Orcs Must Die! Gauntlet

charlestinney

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WTUX0Qcb8Q"]Orcs Must Die! - Gauntlet - YouTube[/ame]

I just finished this animation, as a promotion for the upcoming video game that I worked on, Orcs Must Die! I did this in my spare time over the course of about four months. You can view the whole blog post here: http://chazamation.com/2011/09/26/orcs-must-die-gauntlet/

I know this isn't exactly video game art, but it definitely is video game related; I want to share and hope you'll enjoy it. Please feel free to comment.

I made this nifty little gif animation of the looping portion of the video. Right click the image to save. If you want a higher resolution version, download it here. Enjoy!



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Here is the animatic for OMD! Gauntlet and other ideas I did before I decided to work on Gauntlet. Go here for the full blog post: http://wp.me/p1tYfh-mx

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INABRR0k0zo"]Orcs Must Die! Gauntlet Animatic - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ogDnpRPuJ0"]Orcs Must Die! Logo Ideas - YouTube[/ame]

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Here is a video showcasing the multiple stages I went through to get Gauntlet completed. Starting with the animatic and rough animation moving all the way to final animation, color, and effects. Enjoy!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_hep9nzqRw"]Orcs Must Die! - Gauntlet Progression - YouTube[/ame]

nfrrtycmplx

awesome, the game looks awesome too Good job

Razorb

hah, awesome little short! i second the whole game lookin good thing : )!

charlestinney

Thanks guys! I think the game is pretty good too.

MeintevdS

Awesome! Love the way the object and character are animated!

Only critic I have would be the fact that the background looks "smudged" before and after the camera movement. I understand that you'd put lines on the floor and walls to fake motion, but I'd also expect those to disappear once the camera movement stops and to see a more detailed background or at least non moving.
But then the fluent and goofy character animation makes up for it

charlestinney

Thanks MeintevdS! I agree completely, and I must admit I did think the same thing; it probably would have taken no time at all to do "static" bg images compared to the time it took to animate the character. Though, I made a conscious decision to not do that, and to focus on the animation instead. Thanks for calling me out on that though because I completely forgot about it, and it's so simple, you're right, I should have made the fix.

charlestinney

I edited the original post to include a GIF animation if anyone is interested in downloading it. Enjoy!

Zoid

well this is awesome work

i think it needs final 10% polish on these distractions

texture scrolling across the wall/floor is on 4's? seems to strobe in contrast to the orc motion, recommend you update it with a longer looping sequence on 1's

trap right now is serious place-holder quality, needs some plank-notches so it feels like a real object recessed in the ground.

wouldn't hurt to put in a sprinkling of flushed out stone +details every now and then.

fast mouse paint

charlestinney

Thanks Zoid. Great feed, and I agree, those changes would probably make it that much better! Unfortunately, I am done. I spent as much time as I wanted to on this, and looking at the animation again with your feed in mind, I really wish I did that stuff. I have to admit, I never thought about the traps, and other little details you mention. Definitely things to keep in mind as my focus was on animation on this project, and not details. It shows that my strengths are not in backgrounds (something I definitely need to work on).

Again, thanks for the input!

edit---The more I think about this, the more and more I agree with you.

charlestinney

I edited the original post with the animatic and some other logo ideas.

Mind Traveler

Love the loop man. Well done.

thatanimator

awesome work!
might have to bestow you the title of 'thatanimator' now! ;p

charlestinney

Thanks Mind Traveler.

Ohhhhhh thatanimator you're so gracious! I can't take your title, you are thatanimator. and Thanks!

charlestinney

Orcs Must Die! came out today on steam! Be sure to pick up a copy for only $15 because it's great! I animated the main character (war mage), Paladin Minion, Ogre enemy, Shaman enemy, and miscellaneous enemy animations. I hope you enjoy it.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/102600

BrontoThunder

I've been playing it on my 360 for the past few days, absolutely loving it. You did an awesome job, I especially love how smooth the bladestaff swings are.

Shiv

Congrats on the release man
Watched a friend play the 360 trial yesterday. so good

love the celebration animation at the end!

Un_Delincuente

Haha awesome animation. congrats on getting a game launched ill keep an eye out for it.

charlestinney

Thanks BrontoThunder, I think the bladestaff in general (and, of course, to a degree the animations) are hit or miss with people. I'm glad you like them.

Thanks Shiv, We are all really happy to get this out the door. So happy I did one of those dances, which were fun to animate :P

Thanks Un_Delincuente, I hope your eyes lead you to buying it.

Slum

I played the demo, totally loved the player animations. The main guy is basically Ash with a bow instead of a chainsaw, and I love it. I love the little dance at the end of a round, and the animated 2d logo that pops up afterward too.

michael_Curtiss

Love it! Good work.

felipefrango

Nice man, congratulations! I'll try the game when I get the chance, not really into tower defense but being in control of the action might make a world of difference.

charlestinney

Thanks Slum! I can't recall if it was a conscious choice or not, but he does have a bit of Ash in him. The 2d crossed swords animation was animated by Won Choi one of the concept artists at Robot Entertainment. I like those dances too. :P

Thanks michael_Curtiss, appreciate it!

Great felipefrango, I hope you do get a chance to try the game out. Remember there is a demo version for each Steam and XBLA releases. (Demo for Steam is located to the right of the "Add to Cart" button; for XBLA it is the second option when you scroll down.)

I hope you enjoy it!

Oranghe

Grats on the game ! felt really nice and fun

charlestinney

Great Oranghe, I'm glad you're having fun with it.

charlestinney

I've edited the main post with a link to the progression video, showing the stages I took this animation through. Though, to save you from scrolling up, here's the video:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_hep9nzqRw"]Orcs Must Die! - Gauntlet Progression - YouTube[/ame]

monster

Looks great Charles! I would have done a promotial animation too, but you know I've got a wife and kid.... oh wait.. that's you...

I especially like the logo ideas.

charlestinney

hahahah You're so funny monster! Thanks. I expect a promo animation from you upon each game release.