Player Model

[sparhawk]

Oddity, when can we expect to get Daerek's player model ingame? I think this would certainly help in many cases, if we could get it.

[SneaksieDave]

I gotta admit, that never gets old.

[oDDity]

Daerek's player model will never be in game, but Farrell's can be in as soon as you like.

I can just knock up a low poly version without bothering to texture at this stage. I guess it just the dimensions of the model itself you need.

[sparhawk]

That would be ok. Daerek will be happy, when he sees his new body.

[oDDity]

WHat animations are needed for the player model at this stage.

[Ishtvan]

We'll need at least walk, run, creep, crouch-walk, crouch-run, crouch-creep. Doing the different movement speeds might be tricky though, because I think if you look at a mirror, the player will appear to be gliding or moon-walking if the animation of the feet doesn't move at the same rate the player is sliding. However, we haven't finalized those movement rates yet, so I'm not sure what to do about that.

[sparhawk]

And leaning would also be good.

[Gildoran]

The way Warcraft 3 handles that, is that the movement speed of the animation is stored. Then you play the animation with time scaled by a factor of (current move speed)/(animation move speed). You'd probably still want to come up with different animations for different speeds, but it would allow you to come up with animations for when the player is moving slightly slower/faster than normal.

[oDDity]

Leaning? WHat knid of thing is that to say?

Leaning can mean one of a 100 actions. LEaning around a corner for example is a specifc complex action.

We're goign to need more of a generic lean.

Draw an arc from above and the back and the side of what sort of movement you want he player's head to make in the lean.

Is this going to be used for the first person lean movement?

I can't help seeing these animations as a lot of work for nothing, considering they're only going to be glimsed very rarely in an occasional mirror.

[sparhawk]

They are also used as a reference for the camera, even in first person. And for the shadow.

[Springheel]

We may also want to allow AI to lean, right? So we could always just reuse animations for the player model, since they don't have to be particularly unique.

[oDDity]

For camera reference and shadow they don't have to be very refined. Blocking in the intial animation is quick, but refining it to a finished animation takes 80% of the total time, and it's really only for mirrors that a refined animation is needed.

SO is the camera going to be attatched to the player model's head or what?

How will the lean animation affect the first person view?

 

I'm not sure what this animation is supposed to look like, becasue leaning is performed against a wall at a corner or around a pillar etc, you dont' lean while standing in the middle of a room.

There is no generic leaning action, it depends on the circumstances.

[sparhawk]

Doesn't really matter. Just a bend at the waist forward, left and right would suffice. We don't really need some fancy leaning tricks.

[oDDity]

Ok I did a basic verison of Farrell, it's not finished, he doesn't have any normals maps or finished textures but it will do for some animation tests.

[sparhawk]

Great! I'm sure the poeple will love Daerek.

[god_is_my_goldfish]

Ok I did a basic verison of Farrell, it's not finished, he doesn't have any normals maps or finished textures but it will do for some animation tests.

 

That already looks great odd

 

(and I actually am warming up to the name Farrell)

[oDDity]

Some idea of scale. Like I said he's a small weasel of a man, probably quite acrobatic.

[Fingernail]

oh god don't make him a midget!

[Macsen]

He's like a tiny Chinese trapeze artist. I don't mind Farrell, but what about Farrow? Or Cathaoir!

 

Anything but Daerek.

[oDDity]

He's 5' 7". That's hardly a midget. A midget has to be under 4 foot.

The elite guards are an heroic 6'5" so he looks small next to one.

[SneaksieDave]

Damn, that elite guard is one big mofo.

 

Maybe a tad tiny, the thief. How about another couple of inches, so that we look down into the eyes of yon fair maiden?

 

 

Edit: BTW, the lady is looking better even than I remembered, wow.

[Fingernail]

or just make the Thief 5'9 or something and make the guard only 6'3 - that's more realistic, at least.

[Macsen]

He's 5' 7". That's hardly a midget. A midget has to be under 4 foot.

The elite guards are an heroic 6'5" so he looks small next to one.

That's pretty tiny, shorter than my mother.

 

Dors me being 6'2" make me heroic?

[oDDity]

Depends what size your muscles are. I'm also 6' 2".

There's nothing at all unusual about the heights of 5' 7" and 6' 5".

I see men those heights any day I walk through town.

Small, light and wirey is the perfect build for a thief. He has all sorts of climbing and clambering and abseiling and rope climbing and sqeezing in and out of nooks and crannies to do.

[Subjective Effect]

5'8" at the smallest I say. Anything under that is short.