Eriksholm
The Stolen Dream
Info
- Release Date
- 2025 (in production)
- Developed by
- Published by
- Platforms
- Genre
- Isometric, narrative-driven stealth game
Credits
- Sigtor Kildal
- HMC Supervisor
- Frida Nilsson
- HMC Operator
- Chris Williams
- Senior Face Animator
- Primož Bončina
- Senior Face Animator
- Wilma Wiiand
- Junior Animator
- Adrina Wennström
- Senior Modeler
- Fredrik Wallin
- Senior Software Developer
- Nils Lerin
- Senior Pipeline Developer
- Ida Kildal
- Office Manager
Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream is a character-driven single-player game set in the titular Eriksholm — a fictitious city in a world with a Nordic-inspired, early 1900s aesthetic. Players will navigate through the densely detailed streets and dreary underground of the city of Eriksholm, utilizing each of the game’s three playable protagonists’ unique skills, tools, and weapons to overcome obstacles and solve puzzles.
This project harnesses the power of Epic Games’ Unreal Engine and MetaHuman technology to push facial animation to new heights. The detailed performances and lifelike expressions elevate the emotional depth of the story, creating a captivating experience where every character interaction feels authentic and impactful.
Motion Grinder's Contributions
Motion Grinder is proud to have contributed to the development of Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream. From capturing facial performances at Centroid Studios with our HMCs, to delivering polished facial animation in Unreal Engine, we thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with both the Centroid team and River End Games throughout the process. Our contributions include:
- Performance Capture: We captured every nuance of the actors’ performances with our dual Head-Mounted Camera systems during performance capture sessions, ensuring all details were accurately preserved.
- Facial Animation: We are handling all facial animation for the cinematics in the project, from tracking, solving and retargeting to the final keyframe polish pass, ensuring lifelike and expressive characters throughout.
- MetaHuman Animation Pipeline: This project marks the first time we have fully utilized our Unreal Engine MetaHuman animation pipeline. The integration has not only streamlined our workflows but also set a new benchmark for future projects. Our animators now have the unique ability to polish final facial animations directly within the client’s Unreal Engine project. This approach provides two significant advantages: our team works with the latest assets, environments and lighting, ensuring animations are perfectly aligned with the evolving project, and clients save valuable time by avoiding the need to merge deliverables into a potentially updated Unreal Engine build. This innovation enhances efficiency, quality, and collaboration across the production pipeline.
Technical Highlights
- Equipment: Dual HMCs for unparalleled performance fidelity, capturing every subtle expression, without the need for painted facial markers.
- MetaHuman Pipeline: Fully integrated facial animations into Unreal Engine MetaHumans, ensuring seamless character performance with real-time feedback.
- Workflow Innovation: Applied our most advanced tools and techniques to push the boundaries of quality and efficiency in facial animation.
