The first two animations for SpyParty, developer Chris Hecker's deception-heavy game about "subtle behavior," shows off two talking characters.
Both videos were posted on SpyParty's official site. According to Hecker, the animation for the game isn't meant to be "too realistic or motion-captured," which lends itself to a dead look.
"At the same time, we don't want them too exaggerated or cartoon-y, so we're using reference videos of people doing similar motions so we can anchor ourselves with plausibility as we get a grip on the style," Hecker wrote. "Hitting just the right tone and avoiding the uncanny valley on one side, and cartoons on the other, takes constant vigilance and attention to detail across every aspect of the visuals, from pixel quality to the movements."
Hecker added that the animations for the first two characters were based on people lecturing, giving monologues or conversing in "a stylish way."
"We haven't chosen in-game names for the characters yet, so we're going to name them by letter for now, which sounds all spy-like and mysterious, but is mostly us just not knowing what else to call them," Hecker wrote. "I'll probably involve the community in naming the characters when it's time for that; I did that for the old characters and we got some really great spy fiction names."
You can watch both characters chatting it up in the videos above and below. PAX Prime attendees will be able to check out SpyParty's art from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. For more on SpyParty, check out our in-depth interview with Hecker.
