An idea for easy dismembrement implementation

[Skree]

Or at least, i think/hope it would be easy.

As others have already stated, calculating dismembrement is difficult for the CPU, and even more difficult to implement a system wich makes them look realistic enough.

Then... here's my two cents of an idea.

Let's make different death animation for different degree of damage.

I'll explain:

Enemy has 4HP left, you hit him for 6HP.

Blunt damage: he falls on the ground, moves for a while, then stays still
Cut Damage: he brings his hands on his chest, then falls on knees, then on ground
Piercing damage: he brings his hands on his abdomen, leaning, then same as cut

Enemy has 5HP left, you hit him for 20HP

Blunt: he falls violently on the ground and stays still
Cut: he brings his hands on his neck, blood going all over, then falls on the ground
Piercing: same as above

Enemy has 5HP, you hit him for 50 damage

BLunt: he flies a short distance away, a meter or two, and stays still
Cut: beheading
Piercing: same as blunt, with blood, slightly less distance

You make a one hit one kill blow to an enemy of 80 or more damage
Blunt: enemy flies a LONG distance away
Cut: cut in half
Piercing: same as blunt, with blood, slightly less distance

What do you think about this system to create a bit of variety on death animations without (i hope) too much difficulty for Armagan?

 

[Tiedye]

As has been noted before, any sort of dismemberment would probably require a total rewrite of the engine, and would up the system requirements considerably. Not to mention the insane number of new animations that would be required. Armagan's wife (Ipek?) already seems to have enough work cut out for her, what with the buildings needing work, women's bodies being a little odd, and possibly inertia-based attack animations.

I seriously doubt we're going to see any sort of dismemberment in M&B.

 

[Skree]

As has been noted before, any sort of dismemberment would probably require a total rewrite of the engine, and would up the system requirements considerably. Not to mention the insane number of new animations that would be required. Armagan's wife (Ipek?) already seems to have enough work cut out for her, what with the buildings needing work, women's bodies being a little odd, and possibly inertia-based attack animations.

I seriously doubt we're going to see any sort of dismemberment in M&B.

Swell... no.

In-game models are made of several pieces put togheter. The head, the chest, the arm, the lower leg, upper leg. All those, to allow animation, are already "separated entities", although we see them as one because they are put togheter to form a single body.

It's like a wooden puppet, it is made of several pieces of wood put togheter in order to resemble a human shape.

This said, programming DYNAMIC dismembrement, wich takes into account *everything*, that would be a real pain in the ass.

Scripted dismembrement, though, is another matter... in a situation like

IF------>THEN there needs to be done just a bunch of anymations, not writing a physical system like the havok or anything like that.

And it, at least on paper, isn't overwhelmingly difficult to tell the engine to "make that head fly in that arc".

Moreover... i don't know if you actually took the time to read what i wrote, but dismembrement was contemplated in TWO of nine animations, and i don't consider it even that important, to say the truth. More important is to make so that when a char dies, at least he dies a convincing death... IF everyone has the same death animation is not very "good", relating to death animations and not to the overall game of course.

And, as i said, it shouldn't be something outrageously difficult to do. And making death animantions relate to the killing blow *would* add to the game, not detract from it

EDIT: from what little i do know of mechanical procedures, the process to do so would be:

-Make limb no longer part of the complete model, making it appear as a separate entity, and disappear from the body. At the very first frame of animation there would be no noticeable change

-Tell the engine to move the body and the separate limb in specific direction, all scripted and precalculated, nothing dynamic

-End Anim, with the head/limb lying near the main body

It is possible, there is no doubt about this, its just if those in charge consider this... "polishing" a necessary thing to do or not. I, for what little it could count, consider this as something like... uhm...

"A good addition wich would benefit the game, but not a VITAL thing to do".

I mean, if there are different death animations it will be good, but if there won't be... well... it's the main game wich is important, of course.

It's just the thing wich could make the difference from a B to a B+, though, if you get my meaning. M&B *is* a good game, i refuse to think armagan could make it become a bad game, but... well, anything can be made better.

 

[Tiedye]

Alright, alright, I was too harsh. I was tired of all the posts begging for dismemberment, and took it out on the one that actually had something new (or even intelligent?) to say on the subject. My bad, Skree.

 

[Skree]

Alright, alright, I was too harsh. I was tired of all the posts begging for dismemberment, and took it out on the one that actually had something new (or even intelligent?) to say on the subject. My bad, Skree.

nah, it's not a problem, really. No offense taken

It's just, well... it "wounded" me to be thought of as one of the "gee, i want to tear them limb from limb! it's cool! it's berserker like!"