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Good horse riding animations/mechanics

S

Spring-Loaded

Member
I did a search and didn't see anything directly relating to this subject. Of all the games I've played/seen, Shadow of the Colossus has the most robust animations and horse-riding mechanics.

Agro Circus trophy tutorial

Nothing else that I've seen compares to this, though I haven't played any of the Mount and Blade series. Quoting myself from the SotC thread:

Spring-Loaded said:
RDR has more realistic horse musculature and the run animation itself is probably better when stacked right next to SotC's. but if you're telling me RDR's turning, stopping and standing-on-hind-legs animations are better than SotC, then you haven't seen them in a long while. RDR horses stay completely still when you're not riding them, they have no little animations a depiction of a living creature would have aside from eating grass and bucking their heads when you whistle right next to them.

That's not even mentioning the overall mechanics. Rearing the horse on its hind legs and going into a run in RDR are two completely separate actions; they don't blend together at all, whereas in SotC, you can do that straight into a quickly accelerating run. The only thing you can do on horseback in RDR is shoot. You can stand up in SotC and hang off the sides of the horse. There's a quick turn around, there's a quick stop; the animation for this doesn't exist in RDR iirc, and even if it does, it's nowhere close to SotC.

Agro can get knocked down by colossi and do a roll. the horses in RDR only roll once they're dead. Not to mention Agro will run around on his/her own when you sit around for long enough.
Click to expand...

What other good examples are there? Which is the best?
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Horse riding is one of those things that so few devs can get right. It's almost always clunky, and sometimes it's a straight up chore.
 
T

The_Monk

Member
Now that's an Easy question fellow GAFfer:

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On Topic: I'm very curious about MGS V to be honest.
 
Krappadizzle

Krappadizzle

Member
Spring-Loaded said:
I did a search and didn't see anything directly relating to this subject. Of all the games I've played/seen, Shadow of the Colossus has the most robust animations and horse-riding mechanics.

Nothing else that I've seen compares to this, though I haven't played any of the Mount and Blade series. Quoting myself from the SotC thread:



What other good examples are there? Which is the best?
Click to expand...

21180701.jpg
Click to expand...

In all seriousness, it's a toss-up for me between SotC and RDR, I never had the problems that others did. Thought they worked very well once you understand how the devs intended you to use them.
 
D

Dion Blaster

Member
Definitely not SotC.
Edit: misread, the animations are great. the gameplay was far from enjoyable for me though.

That's the only memorable horse riding I can think of. Nothing particularly good springs to mind.

Also definitely not Oblivion.
 
R

Rickenslacker

Banned
Definitely gonna second SotC, despite a lot of the complaints I hear about Agro's controls from people who would prefer game horses to act like motorcycles or just faster versions of your player character.
 
S

Sparrowhawk

Member
I highly enjoyed the horseback riding in Shadow of the Colossus. I know that the word "epic" is overused these days, but that's how it feels. It was pretty good in Red Dead Redemption, as well. My nostalgia goggles want me to say Ocarina of Time because at the time the animations were pretty well done.
 
Y

Yawnier

Banned
SoTC, the horse (Agro) actually feels like it has some weight unlike horses in some other games.

For it's time, OOT's was quite good too.
 
A

Arsenic

Member
SOTC comes first most definitely. RDR is second.

Uncharted 3's is downright terrible. It reminded me of the Jetski section of U1 that felt forced and was not enjoyable.
 
K

kazebyaka

Banned
Black Ops 2 and RDR has the best horse animations, RDR has the riding part nailed down and it's very enjoyable to ride a horse in that game.
 
S

Spring-Loaded

Member
Smellycat said:
I haven't seen much of the new MGS game, but how is the horse riding in it?
Click to expand...

From what I've seen, it looks legit. It even has the "hang off side of horse" move from SotC. Can't tell much from the brief snippets in trailers though.

To the people saying RDR is the best, how? When very aspect of the horse riding (animations, controls, moves/mechanics) are measured, SotC has so many advantages over RDR. Not to mention that you don't have to tap a button to go full speed in the former.
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
Not too shiny on the animation side, but Mount & Blade offers what's *easily* the best mounted combat in gaming, with mounted archery being specifically outstanding.
 
M

MissDeviling

Member
DW8's horseriding is a bit clunky (especially jumping), but I love how you can summon your horse anywhere and instantly get on it by simply holding the button you used to call your horse, i.e. when it runs into me, I get on immediately, no downtime.

Possum said:
I can't believe I've never seen this. I'm dying right now. I ca't breth
Click to expand...

Oh God...
 
D

Danielsan

Member
Yep, Shadow of the Colossus nailed it. I also love that when on the horse, you're still controlling Wander, rather than Agro. You're actually riding and steering a horse, rather than taking direct control of some makeshift vehicle that looks like a horse.
 
H

Harpuea

Member
I find that Fire Emblem series have really good horse and mounted units animation in both 2D and 3D. I just wish that someone would make a game with agile horses and give the player controls. In most games, they feel like riding a tub or something.
 
S

Spring-Loaded

Member
DownWithTheShip said:
No. Horses in RDR often wander far from where you leave them. Unless they're hitched.
Click to expand...

What I meant was the horses don't have idle animations outside of eating grass; twitching, barely any looking around. RDR horses lack subtle animations that would give them the illusion of being alive.
 
M

Mr-Joker

Banned
The Zelda series had good horse control and this might not count but Donkey Kong movement was also good in the countries series as his movement is based on a horse.

Animefreek said:
icnzY6il4lqvF.gif

It's gonna be so horse.
Click to expand...

"A new breed of stealth"

I am pretty sure that someone is going to notices a white horse with no rider. :|
 
G

GooeyHeat

Member
Most realistic horse riding? No. Best horseback animations? Not even close.

Best horse riding ever? DEFINITELY.

What fighting game lets you play as a crippled guy who rides a horse, lets you do full-fledged chain combos on a horse, and lets you use the Golden Ratio to fling yourself on and off of the horse and shoot fingernails at the opponent, all the while picking up parts of Jesus Christ's corpse in order to power yourself up?

None other than Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle.
 
J

jett

D-Member
It's SotC. So far the only game where you are always controlling the rider instead of the horse. Makes all the difference.
 
X

xenorevlis

Member
I actually enjoyed the way the horses animated in Beyond: Two Souls. Now, while the control / feel is a bit off (although in some ways true to the nature of a horse kind of turning at it's own pace) it looks rather good, especially when you're interacting with the horse prior to riding it. The only thing not really captured properly is how Ellen Page should when the horse is galloping.

Edit - Sorry, first link was off-screen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMXZQx0uyNY
 
M

Mario

Sidhe / PikPok
Spring-Loaded said:
What other good examples are there? Which is the best?
Click to expand...

Don't know about the best, but our studio has this claim to fame

Wikipedia said:
Sidhe has also collaborated with Weta Digital to achieve the first motion capture of a horse at full gallop, for their horse racing game, Melbourne Cup Challenge / Frankie Dettori Racing.
Click to expand...

Was always proud we had cracked a problem which had eluded filmmakers and gamemakers until that point.
 
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