Dear Reader:
Game developer lists his least-favorite parts of games
Swaying idle animations: Idle animations add life to scenes when characters are just standing around. It was clever when Sonic kicked the dust off his shoes the first time, but now all the townsfolk in Zelda are constantly swaying back and forth hypnotically. What’s the deal, do they have to go potty? Did they spend most of their lives on boats? Are they about to perform a cobra strike? They make me dizzy. - EA’s Randy Smith
I love the Zelda series…absolutely love it. With that said, I think Mr. Smith is right on the money with his assessment. I always thought it looked strange when a bunch of characters are standing together, and they’re all slightly swaying back and forth, or doing some sort of subtle movement. A quick animation loop that plays over, and over, and over. It looks completely unnatural!