Made in Godot 4.2.1 using GDScript by Alejandro Martín Lodes
My passion for programming video games led me to discover Godot a few months ago. Inspired by classics like Pacman, Galaga, and Super Mario, I began to explore how these games were created 40 years ago and how development has evolved to the present day. I focused on facial animation, an element absent in the pixel art of that era.
After studying the pronunciation of words, I managed to represent it in pixels. This led me to an innovative idea: making a character 'speak' and synchronize the movement of their mouth with their words. Although initially limited to simple commands and responses, I soon incorporated emotions, transforming anime expressions into pixel art and allowing the character to express joy and other emotions.
However, I wanted to go beyond simple reactions to commands. So I programmed the character to interpret its environment and act autonomously, a real breakthrough in my project. With the code optimized under the open-source philosophy, the character can now react to its environment and nearby objects, a standard functionality in video games.
Furthermore, I experimented with the idea of the character reacting to the temperature of objects, a notion still in development. Modularity is key in my programming, allowing independence between character, body, head, eyes, mouth, and eyebrows. Although the body was my least priority, it is prepared for future animations that include full body gestures.
By testing the character in different environments, I discovered how to improve its programming. Now, the environment influences its behavior, reactions, and dialogues. The project includes a test environment and several environments inspired by other video games.
Although I considered adding 'ears' to the character, I decided that the project was already complex enough. My goal is not to create a video game, but to demonstrate how to implement an interactive character in an environment, offering developers the opportunity to learn and adapt these techniques to their needs.
I hope my project inspires others; that would be the greatest reward for me.
Click on the image to see the presentation video
- Install Godot 4.2.1
- Clone the repository: git clone git@github.com:Janosoft/DudeGuy.git
- Open the project with Godot
- Run with F5