Player Design and Animation
A player character with an engaging design is a vital part in allowing players to connect with the game's environment and objectives, as well as conveying a lot about the overall mood and feel of the game.
The player's design is relatively simple and gender-neutral, using a mostly purple colour scheme with some pinks and browns.
The draft of the player was heavily influenced by Stardew Valley player character designs, and featured a tinted face shield that was later changed to transparent for clarity.
The final player design includes views in all 4 directions, and is much more detailed - aligning with the art guidelines. In comparison, their stance is also more relaxed, and the design is much more vibrant - noting the addition of a small sprout design on the back of the helmet which ties in nicely with the farming motif of the game.
Player animation is crucial as it can reveal extra information about the player and their environment. How the player character acts can tell players about their personality, strengths, weaknesses and abilities. It can also convey their feelings about the environment and how the environment affects them. For example, the idle animations of yawning and dozing off convey that the player character is in a relaxed and carefree mood - which may mean that they feel calm and safe in their environment, or that the player themselves is losing attention. The sweat dripping off the player when they run, and their struggle to use a shovel (tool animations can be seen here), also shows that while they may be a competent farmer, they are not very athletic. Animations can also be fun surprises that the player can uncover as they play, and are a crucial part of making the player feel like they have agency.
The player is able to both walk and run in any direction, although the core animation set only features 4 directional animation for simplicity.
If the player stops moving for some time, one of the idle animations will play. These are all rather calm and relaxed actions, signifying the relatively stress free experience the game aims to provide.
- Blinking
- Yawning
- Dozing off
The player is also able to interact with objects and entities in the game world to achieve certain tasks or goals.
All player animation frames must be 48x48 pixels, with the character centred in the frame. This is to ensure the sprite does not jump around awkwardly as with inconsistent frame sizes. Some variation on the positioning within the 48x48 frame is allowed if this is a conscious choice for a specific animation.