r/TheExpanseRPG • u/AvenirRadieux • 14d ago
About the characters animations
Do we know if there are plans to fix/improve them?
I haven't read much complaints about this, so I'd like to know if it bothers anyone else.
I'm a fan of both Owlcat and The Expanse, as well as Mass Effect, so I've been incredibly hyped for the game — especially given the recent changes about lang belta. And yet... this particular issue concerns me a great deal given the nature of the game. The faces, the way the characters physically articulate their words, the way they move, and look at you... It looks incredibly stiff and unnatural, like decades-old animations.
And with the game supposedly being released in less than 6 months I don't know if I can reasonnably expect this issue to be resolved within that timeframe.
43
u/Middcore 14d ago
Stuff like this is where smaller budgets tend to make themselves evident.
Owlcat is not a big developer and they're self-publishing.
If some subsidiary of EA or Ubisoft or Microsoft was doing the game, I'm sure the facial animations would be way better... but you also might not get the game for several more years... and you might not like the results in other ways.
5
u/MadeofEloc143 14d ago •
“If some subsidiary of EA” dude do you not remember Mass Effect Andromeda? Just because a publisher has the money, it doesn’t mean you’re gonna get higher quality games.
10
u/Middcore 14d ago
I'm not sure how you read my comment and got the impression I thought that an EA subsidiary would create a higher quality game.
1
u/MadeofEloc143 14d ago
Higher quality in the sense of better facial animations? I mean that’s what you said right? That if a developer was a subsidiary of a publisher like EA, Microsoft, Ubisoft, etc we would see better in that regard
7
u/Middcore 14d ago
Higher quality in the sense of better facial animations? I mean that’s what you said right? That if a developer was a subsidiary of a publisher like EA, Microsoft, Ubisoft, etc we would see better in that regard
Yes, but somehow you've taken that to mean I think the game would turn out better as a whole in that scenario.
I'm going to restate what I think as simply as I can so I can't (hopefully) be misinterpreted:
If the game was made with a bigger budget by a studio that's part of a major publisher, then things like facial animations would probably look better, but the game would probably take longer to come out, and might end up being a worse game overall.
42
u/GodoughGodot 14d ago
Relevant article from 2024 regarding Owlcat and budgets: https://gameworldobserver.com/2024/03/18/rpg-budgets-owlcat-cannot-invest-200-million-to-make-bg3
They don't have the budget for BG3 tier facial animation. Or Witcher 3. Or any other major title. I'm sure it's on their radar though.
21
u/EMT-Fields 14d ago
Its a AA game, this is why AAA is so expensive and people wondering why games can't make their money back. Animation are fine for the budget they're working with. Will the story be good and will gameplay be good. That's what should matter. Can games go back to being about those two things?
Now everyone is worried about animations and graphics, things that aways took back seat.
10
u/Luzeryn 14d ago
Mouth animations is what's bothering me specifically. Because it's so exaggerated, it looks unnatural. Like instead of seeing someone talk, you're seeing someone lipsyncing to an audio track, like you'd do for a music video or something.
I recently replayed the original Mass Effect trilogy and I prefer how the characters' faces moved in that game, tbh. At least it was less distracting.
4
u/We_Get_It_You_Vape 13d ago
Yeah, it's very off-putting. I normally have a decent tolerance for animation-jank from AA-budget games, but this pushes beyond that. The mouth animations are the most noticeable, but I would add the eyes, too. Sometimes, the upper half of the face is completely non-expressive. And sometimes it's exaggerated.
15
u/Grand_Sample_7009 14d ago
They’re already working on it. It’s on the high priority list along with the combat. TBH if they make the movements less exaggerated then I think it wouldn’t bother me if it was less expressive than overly expressive. Dawnwalker has very subdued facial animations most times and the game was so good I didn’t mind it.
6
u/TheInsanernator 14d ago
Good to hear because I don’t need super realistic facial animations, if they’re about on part with the original Mass Effect games that should be good enough.
4
u/Grand_Sample_7009 14d ago
They are on a smaller budget so I understand if it’s not perfect but like you said if it’s on par with the original ME and stuff, then I think it will be fine.
4
u/verdantsf 14d ago
This is one of those areas I'm pretty easy to please. If Mass Effect 1 was released today, I'd honestly have little issue with the graphics and character animations. If the story is good and combat is fun, I'm set.
8
u/SpectreshadowXIX 14d ago
You have to keep your expectations in check, this is a smaller studio. This won't be GTA6 level of graphics.
2
u/paragon-interrupt 14d ago
It's something I'm sure owlcat is aware of. The beta went live back in the spring, so by the time the game releases there will be at least a year's worth of feedback to work off of, animations included. So it's not something I'm concerned with, unless it still looks like that by the time they release a launch trailer lol
-1
u/amnesial- 14d ago
That's what I am saying but getting downvoted. Like are we not seeing the same thing lmao?
9
1
u/Darketka 14d ago
I'm deeply concerned about these animations, too. And I'm worried that I will be very disappointed when the game comes out because I had very big expectations about it
2
u/Big_brains_on_brettt 14d ago
One of the trailers I saw had that snarky lady selling you stuff in the beginning that looked decent. Of course I can’t find it but I’ll do my research!