So I was browsing videos on YouTube just now, and I came across this clip from a cutscene in Dragon Age: Origins. As I watched this video, I noticed there was something particularly odd about all of these characters. About halfway through, I figured it out. As far as I can see, only one character bothers to blink.
I find it sort of hilarious and sad at the same time. I mean, you KNOW they put forth a lot of time and money into those character models and designs to make them look so clean and crisp. But to me, those thousand-yard stares completely undermine any sort of realism or authenticity the models or animation achieve.
And now that I think of it, most western games I've played recently are the same way. Portal, Portal 2, Team Fortress 2...all of those characters, as endearing and amazing as they are, never blink.
It's not that blinking is very hard to achieve, either. I played Final Fantasy XI: Online for seven years, and since 2002 when it was released all of the characters in that game have blinked--and quite well. And I remember the characters in Kingdom Hearts blinking, too--even the first one.
So, what's going on here? Why do western developers have such a penchant against blinking? Is it just that their engines don't make it that easy? The main goal of a lot of those games is to get convincing characters and acting. But how is it that can they invest so much in making their graphics, textures, and animation look good and "real" in HD while completely ignoring one of the most basic signs of humanity--blinking?
EDIT: And just to be clear, I'm not trying to make this a completely east/west problem. I'm just pointing out that I've only seen eastern developers (well, Square Enix) bother to make blinking an integral part of their character programming.
I find it sort of hilarious and sad at the same time. I mean, you KNOW they put forth a lot of time and money into those character models and designs to make them look so clean and crisp. But to me, those thousand-yard stares completely undermine any sort of realism or authenticity the models or animation achieve.
And now that I think of it, most western games I've played recently are the same way. Portal, Portal 2, Team Fortress 2...all of those characters, as endearing and amazing as they are, never blink.
It's not that blinking is very hard to achieve, either. I played Final Fantasy XI: Online for seven years, and since 2002 when it was released all of the characters in that game have blinked--and quite well. And I remember the characters in Kingdom Hearts blinking, too--even the first one.
So, what's going on here? Why do western developers have such a penchant against blinking? Is it just that their engines don't make it that easy? The main goal of a lot of those games is to get convincing characters and acting. But how is it that can they invest so much in making their graphics, textures, and animation look good and "real" in HD while completely ignoring one of the most basic signs of humanity--blinking?
EDIT: And just to be clear, I'm not trying to make this a completely east/west problem. I'm just pointing out that I've only seen eastern developers (well, Square Enix) bother to make blinking an integral part of their character programming.
