ECSTASY: Finally, a motion synthesis tool for the indie developer!
by Chris Calef · 03/25/2009 (11:00 am) · 47 comments
ECSTASY: Finally, a motion synthesis tool for the indie developer!
Hey GGers! I've been promising a serious work blog for a while, and here it is! With my colleagues at BrokeAss Games, I'm proud to announce the pre-alpha almost-early-adopter release of an application I'm very excited about. It's called...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fwZixrYRL0
I'm at GDC right now and I'm going to have to save my laptop battery for demos, so I can't write a whole long blog about it this morning, but to put it succintly: Ecstasy is here to let the little guy start mixing up motion capture, traditional animations, and ragdoll physics, in a game environment, and then save out your work either as a dsq for Torque, OR as a BVH file. Once you have it in BVH, you can then turn around and import it into Poser, use it in Max or Maya, or whatever else you want. There's a whole lot more to say about it, but the main point is it's coming out soon, at an indie price, and we're going to have a early adopter registration soon, make a comment here if you want to be on the list. Happy devving!
Chris
Hey GGers! I've been promising a serious work blog for a while, and here it is! With my colleagues at BrokeAss Games, I'm proud to announce the pre-alpha almost-early-adopter release of an application I'm very excited about. It's called...
ecstasy
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fwZixrYRL0
I'm at GDC right now and I'm going to have to save my laptop battery for demos, so I can't write a whole long blog about it this morning, but to put it succintly: Ecstasy is here to let the little guy start mixing up motion capture, traditional animations, and ragdoll physics, in a game environment, and then save out your work either as a dsq for Torque, OR as a BVH file. Once you have it in BVH, you can then turn around and import it into Poser, use it in Max or Maya, or whatever else you want. There's a whole lot more to say about it, but the main point is it's coming out soon, at an indie price, and we're going to have a early adopter registration soon, make a comment here if you want to be on the list. Happy devving!
Chris
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#2
Looks great though, like the twist on the name ;)
03/25/2009 (11:36 am)
Chris, the embedded video is screwed, check the markuplite link, i dont think html works in posts just markupLooks great though, like the twist on the name ;)
#3
03/25/2009 (11:46 am)
Hey, that's awesome! I wanna know more. 
#4
03/25/2009 (12:01 pm)
Looks very cool, can't wait to hear more about it Chris! 
#5
03/25/2009 (12:07 pm)
WOW! That is awesome. Looks very promising. Card ready! :) 
#6
I don't know what to say. That explains a few extraterrestrial things Jon mentioned earlier. Awesome job, guys!
03/25/2009 (12:27 pm)
*looking for jaw*I don't know what to say. That explains a few extraterrestrial things Jon mentioned earlier. Awesome job, guys!
#8
03/25/2009 (2:21 pm)
Wow, looks great. One eager paying customer sat right here. 
#9
As long as the price is reasonable, you might have a paying customer right here too :)
03/25/2009 (3:37 pm)
This looks pretty epic.As long as the price is reasonable, you might have a paying customer right here too :)
#10
03/25/2009 (3:52 pm)
superb.
#11
03/25/2009 (4:43 pm)
comment 
#12
With that said.
Can you explain a few things further and let me know if I'm correct on my thoughts:
(1)If I have it figured out right, it's basically a program that has rag doll physics, that you can use to create .dsq files for torque--correct?
(2)And what it's not is a physics add on for the game engine---correct?
Basically meaning it's main use would be to create more realistic animation sequences easier and to record cut scene stuff.
03/25/2009 (5:07 pm)
Looks sweet! With that said.
Can you explain a few things further and let me know if I'm correct on my thoughts:
(1)If I have it figured out right, it's basically a program that has rag doll physics, that you can use to create .dsq files for torque--correct?
(2)And what it's not is a physics add on for the game engine---correct?
Basically meaning it's main use would be to create more realistic animation sequences easier and to record cut scene stuff.
#13
03/25/2009 (5:44 pm)
yea scott, you can take existing animations and add to them, re-record and export as a new animation etc 
#14
03/25/2009 (5:45 pm)
Wow, this is a lot better then my old pacemaker software simply because of the straight to torque pipeline. And I used it for a very long while there. cant wait to try this one. 
#16
As for what it is and isn't, you are correct, this is not a physics plug-in for Torque, this is a standalone app. (But talk to me if you want a physics plug-in for Torque, I might be able to help you out there as well...) What this is for is making animations. It's for doing physics on characters when your game doesn't have physics, OR for reducing your load by reducing the number of characters you need physics on... OR for putting ragdoll physics into your film project.
AND, it's for managing your anims and getting them from one character to another in Torque. Once you save out a dsq as a bvh, when you get through the (admittedly kind of clunky) config step, you can bring them back onto whatever character model you want, as long as it has the same number of relevant nodes in roughly the same places.
One great way to use it would be for cutscene cinematics, or for setting up scripted interactions between NPCs in your game, where they are not intended to interact with the player. For example, imagine setting up a scene like in the beginning of the first Halflife game, where your scientists are all working and then an explosion happens and they fall down and then get up and run away. This could take a long time if you had to animate every little interaction, make each of them fall a different way, and then meticulously plan out every motion each of them makes.
In Ecstasy, you could have them running their various "working" animations, and then throw a force in there and record them all ragdolling. Then, and here is where we diverge from Pacemaker and any other non-game-engine solutions, you could have them run some pathfinding AI to get themselves out of the room and down the hall. All of this -- the initial work animations, the ragdoll effects, and then the scripted "get up" animations and navmesh pathfinding, could be saved out as long dsqs, and then played back when you need them, with no physics or AI at all at runtime. (Or more likely, save the physics and AI for the zone right around the player, and let the more distant or less relevant bots do their long scripted dsqs that you made in Ecstasy.)
03/25/2009 (7:11 pm)
Hey, I got a few minutes free and wanted to answer some questions. We haven't locked down the price yet, but put a comment on this thread if you want to know and I'll get back to you when we do. It'll have an indie rate and a commercial rate and if you can afford Torque you can afford this, that's all I can say right now.As for what it is and isn't, you are correct, this is not a physics plug-in for Torque, this is a standalone app. (But talk to me if you want a physics plug-in for Torque, I might be able to help you out there as well...) What this is for is making animations. It's for doing physics on characters when your game doesn't have physics, OR for reducing your load by reducing the number of characters you need physics on... OR for putting ragdoll physics into your film project.
AND, it's for managing your anims and getting them from one character to another in Torque. Once you save out a dsq as a bvh, when you get through the (admittedly kind of clunky) config step, you can bring them back onto whatever character model you want, as long as it has the same number of relevant nodes in roughly the same places.
One great way to use it would be for cutscene cinematics, or for setting up scripted interactions between NPCs in your game, where they are not intended to interact with the player. For example, imagine setting up a scene like in the beginning of the first Halflife game, where your scientists are all working and then an explosion happens and they fall down and then get up and run away. This could take a long time if you had to animate every little interaction, make each of them fall a different way, and then meticulously plan out every motion each of them makes.
In Ecstasy, you could have them running their various "working" animations, and then throw a force in there and record them all ragdolling. Then, and here is where we diverge from Pacemaker and any other non-game-engine solutions, you could have them run some pathfinding AI to get themselves out of the room and down the hall. All of this -- the initial work animations, the ragdoll effects, and then the scripted "get up" animations and navmesh pathfinding, could be saved out as long dsqs, and then played back when you need them, with no physics or AI at all at runtime. (Or more likely, save the physics and AI for the zone right around the player, and let the more distant or less relevant bots do their long scripted dsqs that you made in Ecstasy.)
#17
Which Torque are you talking about? TGEA or T3d? Looks sweet. When do you think we will see a release or a beta? I know I'm buying this when it hits the market... oh btw, will there be an EA release? Thanks for the info, great great work. I'm going to gohead on the record and guess it might be priced between $99 and $149, somewhere in there... $199 at the very highest. Would shock me if it's lower then $99.
Thanks for the info... and congrats...
Will
03/25/2009 (7:50 pm)
Quote:if you can afford Torque you can afford this
Which Torque are you talking about? TGEA or T3d? Looks sweet. When do you think we will see a release or a beta? I know I'm buying this when it hits the market... oh btw, will there be an EA release? Thanks for the info, great great work. I'm going to gohead on the record and guess it might be priced between $99 and $149, somewhere in there... $199 at the very highest. Would shock me if it's lower then $99.
Thanks for the info... and congrats...
Will
#18
03/25/2009 (8:11 pm)
Looks like a great tool, looking forward to more info, and hopefully reasonably priced as well. (some of us will be a bit broke with T3d as it is...) 
#19
Second so does this have the functionality of blending between animation and simulation like endorphin? Only obviously priced to target the indie film maker or developer. at least that is what I'm getting from watching your video.
03/25/2009 (8:38 pm)
Interested in this as well as as the physics plugin stuff.Second so does this have the functionality of blending between animation and simulation like endorphin? Only obviously priced to target the indie film maker or developer. at least that is what I'm getting from watching your video.
#20
03/25/2009 (8:50 pm)
@James: Blending animation & simulation -- that's the idea. It may not be _quite_ up to the standard of endorphin yet, but that's what we're working toward. 
Torque Owner Ryan Mick
Red Witch Entertainment