Operator Animation Cheat Sheet
Overview
An Operator’s specific animation is referred to an “Action”. This cheat sheet outlines specific Actions and art requirements for creating a functional Operator. Ideally this can be passed to an artist with a character brief/reference and they can prepare all assets ahead of time to be ready to import into NOODS Maker. Required actions need a minimum of one frame.
Note that for directional movement your character should default to facing left. The NOODS Maker engine mirrors the frames to move in the opposite direction.
Example Operator Reference Files
Download the raw .PNG frames that make up our example Operator Drawnathan Blanc here:
Public NOODS Maker Drive
Action List
Icon
| Action | Action Description | Required | Recommended Frame Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | A single frame closeup headshot of your Operator to be used on menus. This icon is specifically 64 x 64px and can be auto resized within NOODS Maker | yes | 1 only |
Step 1: Idles
Actions that occur when the Operator is not transversing either on the ground, wall, or ceiling
| Action | Action Description | Required | Recommended Frame Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standing Idle | Occurs when an Operator is not doing any actions while on ground | yes | 2-14 |
| Wall Idle | Occurs when an Operator is holding onto a wall | yes | 4-6 |
| Ceiling Idle | Occurs when an Operator is holding onto a ceiling | yes | 4-6 |
| Sitting Idle | A sitting variant of the idle action | yes | 2-14 |
Alert | How an Operator alerts you for getting your attention with an alarm or reminder | yes | |
| Laughing | How your Operator laughs | no | |
| Alt. Stationary Idle | no | 3-6 |
Step 2: Movement
| Action | Action Description | Required | Recommended Frame Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walk | How an Operator traverses across the ground | yes | 2-14 |
| Wall Climb | How an Operator traverses across a vertical wall | yes | 4-6 |
| Ceiling Climb | How an Operator traverses across a ceiling | yes | 4-6 |
| Slow Walk / Scootch | A slow and meandering way to traverse across the ground | yes | 4-6 |
| Grab Window | How an Operator picks up or grabs your computer window | yes | 3-6 |
| Walk with Window | How an Operator carries your computer window while traversing across screen | yes | 1-4 |
| Throw Window | How an Operator throws, pushes, yeets a window across your screen | yes | 4-8 |
| Falling | When an Operator free falls across the monitor towards the ground | yes | 2-5 |
| Bounce/Landing | How an Operator lands or hits the ground after falling | yes | 2-8 |
| Alt. Walk | no | 2-14 | |
| Run | no | 6-12 | |
| Alt. Falling | no | 2-4 |
Step 3: Reactions
| Action | Action Description | Required | Recommended Frame Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dragged | When you click and hold your Operator with your cursor, the Operator is in the middle, dangling straight down | yes | 1 |
| Dragged Near | Operator is dragged with very slight lean. | yes | 1 |
| Dragged Medium | Operator is dragged with a small lean. | yes | 1 |
| Dragged Far | Operator is dragged with a medium lean. | yes | 1 |
| Dragged Farther | Operator is dragged super quickly with largest lean. | yes | 1 |
| Resisting Being Dragged (Break Free) | Operator breaks free of your cursor hold/drag | no | 1 |
Step 4: Idle Transitions
These are transitions for your Operator that happen inbetween two specific Idle-type Actions
| Action | Action Description | Required | Recommended Frame Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idle to Walking | Transition action from Idle to Walking | no | |
| Idle to Scootch | Transition action from Idle to Slow Scootch | no | |
| Standing to Sitting | Transition action from Standing to Sitting | no | |
| Sitting to Standing | Transition action from Sitting to Standing | no |
Step 5: Movement Transitions
These are transitions for your Operator that happen inbetween two specific Movement-type Actions
| Action | Action Description | Required | Recommended Frame Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walking to Wall Climb | Transition action from Walking to climbing a vertical wall | no | |
| Walking to Idle | Transition from Walking to Idle | no | |
| Walking to Scootch | Transition from Walking to Slow Scootch | no | |
| Wall Climb to Walking | Transition from Wall Climb to Walking | no | |
| Wall Climb to Ceiling Climb | Transition from Wall Climb to Ceiling Climb | no | |
| Wall Climb to Falling | Transition from Wall Climb to Falling, or letting go of wall | no | |
| Ceiling Climb to Falling | Transition from Ceiling Climb to Falling, or letting go of ceiling | no | |
| Ceiling Climb to Wall Climb | Transition from climbing the ceiling to then climbing the wall | no |
Notes on Animations Timing
- Duration of the animation is scaled by the number of frames
- The default Frames per Second (FPS) is 10
- Future: we are working on custom FPS in a future build of NOODS Maker
