Idle Animations (Concept)

Idle Animations

CONCEPT

An Iconic concept of video games is the use of an idle animation for the players character, when during gameplay there's no control given. It's an example of emergent game design, and is used as a way to add depth to action characters.

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Notable Examples

Sonic's idle animation of tapping his foot is one of the most iconic poses for that character.
In Sonic CD (Game), if there is no input within three minutes, then Sonic will jump off the level, resulting in a game over.
In Ristar (Game), the titular character has a unique idle animation depending on what level he is on. For example, on the fire-themed level he will sweat and fan himself when idle. When left alone on the music level, he will start to dance to the background music.
Mario (Character) will lie down for a short nap in some of the 3D platformers.
In Dragon's Dogma, if the player character is idle for too long, one of their Pawns will wave their hand in front of the player character's face so as to get their attention.
In TT's Lego games, most characters per game all have a couple of unique idle animations, often designed for comedic effect.

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