Animation Goals for Next Release (June 1st)

[Springheel]

NEW AI ANIMATIONS:

 

Items in red are high-level goals that definitely need to be done

Items in green are goals which are currently claimed or WIP

Crossed out items have been completed.

 

 

The following should be applied to at least 3 AI models: The citywatch, the builder guard, and the builder priest.

 

 

Combat

Use the idle_attack (or idle_sword, or whatever we're calling it) as the default pose.

 

3 attacks:

(while we may eventually want to create unique animations for different weapons, these first should be fairly generic sweeps that could work with either a sword or hammer)

slash from left to right at torso

slash from right to left (can we use the one that exists already?)

overhead slash

 

3 possible parries:

parry left

parry right

parry high

 

Placeholders exist for the above, but they need work to be ready for release.

 

 

Idle animations:

1. at least 3 simple animations for AI to do while idling, like scratching themselves, shifting their weight, cracking their knuckles, etc. (the more the merrier)

2. a 'hand warming' animation --ai holds out hands towards a fire to warm them (perhaps rubs them together)

3. A 'blessing' animation --ai makes the 'sign of the hammer' in the air with two fingers (sort of like drawing a cross in the air).

 

 

Other

 

walk_suspicious -- the slower walk an AI might do to go check out an odd noise (no weapon out).

 

 

REVISED AI ANIMATIONS

 

Fix or replace the following (see http://www.mindplaces.com/darkmod/animations.htm for more info):

 

idle_sword

idle_sit

itch

look_around ** do we replace this or just remove it? It is currently called in the code but I'm not sure it is needed.

pain

walk

walk_alert ** do we need this animation for anything?

sniff_arm

cough1

 

 

Apply any "in limbo" .fbx animations as needed.

[Springheel]

Let me know if what I've crossed off up there is not correct, but from what I read it seemed to me like those animations were completed.

[Domarius]

There is 4 of everything;

attack left

attack right

attack overhead

attack thrust

 

parry left

parry right

parry overhead

parry thrust

[Springheel]

I don't really need to know how many, just that they're done. Are they finished and exported?

[Domarius]

Yes the recent combat and parry related anims have been exported as you thought - I was just saying your list is incomplete there. It should look like this;

 

 

Combat (Full body) anims

attack left

attack right

attack overhead

attack thrust

 

parry left

parry right

parry overhead

parry thrust

 

Player (First person view) anims

attack left

attack right

attack overhead

attack thrust

 

parry left

parry right

parry overhead

parry thrust

[Springheel]

The list is a milestone for the next release, not a list of what people have done. We may conceivably do more than what is on the list, and that is fine.

[squill]

i'll do the walk_suspicious.

 

more idle animations are coming up. Although like i said before the idles don't always play the way we animate them because of the random idle movements played on top of the torso/head, which causes odd movements. Greebo said before it's complicated to change the code, but is this going to be changed for the next milestone?

 

i'll redo the sit/standup animation i made before. It currently has some issues with the head.

 

a new task would be applying these animations to the other ai. I'll add the maya rig from the citywatch to the priest and builder guard to be able to use character sets and exchange animations.

[greebo]

Greebo said before it's complicated to change the code, but is this going to be changed for the next milestone?

It's not too complicated, it's definitely solveable. It's on the bugtracker already and I will do it sooner or later. Don't let yourself stop just because the code doesn't use it perfectly yet.

 

Thanks for doing the animations, I can only repeat myself.

[Springheel]

a new task would be applying these animations to the other ai. I'll add the maya rig from the citywatch to the priest and builder guard to be able to use character sets and exchange animations.

 

I'm pretty sure the builder priest already uses the same skeleton as the citywatch and shares the same animations (though many have not been exported). The builder guard may need to be rerigged.

 

I guess we'll need a "draw from back" animation for the citywatch rig--currently it only has a "draw from hip" animation. Don't know if the builder one will be useable once the rig changes.

[squill]

I'm pretty sure the builder priest already uses the same skeleton as the citywatch and shares the same animations (though many have not been exported). The builder guard may need to be rerigged.

 

It's not just only for exporting but also being able to tweak some animations to fit the other characters. Although they share the same skeleton there are small differences, like in idle the feet are closer together etc. That's what i encountered when i did some export tests for the builder priest/guard.

 

i'll have to create the same anim rigs for the builder_gaurd/priest because if we want to make these small changes i can't just for example apply existing animations that i created with the last citywatch anim rig to the priest rig/skeleton. I will soon add a section on the wiki about characters sets which explains the sharing of animations between the anim rigs in Maya.

[Springheel]

I will soon add a section on the wiki about characters sets which explains the sharing of animations between the anim rigs in Maya.

 

Ok, that would be great. There is still a lot I don't understand about sharing animations between different meshes.

[Domarius]

Cool - I wonder if that would have helped me with the idle_scuff anim I just got into the game. The problem was it was from an older version of the elite citywatch, and although I could merge the fbx anim with the current fbx rig, the pauldrons sucked into his shoulders, and the weird thing is I can't move them around independantly like I used to on the old rig (I guess so that they move with the arms, which is a good thing in the long run.)

 

As it was, it was such a short animation that I just re-animated it and copied it visually from the old one (kept two copies of motion builder open ) but if it was a much longer anim I'd have been screwed.

[Domarius]

I nab the "hand warming" anim, going to do that now.

[Domarius]

I've added the warming hands one to the game.

[Domarius]

It would be good to know what each of the anims in this list are for - eg. the attack and parry are needed for Ish to work on combat, etc.

 

If I had have known the warm hands one was only meant as an idle, I would have raised the issue that you need a fire stim, and done a different anim instead - one where he just rubs his hands together and blows on them.

[Springheel]

If I had have known the warm hands one was only meant as an idle, I would have raised the issue that you need a fire stim, and done a different anim instead - one where he just rubs his hands together and blows on them.

 

We don't need one of him rubbing his hands together (although any idle animations you want to make are welcome).

 

What you did for the rubbing hands is exactly what was needed.

[Domarius]

Oh ok - as I said in the other thread - whew

[Springheel]

Ok, this list needs to be updated a bit to reflect the new rig and the combat attachment system. I'll have to test out some animations--any animation that moves the sword joint to the hand will have to be redone.

 

In the meantime, here are some things that need to be done for sure:

 

 

1. Combat animations need to be improved. The current placeholders are fine for testing, but they'll need to be updated for release.

 

2. Draw from back/Sheath on back. We'll need a generic, right-handed "Draw Weapon From Back" animation. Doesn't need to be anything fancy, just a reach back and grab, and then perhaps go to combat_idle. Playing it in reverse would be fine for a "sheath on back" animation.

 

3. Crossbow animations. I didn't think that firing a bow was appropriate for builder guards, so I've made a repeating crossbow model. It will require a few new animations, however.

 

1. Crossbow_idle (to replace alert_idle) -- the AI is walking with crossbow out, held loosely in front of him with two hands (like a gun, basically). (something like: http://seagrant.uaf.edu/news/02ASJ/images/tessler.jpg )

 

2. Crossbow_attack -- AI raises crossbow, aims, and fires. http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/774/193405.JPG

 

3. Crossbow_reload (not strictly necessary, but if time permits) from crossbow_attack position, AI moves right hand up and pulls lever on crossbow to load new bolt.

 

Whoever takes on the crossbow ones will need to confer with me so we can work out the right attachment offset/rotation for the crossbow itself.

[Domarius]

If combat is on it's way, I'd like to update the combat anims once there is some rudimentry combat in place. Once I can see how they're being used I can come up with something more suitable. Eg. do they need to be quick, or can they blend...

 

So I could do the other anims before them.