Lil Gator Game Director Discusses Capturing Tone Through Character Design & Animation

Lil Gator Game may be one the final games to launch in 2022, but it also has the makings of one of the years classic indie tites. On the eve of the game’s December 14, 2022 release date, Artist and Director Connor Patrick Quinn from Lil Gator Game developer MegaWobble, spoke to Gamerant about the animation techniques used in-game that can convey emotion, and reflect a character’s self-expression.

Speaking to Gamerant, Quinn said,

Animating in 3D is tough without a lot of high-tech motion capture stuff, but I approached it the same way I draw or animate in 2D. You practice the action in a mirror, sketch out some basic keyframes, push them until they look cartoony, and then add some extra flourishes and secondary movement. It’s not Pixar, but I think it has a nice identity.

Also, if you want something to look good, go find other stuff that looks good and find out why it looks good to you. Try those shapes on for size. There’s plenty of games that do cute, stocky characters like the ones in gator game: A Short Hike, Animal Crossing, Phantom Hourglass, Hat in Time. We had a lot of great inspiration to work with.

I don’t think an acting background really influenced the animation, no. We didn’t put a whole lot of emphasis on “performance” the way you would in a live-action-style game that has actors or VOs to coordinate. The animations are like flourishes that enhance the writing and make the game fun to look at. We took much more inspiration from cartoons and animated movies.

There are a handful of what you might call “acted” scenes with character focus and stage directions, but even then theatre experience only gets you so far when what you’re actually trying to do is cinematography. Once you can control where the audience is in the space, it’s a wildly different medium.

About Lil Gator Game

“Embark on an adorable adventure, discover new friends and uncover everything the island has to offer. Climb, Swim, Glide and slide your way into the hearts of the many different characters you meet on your travels!”

Lil Gator Game is coming from MegaWobble and Playtonic Friends, a fairly new publishing arm of Playtonic that has led to the launch of games such as Blossom Tales II: The Minotaur Prince, Demon Turf, and A Little Golf Journey. Lil Gator Game is slated to arrive on the Nintendo Switch, and PC on December 14, 2022.

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