Not that most critical question ever, but a question was asked in the first stream I thought was interesting. Sadly a train of Mobs came in and the question never got answered.
Question: Will races have the different Combat animations?
Does this also apply to casting animation Kilsin? I always loved how WoW had different casting animation for each race, if each race has 3 animations, one for hard casting, another for channeling and another for instant casts it's only 27 animations.
I understand it's hard to dedicate animation development time to these small details, and would much rather have solid walking/running animations that have "weight" and don't "glide" or "slide" on the ground.
There is a question I had that ties into the character's combat and other animations in general. I am not sure if this has been asked, I couldn't find anything in the search but then I am probably using the wrong terms.
Will characters be able to sheath weapons out of combat? In the streams everyone is carrying their weapons in hand. That really bothers me. I would much rather that out of combat you would sheath your sword. Maybe staves being the exception, as you would generally use that as a walking stick instead of sheathing it. Swords, axes, maces both two-handed and one-handed would be in some type of sheath or belt hook or some such when not is use.
Has this come up at all? Are there plans for this but we just haven't gotten that far yet in the design? I realize this is one of those minor things that would most likely come last in the dev cycle, but has it been decided on or discussed at all?
jpedrote said:Does this also apply to casting animation Kilsin? I always loved how WoW had different casting animation for each race, if each race has 3 animations, one for hard casting, another for channeling and another for instant casts it's only 27 animations.
I understand it's hard to dedicate animation development time to these small details, and would much rather have solid walking/running animations that have "weight" and don't "glide" or "slide" on the ground.
I couldn't agree more. If there's one thing I haven't seen done better in any other MMO game it's WoW's combat and movement animations. It makes you feel connected to the world and therefore is imperative for immersion purposes. Floating around on invisible ice skates puts you off. Let's just hope the animations will be tight! In the streams we have seen improvements so they're going in the right direction.
Avalon said:jpedrote said:Does this also apply to casting animation Kilsin? I always loved how WoW had different casting animation for each race, if each race has 3 animations, one for hard casting, another for channeling and another for instant casts it's only 27 animations.
I understand it's hard to dedicate animation development time to these small details, and would much rather have solid walking/running animations that have "weight" and don't "glide" or "slide" on the ground.
I couldn't agree more. If there's one thing I haven't seen done better in any other MMO game it's WoW's combat and movement animations. It makes you feel connected to the world and therefore is imperative for immersion purposes. Floating around on invisible ice skates puts you off. Let's just hope the animations will be tight! In the streams we have seen improvements so they're going in the right direction.
Really? I found WoW animations generic. There are only slight differences between the racial animations and they recycle the animations ENDLESSLY. EQ did this as well. Each race had a slightly different casting animation.
There are only two games in which I found animations memorable. DAoC and TERA.
In DAoC each ATTACK skill had a different animation. If you watched the animations you could tell exactly which ability that person used. You could learn the combos and setup required for certain skills and avoid them. It was probably the best animation/combat system in a tab targeted game I have ever experienced. I still say that every MMO should try to emulate this combat system because it was AMAZING imho.
TERA is the same in that each class has its own animations as well as each skill belonging to that class. But TERA is an ARPG so it doesn't really fit into the same category here.
Every other MMO I have played, and I have played them ALL, has had very forgettable animations.
Avalon said: I must say I'm surprised to hear races (most likely?) wont have unique animations.
I've read before that art is the largest part of a game budget. Considering this title started as a a crowd funded game I am not surprised they are making cuts where they can. Animations are a nice extra but are not required. Hell, in EQ they had broken animations on the Luclin models for almost 15 years (2 hand blunt). It is really a low priority.
As a fan of Milo's work with original EQ animations I can say that I am going to miss having cool animations for each race but I understand it is a lower priority.
Who knows what the future holds?
@Kellindil
WoW attack animations and casting are normal, they have some variety btween races and different spells (casting, channeling and instant cast, and some variety on the special melle attack as well), but what makes these animations great it's not their intricate varied detailed movements, it's the fact that they "feel" correct, they're reactive and have "weight", when a dwarf swings it's axe it feels right, when a mob is it they react exactly when the hit lands, when you star casting a spell you character does the animation on the exact moment you pressed the button and fires the spell exactly when it lands. all these little details make the game feel a lot more responsive and al around more polished, the animations don't need to be great or over the top flamboyant with spins and twirls, they need to "feel" right and have a certain "weight" and reactives to them. that to me is what makes a great animation.
Now on the WoW running animations. I love them, they're the best i've ever seen in any MMORPG ever. The foot placement and leg movement matches their runing or walking speed perfectly. Movement speed buffs also increase the character animation speed so the animations still match the velocity of the character. When moving sideways (strafing) the character turns the legs and leans the body towards the side is moving, the same also happen when the character is moving diagonaly. they're super reactive, when the character takes a steep it feels like he's actually touching the ground and propelling himself foward, there's no gliding or sliding in their movement. All around they're great and imo the most important animation for the game because it's the only one we all 100% of our play time.
I just don't really see any difference between WoW and most other games. Not to say that their animations are bad, because they aren't, but I wouldn't give them the amount of praise you do. They just seem ordinary and adequate. No better or worse than any other i've seen in a major game release.
jpedrote said:Does this also apply to casting animation Kilsin? I always loved how WoW had different casting animation for each race, if each race has 3 animations, one for hard casting, another for channeling and another for instant casts it's only 27 animations.
I understand it's hard to dedicate animation development time to these small details, and would much rather have solid walking/running animations that have "weight" and don't "glide" or "slide" on the ground.
The different casting animations were kind of nice racial flavor. :ooking at casting from a more DnD perspective I can see all races having the same casting animations since performing a spell, even if not detailed animation wise, I assume involve the same movements etc. If one gnome casts a fireball he has to perform the same hand motions and/or recite the same incantation as an elf doing the same. I would however like to see at least different casting animations based on spell type/school.
