The Astronaut
I created this character for a videogame, where an astronaut has to play dodgeball to defeat an Alien Invasion.
It draws inspiration from the classic color schemes of NASA spacesuits
The game is about an astronaut playing dodgeball to save the world from an alien invasion. For the idle animation, I wanted something visually engaging that clearly showed the character is ready for their next move whether it’s dodging, catching, or throwing a ball.
By giving the character a forward-leaning posture and having them shift from left to right, it conveys a sense of complete focus to the game!
For the Game Over animation, I wanted something extremely cartoonish, heroic, and dramatic. The character grabs their heart and rises in slow motion, only to finally fall to the ground at normal speed, completely defeated.
For the ball-catching animation, I focused on creating two distinct poses, since the animation in the game is instantaneous and doesn’t allow for anticipation. The first pose is very different from the idle animation: the character opens their arms, ready to catch the ball. Once the ball is caught, the character curls up in mid-air in a highly cartoonish manner.
The result is an animation that clearly conveys the action of catching a ball during gameplay.
For the dodge animation, I drew inspiration from Gears of War, where the character performs an air roll and lands in their new position. The animation had to be very fast since the action in the game is almost instantaneous.
The result in gameplay is an animation that is clear for the player while also adding a sense of drama and heroism to the protagonist.
For the throw animation, I wanted to create a movement that showed determination and made it clear in which direction the character was throwing the ball. It was important to convey that the character is firmly planted on the ground, throwing the ball quickly and with force.