Procedural Animation and Inverse Kinematics in Game Development: A Narrative Review
Year: 2026
Type: review
Abstract: Procedural animation encompasses a family of techniques in which character movement and physical interactions are generated algorithmically at runtime rather than pre-authored by animators through keyframe interpolation. Among these techniques, inverse kinematics (IK) plays a particularly central role: it computes the joint angles of an articulated figure required to place an end effector at a desired position in world space, enabling characters to adapt their poses dynamically to changing environmental conditions. This narrative review examines the evolution of procedural animation and inverse kinematics in video game development, from early two-bone IK for foot placement to sophisticated full-body IK systems, physics-based animation, and machine learning-driven motion synthesis. We survey analytical IK solvers, CCD, FABRIK, and Jacobian-based methods, and assess the integration of IK with motion capture data, locomotion systems, interactive object manipulation, and deep learning applications. We emphasize the distinctive constraints of real-time game development including computational budgets and the requirement that procedural systems complement authored animation.
Authors: Revista, Zen, GAME, 10
Institution: Faculdades Guarulhos
Language: English
Topic: Human Motion and Animation
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7204708116