Developer Blog #9 - Evolution of the humble space crocodile
Hello again, Animator Rich here!
Last time I cornered you via blog post, we spoke a little bit about you (the humanoid) and a few of the other "sentient" contraptions that populate the world of Astronimo. But we left out one particular key player you'd be amiss without familiarising yourself with.
Yep, you've guessed it, it’s your devoted in-game employer, Hypergiant! - The faceless corporation that has quite generously permitted your accidental, extended vacation in a decommissioned solar system. Since they're not currently around to field any of your questions, it would probably be best that you set about returning to the fleet! Go on, what are you waiting for!
And by extension, who could forget (Not counting the aforementioned space fleet who have quite literally forgotten) our fearless commander, our favourite anthropomorphic reptile and perhaps our only hope of escaping this desolate, heliocentric cluster - Captain Croc!
An Origin Story of Sorts
(Concepts courtesy of our talented Art Department!)
Much earlier in development, when the Croc character we know today was first being conceptualised, he actually served quite a different purpose - he was to be the charismatic host of a sort of galactic game show that players would be taking part in. In fact, if you were to take a look under the hood of the game, you would see that Croc's animation asset is still named "RIG_host" to this very day! We ended up leaving behind the game show idea for a variety of reasons but Croc stayed put! (Something he seems to be quite proficient at ...)
Characterisation
We spent quite some time deliberating not only about Croc's appearance, but also about the way they should move. While honing in on their particular aura, we looked at character's such as Blackadder's Lieutenant George and Samuel Arrow from Muppet Treasure Island to set the tone we were looking for - Someone bombastic, authoritative and with just a (relatively large) dash of incompetence, to lead us on our daring mission across the cosmos.
Here are a few excerpts from what we called our “Rough Pillars of Character Constitution”, a style guide we put together before diving into the animation process:
Eccentricity
Big, wide gestures!
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Croc ended up having more joints (See previous animation blog post for more context!) than any other character/contraption in the game to date. We actually had to slightly increase our set in-engine bone limit to get him through the doors!
Since his very specific anatomy features a shoulder socket that is largely offset from the rest of his arm, his arm bones are driven by an IK chain with extra protruding bones to better align with his geometry. The protruding bones are then told to point down along the arm, linking up with his wrist socket in a logical manner. Some additional maths are performed to give us solutions for limbs that stretch and softly transition between compressed and fully extended, equipping our beloved crocodilian with the range & flexibility to gesticulate accordingly.
With fingers extended, his arms are ever so slightly too long to rest by his sides without intersecting into the floor - but this is no matter as most of the time you see him, he’ll be waving them around with unrestrained vigour!
For Croc’s long, dangly tail, we created some tooling to do a rough simulation of the tail colliding with the ground. Animators could then use this as a base pass, working over the top to refine and polish for the final result.
Getting Face to Face
We knew Croc would need to convincingly emote and carry a performance to some extent. To facilitate this, we made sure to build an adequate amount of detail into the rig that controlled his facial features.
A dedicated Snout control allows for additional wobble and overlap as he waggles his face vivaciously from side to side! With a job title such as Croc’s, this sort of movement is practically guaranteed.
A similar approach was taken for the brow-like protrusions in which his eyeballs sit. By dragging these behind faster movements of the head, we could soften the overall form so that it appeared springy and elastic - presumably just like real-life space crocodile meat!
Equally, articulated jaw and tongue controls allow us to fortify the illusion of him forming “words” (or perhaps “gurgles” is a better descriptor?) as he relays his numerous instructions to you.
Closing thoughts
Hopefully this gives you a little insight into what makes Croc tick and how we ended up here. Thankyou for taking the time to read. If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend you check out Astronimo and grant yourself the oppurtunity to meet Croc in the flesh!
Astronimo is out in early access now!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1808640/Astronimo/
Join the Coatsink Discord Server
Last time I cornered you via blog post, we spoke a little bit about you (the humanoid) and a few of the other "sentient" contraptions that populate the world of Astronimo. But we left out one particular key player you'd be amiss without familiarising yourself with.
Yep, you've guessed it, it’s your devoted in-game employer, Hypergiant! - The faceless corporation that has quite generously permitted your accidental, extended vacation in a decommissioned solar system. Since they're not currently around to field any of your questions, it would probably be best that you set about returning to the fleet! Go on, what are you waiting for!
And by extension, who could forget (Not counting the aforementioned space fleet who have quite literally forgotten) our fearless commander, our favourite anthropomorphic reptile and perhaps our only hope of escaping this desolate, heliocentric cluster - Captain Croc!
An Origin Story of Sorts
(Concepts courtesy of our talented Art Department!)Much earlier in development, when the Croc character we know today was first being conceptualised, he actually served quite a different purpose - he was to be the charismatic host of a sort of galactic game show that players would be taking part in. In fact, if you were to take a look under the hood of the game, you would see that Croc's animation asset is still named "RIG_host" to this very day! We ended up leaving behind the game show idea for a variety of reasons but Croc stayed put! (Something he seems to be quite proficient at ...)
Characterisation
We spent quite some time deliberating not only about Croc's appearance, but also about the way they should move. While honing in on their particular aura, we looked at character's such as Blackadder's Lieutenant George and Samuel Arrow from Muppet Treasure Island to set the tone we were looking for - Someone bombastic, authoritative and with just a (relatively large) dash of incompetence, to lead us on our daring mission across the cosmos.
Here are a few excerpts from what we called our “Rough Pillars of Character Constitution”, a style guide we put together before diving into the animation process:
Eccentricity
- Slightly bonkers, eyeline directed up as if addressing a non-existent crowd
- Raised head, almost vacant feel (this will also allow him the clearance to open his jaw)
- Thinks he is of much greater importance than he is, rousing the troops!
- Relegated to the "store cupboard" with delusions of grandeur
- Tall and proud, faded valour
- Is in charge, though perhaps shouldn't be
Big, wide gestures!
- Extend and utilise those arms whilst talking as if attempting to gesticulate lofty concepts ("You must travel far and wide!")
- Quick, erratic head movements whilst barking orders - generally lead with the snout
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Croc ended up having more joints (See previous animation blog post for more context!) than any other character/contraption in the game to date. We actually had to slightly increase our set in-engine bone limit to get him through the doors!
Since his very specific anatomy features a shoulder socket that is largely offset from the rest of his arm, his arm bones are driven by an IK chain with extra protruding bones to better align with his geometry. The protruding bones are then told to point down along the arm, linking up with his wrist socket in a logical manner. Some additional maths are performed to give us solutions for limbs that stretch and softly transition between compressed and fully extended, equipping our beloved crocodilian with the range & flexibility to gesticulate accordingly.
With fingers extended, his arms are ever so slightly too long to rest by his sides without intersecting into the floor - but this is no matter as most of the time you see him, he’ll be waving them around with unrestrained vigour!
For Croc’s long, dangly tail, we created some tooling to do a rough simulation of the tail colliding with the ground. Animators could then use this as a base pass, working over the top to refine and polish for the final result.
Getting Face to Face
We knew Croc would need to convincingly emote and carry a performance to some extent. To facilitate this, we made sure to build an adequate amount of detail into the rig that controlled his facial features.
A dedicated Snout control allows for additional wobble and overlap as he waggles his face vivaciously from side to side! With a job title such as Croc’s, this sort of movement is practically guaranteed.
A similar approach was taken for the brow-like protrusions in which his eyeballs sit. By dragging these behind faster movements of the head, we could soften the overall form so that it appeared springy and elastic - presumably just like real-life space crocodile meat!
Equally, articulated jaw and tongue controls allow us to fortify the illusion of him forming “words” (or perhaps “gurgles” is a better descriptor?) as he relays his numerous instructions to you.
Closing thoughts
Hopefully this gives you a little insight into what makes Croc tick and how we ended up here. Thankyou for taking the time to read. If you haven't already, I'd highly recommend you check out Astronimo and grant yourself the oppurtunity to meet Croc in the flesh!
Astronimo is out in early access now!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1808640/Astronimo/
Join the Coatsink Discord Server