Capcom animates monsters in the Monster Hunter games by hand
Did you know that the monsters in Capcom’s Monster Hunter games feature animations that are done by hand? The only exceptions are certain cut-scenes where a small amount of motion capture is involved.. But for the most part, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate director Kaname Fujioka informed Siliconera that “animators create monsters’ motions by hand as it requires more careful craftsmanship as they talk with the game designers.”
He said:
“For cutscenes, there are cases where we utilize motion capture techniques for monsters which might have similar skeletal structure to human beings such as the Palicoes. However, in most cases, our animators create monsters’ motions by hand as it requires more careful craftsmanship as they talk with the game designers. It’s very important that the motion and the game mechanics are properly intertwined for the gameplay. When we try to showcase a monster’s personality and expressions, we reference frameworks from real life beings and habitats to make them believable. We visit zoos and aquariums and also watch documentary films for reference material.”
It’s necessary for Capcom to nail the animation of monsters since the series is about pattern recognition. The way monsters react give players clues about how they should proceed.
“It’s important for us that players understand what kind of tactics they need to use. We give clues to players on how a monster may act based on its various expressions, and emotional and behavioural states (such as alarmed, enraged, exhausted, etc.) We plan for the monster’s behaviour first, so we keep in mind things such as distance between the player and the monster, logic behind the monster’s behaviours, and so on.”
