Currently I feel one major set of problems that plagues the dinosaurs of Jurassic World Evolution are their animations as a whole. Here’s how I think the dinosaur animations need to be fixed across the entire board.
All of the dinosaurs, except the Indoraptor, must have very little movement to their torsos. This isn’t like a mammal's back where there’s a large lumbar area free of ribs to flex with. Notice how modern birds can't really move the vertebrae in their torsos. Adjustments to their posture is accomplished primarily through the limbs, not the thoracic & lumbar spine region. Yet all of the dinosaurs in the game seem to have mammalian style torso flexion. I also notice many break their femurs when walking or running. A dinosaur femur cannot extend backwards further than a 90 angle. Here's an animated GIF of a pair of albertosaur legs in motion. Imagine the dinosaur pelvis being the horizontal line of the letter T and the vertical line represents the limit of how far backwards the thigh can stretch.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...7401213327179986/GorgosaurusLines2cropped.gif
Ragdoll physics for ACU helicopter transport should probably be adjusted or even ditched. I’d reference images of things like pigs, young elephants, and ostriches being airlifted with harnesses to see how their limbs look while dangling like that because right now dinosaur limbs go completely slack into a vertical line of broken joints when being lifted by helicopter. Further adjustments to their ragdolls physics when dead or tranquilized would also help make their limp bodies feel less broken.
Many bipedal dinosaurs in the game currently have an almost tripod posture with Pachycephalosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Edmontosaurus being egregious examples even when they’re walking, or even running in the Dilo’s and Eddy’s cases. They should be far more horizontal like the other dinosaurs they share rigs with.
Speaking of running, the ceratopsians, ankylosaurs, and stegosaurs need to stop galloping in exchange for a more hippo-like speed walk. The three nodosaurs also need to have a tail swinging attack instead of that shoulder ramming. Corythosaurus, Olorotitan, Parasaurolophus, and Tsintaosaurus should just use the same rig as Maiasaura and Edmontosaurus and ditch the kangaroo tripod walk. Meanwhile Muttaburrasaurus should be changed to be exclusively a horizontal biped like the theropods. Iguanodon needs to stop running bipedal and instead just quad run like the Ouranosaurus in the new DLC seems to do.
Dilophosaurus, Velociraptor, and Deinonychus’ tails shouldn’t arch up so much while in a fighting stance. The area where the tail meets the pelvis just snaps sharply upwards in this painful impossible way. The Proceratosaurus and Troodon have quite possible the worst torso movements I've ever seen in the game. Arching up like a cat and it looks wrong on these animals as you can even see the pubis clip into the stomach when they do this.
Sauropod animations are good minus some moments where their necks break abruptly in some places, which I assume are bugs related to rigs and ragdoll physics. Also they should move a bit faster. Actual estimates put even the Brachiosaurus at around an elephant's pace. More than capable of catching up with lazy out of shape tourists. Just speed up the established slow walk and power walk cycles just a tad bit. Two sauropods out of the bunch need special attention. Dreadnoughtus should have a curving incline to its neck like other sauropods so its neck movements are less awkward. The Camarasaurus tail drag bug is still a problem as well.
The big theropods should ditch the ostrich run for a more JP1 Rexy power walk if they want to move fast. This change should apply to Acrocanthosaurus, Allosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Indominus, Spinosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus. Potentially the Ceratosaurus and Carnotaurus as well if their models' volumes yield masses close to an elephant's. Keep the other big carnivores as is with their run cycles.
Lastly, the way dinosaurs stop running feels so abrupt as if they've just narrowly avoided falling over. Especially when big theropods brake their run in the game, the skidding would realistically shatter the ankles and toes.
I know it'd be a huge undertaking seeing as the only dinosaur to be totally unaffected by this would be the already freaky mutated Indoraptor, but I believe all of these changes would seriously help the other dinosaurs be truly the most lifelike dinosaurs seen in a video game and add some much needed weight to their movements.
All of the dinosaurs, except the Indoraptor, must have very little movement to their torsos. This isn’t like a mammal's back where there’s a large lumbar area free of ribs to flex with. Notice how modern birds can't really move the vertebrae in their torsos. Adjustments to their posture is accomplished primarily through the limbs, not the thoracic & lumbar spine region. Yet all of the dinosaurs in the game seem to have mammalian style torso flexion. I also notice many break their femurs when walking or running. A dinosaur femur cannot extend backwards further than a 90 angle. Here's an animated GIF of a pair of albertosaur legs in motion. Imagine the dinosaur pelvis being the horizontal line of the letter T and the vertical line represents the limit of how far backwards the thigh can stretch.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...7401213327179986/GorgosaurusLines2cropped.gif
Ragdoll physics for ACU helicopter transport should probably be adjusted or even ditched. I’d reference images of things like pigs, young elephants, and ostriches being airlifted with harnesses to see how their limbs look while dangling like that because right now dinosaur limbs go completely slack into a vertical line of broken joints when being lifted by helicopter. Further adjustments to their ragdolls physics when dead or tranquilized would also help make their limp bodies feel less broken.
Many bipedal dinosaurs in the game currently have an almost tripod posture with Pachycephalosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Edmontosaurus being egregious examples even when they’re walking, or even running in the Dilo’s and Eddy’s cases. They should be far more horizontal like the other dinosaurs they share rigs with.
Speaking of running, the ceratopsians, ankylosaurs, and stegosaurs need to stop galloping in exchange for a more hippo-like speed walk. The three nodosaurs also need to have a tail swinging attack instead of that shoulder ramming. Corythosaurus, Olorotitan, Parasaurolophus, and Tsintaosaurus should just use the same rig as Maiasaura and Edmontosaurus and ditch the kangaroo tripod walk. Meanwhile Muttaburrasaurus should be changed to be exclusively a horizontal biped like the theropods. Iguanodon needs to stop running bipedal and instead just quad run like the Ouranosaurus in the new DLC seems to do.
Dilophosaurus, Velociraptor, and Deinonychus’ tails shouldn’t arch up so much while in a fighting stance. The area where the tail meets the pelvis just snaps sharply upwards in this painful impossible way. The Proceratosaurus and Troodon have quite possible the worst torso movements I've ever seen in the game. Arching up like a cat and it looks wrong on these animals as you can even see the pubis clip into the stomach when they do this.
Sauropod animations are good minus some moments where their necks break abruptly in some places, which I assume are bugs related to rigs and ragdoll physics. Also they should move a bit faster. Actual estimates put even the Brachiosaurus at around an elephant's pace. More than capable of catching up with lazy out of shape tourists. Just speed up the established slow walk and power walk cycles just a tad bit. Two sauropods out of the bunch need special attention. Dreadnoughtus should have a curving incline to its neck like other sauropods so its neck movements are less awkward. The Camarasaurus tail drag bug is still a problem as well.
The big theropods should ditch the ostrich run for a more JP1 Rexy power walk if they want to move fast. This change should apply to Acrocanthosaurus, Allosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Indominus, Spinosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus. Potentially the Ceratosaurus and Carnotaurus as well if their models' volumes yield masses close to an elephant's. Keep the other big carnivores as is with their run cycles.
Lastly, the way dinosaurs stop running feels so abrupt as if they've just narrowly avoided falling over. Especially when big theropods brake their run in the game, the skidding would realistically shatter the ankles and toes.
I know it'd be a huge undertaking seeing as the only dinosaur to be totally unaffected by this would be the already freaky mutated Indoraptor, but I believe all of these changes would seriously help the other dinosaurs be truly the most lifelike dinosaurs seen in a video game and add some much needed weight to their movements.
