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The Animation of Mortal Kombat 11: some improvements, some not so much. (GIF Warning)

Digital Dinosaur

Digital Dinosaur

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,047
Rita Repulsa's Moon Palace
I don't think jump attacks in MK are ever going to fundamentally change. It's pretty clear they are trying to preserve a certain aesthetic, and obviously know that 70s kung fu movie flying kicks do not happen in real life. May as well criticize Street Fighter for hurricane kicks looking ridiculous.

Stance switching is the most arguable point and yeah, it can probably go for purely mechanical reasons.
 
Phoenixazure

Phoenixazure

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,442
If MK could add a quarter to half second freeze when hits land, I think it would add enough visual feedback to not make the combat look so mushy. Sorry if it has already been suggested before
 
GeoNeo

GeoNeo

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,448
The slowed the whole game down to better show off the animations. Props to them for the improvement. But, I still hope the hear the feedback from the competitive community and buff the ground and air movement speed.

When it comes to fast snappy animations UMVC3 is amazing my all time favourite in that category.
 

Ragnorok64

Banned
Nov 6, 2017
2,955
jett Is there a specific program or utility you're using to create your gifs? I want to look at Geras as he seems have some of the weakest animations we've seen so far. I believe I saw someone describe it as Darkseid Syndrome.
 
"D."

"D."

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,487
It does seem that they are listening and and moving in the right direction, albeit very slowly. Kudos to them regardless though. I dunno what their situation is as far as the animation director/art goes so I won't hate....it could be better but its a noticable improvement from previous games.

Good shit, Netherrealm. Keep up the listening to feedback but also dial it up some notches. Y'all got probably THE best mainstream selling fighting game sales wise but the competition still kinda running circles around y'all in fundamental things like animation, hitstop, followthrough, etc. etc
 
"D."

"D."

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,487
Also, for those that know anything about game development, do you think they can further improve on aspects of the game before release....like faces and possibly animations? What are we, 2-3 months away?
 
"D."

"D."

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,487
Neoxon said:
Because animations play a key role in both how your fighting game is seen (obviously) & how it feels to play (makes the moves easy to read). That's why it's good to see some significant progress being made for MK11 & why we need to see more progress. NRS games literally print money, so there's no excuse for them to be upstaged animation-wise by fighting games that sell less.
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This. Facts.
 
Neoxon

Neoxon

Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst
Member
Oct 25, 2017
85,367
Houston, TX
Phoenixazure said:
If MK could add a quarter to half second freeze when hits land, I think it would add enough visual feedback to not make the combat look so mushy. Sorry if it has already been suggested before
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What you're describing is called hitstop, which has been brought up by a number of us already. But yeah, I completely agree.
 
2shd

2shd

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,573
Ragnorok64 said:
jett Is there a specific program or utility you're using to create your gifs? I want to look at Geras as he seems have some of the weakest animations we've seen so far. I believe I saw someone describe it as Darkseid Syndrome.
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Yeah, I totally got that vibe from him.

A lot of Scorpion's combos and moves look good, but he's the poster boy, and apparently different people work on different characters, so we could see varying quality.
 
SapientWolf

SapientWolf

Member
Nov 6, 2017
6,565
Bob White said:
JfrEKdj.gif


Jesus...this is still so bad.

YO, NRS, you see how Scorpion moves his front leg and his body weight forward during the second punch? DO THAT FOR EVERY THING.
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Fighters don't always put their weight forward to jab.
 
OP
OP
jett

jett

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,657
Ragnorok64 said:
jett Is there a specific program or utility you're using to create your gifs? I want to look at Geras as he seems have some of the weakest animations we've seen so far. I believe I saw someone describe it as Darkseid Syndrome.
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Gifcam. Set it to 30fps. It's pretty straight-forward.
 
Slaythe

Slaythe

The Wise Ones
Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,852
The quality tier so far for me is :

1. Raiden
2. Scorpion
3. Skarlet
4. Sub Zero
5. Baraka
6. Sonya ( she has some of the best and absolute worst so it brings her down )
7. Geras
 

Ragnorok64

Banned
Nov 6, 2017
2,955
I think I'm making my gifs too big
4gJNshU.gif

sq7vKCk.gif


The back breaker in the 2nd gif doesn't seem back, but Geras punch combos are weird flails. They aren't as bad as in the past since there is involvement from more of his body in throwing said arm flails. I also don't much like the animation they gave him for the sand trap move that he does at the end of both gifs.

(Gifs are of video at 75% playback speed)
 
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jett

jett

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,657
This isn't gameplay animation, but all of the fatalities I saw this week, this was easily the best one. The animation and framing is just excellent. Straight and to the point.

nC1hYaY.gif
 
2shd

2shd

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,573
Geras looks like he's go Darkseid's jump (not that gif above), but I can't tell for sure.
His arm bothers me. It looks like it should be in a cast/arm sling the way he holds it.

That Scorpion jab-jab combo looks OK to me.
 
Khezu

Khezu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,947
jett said:
This isn't gameplay animation, but all of the fatalities I saw this week, this was easily the best one. The animation and framing is just excellent. Straight and to the point.

nC1hYaY.gif
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NRS really needs to put a stop to the rematch thing in competitive play, the wins screens and fatalities are amazing and I want to see them on stream.
 
Fairy Godmother

Fairy Godmother

Backward compatible
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Oct 27, 2017
3,289
The lighting and all look amazing! The animation is still not on the level of Tekken or the likes as of yet, which is a shame.
 
Nimby

Nimby

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,221
I think the improvements are very noticeable and the issues while still present are less so. Hopefully future characters won't bring out those issues (>.> kitana)

Scorpion looks super clean this game.
 
Bjones

Bjones

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,622
Mk isn't some anime fighter it has a certain feel that works and that feel is that everyone has the same basic move set plus a few specials and the animation framing is a big part of that.
 
2shd

2shd

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,573
Queen Kong said:
The lighting and all look amazing! The animation is still not on the level of Tekken or the likes as of yet, which is a shame.
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The lighting, effects, backgrounds, and image quality of this (and Inj2) are awesome.

I'm so glad their games are now sharp, crisp, and clean without all the garbage post-processing filters like CA and background blur slapped on like MvCI, SoulCal6, and Tekken 7. (SFV's background filters to a lesser extent)
 
SolidSnakex

SolidSnakex

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,382
Khezu said:
NRS really needs to put a stop to the rematch thing in competitive play, the wins screens and fatalities are amazing and I want to see them on stream.
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Fatalities are usually shown for the first month or so of release. But they become time consuming and repetitive for competitive play after that. That's where Brutalities comes in since you can combo into them and they usually don't have long animations.
 
I KILL PXLS

I KILL PXLS

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,540
Ragnorok64 said:
I think I'm making my gifs too big
4gJNshU.gif

sq7vKCk.gif


The back breaker in the 2nd gif doesn't seem back, but Geras punch combos are weird flails. They aren't as bad as in the past since there is involvement from more of his body in throwing said arm flails. I also don't much like the animation they gave him for the sand trap move that he does at the end of both gifs.

(Gifs are of video at 75% playback speed)
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Yeah this guy still looks pretty rough. Everything else looks a whole lot better though.
 
Khezu

Khezu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,947
SolidSnakex said:
Fatalities are usually shown for the first month or so of release. But they become time consuming and repetitive for competitive play after that. That's where Brutalities comes in since you can combo into them and they usually don't have long animations.
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Those have the same issue though, we never see them because the match is instantly paused and restarted before the brutal even starts.
 
ItIsOkBro

ItIsOkBro

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The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
9,515
Ragnorok64 said:
I think I'm making my gifs too big
4gJNshU.gif

sq7vKCk.gif


The back breaker in the 2nd gif doesn't seem back, but Geras punch combos are weird flails. They aren't as bad as in the past since there is involvement from more of his body in throwing said arm flails. I also don't much like the animation they gave him for the sand trap move that he does at the end of both gifs.

(Gifs are of video at 75% playback speed)
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i'm thinking it's the continuous punches with the same hand that just looks wrong. especially with the other hand just hanging.
 
mutantmagnet

mutantmagnet

Member
Oct 28, 2017
12,401
Castile said:
It does affect gameplay, and it only makes the game harder than it needs to be. You only need to see this video.
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I knew stance switching was a problem but from MK9 it was tolerable. I'm seeing way more than lack of combo options in this video. Abilities having different properties is really bad because a stance position doesn't convey adequately when this will occur unlike other stance commands. It's perfectly fine to have stances but they need to actually build the game around it instead of littering their code with this haphazard mess.
 

Asriel

Member
Dec 7, 2017
2,443
2n2 said:
The lighting, effects, backgrounds, and image quality of this (and Inj2) are awesome.

I'm so glad their games are now sharp, crisp, and clean without all the garbage post-processing filters like CA and background blur slapped on like MvCI, SoulCal6, and Tekken 7. (SFV's background filters to a lesser extent)
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Honestly, who really gives a shit about background blur when you're actually playing the game. NRS games and their (still) ugly animation is such a turn off for me.
 
Gleethor

Gleethor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,522
Dot Matrix with stereo sound
"D." said:
It does seem that they are listening and and moving in the right direction, albeit very slowly. Kudos to them regardless though. I dunno what their situation is as far as the animation director/art goes so I won't hate....it could be better but its a noticable improvement from previous games.

Good shit, Netherrealm. Keep up the listening to feedback but also dial it up some notches. Y'all got probably THE best mainstream selling fighting game sales wise but the competition still kinda running circles around y'all in fundamental things like animation, hitstop, followthrough, etc. etc
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competition doesn't put out a AAA fighting game every other year like clockwork. NRS are beasts
 
Graven

Graven

Member
Oct 30, 2018
4,105
Ragnorok64 said:
I also don't want to be disingenuous, Geras does have some good looking animations
dcCWLf7.gif

Some of those punches have windup (anticipation) and follow-through.
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I believe i saw this footage from Maximilian, some guy(a dev i think) was playing Geras and did some pretty cool stuff. I personally liked him(animations included) a lot, might even main him.
 
Extreme Tactician

Extreme Tactician

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,257
Somewhere, out there, beneath the pale moon light.
Rei no Otaku said:
Yeah, I never saw the problem. It's a game where you can teleport and run so fast past a guy he spins like a top. Worrying that the undead, skeleton man who breathes fire leans too far forward when he punches just seems silly to me.

But whatever, new game looks great and I can't wait.
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So? Have you played any other fighting game ever? Anime fighters have far nore ridiculous moves, and they still look good. What's MK's excuse?
Charsace said:
The animation in the game is very good. It just pays homage to the animation from the 3 original games that digitalized actors. There are a bunch of games in between MK4 and MK9 that animate differently from the usual MK and people never cared for those.
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No, it's not. The games from Deadly Alliance onward also animated horribly, so I dunno what you're talking about.
 
Acido

Acido

Member
Oct 31, 2017
1,098
Honestly I've never seen the problem with their animations. I've seen a couple of video essays about it and I still think it is a stylistic choice from NRS and Boon rather than a failure from their part. That said, I'm still glad that they listened and "fixed" it for the people who have been asking for it.
But anyways, does Smash Bros have a similar animations discussion? because I actually have a problem with that franchise's animations. They're so choppy like they cut frames out of them, and the hitting effects are ugly.
 
VariantX

VariantX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,886
Columbia, SC
jett said:
This isn't gameplay animation, but all of the fatalities I saw this week, this was easily the best one. The animation and framing is just excellent. Straight and to the point.

nC1hYaY.gif
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This is probably the best fatality i have ever seen so far simply because the combination of good camera work and creativity work together. You figure out exactly how its going to end about 2/3rds of the way through because its pretty logical and not a bunch of random shit that happens.
 
Papercuts

Papercuts

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,026
There was something about the look of this that was bugging me, but I think seeing the gifs more it's that weird blue hit effect thing moreso than anything else. I hope they change that.
 
BadAss2961

BadAss2961

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,069
Noticed the new stances immediately. I think it looks worse this way. It's just about as awkward, but in a different way... There's less animation going on.

Either stay full MK or overhaul the animation entirely.
 
Iori Loco

Iori Loco

Member
Nov 10, 2017
2,288
headspawn said:
Oh god, the dude with 18 knockouts uses bad animation too? What is this world coming to?
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Lol Mortal Kombat animations really look like a pro Fighter, but I guess that even though they are so similar to the real thing the problem is that animation's goal is to achieve believability, not necessarily realism as explained in this video:



As much as MK punches look like a real person doing real fighting, it doesn't has the exaggeration necessary to sell the impact like more cartoonish animations do.
 

Deleted member 3058

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
6,728
These new animations look amazing.
ItIsOkBro said:
XAt85aY.gif


This looks sexy AF. Everything about it.

Scorpion fighting with kunai in hand, very distinct and unique.

Scorpion's attacks flowing smoothly and having nice animations to boot.

Hits having great impact, Baraka looks like he's really feeling it.

The way the spear returns back to Scorpion's hand.

THE FACT THAT HE LIFTS HIS FOOT OFF THE SPEAR AS IT RETRACTS!!

The cloth physics on the loose parts of Scorpion's and Baraka's costumes.

It is markedly improved.
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This looks so good. Everything has so much more weight to it.
 
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