A semi-technical question regarding the 1.07 enhancements...

[lost_soul]

I really love the new sword clashing sounds. They sound more varied and realistic than the original ones did. My question is regarding the animations. I don't want to sound unappreciative, but is it possible to have the guards legs move a bit when they fight? I know of and respect the amount of work that has gone into the new additions, but I think that would add a lot to the realism.

 

I don't know much about Doom 3 editing, but I know back in Q3a they had separate animations for both legs and upper portions of the body. Does it still work the same way? That meant you could have a character running, walking, or crouching and at the same time attacking or taunting.

 

Your thoughts?

Edited October 16, 2011 by lost_soul

[Springheel]

but is it possible to have the guards legs move a bit when they fight?

 

Technically, yes. But if the animation controls the legs, then the AI can't travel or turn while attacking. At the moment the code controls the legs, so the AI can turn or move forward while swinging if the player tries to back away.

[Tels]

lost_soul, are you refering to the video that was recently posted? In this case, I agree, it looks mighty strange that AI is "glued" to the place, and does no "leg work" whatsoever.

 

I am not sure if this is fixable, tho, as Springheel hinted that it might not work due to technical limitations in the D3 animation engine.

 

Edit: Maybe we can tell the AI to "circle" the enemy by finding a point that is close to him, but lies left/right of the current position. Then the AI would walk around, which would look much more natural.

[lost_soul]

Yep, that's the one I was talking about.

 

EDIT: I bet it will look a lot better in game though when the guards fight the player, because the player will move around and the guards will move to compensate.

 

Maybe it is as simple as having some code that says

 

if target == AI

then do circle strafe

else if target == player

then fight the usual way.

Edited October 16, 2011 by lost_soul

[Tels]

Just for reference:

 

[RPGista]

I think the fight video might be a bit misleading because it was probably meant to showcase the new sounds and the more fluid, more natural upper body movement only (they are stationary so we can watch them closely?). In the context of the game, fights are generally a lot faster than the one in the video, where the AI seemed to have quite a bit of hitpoints (maybe just my impression). It usually takes me one or two hits to kill an opponent (maybe double that to kill me), and the parrying mechanics being so difficult by itself (to predict the direction of the hit and block it), I understand well why the enemies fight pretty much stationary, so the focus can be the duel of blows coming from all directions, being blocked and countered. Like it was said, the enemies will of course move "after" you, sometimes swinging, sometimes just to get in range again and prepare another attack. It would be great to have the enemies maybe moving around you a bit (and of course, things like dodging or leaping backwards for really elite swordfighters like assassins, etc), but I'm guessing those are, before anything else, artificial intelligence issues.

 

I really like the way they move in the video Tels linked. Of course it is the kind of acrobatics meant for a melee 3rd person game, and would not work with the heavy armored thief opponents and the complex duel mechanics, but I like the way they react, try to circle you and I think "some" fully animated attacks could potentially bring very interesting strategic depth - a kind of a leaping, full force, telegraphed over the head slash would be a great opportunity for the player to strafe and get a clean hit while the AI is recovering after having hit only the floor (would be unable to react while the animation is playing). But that's all speculations to improve a, in my opinion, already very good system.

 

BTW, the new animations are looking really good, can't wait to check them in game!

Edited October 18, 2011 by RPGista