Move/Ability animations thread

Ridaz

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HDD broke. I didn't make a backup, yet again. Next batch of Gen VII animations is on hold.

Bide, Cross Poison, Celebrate, Roost, Feather Dance & Soft-Boiled have been updated

Leafage, Solar Blade have been added
 
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The recent knockback effect on high power moves is pretty cool. Any particular reason its those specific moves, though? It seems to be moves with >130 base power, but there are moves that fit that category but don't have the effect. Boomburst, in particular, seems like it would be a good fit for the animation. I've also noticed that all the Hyper Beam clones and all the Leaf Storm clones use the effect except Blast Burn, Overheat (same animation as Blast Burn) and Rock Wrecker.
 

Ridaz

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The recent knockback effect on high power moves is pretty cool. Any particular reason its those specific moves, though? It seems to be moves with >130 base power, but there are moves that fit that category but don't have the effect. Boomburst, in particular, seems like it would be a good fit for the animation. I've also noticed that all the Hyper Beam clones and all the Leaf Storm clones use the effect except Blast Burn, Overheat (same animation as Blast Burn) and Rock Wrecker.
Oh yeah, Boomburst is a thing. I'll add the same animation then.
I'm still not sure on how should I animate the defender when taking the Blast Burn / Overheat nor Rock Wrecker. Hence why I did nothing on those
 
So, I was thinking about making this post after Tapu Koko's Electric Surge ability was revealed, but now that Raichu-A's Surge Surfer ability is a thing, I think its time to discuss Terrain moves. Clearly they were a competitive flop in Gen 6 -- there was no way to set them automatically, most of the setters didn't set/utilize the moves very well and there was only one ability on one mediocre 'mon (Gogoat) that directly interacted with them, making them much more of hassle than weathers. I think Gamefreak is trying to rectify that with Gen 7, and while currently Electric Terrain is getting all the love, it wouldn't surprise me if we get equivalent abilities that set/interact with Misty and Grassy Terrain.

As such, I think they deserve their own graphics rather than the current Trick Room graphic. Here are my rough first attempts and some PS! mockups, but people might be able to improve on these. For the mockups, keep in mind that the actual graphic wouldn't normally overlap with the UI.

Thoughts?
 
Lol my bad art killed the thread for half a month I suck

Uhh, so I've been thinking about setup moves. Since this thread started, many of their animations have been much improved, and it makes me smile when I see something like the new Bulk Up or Belly Drum, because it feels so much more satisfying to boost your stats when there's some visual fanfare to go along with it. However, these great animations make the moves lacking animation stand out even more, so I think a sort of quality control sweep on the relevant setup moves might be in order. Here's what I'm thinking, although other people might have better ideas:

Agility: Speed up the animation by like x4 and loop it a few times, so its like the the 'mon running back and forth to pick up Speed. I don't think this one needs any particles.
Quiver Dance: Current animation is solid, but I think it would stand out a little more if you added the same sort of "puffs" of color you see in Dragon Dance, except a lime-ish green color similar to the icon for Bug type. That, or replace the little white balls in the animation with green ones.
Coil: At the very least this could use the "squish" animation (Body Slam, etc.) on the user as if its coiling its body tightly, maybe throw in some purple color for flare.
Curse: This one is tough, but I think it should somehow involve implied harm to the user, as it lowers Speed for non-Ghosts and deals damage to Ghosts. Crimson and/or purple are the colors usually associated with the move, so maybe there's something to work with there. This is one of the more important changes IMO because Curse is a historically important moves in older gens (GSC Snorlax) and is still a relevant move in Gen 6, so it needs an animation for sure, I'm just not sure what kind of animation would fit it.
Work Up: The description for what this move actually is is pretty vague as to what it is, so you could probably go a bunch of directions with it, but I'm thinking maybe add the surrounding "glow" effect (Tail Glow, Calm Mind, Acid Armor) as either just red (matching in game representation) or red and then blue (representing that its raising Atk and SpA). Honestly this is the least relevant move on here so the animation isn't entirely important, but for the sake of Mega Pidgeot (which is the only 'mon that viably uses the move AFAIK), some sort of animation would be nice.

And these are the moves I think need new particles. As always, I'm not a skilled digital artist by any means so the proposed particles and mockups are just rough placeholders, but hopefully they get my ideas across well enough.

"Gear" moves: "Gear" is a pretty concrete visual that's hard to represent with existing particles. I think it's safe to assume that Magearna will get these as well, so they'll have continued purpose as we move into Gen 7.

Shift Gear: Place the particles above the user (like Nasty Plot) and have two mirrored gears slide past each other, one starting up and moving down and the other doing the reverse, before they fade out.

Automatize: Place a single particle over the user and repeat the "sparkle/shine" particle before the gear fades out.

Gear Grind: Not a setup move but it would be a waste not to use the particle for it, if added. I'm imagining one gear on each side of the foe, then they move move in and cause a horizontal "squish" animation on the defender. If this isn't possible (I've only see the squish animation used vertically) then the same gear movement would probably stand on its own or with some minor knockback animation, or even using the gear as a projectile could work.


"Shell" moves: Shell Smash is one of the most powerful boosting moves in the game, and it's relevant in pretty much every metagame from NU to Balanced Hackmons, so I definitely think a unique animation is in order. Unfortunately it's a little harder to come up with other moves that use the particle, so this falls short of the "3 moves per particle" rule unless you wanted to animated the move Withdraw (which sucks). Personally I think it's worth making an exception for but I'll leave that to your own judgement.

Shell Smash: Place the particle over the user, and then animate a barrage of "pow" particles as the shell shakes like its being smashed. Maybe at the end, as it becomes translucent and starts to fade out, enlarge the particle (like the effect with Night Shade) before it disappears. I don't have access to the PS! pow particle so this mockup is using my own, but I think it will look a lot better with the actual PS! assets.

Razor Shell: Alongside the blue particles typically used for the attack, add the shell particle on impact.


And finally, while it's not a setup move, I think it would be cute if "sleeping" moves (Rest, Sleep Talk, Snore, even just the status itself) had little Z's to go with them. I just named more than three moves right there, and if you really wanted to you could reuse the Z particle as some sort of announcement for a Z-move in Gen 7, though I don't think it's necessary.

Feel free to ignore this post to talk about smaller scale projects. I was just bored and wanted to spitball some ideas, whether or not any of them actually happen.

Cheers!
 

Ridaz

Don't @ me
is a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Programmer Alumnus
The reason this thread died was because of my computer dying and O completely forgot to reply to you. I can't work on animations at the moment.

Regarding the terrains, we'll just use the backgrounds from the game once we get them.

I'll write a full reply once I'm back home
 
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Ridaz

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is a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Programmer Alumnus
Agility: Speed up the animation by like x4 and loop it a few times, so its like the the 'mon running back and forth to pick up Speed. I don't think this one needs any particles.
Make the user speed up after each dance. Sounds good.

Quiver Dance
: Current animation is solid, but I think it would stand out a little more if you added the same sort of "puffs" of color you see in Dragon Dance, except a lime-ish green color similar to the icon for Bug type. That, or replace the little white balls in the animation with green ones.
That means I'd have to add a new particle. I feel like there are ways around this.

Coil
: At the very least this could use the "squish" animation (Body Slam, etc.) on the user as if its coiling its body tightly, maybe throw in some purple color for flare.
I already have an idea on how to make this. It will look like it's animated in BW.

Curse
: This one is tough, but I think it should somehow involve implied harm to the user, as it lowers Speed for non-Ghosts and deals damage to Ghosts. Crimson and/or purple are the colors usually associated with the move, so maybe there's something to work with there. This is one of the more important changes IMO because Curse is a historically important moves in older gens (GSC Snorlax) and is still a relevant move in Gen 6, so it needs an animation for sure, I'm just not sure what kind of animation would fit it.
For the time being, this is not getting animated. Reasons being the client is hard to read regarding this part of the code. I tried before and gave up.

Work Up
: The description for what this move actually is is pretty vague as to what it is, so you could probably go a bunch of directions with it, but I'm thinking maybe add the surrounding "glow" effect (Tail Glow, Calm Mind, Acid Armor) as either just red (matching in game representation) or red and then blue (representing that its raising Atk and SpA). Honestly this is the least relevant move on here so the animation isn't entirely important, but for the sake of Mega Pidgeot (which is the only 'mon that viably uses the move AFAIK), some sort of animation would be nice.
I thought I made Work Up animate like Bulk Up. If not, that's what's going to happen. Or I can just recicle the Calm Mind animation and use flareballs.

And these are the moves I think need new particles. As always, I'm not a skilled digital artist by any means so the proposed particles and mockups are just rough placeholders, but hopefully they get my ideas across well enough.

"Gear" moves: "Gear" is a pretty concrete visual that's hard to represent with existing particles. I think it's safe to assume that Magearna will get these as well, so they'll have continued purpose as we move into Gen 7.

This particle is usable

Shift Gear: Place the particles above the user (like Nasty Plot) and have two mirrored gears slide past each other, one starting up and moving down and the other doing the reverse, before they fade out.

Sounds good. I need to try it out.

Automatize: Place a single particle over the user and repeat the "sparkle/shine" particle before the gear fades out.

That sounds too simple. I'll reflect on how I should redo this later.

Gear Grind: Not a setup move but it would be a waste not to use the particle for it, if added. I'm imagining one gear on each side of the foe, then they move move in and cause a horizontal "squish" animation on the defender. If this isn't possible (I've only see the squish animation used vertically) then the same gear movement would probably stand on its own or with some minor knockback animation, or even using the gear as a projectile could work.

Sounds good. I'll have to use contactattack + the gears slamming from opposite directions, or something similar to Cross Chop (coming diagonally).

"Shell" moves: Shell Smash is one of the most powerful boosting moves in the game, and it's relevant in pretty much every metagame from NU to Balanced Hackmons, so I definitely think a unique animation is in order. Unfortunately it's a little harder to come up with other moves that use the particle, so this falls short of the "3 moves per particle" rule unless you wanted to animated the move Withdraw (which sucks). Personally I think it's worth making an exception for but I'll leave that to your own judgement.

Funny story, I was actually thinking of animating Shell Smash yesterday and look at that, a brand new particle. Using it

Shell Smash: Place the particle over the user, and then animate a barrage of "pow" particles as the shell shakes like its being smashed. Maybe at the end, as it becomes translucent and starts to fade out, enlarge the particle (like the effect with Night Shade) before it disappears. I don't have access to the PS! pow particle so this mockup is using my own, but I think it will look a lot better with the actual PS! assets.

I'm not placing it over the user. The user will shrink and dissapear as the shell comes up, then the user expands as it explodes the shell while shaking violently. I guess I can use the POWs for that.

Razor Shell: Alongside the blue particles typically used for the attack, add the shell particle on impact.

Right Slash + Shell (sliding diagonally) + iceball to represent impact on the defender

And finally, while it's not a setup move, I think it would be cute if "sleeping" moves (Rest, Sleep Talk, Snore, even just the status itself) had little Z's to go with them.
The way I imagine the current rest/sleep talk animation is the Mon sleeping while the tipical snot balloon growing to represent sleep, so I feel like it's fine as it is.

I just named more than three moves right there, and if you really wanted to you could reuse the Z particle as some sort of announcement for a Z-move in Gen 7, though I don't think it's necessary.
I already made an animation for when the Z-Move is activated. I'm not sure if it was pushed to the server though. Basically it would be similar to the growth animation

Feel free to ignore this post to talk about smaller scale projects. I was just bored and wanted to spitball some ideas, whether or not any of them actually happen.

Cheers!
Responses in bold, inside the quotes.

And I got to say, I really like the format of the presentation of your ideas. It definitely got me inspired except I can't do nothing for now
 
About the Quiver Dance thing, can't you use the particle from Energy Ball? In any case, thanks for your response. :)
 

Ridaz

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About the Quiver Dance thing, can't you use the particle from Energy Ball? In any case, thanks for your response. :)
I feel like it's not that appropriate for Quiver Dance. I already used a very similar animation to show the user's status increase and I'm not sure using that animation fits. I'll think of something
 
Those all look really good! That Coil animation isn't something I thought of but it fits pretty well. I'm actually wondering if you could pull off a similar animation for "spin" moves--Rapid Spin, namely, but possibly Gyro Ball as well. I don't think it would be the exact same animation but something in that style might get around the limitation of not being able to rotate the sprite itself. Just a thought--don't know how it would look in practice.
 

Ridaz

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Those all look really good! That Coil animation isn't something I thought of but it fits pretty well. I'm actually wondering if you could pull off a similar animation for "spin" moves--Rapid Spin, namely, but possibly Gyro Ball as well. I don't think it would be the exact same animation but something in that style might get around the limitation of not being able to rotate the sprite itself. Just a thought--don't know how it would look in practice.
I do not know what you mean. How do you want me to use particles to make the illusion of making the attacker spin?
 


They both give off a sort of "tornado" motion. I'm not sure how it would actually work, I've just been trying to think of a way to animate Rapid Spin for a while and this seems like it might be the closest option outside of adding new particles.
 

Ridaz

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So basically, do something similar like the current Hurricane animation we have, except make it move with the attacker?
 
That might work. Really I was just thinking out loud about how the Coil animation had a sort of spin motion to it, although if you think you can make a Rapid Spin animation work, that would be cool move to have animated.
 

Ridaz

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Been wrapping my head on making the mon "spin" but, it just won't look good.

In other news, if anyone could draw the Z-Move symbol shown below, that would be neat, so I could add it to the Z-Move activation animation
 
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Ridaz

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is a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Programmer Alumnus
[17:34:54] %Kalalokki: maybe make fury swipes a bit better Ridaz?
[17:35:00] %Kalalokki: it's mostly used in LC

[18:33:48] czn: As Hex uses the same animation as Shadow Ball.
[18:33:57] czn: It looks nothing like it should.


Submission & Retaliate now use the Close Combat animation
Flame Wheel now uses the Flame Charge animation
 
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Pulverizing Pancake is hype as hell. Any thoughts on Bloom Doom and whether you'd need a new particle for it? I could try making something later this weekend if you need one. Would work for Petal Blizzard/Dance too, I guess.

Todo list:
Unseen Hands from Re:Zero;
When the hell did Gamefreak add UB03: Betelgeuse to SuMo?
 

Ridaz

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I'll most likely need a new particle since it's a big flower blooming. I'm not sure how it would work with Petal Blizzard/Dance.
 

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