Screen Graph model handling

[saigumi]

Last night (after recuperating from the night befores snowboarding runs), we thought about different ways to handle equipment changes that would cause graphical changes to the player model.

Instead of having one mesh for the whole body, we think it might be worthwhile to split them up.

At first, I thought that making a parent node for the core and then attaching the children pieces (arms, head, body, feet) onto it. Then, perform all the animations through custom processes.

Then it hit me, make a skeletal ms3d file. No meshes, just joints. Then, use the getSceneNodefromMS3DJoint and attach each mesh to it. That way, if someone changes their hat, all I need to have dones is to reload the head mesh. Also, all the animations can be pre-builtin to the ms3d skeleton.

Good? Bad? Is there a better way?

[Robomaniac]

Nice idea, i never thought about it that way. I thought i'd have to create a whole bunch of player models and animate them all. Now, i just need to make different pieces. Thank Sai, you pull through once again.

btw : @ sai, did you get my e-mail?

[Chev]

neat idea!

p.s.
Eve-Corp is looking great!

[vermeer]

segmented models, like in md3?

that's seen uglier...for you will see the cut, or just will trust on a 50/50 blending done by code...anyway, good if they're just all armoured....

well..

[Masdus]

For equipment changes like hat and armor i was thinking of doing it in a similar way to weapons and simply link a external mesh file to the closest bone in the player model

[Tope]

I was thinking along the same lines. Separate meshes for chest, arms, wrists, hands, legs etc combined together with a skeletal hierarchy. I guess it's even possible to layer clothing this way.

The only disadvantage is that you probably lose geometry deformation compared to having only one solid .X or .ms3d mesh. Not that deformation/vertex weights are used much, but still.

[buhatkj]

for instance if you made the lower and upper leg different meshes and attached them, it wouldnt bend quite right. not that big a deal, but could be bad in some cases. it does remind me a lot of md3, but takes it a step further. however, you would need to make sure the animations all looked right when they were attached together...
it would however let your players design their own characters based on premade model portions, ala sims but moreso. pretty boss, especially for an RPG!!! (ie perhaps i should steal this idea...hrm....)
-Ted

[Masdus]

if you look at the range of options for customising your character in games like SW galaxies it becomes evedient that their is a better approach to making customisable character. I'm not sure how it works but i think they basically code a small 3D program that can modify certain parts of the mesh to make truly customisable characters.

[saigumi]

Yes, most of the newer mmorpg's do perform some sort of mesh rebuilding. Older ones, like AC, just attach pieces to a skeleton.

Since our game has extremely small and cartoony pieces, we have been playing with the skeletal approach. Pharoseer is even working on a quick test app that you can load a skeleton, and plug your models together to see what looks good. The system will even support bipeds, quadpeds, nopeds, multi limb... etc.

[Masdus]

sounds good, i've been trying to add armour to my model in a similar way. Getting the armor onto the body was easy however i haven't been able to animate the armor to move with the hman model yet

[buhatkj]

this may sound wierd, but perhaps if the armor had its own skeleton, which roughly matched the skeleton of the character in the spot where the armor is meant to attach, and you attached all those joints to all the ones in the charater, the armor should (theoretically) deform along with the model...
-Ted