Horse movement animations are so basic

WastedJoker

I really like the look of my horses but my word the movement animation is so bad I actually don't want to use my horse. The animations on other mounts are much smoother and "natural".

Do you agree they need to be improved?

ArchMikem

The horses were done day one, while other mounts were created much later on, and that shows the progress in the animators work quality over time. That said, unless it's broken or horribly flawed, they wont revisit something that works.

Mindcr0w

If they went back and redid the horse animations while so many real issues continue to be ongoing there would be rioting in the streets.

SydneyGrey

I hate the horribly deformed back legs. I actually have less of an issue with the animations.

Versispellis

Here are my thoughts:

The trot and canter aren't that bad (a little basic, but serviceable), actually, but the gallop is definitely rigid. Speaking of rigid, their heads. The way they lean in and point with their noses says "canine" to me rather than horse. A sudden turn in direction at high speed should have a resultant head toss (as the rider prompts with the reins). The tail is also quite rigid. It's the posture of an animal that uses its long tail for balance, like a senche. A horse's tail, being mostly hair, should sway and flip around more.

The idles need work, too, especially that one where the horse turns its head to inspect something. Again, the way it moves its head is more characteristic of an animal with binocular vision.

I'd like to see the idles expanded, too. I love some of the animations they added to apex horses when they're placed in your home: the mane shake and pawing the dirt. It'd also be nice to see your toon lean over to give the horse a pat (like it did in Skyrim).

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the manes. They used to have an animation, but since they changed the models the animation was stripped off. Rather than solving the problem, they just put plates on the back of every horse's neck, now. I see you, ZOS.

pod88kk

I dunno, I quite like the extras they added like me riding through the ground under my mount or running on it's back. It jazzes it up a bit

BigBragg

After playing a solid amount of Red Dead 2, I can't use any of the horse mounts in ESO.

Versispellis

SydneyGrey wrote: »

I hate the horribly deformed back legs. I actually have less of an issue with the animations.

I'm back to talk about the horses' models.

I agree, those back legs are absolutely wack. I think that probably goes hand in hand with the skeleton and animations. (I'm certain the skeleton didn't change when they changed the models--I'll say more about this in a tick.) There's a really bad bow curve through the stifle and gaskin (the upper portions of the leg), to accommodate an absolutely zany zig-zag at the joint. Some parts need to be shortened, and the whole position shifted downward at idle. What's funny to me is that they did a much better job of this on their other animals.

Let's look at the old models for a second.

I mentioned that I don't think they changed the skeletons. I'm certain the models didn't change, either--not really. If you compare the old and new horses you can see where the "new" models have been pinched and smoothed out. (There's a crease inside the buttocks if you're brave enough to look for it.) Everyone asked for more realistic horse models, but they misunderstood what that entailed, I think. They created a thinner silhouette, where the bulk of the old model makes the cartoony proportions work arguably better. Things I miss from the old models: all of the muscle definition and the healthily plump belly.

Zero points for the neck and head, though, which is where my biggest point of contention lies.

Here is a thoroughbred, which seems to me to be about the look they're going for with most of the horses now. I just honest to god don't even know what's going on with this game's horse heads. The neck is short, has a weird swan curve, it pinches in at the throat, and the head is small and featureless. I think they've actually been trying to "fix" some of their proportion problems by stacking armor on the horses' fronts lately, but it's only a bandaid on the problem and it's not terribly convincing.

I want to talk about their "bulky" horse model for a moment, too, which has another problem. Let's look at the Legion Zero Destrier.

I think it was iterated, once again, from the old model. They smoothed out some of the musculature again, slimmed the model down a little, and managed a straighter neck conformation. The tail is fuller. Aside from how stiff the front legs look, this is actually their best model. Wait, until. . .

. . . You look at it from the front or back. Do you see it? The width of the entire model has been squished inward, resulting in an uncomfortably narrow animal. Why did they do this? Perhaps they thought the PC's legs would clip through the horse's fuller belly if they didn't do this. I don't understand this, because the old models don't see this problem. Even if it were a problem, the better solution would be to adjust the PC's legs when mounted on one of these horses. Simply put, squishing the horse was likely the simpler solution. It didn't require them to flag the bulkier horses as another "type." Personally, the first time I mounted one of these, I knew something was wrong. Now that I understand what it is, I can't unsee it, and that pains me, because I prefer thiccer horses.

And yet the horses are still my favorite mounts.

This is very frustrating for me, guys.

EDIT: Put spoilers on the images.

GenjiraX

I personally care less about the horse animations and models and more about the fact that The Vestige is the only person in the whole of Tamriel who’s allowed to ride a horse at all. I don’t understand why my assistants and quest companions have to run along behind me.

Tommy_The_Gun

I would not call "running on top of your mont" a basic thing. It probably require a lot of skill and is more like something you can see in a circus...

Ysbriel

You mean adding actual trots?

There are a couple of gaits horses are trained to do :

Paso Español


Passage




i guess if the animators are willing we can have good display of fine equine steps

Versispellis

Ysbriel wrote: »

You mean adding actual trots?

Catch me on my horse like

eKsDee

BigBragg wrote: »

After playing a solid amount of Red Dead 2, I can't use any of the horse mounts in ESO.

After playing a solid amount of Guild Wars 2, I can't use any of the mounts in ESO, they all look ***.

Sarannah

Horsemounts seem bugged to me. They are much slower as other mount types and stop running upon every small piece of terrain height-difference, probably because they existed before the mount re-work. This is why I do not buy horsemounts in the crownstore anymore.

mocap

while shifted and 60 speed upgrade + Major Gallop, horse animation is indeed crazy. Must be tuned down a bit.

caperb

Agree with OP. The insane shaking of the screen and the desynced hoove sound on a maxed horse made me stop using them as mounts. Fortunately I own the striped tiger senche, so actually never need a new mount

Magenpie

Agree Agree Agree

Compare ESO mounts to the Skyrim ponies. Skyrim ponies are some of the most 'horsey' horses in gaming. You might not like them because they are shaggy stocky things rather than your 'noble steed' but they look right and their idling animations are spot on. The ESO horses are such a disappointment by comparison.

In fact, the Oblivion horses were better too, Controversial Horse Armour and all!

I'm sure one of your other respondents is correct in that it's unlikely they will ever redo them, but I cross my fingers jic.

Maki2859

I did not expect to come across this kind of thread. It is nevertheless very interesting.

There is one thing that disturbs me about ESO horses. Their constant smile where you can see their beautiful teeth.
I went so far as to wonder if that was the case IRL and went to see photos of horses to see if it was normal. XD

Maybe not immediately but we will probably have a model of horse v3.

volkeswagon

The horses are hilarious

Versispellis

volkeswagon wrote: »

The horses are hilarious

This person speaks truth.

Versispellis

Maki2859 wrote: »

I did not expect to come across this kind of thread. It is nevertheless very interesting.

There is one thing that disturbs me about ESO horses. Their constant smile where you can see their beautiful teeth.
I went so far as to wonder if that was the case IRL and went to see photos of horses to see if it was normal. XD

Maybe not immediately but we will probably have a model of horse v3.

I think there are potentially two things going on with the perma-smile.

The first, I think they wanted it to be apparent that the horses have bits (it's the part of the bridle that inserts into the mouth between the horse's front teeth and the molars). I don't know why that would be an important detail to them. A comfortable bit should allow the horse to relax its mouth. Some equestrians prefer not to use bits at all.

The second is a technical issue. You may notice that when the horses neigh, they actually open their mouths! There's a cheat I see in a lot of games where, when there is a creature that has an animated mouth and exposed teeth, they just leave the mouth always sort of open. I assume it's a lot easier to rig and animate that way.

Nairinhe

Honest question: aren't all animations in all Elder Scrolls games somewhat basic? Can't remember anything particularly smooth or natural

Mettaricana

Mindcr0w wrote: »

If they went back and redid the horse animations while so many real issues continue to be ongoing there would be rioting in the streets.

We been rioting about the entire game for 6 years at this point [Snip].

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