Action Extravaganza Electric Boogaloo 2.0 [NO BOOSTING]

[Shogi]

I dunno about that. That's essentially 5 character models that have to fit together. I was just talking about little things that can just be attached to the skeleton.

[Vino]

Guys there is no way we're doing character customization. That's soooo much work. You want to either do it well or not do it and I vote not do it.

[bryt]

how complicated would this be:
5 base heads
5 base bodies
5 different colors for the bodies
==

125 types

would this be too much?

-changing heads is not too much work from the rigging end, but its not nothing either.
-changing bodies is a bit more involved. each body has to be rig-weighted for animation properly. there are ways to streamline and simplify this process a bit, but those methods break down fast when you introduce unique styles of complex geometry that would need to blend between joints. simply put, unique geometry is a lot easier to deal with if it can be "hard" weighted to a single bone (like a helmet that sticks to the head... as apposed to a Ammo sling with solid bullet objects in it getting strapped across the torso). its not impossible to deal with but it takes time (and potentially more bones) which can complicate the process when trying to focus on better quality animation. 5 models is reasonable as long as we aren't expecting a lot of unique animation attributes for each model (stuff like a trench coat with cloth dynamics, baggy vs fitted clothes, and hardsurface objects on attached to clothing material, like clips/grenades/etc). The more variety we introduce between our models, the more work it will be. The more similar they are in basic silhouette attributes and surface qualities, the easier it is to deal with and thus more can be done with less time invested.
-color changes are cheap assuming you have people willing to do the texture work, with only the possible complication of additional shader work.

edit: i'm with Vino on this one. i think 2 player models and possible color alts is enough to bank on right now. more can always be introduced later if there are people willing to do the work. we should focus on making the two models we start with as cool and uniquely contrasting as we can (within limits). my personal vote would be for a gangster pimp character and a commando Arnold type character. these could easily be repurposed with new color alts and equipment attachments to give them very player-based unique styles in-game.

[Hadji|DP]

5 models is reasonable as long as we aren't expecting a lot of unique animation attributes for each model (stuff like a trench coat with cloth dynamics, baggy vs fitted clothes, and hardsurface objects on attached to clothing material, like clips/grenades/etc).

I was thinking more of the lines along this, but between the choice of doing it well vs. not doing it at all, doing it well means taking time away from the more important things (game mechanics, weapons, etc). I've never been one for aesthetics, so not doing it all is just a better route for all parties involved.

[Grunty]

CAPE PHYSICS
I WANT CAPES
CAAAAAAAPEEEEEEEES

(should just take the Batman: AA model and port it to the game)

[ThinRedPaste]

capes are lame, but we do need trench coats, ties, and suit jackets.

[Antagonist]

Holy shit okay. This game looks like it already has a lot of the shit we have been talking about. It's more of a Tactical Timesplitters, so it's not really comparable but the loadout system looks solid. Also look for the "blinding powder" upgrade. That looks kind of like what we discussed that melee could have.

LOOK AT IT

[Grunty]

Holy shit, i just thought of something
What if you could use the environment to your damage?
Sort of like how Crysis 2 does the power kicks with cars and HL2 Deathmatch with gravity gun and objects.
Except it's using the players kick ability

Like there are barrels and tables on the map, people can kick those barrels around with fu and it can damage anyone who gets hit by it.
Tables can be kicked down to provide cover, etc
If there is sand on the map, people can kick sand in other people's faces and their screen will be temporarily covered in splotches of sand making it hard to see

[TheOtherChris]

Holy shit, i just thought of something
What if you could use the environment to your damage?
Sort of like how Crysis 2 does the power kicks with cars and HL2 Deathmatch with gravity gun and objects.
Except it's using the players kick ability

Like there are barrels and tables on the map, people can kick those barrels around with fu and it can damage anyone who gets hit by it.
Tables can be kicked down to provide cover, etc
If there is sand on the map, people can kick sand in other people's faces and their screen will be temporarily covered in splotches of sand making it hard to see

Not to mention dead players (flatly lying and fresh, falling corpses) into others. Or guns to team mates.

[Semertzides]

Useless feature that'll never be used.

And i didn't know sand in your eyes = Splotches of sand in your vision. More like closing your eyes, followed by severe eye burn followed by tears.

[misanq]

Sounds like someone needs a hug.

[Shogi]

Yeah, misan must be pretty familiar with sand.

[Vino]

While I was at ECGC I had to man my table most of the time, but I managed to spot a few neat things from the unreal university. One thing was that it's pretty damn easy to make destructables, it's all controllable by the artist. The other thing is that cloth physics are already built into UDK so making trenchcoats and that sort of thing should be fairly easy. Still not going to look at that for the first version for simplicity's sake, but it should make things a lot easier to do for later on.

[Shogi]

Fuck yeah. Get any good action?

[Vino]

Are you asking me if I got laid?

... no

But I did have the game playable at my table and everybody who stopped by had a lot of fun playing it. We gave out lots of free copies and tons of people signed up for our mailing list.