Forums » General Pantheon Discussion

How do you think the combat animations should be improved?

    • 768 posts
    December 15, 2018 9:37 PM PST

    Fizzles or interrupts could have some kind of character-animation. Other then the sound effect.

    I enjoyed seeing an animation when my heals hit my target or when my area heal or buff was cast. That was a very satisfying experience.

    A nice in combat res animation is lovely as wel. 

    • 438 posts
    January 16, 2019 6:19 AM PST
    After this news letter I am pretty stoked to hear each race is going to vary on their animations. Assumably casting as well.
    • 10 posts
    January 17, 2019 8:13 AM PST

    honestly, I am more apt to say keep it simple, sometimes too much animation can take away from knowing what is going on around you. That being said when bards are playable I expect them to be the best class so don't hold back on them. Just everyone else. 

    • 1033 posts
    January 17, 2019 9:20 AM PST

    Lincoln said:

    honestly, I am more apt to say keep it simple, sometimes too much animation can take away from knowing what is going on around you. That being said when bards are playable I expect them to be the best class so don't hold back on them. Just everyone else. 

     

    Agreed. I would prefer simple with very subtle tells or effects. It is easy to go too far and end up making animations and effects be so obvious that it is the same as putting flashing signs and arrows, which then defeats the point. 

    • 1281 posts
    January 17, 2019 10:17 AM PST

    I enjoy hand crafted animations and am happy to know that is the direction they are going.

    The reason is I believe by having hand crafted animations you are putting a restriction on yourself in a good way. It forces you to focus on the basics.

    I don’t need or want whirly bird jumping in the air, flipping around, and slashing down, and all that other “epic” maneuvers you see in most modern action MMOs for just a basic attack.


    This post was edited by bigdogchris at January 17, 2019 10:20 AM PST
    • 646 posts
    January 18, 2019 10:39 AM PST

    At the same time, animations need to be more than just swinging your sword left, right, up, or down. However "realistic", it doesn't make for fun to watch/experience combat. xD Basic attack - simple sword swing, sure, so long as it's well animated and feels/sounds like it has weight to it. But other, more unique attacks? Those better have unique animations!

    • 483 posts
    January 18, 2019 12:03 PM PST

    Mordecai said: After this news letter I am pretty stoked to hear each race is going to vary on their animations. Assumably casting as well.

    This worries me a lot, even though it’s great news that each race will have different animations, it makes me wonder if the overall animation quality will be worse because an extra 16 (the other 8 races + male and female animations) full animation rigs will be required to animate every single player model, not to mention the animations of NPC which is also a big task.

    Wouldn’t it be better to focus on creating an excellent set of animations that all player models use, then create the animations for non human NPC, and then if all that gets done, and there’s still time before release start working on differentiating the animations between races.

    Because having sup-bar animations in some races can turn people off the game, because animations are something we see 100% of hour play time, and if they don’t feel right it can hinder the game, especially if they’re floaty/stiff and have no weight. But I don’t think players would be as bothered by sharing animations between races, if they’re really well done animations.

    @naunet

    “so long as it's well animated and feels/sounds like it has weight to it.” To me this is the most important part, if they get this right the game will feel so much better, but yup I agree with you, some variation for special abilities would be cool. But no flips/twirls please  ahahah.

    • 438 posts
    January 18, 2019 1:31 PM PST
    Yea dude I see your point. But having a different animation per race I’d enjoy seeing. Doesn’t mean that a general animation all races share, but there’d be a slight twist per race that makes them unique
    • 483 posts
    January 18, 2019 2:14 PM PST

    I can't comment on how hard that would be Mordecai, because I have 0 insight on how hard animating is ahah, but if making slight variations on a good animation foundation is something that's easy to do them go for it, but if the animation needs to be rebuild or it takes a lot of time to repurpose an already done animation to fit another race skeleton then I don't know it it's worth the time and money investment, but again if it's easy to do slight changes I say go for it, the more distinction between the races the better.

    • 438 posts
    January 18, 2019 2:16 PM PST
    We’re on same page I think. I don’t want a money dump into animations and the time consumption part to delay game. Just think it’s gonna be nice if there are noticeable differences
    • 2752 posts
    January 18, 2019 2:30 PM PST

    I can't imagine it would be extremely difficult to have each race have unique basic animations, the payoff in feel/quality would be well worth it regardless. Things like walk/run animation, the way each race holds & attacks with different weapon types when auto-attacking, casting pose(s), etc. would go a very long way without having to make unique animations for each ability. 

     

    Then they could likely then use the different framework/animation bases of the different races for various NPC/mob types which would further make mobs (especially humanoid) feel less same-y. Bonus if humanoid mobs could spawn with a random humanoid animation set so two orc warriors might look like they fight differently on top of whatever comes of the behavior/disposition system. 

    • 379 posts
    January 18, 2019 9:44 PM PST

    Iksar said:

    I can't imagine it would be extremely difficult to have each race have unique basic animations, the payoff in feel/quality would be well worth it regardless. Things like walk/run animation, the way each race holds & attacks with different weapon types when auto-attacking, casting pose(s), etc. would go a very long way without having to make unique animations for each ability. 

     

    Then they could likely then use the different framework/animation bases of the different races for various NPC/mob types which would further make mobs (especially humanoid) feel less same-y. Bonus if humanoid mobs could spawn with a random humanoid animation set so two orc warriors might look like they fight differently on top of whatever comes of the behavior/disposition system. 

    Nailed it.

    • 438 posts
    January 19, 2019 2:38 PM PST
    Definitely nailed it. Thanks Iksar. I enjoyed your opinion tremendously
    • 217 posts
    January 20, 2019 10:47 AM PST

    I agree with Iksar as well. But, lemme expound a bit and add some as well.

    First off, I feel they should construct a basic animation shared by all the races and humanoid creatures and make that a default. Then, you start to individualize based on race or creature type. For instance Ogres and Elves shouldnt swing a sword/axe the same, kick the same, shield bash the same. Nor should their stances and spell casting be the same. Different statures means different animations and physics. Do they need to be DRASTICALLY different? Nope, but they definitely should make sense and should only require some tweaking to get right.. Ogres are less agile but MUCH stronger, it should feel like their swing has more hetf and power to it, just as an Elves should seem more agile and swift or precise looking (think Ballet vs. Moshpit).

    Next, they should be broken down and catagorized to similar body types have similar animations. I would say Skar, Ogre and Dwarves are similar enough to be grouped. Elves at current build with Gnomes. Dark Myr, Humans and Archai.  With this system they can build the basics and then tweak as needed for individuation. Last on that they add the "specials" for abiities.

    On the topic of spell effects and animations with worry to creating immersion breaking gameplay and lag, the simple solution is OPTIONS. First I am totally against spells making my screen frozen looking or blood spatter. But beyond that I feel each individual should have the option to turn off/on or adjust spell effects as well as other options. Give us plenty of room for customability of our experience. This to me is kind of a no brainer solution in how to "make everyone happy".

    When it comes to MOBs reactionary animmations (Dodge, Parry, etc) I personally think less is more. As others have stated when youre soloing all the interaction in the world is awesome BUT, this is a game based on the community and group experince. In a group setting youre NOT going to get these animations pulled off as there are potentially 6 members hitting all at the same time and if they reacted visually to each hit they would look like they are having a seizure. Now as far as partical effects and spells, it is a different ball game as these dont have to necessarily impact the MOBs animation but impact the environment. Some spells/abilities like, Root, Mez, Stun, or Smoke and Mirrors WILL definitely need to be tied to the MOB, but a fireball exploding or lightning strike can be animated to an AOE at the MOBs location. This is also how buffs and heals should be dealt with. Cast a heal and light surrounds the target, cast shield of thorns and an animation around the target with thorns pops up. 

    As far as some have mentioned about the nametag/target tag above a person/targets head and there being visuals about, for instance, Mez on a target and when its going to break or other information like their buffs. I feel again this can be handled with an option to turn it off. Not everyone payed EQ (I did) and not everyone will start off being elite at playing their classes. If they want easy mode, that is THEIR experience, if you want hardcore mode, that is YOUR experience. [x] Enemy Nameplates Off. So again options are key to making small differences in playstyle and taste be a non arguing point.

    One option I would love there to exist would be a simple [x] Raid Mode On.

    With one click you can turn options directly to what you desire for when in raid content. When raid is over click it off and go back to your defaulted settings.  This obviously could be used whenever there are lots of things going on in your close proximity and need to be able to see/focus better due to other goups (IE Black Rose Keep Ramparts) without having to adjust sliders while in danger. 

    Anyways I hope this is helpful. Just my 2cp.

    But remember this is in prealpha and EVERYTHING is/will be tweaked throughout the developement but also after launch. I have faith Armstrong and his team will rock it!


    This post was edited by vigilantee13 at January 20, 2019 10:49 AM PST
    • 1714 posts
    January 20, 2019 1:43 PM PST

    "They" tell us at every turn that this is a modern game. The engine is modern, the graphics and art are the best we'll have seen in an MMO, the character creation will be on par with most expectations for a modern AAA title(despite not being a classic AAA company), there are modern and even brand new game mechanics already in place. We're going to get modern animations, probably very good ones. There's no reason to think otherwise.

    My concern is not with the animations but with the combat itself. If that's fun, then the rest is gravy. Hopefully tasty gravy. 


    This post was edited by Keno Monster at January 20, 2019 1:45 PM PST
    • 217 posts
    January 20, 2019 5:38 PM PST

    [blockquote]Keno Monster said:

    If that's fun, then the rest is gravy. Hopefully tasty gravy. 

    Mmmmmm graaaaaavy, hopefully with biscuits!!

    • 23 posts
    January 22, 2019 6:06 AM PST

    Fluid movement between different attacks.  I want to be able to see a nice fluid transition between swinging my sword, kicking, and a backhand.  Not jerky or clunky movements.  The same goes for casting animations, they need to be smooth and fluid.


    This post was edited by sevnptsixtwo at January 22, 2019 7:14 AM PST
    • 379 posts
    January 22, 2019 7:21 PM PST

    Fluidity for sure. Not just attack animations, ability to abilty, but plain character movement being smooth. Using the mouse to easily turn 360 degrees etc.

    • 839 posts
    January 22, 2019 8:31 PM PST
    It would be awesome to have varying animations for types off spells. Eg. heals differ from damage which differs from buffs etc. Looking forward to seeing what they come up with!