Death and Land animations
by Nick Kossintsev · in Artist Corner · 04/28/2003 (9:24 am) · 15 replies
Hey,
I've two questions concerning animations in the game.
First deals with death: I add a sequence by the name of 'death1' and add it to player.cs file. When I go into the game and kill the player, the torqueDemo crashes with unhandled exception error. I thought it may be the filename error, but I can see it in the show tool. I thought the game may need all ~12 death animations in the CS file, so I tried adding those to the CS file (just using the same filename for all) as well as changing the random death animation script to always pick #1 - both to no avail. The game crashes...
The other question is a bit less crucial. The land animation that should, theoretically, be played upon the collision of player with the ground (after a jump) never seems to execute. Why?
Thanks in advance for your help...
-Nick
I've two questions concerning animations in the game.
First deals with death: I add a sequence by the name of 'death1' and add it to player.cs file. When I go into the game and kill the player, the torqueDemo crashes with unhandled exception error. I thought it may be the filename error, but I can see it in the show tool. I thought the game may need all ~12 death animations in the CS file, so I tried adding those to the CS file (just using the same filename for all) as well as changing the random death animation script to always pick #1 - both to no avail. The game crashes...
The other question is a bit less crucial. The land animation that should, theoretically, be played upon the collision of player with the ground (after a jump) never seems to execute. Why?
Thanks in advance for your help...
-Nick
About the author
#3
A little help would be greatly appreciated.
07/03/2003 (9:28 am)
I have the same problem with the Land animation.A little help would be greatly appreciated.
#4
Nick, did you ever find a fix?
-Spencer
05/08/2004 (10:59 pm)
Reviving this thread because I've stumbled upon the same problem: I have a land animation that plays OK in the show tool, but not in the game (even when I drop the poor character from 20 stories or so). Any ideas? Nick, did you ever find a fix?
-Spencer
#5
www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=4348
05/09/2004 (3:23 am)
Have you guys studied this resource:www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=4348
#6
05/09/2004 (4:31 am)
You sure you have exactly the same nodes when making the DSQ cmopared to the DTS?
#7
If the animation plays well in the Show tool and not in the engine that indicates that there is something wrong with the model ...
05/09/2004 (6:33 am)
Westy@ If they didn't match up, nothing else should work either..If the animation plays well in the Show tool and not in the engine that indicates that there is something wrong with the model ...
#8
The land animation in particular is usually an issue where the player does not have enough velocity to play the animation. If you drop the player, (like if you jump off a cliff), it will usually end up playing the animation. In spencers case, this does not appear to be the problem though..
05/09/2004 (7:04 am)
This is not necessarily true. What this means is that the engine is expecting something that the model does not contain OR the scripts/code in engine are not calling the animation properly (usually a name that is mis-spelled)The land animation in particular is usually an issue where the player does not have enough velocity to play the animation. If you drop the player, (like if you jump off a cliff), it will usually end up playing the animation. In spencers case, this does not appear to be the problem though..
#9
05/09/2004 (7:19 am)
Jorgen not if the the death1 dsq has a node that the dts does not, it will cause i crash, i have done this myself . :)
#10
05/09/2004 (7:59 am)
Ok, I stand corrected. :)
#11
@Joe, I'd like to run down the way I have this character set up so you can tell me if it sounds right to you:
I'm exporting the animation from a "lower-body" directory, with a cfg file that only exports the pelvis and leg joints.
The sequence object is set up like so: Cyclic sequence is unchecked, complete cycle is unchecked, and blend sequence is unchecked.
I've tried various combinations of the above settings, and I found that if I checked cyclic, I'd see the animation play - repeatedly. It seems like it *might* simply be an issue of the speed that I'm playing the animation at, because I'm just now realizing that it's almost a two second animation. Maybe the animation takes so long to play that another animation (like the root) as started to play before I've seen any of the land animation happen? I'll play with it some more and let you all know what I find.
-Spencer
05/09/2004 (10:06 am)
Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty sure I have the character nodes set up right, since the same method I used to create this animation worked for the others I've done. @Joe, I'd like to run down the way I have this character set up so you can tell me if it sounds right to you:
I'm exporting the animation from a "lower-body" directory, with a cfg file that only exports the pelvis and leg joints.
The sequence object is set up like so: Cyclic sequence is unchecked, complete cycle is unchecked, and blend sequence is unchecked.
I've tried various combinations of the above settings, and I found that if I checked cyclic, I'd see the animation play - repeatedly. It seems like it *might* simply be an issue of the speed that I'm playing the animation at, because I'm just now realizing that it's almost a two second animation. Maybe the animation takes so long to play that another animation (like the root) as started to play before I've seen any of the land animation happen? I'll play with it some more and let you all know what I find.
-Spencer
#12
The problem was simply that the land animation was too long, around two seconds as I said above. I shortened it to about 2/3 of a second and it looks about right in-game.
Now, it doesn't look quite right in 3DSMax because it's going too fast. But in-game, it works. The reason it works in-game is because this particular animation apparently plays at different speeds depending on the speed with which the player hits the ground. So if the player is dropped from a mile up, the land animation is slowed down (as if it takes longer for the player to recover from the impact) whereas, if the player is dropped from a short distance up, it plays more quickly, and, it seems, not always all the way through.
If anyone can add to or correct the above, feel free.
-Spencer
05/10/2004 (7:50 pm)
Oooooooo-kay, I think I figured this out. The problem was simply that the land animation was too long, around two seconds as I said above. I shortened it to about 2/3 of a second and it looks about right in-game.
Now, it doesn't look quite right in 3DSMax because it's going too fast. But in-game, it works. The reason it works in-game is because this particular animation apparently plays at different speeds depending on the speed with which the player hits the ground. So if the player is dropped from a mile up, the land animation is slowed down (as if it takes longer for the player to recover from the impact) whereas, if the player is dropped from a short distance up, it plays more quickly, and, it seems, not always all the way through.
If anyone can add to or correct the above, feel free.
-Spencer
#13
You figured it out. The land is pretty short, and scaled based on velocity (IIRC), also, the transtions from the fall to the land to the run smooth it out and make it look like it never happens if it is too long..
all of the animations are scaled a bit (sped up, slowed down) based on the player velocity.. so I am always testing the action moves in game to make sure they are working and looking good.
05/10/2004 (8:16 pm)
Spencer.. sorry that I did not respond to this.. had it on my 'to do' list, and totally spaced. You figured it out. The land is pretty short, and scaled based on velocity (IIRC), also, the transtions from the fall to the land to the run smooth it out and make it look like it never happens if it is too long..
all of the animations are scaled a bit (sped up, slowed down) based on the player velocity.. so I am always testing the action moves in game to make sure they are working and looking good.
#14
05/10/2004 (10:38 pm)
No problem at all, Joe, and thanks for confirming what I was thinking. 
Torque Owner Rex
BrokeAss Games