Ai Model Requests

[Springheel]

Ok, we've got our list of prop models to have created and skinned by September 1st (and we've already got a strong start one getting them done).

 

Here's a list of AI that I think we need to complete. By complete, I mean in game with a basic walk and run animation.

 

I know the Builder faction is pretty much done in terms of modeling, but I've left them on the list because I don't know if they're animated or not yet.

 

Oddity: Finish Builder Faction (Acolyte, Forger, Guard, Priest, Prelate)

 

+ Mage

+ Finish City Watch

+ Finish Noblewoman (is she animated?)

 

After that, go ahead and start on any of the following City models that pique your interest:

 

+ Beggar

+ Shopkeeper

+ Whore

+ Generic Thief

+ Generic Professional Guard

+ Generic Townsfolk

 

 

Corth: Finish Houseguard

+ Generic Townsfolk

 

Diego: Finish Thug

+ Generic Townsfolk

 

Alan9000: Finish Nobleman

+ Generic Townsfolk

 

 

That would give us around 15-20 completed models by September, which I think is pretty good. Maybe with that new UV program oDDity found we can do even more.

 

Let me know if this is a reasonable goal.

[oDDity]

WHat's the point in slapping a placeholder walk and run on them? We need a proper animaitor to start the real animations. And we have no AI prgrammer either.

You're only counting an AI as 'fiinshed' when it's in the game with a placeholder walk,run and attack anim? That's stupid. Eiother you count it as 'done' when it has it's full set of animations, or you count it as done when it's finished being modeled and textured, but you don't couint it as being done when it has one or two basic anims on it.

Rigging would also be the job of the animator. If we had a proper one I'd just hand them the textured character.

Edited May 25, 2005 by oDDity

[Fingernail]

We need to mobilise and get some animators. Post E3 convention, this is the perfect time, because 3 major titles are lined up to use D3 technology, and people are likely to want to get familiar with the tech and animating md5s and stuff for future modding and game development. And people are beginning to see the lovelyness of the engine, too.

 

So, we need to hit all the forums, polycount, cgtalk, everything really.

[sparhawk]

Since we have no animator we have to live with what we have. After all we still have other things to do and by the time we get around to it again we might even have an animator. No point in complaining about somethign we can not really change. We should advertise for animators though.

[oDDity]

Diego and Corth are both supposed to be animators, but they've yet to do any, and currently it seems they only have the time to make one model every 3 months as well.

[Springheel]

You're only counting an AI as 'fiinshed' when it's in the game with a placeholder walk,run and attack anim? That's stupid. Eiother you count it as 'done' when it has it's full set of animations, or you count it as done when it's finished being modeled and textured, but you don't couint it as being done when it has one or two basic anims on it.

 

What's the point of assigning things that we don't have the manpower to do? Having a basic walk and run animation allows us to put the models into maps and test out patrolling and pathfinding. Obviously they're going to need more animations than that, but since we don't have anyone working on that full time there's not much chance of it being done by September.

 

I used the term "finished" to refer to crossing the model off the next milestone list, not to mean that it is ready for the final release of the mod.

 

If we get an animator who actually sticks around, we can modify our expectations.

[oDDity]

That gives me a load of rigging, weighting and animating work after I've finished the modeling and texturing though. I don't think it's necessary to have every model in the game with a run and walk anim at this stage.THey can be counted as 'done' when the textured model is done. THe rigging can come later.

I'd prefer if Corth and Diego stopped modeling and concentrated on rigging and animating. I said that months ago. We need animations done much more that we need a few extra characters at this stage.

[Fingernail]

We seriously need to attract animators.

[oDDity]

WHat do you mean by 'generic professional guard' in that list? Are these different from the professional private guards and the professional city watch guards?

Are we having a house guard, a professional house guard and an elite house guard now?

[Springheel]

Professional guards are like your standard T2 guards. More proficient than house guards but not as good as elite guards. The city watch are one example but we need other versions for museums, mansions, etc. We might be able to retexture the city watch and give them different heads, I suppose.

[Macsen]

Are there going to be any children modelled? It would seem odd for me to make references to children in the campaign writeups if everyone in the City is over twenty.

[Fingernail]

search for the thread about killing children in the mod ... ¬¬

[Macsen]

search for the thread about killing children in the mod ... ¬¬

I can't find such a thread.

[Springheel]

We did plan on having children models, but they're near the bottom of the priority list. If they're not done before the toolset is released I doubt anyone would miss them.

[Macsen]

We could just use shrunken townsfolk models with slightly different textures.

[Springheel]

They've got different proportions than an adult, even shrunk. We'll only need one or two tops...how many children are out after dark in a medieval city anyway?

[Fingernail]

thousands, on the streets and selling themselves for SEX

 

OMG WE TACKLE RELEVANT SOCIAL ISSUES

[Macsen]

thousands, on the streets and selling themselves for SEX

 

OMG WE TACKLE RELEVANT SOCIAL ISSUES

:lol:

[oDDity]

Well, we'd need 2 ragged street urchins, girl and boy about 10 years, and a couple of noble kids as well.

[Springheel]

Guess it depends how much work you want to do. At 10, it would be easy to do a dirty ragged child that could be either a boy or girl. Is NH going to get child voice actors?

[New Horizon]

Guess it depends how much work you want to do. At 10, it would be easy to do a dirty ragged child that could be either a boy or girl. Is NH going to get child voice actors?

I can do that...or I know a few adult females who do voice work for children in cartoons.

[oDDity]

I can't find such a thread.

I was just saying that the reason you don't find kids in games much is becasue it rasies the contentious issue of being able to kill them, digital or not.

Most developers just want to stay away from the entire area of murdering children.

 

 

edit: THe only game I've played where you can murder children any time you like is Baldur's Gate, but that's a rather dissociated 3rd person isometric view, so you can hardly see anything. Doing it in a first person game with relaistic graphics would be something else.

Since you were so concerend with even mentioning abuse of children in concersations as it might 'put people off' I'm not sure what you'll think of being able to hack one to bits or put and arrow through their little head for a laugh.

Edited May 29, 2005 by oDDity

[sparhawk]

I can do that...or I know a few adult females who do voice work for children in cartoons.

I hope they really sound like kids and not like adults doing kids where everybody acts as if they really were sounding like kids.

 

On our local radio station there is a guy who calls people and taunting them with stories they think for real (don't know how to phrase that in english). Obviously you can do this only for so long until your voice becomes known, so now he started to act like a child. Before that was really good, but his child voice is exactly so that I always wonder how anybody could take him for a child and take his questions serious.

[sparhawk]

I was just saying that the reason you don't find kids in games much is becasue it rasies the contentious issue of being able to kill them, digital or not.

Most developers just want to stay away from the entire area of murdering children.

I don't think that this is really the reason. IMO the reason is, that there is simply no realistic place for them. It would add just additional modelwork for no gameplay benefits. If I look at games like D3, Star Wars, Painkiller or many others, it would be pretty unrelaistic to force children in there. In Thief it made sense in the villages because this were supposed to bvillages with normal people in there being slain, so there are bound to be kids as well. But on the city streets you don't see them at all, because there is no apparent reason for them to be there. Not to mention that the city streets are pretty empty anyway with a very limited number of models. And even if you walk out in the night you rarely see real kids, unless you might happen to go to special places. Don't know if you could really find them on the street though, because the police would be pretty fast routing them up.

[Ishtvan]

I would think when you'd break into some noble's mansion, and they had children, there would be a high chance of encountering children if you explored every room in the mansion.