Nils Påhlman
Portfolio
Goblin vs Ghoul
Dragon Flight
Monk Duel
Second year game projects
Made with team Ragebait
Aliens Stole My Sh**: A Lenny Starfighter Saga
Spite: Blood & Gold
First year game projects
Games that were made with various teams
KeySnapped
Tunnel Vision
Call of the Deep
When Pigs Fly
About me
Hi, I'm NilsI am an animation student at The Game Assembly who brings a lot of energy and a positive attitude to the team.My favorite things to animate usually include dragons (because of course), snappy acrobatics, and explosive combat sequences. While gameplay animation is my main focus, I’m always eager to nerd out over cool cinematic shots or the puzzle-solving side of technical animation.When I’m not keyframing, I’m usually chasing around my daughter, drawing, exercising, or sweating it out in fast-paced shooters like Overwatch and Apex Legends (though Warcraft 3 is forever my favorite).
Dragon Flight
Monk Duel
Goblin vs Ghoul
Character Art and Rig
This project started as a first-year character design assignment, the character draws inspiration from World of Warcraft and Styx. I handled the full pipeline, from design and rigging to final implementation.
Wireframe of the model
Manually created Maya rig
The daggers are made by my friend Sebastian Brymell who studies Game Art at TGA.
The ghoul rig is from Kiel Figgins webpage, www.3dfiggins.com.
Animation
Locomotion
Attacks
Unreal Engine 5 Implementation
Player
I implemented a lock-on targeting system that anchors the camera to the enemy and transitions the player to the 8-directional moveset. This core combat loop is supported by a dodge roll, attacks and a dedicated finisher sequence.
RMB to Pan • Ctrl+Scroll to Zoom • Refresh page if node connections aren't visible.
Anim Blueprint of the transition between out of combat locomotion and combat locomotion.
Added an Aim Offset to handle the player character's look-at tracking when out of combat.
Enemy
I used the Unreal enemy template and modified it to fit the ghoul’s animations. I also gave the enemy a detection system so it can spot the player, and I set up the logic for the finisher sequence.
RMB to Pan • Ctrl+Scroll to Zoom • Refresh page if node connections aren't visible.
The enemy behaviour is a state tree from the same enemy template. I used it as a base, removed what I didnt need and modified some parts to make it work with the ghoul.
My friend Keiren made vfx for this project. Unfortunatly I didnt have time to implement it into my projekt. Check out his website: keirenwall.com
Credits
Goblin vs Ghoul
Monk Duel
Dragon Flight
This animation was built using Mayas animation layers.
It started as an assignment where I wanted to try a layer based workflow. I liked the modularity and wanted to keep building on it.
One of the many references Ive used for flight mechanics.
I animated the camera, lights and background in Maya and rendered with Arnold.
Credits
Goblin vs Ghoul
Dragon Flight
Monk Duel
Starting as a duo, this grew into a five-person collaboration. I handled rigging, mocap acting, animation and cameras, while the team provided character/environment art and technical animation support.
It started out with character artist Sebastian Brymell, were I providing technical feedback on his photobashed concepts and topology. The goal of the design was to make it rigging-friendly and ensure clean deformations.
Motion Capture
Recording mocap data at Sharkmob motion capture studio.
While most of the data was recorded at Sharkmob I also recorded some of the data with Xsens. Then I cut them together with Motion Builders story tools and cleaned up the combined data. After that I retimed certain parts, refined poses and added keyframed movements.
Polish & Integration
I added corrective joints in Maya, retargeted the MotionBuilder data, and baked the animation to make the extra deformation carry over into UE5.
Integrated into UE5 for final compositing. The team collaborated to refine the lighting and enhance the final presentation.
Credits
Sebastian Brymell
Oscar Hofling
Ivan Mårtensson Blomberg
Nathaniel Scheurer
Rekop974
Monk Model/Textures
Naginata Model/Textures
Environment/Level Design
Maya Rigging Script
Katana Model/Textures
Spite: Blood & Gold
KeySnapped
Tunnel Vision
Call of the Deep
When Pigs Fly
Aliens Stole My Sh**:
A Lenny Starfighter Saga
Trailer coming soon
Aliens Stole My Sh**: A Lenny Starfighter Saga is a light-hearted 3rd person platformer inspired by Spyro. You are a spacefaring astronaut who has crashed on an alien planet. Travel around to find your missing crewmates, gather engine scraps to restore your spaceship and escape!My Contributions:
Rigged and animated the full moveset of the player character using motion capture.
Rigged and animated the crewmates using motion capture.
Animated 2D intro and outro sequences.
Aliens Stole My Sh**: A Lenny Starfighter Saga
KeySnapped
Tunnel Vision
Call of the Deep
When Pigs Fly
Spite: Blood & Gold
Spite: Blood and Gold is a top down action game inspired by Diablo 3.
You play as an enraged spirit, seeking revenge against the god who caused the death of a loved one. Fight enemies and dash your way up the mountain as a golden corruption threatens to consume your home.My Contributions:
Rigged and animated the full moveset of the player character.
Rigged and animated the one of the enemies.
Animated death animations for all enemies.
Animated an intro cinematic.
Aliens Stole My Sh**: A Lenny Starfighter Saga
Spite: Blood & Gold
Tunnel Vision
Call of the Deep
When Pigs Fly
KeySnapped
Keysnapped is a top-down action-adventure game. You play as a space adventurer. Your car-keys were stolen by alien magpies. Blast and slash their feathery butts to get your keys and go home!My Contributions:
Rigged and animated the full moveset of the player character.
Environment animation.
Weapon trail VFX.
Aliens Stole My Sh**: A Lenny Starfighter Saga
Spite: Blood & Gold
KeySnapped
Call of the Deep
When Pigs Fly
Tunnel Vision
Tunnel Vision is a side scrolling platformer. You play as a depressed artist, traverse your own mindspace to rediscover your passion for art and overcome your doubts.My Contributions:
Rigged and animated the jump, dash, crouch, crawling animation on the player character.
Building the spritesheet pipeline.
Dash VFX.
Aliens Stole My Sh**: A Lenny Starfighter Saga
Spite: Blood & Gold
KeySnapped
Tunnel Vision
When Pigs Fly
Call of the Deep
Call of the Deep is a mobile puzzle game where you play as an explorer who is uncovering a mystery.My Contributions:
Rigged and animated the full moveset of the player character.
Animation on interactables and obstacles.
Animated the outro sequence.
Aliens Stole My Sh**: A Lenny Starfighter Saga
Spite: Blood & Gold
KeySnapped
Tunnel Vision
Call of the Deep
When Pigs Fly
When Pigs Fly is an endless runner inspired by Subway Surfers where a pig dreams of taking flight while escaping a relentless farmer.My Contributions:
Rigged and animated the chasing farmer character.
Animated the player's falling, lane-swapping, and one of the jumps.
Prop Animation: Animation on pickups and obstacles.