Modding Lugaru 2?

GaGrin · Post by **GaGrin** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:14 pm

I know that much of this may still be undecided - but just how moddable does Wolfire intend Lugaru 2 to be?

I'm kind of assuming that we can replace and add our own art assets (models, textures etc.) but what about creating our own animation with your animation tool?

Could we find a way to get a horse in the game for example?

Just a random thought from someone eager to play (and importantly - pay!) for the next installment of this wonderful game - and someone who sees a way to make a viable Ninja game for the PC...

Thats right - there isn't a single sodding ninja game for the PC!

/end rant.

Kalexon · Post by **Kalexon** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:14 pm

I believe this was already stated before, but there are not going to be any pre-set animations in Lugaru 2. Unless this has been changed?

Crill3 · Post by **Crill3** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:56 am

No 100% pre-made animations, but of course they're pre-made to some extent, how else would the engine know how to perform a knife slash when you click for example?
I think of it more as skeleton-scripting, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.
The animtions won't always be the same, they'll vary depending on
the world, it's objects and your position. Right?

BunnyWithStick · Post by **BunnyWithStick** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:42 am

Something like that, it should be easy to implement with an "Inaccuracy Factor" in animations and stuff.

GaGrin · Post by **GaGrin** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 12:41 pm

Yes - perhaps I should have been more clear.

Obviously the procedural animation system Phoenix uses will require the skeletons to be setup with appropriate rigging like what are used as ground contact and where the centre of gravity is etc.

I was intending to ask if this sort of control would be availible to us as users?

Especially if non-standard skeletons (and the tweaking needed for the system to handle them) could be done by people without access to source via some kind of animation interface ingame?

Just curious on this one.

BunnyWithStick · Post by **BunnyWithStick** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 7:10 pm

You're still unclear, are you talking about an animation editor or a skeleton editor?

Also, hopefully the centre of gravity will be defined by weight values set on parts of the skeleton, or something similar, though this is more of a suggestion than a hope.

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:37 pm

Skeletons are how you animate a character, BWS

. It's just coordinates that the model's verticies react to. I think you should just email David, and ask him up front. We don't really know...

BunnyWithStick · Post by **BunnyWithStick** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:57 pm

Yes, but animations and skeletons are different things.

Editing a skeleton is just that, editing a skeleton, editing an animation changes what things can happen to that skeleton, and in turn, the character/object the skeleton is connected to.

That's how it is in Maya, and that's my understanding of it.

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 9:04 pm

You know what he means

. He doesnt want to actually edit the SKELETON, he wants to edit the animations OF the skeleton

.

BunnyWithStick · Post by **BunnyWithStick** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:17 pm

No, I did not know what he meant at the point you said I did, now I do.

GaGrin · Post by **GaGrin** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:56 pm

Actually I mean both. Hence the lack of defining either.

I want to be able to create a quadruped and setup the source to work with the procedural animation.

I am assuming this will work by blending physics with dynamic points, IK and target keys with various weights to get the desired effect - or something similar.

Perhaps e-mailing David isn't such a bad idea - but I admit I'm loathe to interrupt him with simple questions by e-mailing him directly and I thought a thread on this topic would be answer this for anyone else who might want to know whats planned.

My focus is animation in my studies so learning how new tech like this works (which I imagine we will only see more and more of) is definately in my interest.

rudel_ic · Post by **rudel_ic** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 5:34 pm

Perhaps e-mailing David isn't such a bad idea - but I admit I'm loathe to interrupt him with simple questions by e-mailing him directly

Hehe, do you really think he's coding 24/7? If that was the case, the game would already be done. He obviously has other things to do than coding Lugaru 2. Which is a natural thing.

Why don't you just keep cool and wait for the game to be completed? If the engine is supposed to be general-purpose (which it is afaik), you'll be able to make your own animation stuff, however that works. So, no need to rush and the tools will be there.

Nayr · Post by **Nayr** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 11:27 am

he's in college, last time I checked.... he can't afford to code 24/7.