Calling all Animation Programmers, Turtle Rock Studios is looking for you. A new job listing has appeared on Turtle Rock Studios' official website seeking an Animation Programmer for what they calling an "Unannounced New IP". Considering that, you can pretty much strike Evolve 2 from the list of possibilities.
However, in glossing over a few of the prerequisites for the job, we can discern that this might be a more narratively-focused game, possibly from a 1st-Person perspective. Check out these two bits:
- Work directly with animators to prototype and deliver excellent combat, character locomotion and movement mechanics, and cinematics
- Proven experience in applying modern interactive character animation techniques such as blending, IK, and partial-body animation
The need for someone familiar in cinematics would seem to indicate that the game has a focus on some sort of story-telling. Sure, Evolve had a few cinematics, but they were hardly relevant to the multiplayer-focused experience.
The other important thing to note here is the need for "proven experience" in "partial-body animation". 3rd-Person games would require full body animations on a consistent basis, where as 1st person games can get away with partial movement drived from the character's arms.
Granted, this is all just speculation, and there are no official details on the game in question. All we know for sure is that Turtle Rock is making a new game, and considering their history of doing 1st-Person games with Evolve and Left 4 Dead, it makes sense that they would likely head down the same path.
Source: [Turtle Rock Studios website]
