Can at least villager animations be updated? Would like them to at least have faster axe and hammer downswings. But the overall speed of the animated swing loop could probably be made a bit faster, too.
The downswings are about as fast as the upswings, and the movements seem slow, in general. All of which makes the animations feel slow and floaty, like they’re swinging through molasses or trying to strike with a feather touch. That is not good, realistic, or ideal animation, imo, unless devs prefer slow, floaty animations as a stylistic choice for some strange reason?
To fix, you don’t need to turn to any other game in the franchise, just look more into animation principles and look at real world reference. Actually, devs are probably acutely aware of this stuff. I just think it’s time for another animation pass on this, as maybe there wasn’t enough time before launch to finesse much.
But, you can also take a look at AoE2 where you feel the downswing speed, weights, and impact better, imo, if it helps. They aren’t daintily swinging through molasses:
Actually, everything, in general, feels a little slow and floaty in AoE4 to me. An overall vibe. I don’t know if it’s because the timing and speed of everything is very similar or what. I’ll analyze next time I get a chance to play. But, yeah, even later in the game when I’m moving clumps of military, it all (the general vibe of the screen and everything on it) feels slow and lumbering.