# animate_movement var (movable atoms)

Source: https://ref.dm-lang.org/atom/movable/var/animate_movement

### Default value
> FORWARD_STEPS (1)

### Possible values
- NO_STEPS (0)
- FORWARD_STEPS (1)
- SLIDE_STEPS (2)
- SYNC_STEPS (3)


Setting this to 0 causes movement between two adjacent positions to be displayed as a single discrete jump. Otherwise, objects will be made to glide from one position to another, using the movement animation defined in the icon file if one is defined.

By default, movement animation avoids cutting corners, since this can look very bad in some games. If you want objects to take the shortest (and smoothest) visual path when moving around, use `SLIDE_STEPS` instead of the default `FORWARD_STEPS`. This also allows the object to be facing in a different direction than it is moving, so make sure this is what you want.

`SYNC_STEPS` is intended for objects that move in unison as part of a larger "conglomerate" object. You should set the movement animation to `SYNC_STEPS` on all but a single "head" object, which will serve as the leader when choosing pixel step sizes. If you do not use `SYNC_STEPS`, there are cases where the pixel offsets of objects may get out of sync during motion, causing the object to visually break up. Because of the advent of features like big icons, this value is no longer of much use.

> [!note]
> 
> This setting has no impact when used with pixel movement, except in special cases. See [Gliding](https://ref.dm-lang.org/notes/gliding.md) for more details.

### See also
- [Move proc (movable atom)](https://ref.dm-lang.org/atom/movable/proc/Move.md)
- [glide_size var (movable atoms)](https://ref.dm-lang.org/atom/movable/var/glide_size.md)
- [Gliding](https://ref.dm-lang.org/notes/gliding.md)