CLASSIFIED FRANCE '44 - ABSOLUTELY GAMES
Leading animation pipeline
Planning motion capture shoots alongside documentation
Directing actors during Motion Capture
Real Time Performance Capture to Character preview via Rokoko Studio
Motion Capture Clean-Up
Character Rigging
Facial Blend Shape Rigging
Unity implementation
Working on Classified France '44 was my first role as a 3D Animator in the UK games industry. It is a turn based strategy game where the player get's to play as allied troops disrupting German operations during WWII in the leadup of the allied landing.
It was a pleasure to work on it and to see my work have a direct impact on a released game. I am proud of it's critical acclaim and incredibly happy about our audience reception as the game has struck a positive note in the TBS genre.
CHRONOMANIA: BLAST FROM THE PAST
2021 (Terminated)
Animation/Rigging/UE4 Implementation & Blending/Design/Level Design
This game is part of a startup company myself and 4 other people launched after leaving university. Myself and another designer shared the responsibility over design and I was in full control over the animation and rigging pipeline as well as executing on the animation implementation in engine.
The game is quite obviously inspired by 80s aestetics and retro shooter mechanics. Overall it playes like Quake 3 arena and titanfall had a baby on acid. Thus the company name. ACIDPUPPY LTD.
To quote the itch.page:
"In Chronomania, movement isn't only experienced through space but also time. Being a retro-movement shooter, it's a wacky love-letter to the memorable classics like Doom and Quake that defined the FPS genre back in the 90s. With a focus on unique time bending abilities, the player can rewind and freeze enemies in time, as well as enter slow motion and even rewind themselves - all a new way of pushing the boundaries of the classic fps movement system. As such, the game aims to bridge the gap between old and new whilst maintaining a reverence for the formula featured in classic retro FPS titles. The main focus is on packing juicy gunplay, smooth movement, and tight level design all into a bombastic 80s narrative.
The gameplay sees the player chasing an evil robot mafia through time, battling a variety of robotic enemies through medieval sewers, Triassic jungles and 80s laboratories. This is all skinned as unapologetically 80s blockbuster – Who doesn’t love the idea of a disco-era laser T-rex?"
ARE YOU _____?
03/2021-05/2021
Animation / Rigging / UE4 Implementation & Blending / Design
I worked on this project during my Game Design Masters at Falmouth University. Throughout its duration, within our team of 5, I was responsible of the full animation pipeline, from rigging-Implementation and was a key member of the design team.
From a design standpoint, working on this project was incredibly rewarding. I've wanted to make a good isometric game for a long time as it was something I attempted when I first started becoming a game developer. From this point of view I was able to apply the lessons I had learnt between the two and the results speak for themselves. The gameplay turned out incredibly unique and challenging.
Animating this project was also very interesting as I was able to experiment with optimizing my workflow with the use of animation retargeting. I did this directly through maya as the skeleton of the two characters was slightly different and thus needed adjusting. This lead to a workflow where I was able to animate one character and only worry about skin-weighting the other similar one.
PLANETARY PEST CONTROL
09/2019-05/2020
Animation / Rigging / Unity Implementation & Blending
My role on this project was mainly Engine and 3D character animation. I also manage the communication between other routes such as artists, programmers, and designers.
I learned a lot from working on this project as it forced me to work with a large group of developers for the first time. Because of this, it was also the first time I was able to work with another animator. This allowed me to focus less on being a generalist and take my mind off rigging which I did not want to specialize in at the time.
Because of this my work focused on designing functional animation systems for aiming and masking animations efficiently. I acted as a sort of communicator for the Animators on the team. Allowing us to participate and represent our opinions in large meetings.
CEOVERKILL
Rigging / Animation / Unity Implementation
I was the sole animator on this game. Due to this I was managing the entire animation pipeline from communicating with artists, to rigging, skin weighting, animating, and in engine implementation. Then repeating this process for multiple characters. In retrospect I think this gave me insights into what my interest in animation really were, namely character animation. I also really enjoyed working on FPS titles as it gave me experience in understanding the differences between full character and only POV animation.
SAPPHIRE BULLETS
Rigging / Animation / UE4 Implementation
This 2017 game was my first long term project as a 3D animator. It was my first time working in engine and experiencing the animation pipeline. I gathered a lot of experience animating full body characters and how the animations would read well for a 2.5D isometric perspective.