[pythian] Re: PROJECT - New animation system
- From: Darryl Long <pythianproject@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pythian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 19:15:34 -0500
Hi Nesch,
Thanks for the suggestions. First, I should explain the difference
between a Mode and an Action. I haven't explained this before, but I
should have.
A Mode is an animation that gets repeated over and over again, such as
running or walking. After an animation plays the first time, it starts
over at the beginning and plays again. Mode animations can be combined
and played at the same time, so if you want the player to walk with a
limp, you could combine the Walk animations with the Bad Leg animation
and it will look like the player is limping.
An Action is an animation that only occur once at a time. For instance,
a "Taunt" gesture. You don't want the animation to start over at the
beginning and play again! The nice thing about Action animations is
that they are blended seamlessly with the current Mode of the character.
This means the character doesn't abruptly change to the "Taunt"
stance. Instead, he smoothly transitions from his Mode to the Action
and then back again.
Gabriel Lindén wrote:
> Mode: Turn
> Suggestion: Could we use more anim's for this like moving the feets
> different at random.
If we create multiple "Turn" animations the system will automatically
choose between them at random.
>
> Mode: Throw
> Suggestion: Is it possible to make the throw longer if the throw button is
> pressed longer and shorter if it's pressed in a smaller amount of time?
We would have to have two animations to do this. An animation for
drawing the hand back a short distance, and an animation for drawing the
hand back a far distance. Then I could interpolate between these two
depending on how hard the throw is meant to be.
However, I think having just an animation for "small throw" and one for
"large throw" would be enough, even without the blending. The player
won't have to throw things with perfect accuracy. If he throws a weapon
as a attack, whether or not he hits is controlled by his character's
statistics.
> Mode: Die
> Suggestion: This is important for me, to have more than 1 way to die
> (depending on weapon or cause of death).
I hadn't added any special animations for "Die" because I hadn't spent
time to think of any, so I only have "Normal", like this:
<Action Name="Die">
<Anim>Normal</Anim>
</Action>
However, we could add Anims like "Explode", "Stabbed", "Decapitated", etc.
Any suggestions?
> Mode: Pick up
> Suggestion: The animation for picking things up, like heavy or large things
> (need both hands) or small (need only one hand) and so on...
<Action Name="Take">
<Anim>OneHand</Anim>
<Anim>TwoHand</Anim>
<Anim>Heavy</Anim>
</Action>
The "Take" action is the same as what you mean by "Pick up". Currently
I have space for One Hand (a small thing, like a dagger), Two Hand (a
larger thing, like a shield), and Heavy (like a big rock).
> Mode: Taunt
> Suggestion: Just a fun animation :o)
Good idea! I hadn't thought of this.
> I don't know if it is possible to make them or if it takes to much time.
Yes, animating does take time, but hopefully our animators can do all
these animations!
Darryl
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