Ranged Enemy Animation
- Tail Inspiration
- Hand Inspiration
- Initial Sketches
- Low Fidelity Sketches
- Medium Fidelity Sketches
- Medium Fidelity Feedback
- Final Design
- Image References
The image below is a sprite sheet of a cat running. In this image inspiration was taken from the the natural wave like movement of the tail
[1] 
An initial sketch of the movement of the tail in 2d was created to gain a better understanding of the transition between frame and refine the look of the tail we aimed to achieve in later designs.
In the low fidelity sketch, the tail on the eel image itself was animated however not shaded to reduce complexity in earlier designing stages. To make the tail move realistically a point on the tail (represented by the blue line) was made and all animations stemmed from that point on the eels body.
The low-fidelity sketches were a large inspiration for the medium-fidelity product. The aim for the medium-fidelity product was to . Changes from low to medium fidelity are based on studio feedback and achieving studio cohesion in design for characters. These include:
- Reduce frame number
- Slow frame rate
- Make body move a little more to appear more realistic
Detailed results and analysis are provided in - Medium Fidelity User Testing.
The main changes to the design were:
- Introduce hand animation
Images of animated fire were used as inspiration for the eel's hand in attempt to achieve a magical, powerful look to the character. Attention was surrounded around how the shape of the fire changed per frame.
[2]
[3]
Changes based on the medium fidelity feedback and validation as supplied above were applied to produce the final eel projectile design for sprint 2.
[1] https://depositphotos.com/vector-images/animal-sprite.html
[2] https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/fire-animation-sprites-vector-flame-video-1277247115
[3] https://www.freepik.com/premium-vector/cartoon-fire-flame-sheet-sprite-animation-set_5497878.htm
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