Sheathe Animation

[Ishtvan]

I don't see a "sheathe weapon" anim in any of the def files, so currently there's no way for AI to put their sword away when they de-alert, since re-attaching the sword to the hip will be done in an animation with a frame command.

 

I know at some alert levels they'll keep their sword out forever afterwards, but I thought there were still alerts where they can draw their sword, then sheathe it again after a while if they find nothing. So it seems like we need this animation.

[squill]

I don't see a "sheathe weapon" anim in any of the def files, so currently there's no way for AI to put their sword away when they de-alert, since re-attaching the sword to the hip will be done in an animation with a frame command.

 

I know at some alert levels they'll keep their sword out forever afterwards, but I thought there were still alerts where they can draw their sword, then sheathe it again after a while if they find nothing. So it seems like we need this animation.

 

i'll can set something up.

[Springheel]

If you're going to make one from scratch, Squill, I'd recommend a "sheath on back" one. We need one of those for St. Lucia anyway--none of the St. Lucia AI will wear a weapon on their hips.

[Ishtvan]

Yeah I forgot to mention, if we don't already have a "draw from back" animation, that would be good to have for the Builders, too.

[squill]

i've setup a quick rough sword sheathe animation for the builders. I'll work the movements further out this week.

 

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[Springheel]

Looks promising, although it seems like he's reaching awfully far across to his left side. The handle of the hammer would stick out over his right shoulder, so he should be reaching back more directly.

 

More like this:

[New Horizon]

Yeah, the hand should be further right of the Ai's head.

[Ishtvan]

Cool, let me know when it's ready and I can put it in the code (although I might need help from Greebo & Angua if it's somewhere in the AI code).

[greebo]

No problem, let me know when it's ready. I don't find the above animation bad at all, I'd use it right away.

[squill]

i watched the builder guard model in model_src on which the hammer was sticking out on the leftside, so he would have to reach over his left shoulder or behind his head to grab the handle.

 

but if it's on his right side it's no problem for me to change this, it's even easier and also looks nicer. The upperarm clipping thru the right shoulder pad is difficult to avoid.

 

No problem, let me know when it's ready. I don't find the above animation bad at all, I'd use it right away.

 

when i'm home i'll upload a version to work with.

[Springheel]

i watched the builder guard model in model_src on which the hammer was sticking out on the leftside, so he would have to reach over his left shoulder or behind his head to grab the handle.

 

Someone obviously didn't think that one through.

 

You can check out a builder guard in-game to see basically where the handle will be, though it doesn't have to match exactly. The same animation will be used to draw bows or other back-sheathed weapons.

[squill]

i've uploaded the md5anim.

 

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[Springheel]

Yeah, that seems much better.

[Dram]

Nice

 

I like how his leg angles out too, nice subtlety.

[greebo]

The sheathe anim is now on the builder guard. At frame 20 he reattaches his hammer to the position on the back. Check it out by alerting them and letting them search a bit.

 

Btw: do we have a "hammer_draw" too? It probably can be the reverse of the above - right now the builder guards draws from his hips.

[Ishtvan]

We didn't have a draw when I last set up the Builder, I think we need one.

 

By the way, are they actually drawing the weapon when they go into the cautious alert pose, or is that done the Old Way with the sword joint? Reason I ask is, it doesn't drop from their hand when they're killed/KO'd in that position, it just stays there like they've got a death grip, so I think that means the code might not be registering it as drawn?

[greebo]

I think the walk cautious has the sword joint somewhere else (not on the hips), so this might be anim-controlled. Should be fixed as well as time permits.

[squill]

Btw: do we have a "hammer_draw" too? It probably can be the reverse of the above - right now the builder guards draws from his hips.

 

we don't have one but i'll create this as well.

 

I think the walk cautious has the sword joint somewhere else (not on the hips), so this might be anim-controlled. Should be fixed as well as time permits.

 

the cautious walk has the joint on the hips, i'll move it on his back for the builder guard.

[greebo]

we don't have one but i'll create this as well.

the cautious walk has the joint on the hips, i'll move it on his back for the builder guard.

Ok, maybe I was misremembering then. I seemed to recall that one of these anims had the sword automatically attached to the citywatch's hand, even if no draw anim has been played before.

 

Anyway, these joints can generally stay where they are now, as the weapons are dynamically re-attached from one joint to the other during the draw/sheathe anims. You can leave the sword joint on the hips, I think.

[Springheel]

Yes, the sword joint is really not needed any longer.

 

We should be clear about our alert states, however. I don't know if I have the terms right either, but there should be a "suspicious walk" where the AI is barely alerted but enough to walk towards the stimulus a bit. The AI would not draw his weapon for this state. During the "active searching" movement, the weapon would be drawn. There would also be an "alerted walk" where the AI goes back to his normal patrol but keeps his weapon out (I'm not sure the last one has an animation yet, though the normal walk could be used in a pinch).

[Ishtvan]

I think there are a few different things that could be wrong, causing them not to drop the hammer in the cautious walk with weapon out:

1. Weapon mesh hasn't been removed from the anim (I thought it was removed from all, but you never know)

 

2. Weapon not actually "drawn" in the code, i.e., draw animation is not played, weapon drawn boolean is not set, so they don't know to drop it when they KO/die

 

While being on the sword joint could be a problem, I don't think it's what's causing this problem, because in the def file we've already told it to never attach the weapon to the sword joint. The only way that could explain it was if the weapon mesh was still in the animation AND it's on the sword joint, but in that case they would have two hammers all of a sudden (one in hand and one still undrawn on their back). So it seems like maybe #2 is the culprit?

[squill]

hmm.. i've checked if they redraw the hammer after countless times of trying to get passed the guards in the saintlucia (they are too hard to sneak by or out run them )

 

but all i see them do is keeping the hammer in one hand after returning to a patrol. I find the cautious walk looking odd (legs too far apart) but that's because it was made on the citywatch. It's also feels very slow, was the speed slowed down for the cautious walk?

[Springheel]

Once they reach combat alert, they *should* keep their hammer out as they walk around.

[angua]

I find the cautious walk looking odd (legs too far apart) but that's because it was made on the citywatch. It's also feels very slow, was the speed slowed down for the cautious walk?

I also think they are too slow, the search and the suspicious walk anims were sped up on the citywatch using these in the def:

 

"anim_rate_walk_suspicious" "1.8"

"anim_rate_search" "1.8"

 

We can do the same for the builder guards, I don't know of any problems with this method.

[Ishtvan]

Once they reach combat alert, they *should* keep their hammer out as they walk around.

True, and with the current setup using reattach, they will do that until their mind tells them to play the sheath animation and sheath the weapon. We may however need modified animations for walking around with the hammer out so that it doesn't look silly clipping into themselves.

 

@Crispy: Do you think it would be possible to modify your attachment-based animation-replacement system so that it's sensitive to what position the object is attached to? I.e., sword attached to position "slung_across_back" doesn't need to replace animations, but sword attached to position "hand_r" would have to replace some.