When I was told that I needed to write about my favorite game's animations, I immediately thought of Half-Life 2. Half-Life 2 is the critically acclaimed sequel to the 1998 game of the year, Half-Life. Half-Life 2 was created in 2007 by the game development company, Valve, whose claim to fame has been their incredible Source Engine. Not only do all of Valve's games use the source engine, but it has also been used in a variety of other games. The Source Engine is very user friendly and because of this reason, many independent developers and modders use the source engine to develop their products.
The story follows Dr. Gordon Freeman. A survivor of the Black Mesa incident in the first Half-Life game. Dr. Gordon Freeman is thrown into a futuristic communist city known as City 17. This society is controlled by Dr. Wallace Breen, a character introduced to the player as they first arrive into City 17. After an interactive exploring sequence, the player is introduced to many allies and enemies that all react differently to Gordon's presence. Allies will attempt to assist you in fighting the security force that is terrorizing City 17, while hostile enemies will fire upon the player with no remorse. Once a teleporter incident leaves Gordon trapped in the middle of the hostel City, Gordon must fight to be reunited with his allies. Once reunited, it is made clear to the player that many believe Gordon to be City 17's one and only savior.
When it comes to the animations of the characters in Half-Life, the resemblance to real life is unbelievable. A revolutionary concept Valve included in Half-Life 2 is seamless transitions between cut-scenes and game-play. This is done through the use of closed areas where NPC's will play out their cut-scenes, all of which were recording using a motion capture device. During these sequences, the player is allowed to move in unison with the NPC, however many other controls are disabled. The NPC's movements during these sequences are very smooth and defined, as these sequences were all recorded during motion capture sessions. Once recorded, the movements are attached to virtual skeletons, refined, and then textures are added to create the NPC.
Over the course of the game, the player will run into many allies who will assist Gordon. The animations of these characters is not done in the same way as the cut-scenes involving characters like Alyx or Dr. Breen. These characters have no set motion capture sequences and are all rendered on the fly. They have rigid character bodies that are able to rotate at different sections of the body, including the neck, waist and arms. The ragdoll physics acting on the characters are very apparent once the bullets start flying. Characters have specific reactions, depending on where they are hit by a projectile. Lets say a character is hit in the shoulder by a shotgun slug. The character will switch from a rigid body to that of a ragdoll through a smooth transition, during which the target will have a force applied to the section hit. Once this force is applied, the body will animate depending on the surrounding environment and how the ragdoll physics are applied. This gives the game a very entertaining dynamic feel.
An interesting feature added by Valve was how NPC's will change their current animation, based on the environment they are placed in. For example,when an NPC comes into contact with an object in the world, they will move themselves around the object in the way a real human would. Another example is when NPC's are running on an upward or downward slope, their knees will bend more, similar to the way humans do in real life. All of these animations are generated during gameplay as certain NPC's do not have defined paths or scripted events. This makes the gameplay even more interesting, as you feel responsible for getting this NPC to safety.
Half-Life 2 is still one of my favorite games to re-visit from time to time. Although it still remains a mystery whether one will be made, I eagerly await the next Half-Life game from valve.
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