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Topic: Soldier / Battle Animations

Gannaf

Joined: 2010-06-22, 00:10
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Posted at: 2010-10-28, 20:58

This guy looks great! In my opinion, the brush has gotten a bit too small now, lets say + 10-15 % restored radius? ;) Would it be possible to make him wear sandals, or is the scale too low to make it visable? Just for some more Roman influence face-wink.png


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chuckw
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Posted at: 2010-10-28, 23:36

The empire battle animations are complete and pushed to trunk in rev# 5611. face-smile.png

I feel an explanation of the empire soldier's (shall we say...) "unique" spear handling may be in order.

First, there is only one set of evasion animations for a successful or a failed evasion attempt. That means all of the soldiers (i.e. from every tribe) must react the same way to an attack regardless of the weapon their attacker is using. The barbarians use a battle axe and strike from above, so all evasions must be designed for an attack from above.

The empire's weapon is of course the lance. Now usually the lance is a thrusting weapon. However, the only evasion the soldiers have is to fend off a strike from above. So, the empire lance must be relegated to the status of a glorified "club". (The atlantean trident will have the same limitations placed upon it.) This is okay in my estimation, we agreed that graphic violence must avoided. The soldiers' fighting tactics of alternately clubbing one another, regardless of the weapon in hand, adds a bit of humor and IMHO is a good statement of our general position on armed conflict.

So, with that said, I present to you the new empire soldier model.

A successful evasionEmp_evaok The wind up...Emp_atk1... then he lowers the boom! Emp_atk2

Edited: 2010-10-28, 23:52

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chuckw
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Posted at: 2010-10-28, 23:46

Gannaf wrote: This guy looks great!

Thanks! face-smile.png

In my opinion, the brush has gotten a bit too small now, lets say + 10-15 % restored radius?

I wish that I had seen your request earlier, but I've just completed a full day of rendering the battle animations. So, what you see is what you get, (at least for today.) face-smile-big.png

Would it be possible to make him wear sandals, or is the scale too low to make it visable? Just for some more Roman influence

Have you seen the leg straps on the other empire workers? I rest my case. face-grin.png

Thanks again for your comments, tho.

Keep 'em coming!

Edited: 2010-10-28, 23:53

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chuckw
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Posted at: 2010-10-29, 00:12

Here is some grist for WiHack 2010:

My testing of the new battle animations has uncovered another feature!

When a soldier is "waiting in line" to get his chance to slug it out with the enemy, the "idle" animation is played... well,... sometimes.

If the soldier is waiting to attack, the animation runs in its entirety and loops successfully (every 2 seconds in the case of the empire soldier, for example).

However, if a soldier is waiting to DEFEND, it appears as though only the first frame of animation is played.

Curious... Check it out while you are monitoring the new action. face-smile-big.png


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chuckw
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Posted at: 2010-10-29, 21:38

There is a little story behind the model I came up with for the Atlantean soldier.

I was casting around for ideas for the Atlantean soldier and was thinking along the lines of a Phoenician look when I remmbered a Blender model I had seen in our archives. Here is a look at it:

Alexia_soldier

I'm fairly confident that my predecessor "Death" may have been the artist behind it, so I wanted to base my model on her groundwork as an homage.

And here is the look I came up with

Atl_SE Atl_SW Atl_E Atl_NE Atl_NW Atl_W

I wanted, also, to echo some of the theme of the Atlantean style and economy. You'll notice the emblem on the shield whose border and also the tassle on the helmet are in player color. The mailshirt is woven gold (actually a special alloy for strength) ;). The crystal necklace was a last minute decsision. It may hint at a feminine touch and possibly female warriors... hmmm?

Well, for what it is worth, this is the model as it now stands.

Here are some clips from within the game engine: Atl01 Atl02 Atl03 Atl04

I'm going to start on the battle animations, so if there are any major issues with my approach, better let me know right away. I'd like to complete the battle animations in time for the tournament final. (That's what I'm aiming for anyway.) face-wink.png

The walking animations have been pushed to launchpad trunk rev# 5613. Take a look!

Comments please. face-smile.png

Edited: 2010-10-29, 22:11

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SirVer

Joined: 2009-02-19, 15:18
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Posted at: 2010-10-29, 22:12

Looks beautiful to my puny eyes. About your requests: I am waiting for a newcomer who can do them; it is a good start into the code.


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chuckw
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Posted at: 2010-10-29, 22:19

SirVer wrote: Looks beautiful to my puny eyes.

Thanks. We aim to please! face-wink.png

About your requests: I am waiting for a newcomer who can do them; it is a good start into the code.

Happy to give YOU work for a change. face-grin.png

Now, for me, it's back to WiHack 2010 Reloaded - West. face-smile-big.png


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Venatrix
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Joined: 2010-10-05, 20:31
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Posted at: 2010-10-29, 23:01

I didn't have a look in the game, but from the view of the clips I would say the tridents are a bit heavy. I imagine the Atlanteans as a "noble" tribe, so the tridents should be more subtle (I hope that's the right word for what I mean). It's not always size that matters face-grin.png

And black is a strange colour if you compare it with the weapons of the other tribes. But that could be wanted, for they are different…


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chuckw
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Posted at: 2010-10-29, 23:12

Venatrix wrote: I didn't have a look in the game, but from the view of the clips I would say the tridents are a bit heavy. I imagine the Atlanteans as a "noble" tribe, so the tridents should be more subtle (I hope that's the right word for what I mean). It's not always size that matters And black is a strange colour if you compare it with the weapons of the other tribes. But that could be wanted, for they are different…

I literally pulled the trident off the wall of the weaponsmithy model. face-smile.png

Some exaggeration of "utensils" like tools and weapons is needed or they get lost due to the scale of the game engine, and it's REALLY obvious in the large photos, but I'll play with the "girth" and coloring of the trident to enhance its "nobility". face-smile-big.png

Thanks for your comments!

Edited: 2010-10-29, 23:16

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chuckw
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Posted at: 2010-10-30, 07:03

The soldier animations are COMPLETE in time for the Widelands 2010 Tournament Finals!!!

The complete set of worker and soldier animations can now be found in Launchpad Trunk rev# 5614.


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