel like it could be easy to sub it for a more prominent emotion, but this instead covers a lot of scenarios. Hope to see a second variant of it. So glad you all are putting so much thought into this. Fun! These animations really make Maggie come alive. Love them all!
That's one of my favorites too! Thank you so much for your kind words, I'm glad you like them 😊
I love that the emotional animations are a happy medium between realistic and exaggerated for clarity. They're much more, well, emotional, and less over the top than the emotion animations in the Sims. I especially like the one where she's self-soothing by rubbing her arm. I already know I'm going to get too attached to these Paras and be wrecked when they die 🤪
Aw thank you so much!!
OMG these ate so clean and smooth! I love how the walk is just normal walking without silly walk styles. The different emotions look so expressive and I’m just ready to give y’all my money 😭😂
Aw thank you for your comment! Locomotion animations are hard to make (for me at least :p), so I am glad you like them 💕
Face expressions during the emotions are so well done! Looks so... lifelike
This looks amazing! I think the emotions are really well done! I think this will make wonderful game play! I had been a little unsure of how I felt about the outlines of the parafolk, but seeing this video, I think she fits really well into the house and I think everything in this video look so great! Thank you for these updates! I'm so excited for the game!
Thank you a lot! The environment is still a work in progress and a lot might change in the next months, but I agree, I already like it as it is! ✨
I was already in love with Paralives' art style but this just made me love it more. The animations look so good! A perfect balance between realistic and cartoony!
I am very happy you like them! 🤗
they are so detailed, so precise, so well done! Also, I love the music composer!
Andrei is great I agree 😄 Thank you a lot for your nice words!
I think the movements are really sudden as you said it’s not looking natural
Hello! Do you mean it is not subtle enough? Thank you for your feedback :)
These are amazing! I love the cozy/homey music. Congrats to the whole team.
I would LOVE a new post about the animation process 😍😍😍
Then it'll most likely happen!😃💕
You guys this is INCREDIBLE!! You did an outstanding job. I’m not surprised, but still impressed. They look so lifelike already!
Thank you so much!! 😊
These look absolutely amazing! I'm so excited to see what's next for Paralives!
These look SO AMAZING!! I remember some people thought the Para faces wouldn’t be expressive but they are sooo expressive. I knew you guys would do an AWESOME job!!! 👏👏👏
OMG these are all insanely good! I just know we're in good hands with you guys 😊
Aw thanks!! 🥰
The animations are really awesome! My favorite ones are disgusted. All of these are clear reactions and, in context, I think it's universally clear what they mean. I question if a label saying "angry" or "scared" in the UI is even necessary...with that, you're gaining a little bit more clarity at the cost of potentially decreased game immersion. Because in reality, humans feel many different emotions at once, and our mood is also a function of our current needs (hungry, tired, etc.). By stating the emotion boldly, such as saying this para = "sad", I'm concerned it will put the para in a box defined almost entirely by that emotion. Imagine you are watching a dramatic scene in a movie and a label appeared on the bottom of the screen every time one of the characters changed an emotion. Wouldn't that be pretty jarring?
Then perhaps its own hidden UI element that can be called up with a key-press/click (like a needs panel), that states the emotions felt, the sources thereof, and the intensity of each. This would give enough information to alter emotions as needed for one's purposes, but without being in one's face all the time. Call it something along the lines of "mental state".
Oh my gosh these are amazing!!!!
Oh, how beautiful!!! So smooth and realistic! I love this =)
Good job! Absolutely love it <3
One of my favourite posts so far... love the details you have added into the emotions. Don't find them too exaggerated or cartoony. Thanks alice and the team. :)
Thank you a lot Stewby! There is always room for improvement but I am so happy you like them 😊
YES PLEASE!!!! I mean.. hrm... yes, please Alice - I would love, love, love to read an in-depth Patreon post about animations. All of the things you mentioned!
I will probably then! 😄
These are amazing....the finger tapping on the uncomfortable really sealed the deal for me. They look so natural and realistic while being brief. The care and love you all are putting into every little aspect is truly showing!
Aw thank you a lot! 💕
They look great! So smooth and most importantly - not exaggerated! Excellent work 💜
I am very happy you like them! 🥰
So amazing! I even made my husband watch.
Thank you! I hope he liked them 😄
They look great Alice!!! I wish we would learn more about how animations will work in the game. Will you need to make hundreds of thousand individual ones, or is there any AI like procedural animation that will make it easier to accomplish good variety without “too much” work?
Hi! Thanks a lot, I'm glad you like them! :) Yes, I believe we already have roughly 150 animations, but I'll need to create a lot more. Hopefully, we'll be able to use a procedural system that will help us adapt as many animations as possible to the actions that require it. For example, the sitting animation will not work properly on a very tall or a very small Parafolk if we don't adapt them, as I animated on a generic size one. Anna explained everything in an older Patreon Post called "A week with a Paralives dev". I hope it helped! 🤗
Looks amazing and very natural!
LOVE these - so lovely 💜
I love this! The scared ones look natural, and not too over the top!
These look great! Very natural. Have you considered using mocap, and if not, why not? I'd definitely be interested in more technical post on animation and locomotion.
Good question! Yes, we have, and we did a few tests with Motion Capture. It's a good alternative for realistic animations, however as a small indie studio, shooting our own MotionCapture is a bit expensive. Of course, we can get free motion capture data, but it might not always meet our technical and artistic needs. Also, even if you can rework the MoCap, it lacks this handmade artistic feeling to it, and it can feel impersonal at times. I believe that keyframe animations are quite beneficial to our visual style. :)
They look amazing!!
Love it! Its great that theres a difference between sobbing and crying!
These are amazing!
OMG! It looks FANTASTIC!! Great work you guys! ❤️
Can’t wait!!!
Awesome!
I remember a lot of people said that the Parafolk are going to stand out too much when in-game because of the difference in art styles, but to me, when there is movement/lighting, everything looks so in synch, it's great! Not at all wonky and very pleasant to look at :)
These animations are TOP. NOTCH. Alice, you're so incredibly talented. Each time we see a new animation I'm completely blown away! 💖✨✨✨💖
Aww thank you Zah, you're way too nice haha 💕
I’m obsessed! You can clearly see how much hard work and thought you put into this game, and how much care and consideration goes into everything you do. I’m so looking forward to playing this game when it comes out and can’t wait for next week’s Patreon post! Thank you team!! 😍
I loved this post so much! Please write another more in depth one! 😍
I LOOOOOVE IT!!!!!! It looks and feel so fluid Such a amazing job.
The animations look so good! Im already imagining my para doing the first disgusted animation when they go into the dirty bathroom of a bar 😂. I also liked the shaking in the first scared animation, its a bit like a cartoonish shaking but really well done EDIT: I can’t reply to replies, so this edit is to thank JoubieJoba for bringing the paras to life
Thank you so much! It's not always easy to know when to be more subtle or not, but I am doing my best to find that balance. 🤗
Awesome work!
AGHHHH!! I love it!! Omg I can’t wait 🥰☀️ so amazing to see how far you’ve come! I love these animations!
Thank you Becky! 🥰🥰
I'm very excited about every news and this looks awesome.
So exciting to see the first animations in game!! The animations for walking running and jogging are all so smooth!!! Great job to the Paralives team ❤️
This game is going to be so good! Can’t wait till it’s released.
💕 so amazing and realistic
These are so smooth and nice! I love these animations ♥️♥️
These are amazing!!!