Living Creatures vs Meat Motorcycles – How to Make Horses in Games Feel Alive

What makes horses in games feel alive and how do you get players to care for them? When complex independent behaviors are out of scope, what measures can developers take to give players a sense of emotional attachment on a budget? How do you get game horses to feel like actual living creatures rather than just four-legged bicycles? Fortunately, there are a lot of options if you’re a little bit horse-savvy, so let’s look at some of them

analysisAlice RuppertJanuary 9, 2026developer guide, living creatures vs meat motorcycles, referencesComment

Horse Animation: Guides, References and Resources

Horse Animation is really hard, I know. The purpose of this article is to summarize some common issues and provide helpful resources for how to do better. While I’m coming from a game dev perspective, I hope these tips and guides can also be useful to anyone animating horses for other media such as film or TV.

developmentAlice RuppertSeptember 7, 2024horse animation, animation resources collection, references, recommended for clientsComment