I think what you are looking for are generally called control curves. They are definitely achievable in Maya and are used quite a lot. The feet planting on the grid is something else that is more complex, but still achievable. I haven't done this tutorial, but it should be very decent: https://simplymaya.com/autodesk-maya-...=195&sub_cat=0, maybe a bit advanced for you, not sure. It's also an alien, so that's bonus.