Wanted: Simple Skeleton Ragdoll

[SneaksieDave]

How easy is it to setup a ragdoll model (not a full AI)? This post isn't about a skeleton AI (though that would be very cool...) but just the ragdoll. So mappers can put them in sarcophagi, or pose them in a throne, or at a dining table.

 

I took a quick look at the env_ragdolls in DEFs, but a quick swapping of some values to try and do it real quick didn't work (even crashed doom ), so I thought I'd ask those who know rather than waste a bunch of time reinventing the wheel. So it's either a request to do it if it's easy enough, or tell me how.

 

I figured I/we can replace the bloody red id texture on the existing skeleton with a bleached white bone skin and there we go. Instant pose-able old dead person.

 

Edit: maybe I should've put this in programming.

[Springheel]

I figured I/we can replace the bloody red id texture on the existing skeleton with a bleached white bone skin and there we go. Instant pose-able old dead person.

 

That would be worth doing...was on my list but I won't be getting to it anytime soon. Talk to Ish about how he set up the corpses for our models, because it should essentially be the same process.

[sparhawk]

As far as I remember, he posed them with our grabber, and then there is a command which you can use to bake the position to a file. He mentioned it in one of the public threads. Probably the gag reel thread. The one he posted the Benny images in.

[SneaksieDave]

Sweet! Nevermind.

 

env->ragdoll_skeleton

 

I guess this is why Ishtvan set it up this way, he was following id's layout. I really must sit down and go through every id Doom3 resource someday. There is quite a bit useful to be found, I'm sure.

 

With the hardest part done (getting the right model found and accepted), I can probably handle the rest, I hope. Will let you know soon.

[Springheel]

We should get the same thing going with our zombies as well. If we get zombie, ghoul, and skeleton, we've basically covered every stage of decay.

[SneaksieDave]

Anyone know how/where these guys are set to nonsolid? I have him in and frobable, but he's currently a walk-over type of obstacle. Our ragdolls don't do that, but they're not defined with that behavior in the entitydef, so I guess it must be lower (guard_base doesn't seem to be it either).

 

Back to searching...

[sparhawk]

Only recommendation I give is to look at the inherit keyword and go backwards through that. That's why I said it would be very usufull to have this hierarchy parameters shown in darkradiant, because it can be very annyoing to track this down. Maybe Orb can add this to his list of todos.

[Springheel]

Don't know if you found this already, but I just happened across the entitydefs for the af skeletons in gibs.def.

[SneaksieDave]

Yep, that's where I got his base definition. I haven't tracked down the solid-ness issue yet, but I stopped a little while ago in favor of getting the rest done, and waiting to see if Ishtvan knows (I'm betting he does). Other than that, this guy's done.

 

In the meantime, someone wants to dance for everyone.

[Crispy]

Heh, heh. Nice video.

 

I made an animation of a skeleton dancing the macarena for a school project a couple of years ago... fun fun.

[sparhawk]

LOL. Nice video. Poor chap was so exhausted that he fell on his face at the end.

[SneaksieDave]

Ishtvan: any idea/suggestions on the solid ragdoll thing before I submit?

[Ishtvan]

Anyone know how/where these guys are set to nonsolid? I have him in and frobable, but he's currently a walk-over type of obstacle. Our ragdolls don't do that, but they're not defined with that behavior in the entitydef, so I guess it must be lower (guard_base doesn't seem to be it either).

 

Back to searching...

I think it's contents need to be set to CONTENTS_CORPSE to do what you want.

 

The clipmodel_contents spawnarg lets you do this, but again you have to convert the bit flag to an int when you convert it, 2^<whatever bit CONTENTS_CORPSE is>.

 

If that's not the default Id behavor, I must have had to set that on those corpses I added, so you could look for clipmodel_contents key on them.

[SneaksieDave]

Hmm. Maybe I'm doing it in the wrong spot? I added:

	"clipmodel_contents"			"1024" // CONTENTS_CORPSE

 

To the

entityDef atdm:env_ragdoll_skeleton

 

Didn't work, he's still a solid object. All the existing atdm:env_ragdolls seem to work. Is that as a result of inheriting from AI, or is there something missing here?

[Ishtvan]

I was wrong, you can't actually set the clipmodel contents on the entitydef like that when it's an AF entity. With AF's, it's set up in the .AF file.

 

Well here's your problem!

 

In /af/env_skeleton.af

articulatedFigure env_skeleton {

settings 
{
model "env_ragdoll_skeleton"
// ...
contents corpse, playerclip
clipMask solid, body, corpse
// ...
}

 

In our version of env_skeleton.af (in darkmod/af... hope that's a CVS file and not just an experiment I was trying), the contents key is set to corpse, playerclip, so it's explicitly set so that it's solid to the player.

 

You'll have to go through and change the contents to just corpse, like our guard_base.af.

 

I think each body inherits the contents from that setting in "settings" if it's not explicitly set, so it may be possible to change it to "contents corpse" once in the "settings" and then delete all the contents lines in the AF bodies. If that doesn't work, you'll have to change "contents corpse playerclip" to "contents corpse" everywhere it appears.

 

Also, the clipmask, which defines what it bumps into vs. what bumps into it, should also probably be changed to remove the "body" part but leave in everything else. I.e., replace "clipMask solid, body corpse" with "clipMask solid, corpse".

[SneaksieDave]

I always appreciate a Mythbusters reference. Yep, seems like that worked, thanks for the detailed assistance. What's this AF file for, if we didn't have the ragdoll skeleton before now? Hope it has no other effects; I changed each reference.

 

I'll upload this guy next time I sync up. In the meantime, did you hear on the news??

Fox News: Haunt arrested for unnecessary use of force as crowd control at a concert.

Frankly, I think they're exaggerating. It was clearly an accident.

[Crispy]

Ragdolls never get old.

[ascottk]

Heh made my day

[Ishtvan]

Hehe, nice. Brings back memories of breakdancin' enviro suit guy. I just watched the earlier one btw, nice choice of music. I don't got a gat but I got a solderin' gun!

 

I'm not sure why that file was on CVS, maybe someone tried overloading it before for something? Most of our TDM AI use guard_base.af that Odd originally put together.

[SneaksieDave]

Okay, atdm:env_ragdoll_skeleton should be on SVN now. It's my first SVN commit, so let me know if I screwed something up. You should be able to place him like any other env ragdoll, frob highlight, pick up and drop, etc.

[sparhawk]

You can simple delete the files and check them out again. Then you can see for yourself wether everything works.