Because of the large number of posts in this one, I decided to showcase models in another, more narrowly focused place. It will only be used for this, and there should be some new characters to showcase in the next couple weeks provided my model maker isn't busy with other projects (he gets to work at his convenience with an "I'm in no hurry" policy ).
I also have an animator/rigger who will begin work on animations sometime in March. Like the model maker, he will be extended the same no hassle/hurry courtesy, and I will showcase AVIs as I deem appropriate in the other thread. The test animations using "canned" animations were very nice, so I have high hopes for this part of the process. He has already been given a lengthy list of animations to work on (see below), so this should be fun.
Quote: base - just a standing pose walk run endrun - to play if player is running and then user completely stops moving..keeps the player from abruptly stopping idle1 - crossing arms while swaying a bit, perhaps a slight stance change, too idle2 - looking around by turning head idle3 - light up a cigarette, take a couple puffs, drop cigarette on ground and extinguish with foot
All of the following motions will use a "prop" or part of a level like stairs and doors. A standardized stair size, doorknob height, and the height for table tops and other surfaces will be used.
upstairs - ascending stairs downstairs - descending opendoor pickup - like picking something up off of a table sittingdown - in a chair standingup - from a chair sittinginchair takedrink - from a glass or bottle holdobject - forearm elevated putincoat - putting an object inside overcoat layonback - laying on a bed, head slightly propped up because of a pillow, legs/feet crossed, hands behind head
My next area of concern is overhauling the UI and save/load system. I have very rudimentary systems in place, and I may "outsource" the creation of the save/load system. I have already contacted one of our best programmers, and I will make a decision on outsourcing in the coming days. I hope to have a suitable UI by that time, as well. The plan is a minimal UI, so finding the perfect way is important.
Finally, as always I'm torn between implementing direct control vs. point and click using Intense Pathfinding. A compromise would be to implement both, however there are some minor issues with Intense P that would need to be addressed if that were to be used. The main issue is being able to click on non-horizontal surfaces and having the player walk to the nearest legal spot. At present, this can't be done, and Larry mentioned that perhaps this may be addressed after Intense X is out. I'm not going to base my entire control scheme on whether or not this happens, so direct control is the final choice for now. I will provide both character- and camera-relative options, so there should be something there for anyone.
Until next time..
My User Contributions master list - my initial post links are down but scroll down page to find list to active links
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