Mutalisk Animation, Which One Should We Use

Pvt_Hudson · March 2003

<div class="IPBDescription">anyone who cares about it, post opinions</div> ok, seems that my mutalisk model is progressing nicely. I expect it to be done before or after this weekend.
Then it's the animation. ( mercatorn agrees to skin this baby by the way )
Ok, after hearing the opinions from u guys. i concluded that there are 2 versions of walk/ run animations that can be done.
i will lay out both versions. Let me know which version u guys prefer. Then i will finally choose one version.
Version 1: Use wings to make a crawl movement. Sort of similar to the default lerk walk movement, except there are no legs . There is no movement for muta's body ( it will use idle animation in game )

Version 2: use the muta 's body to make a snake like movement on the ground, and fold it's wings ( ie, no wings movement, only body's snake like movement )

the disadvantage to version 2 is that since half life blends upper body and lower body animation together.
in this version, the main body has to be the lower body parts ( assign to lower body bones ), because lower body bones are in charge of walk / run animation. Therefore the body can't not have any attack animation. My idea for muta's attack animation is to contract it's lower body ( the " sucker" part ) as it fires needles .
But since default attack animation for lerk doesn't work anyway for now in game, we don't lose too much.

this problem doesn't not occur for version 1, since muta's main body is not assigned to lower body bones.

So please post your opinions here.
Thanks guys.

Murder_Wink · March 2003

Hmm, how about make it hover flapping its wings slowly?

Pvt_Hudson · March 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Murder Wink @ Mar 28 2003, 05:35 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Hmm, how about make it hover flapping its wings slowly?  </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> 
OMG, that's a GREAT idea!!!! <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'>
Haven't thought of it :/
Thank u

what do u guys think?

t_t_sMiLe · March 2003

i'm telling ya have it start flappign slowly at the decent them when it's in air have it flap its wings faster, and when you start falling to the ground have it's win flap from up and down to foward and front as if it was slowly landing.

Jamil · March 2003

Okay, and then it can do a backflip and start break dancing, eh Smile?

I don't like the hovering idea. Movement attracts attention, and I would consider it a cheat.

I'd say do something similar to the default.

Shloom · March 2003

your a big fan of sarcasim are you not?

3ncrypted_zer0 · March 2003

No feet how does it walk?

Vash · March 2003

I'm for the hover animation. A Mutalisk walking just wouldnt look right.

I can't believe someones already calling this a cheat. So pathetic that a model with good animations is considered a cheat. It doesn't matter how well you see a Lerk anyway...only thing that matters is how well you can aim...my Lerk skin is really dark, am I reverse exploiting cuz i can't see it that well?!?! OMG!! im h4x0|21!!!!111one

Shloom · March 2003

i think it should walk on its wing like the lerk

Delarosa · March 2003

i'm a fan of diversity...

why not all three? that way jamil can have his "no cheat", shloom can have his "default feel" and everyone else can have the "acurate" model.....

BTW, if i haven't mentioned it... rose@neotech.cc (i'll host)

Black_Ops_Lerk_Master · March 2003

I dont mind the hovering anim, but then ppl will probably complain that it looks stupid, it would get tired, not realistic.

If this does happen just say...Is a mutalisk realistic?

Nottingham · March 2003

I think hover is the best idea so far

Jamil · March 2003

I don't play anymore, so I really don't care. But there are usually some rules you try and follow when modelling. One thing is, don't skin with a really bright yellow so you can see people in the dark. I remember back in the Quake days, you could use the colours that glow in the dark. Let me tell you, that really gives you an edge over the guy using defaults. I feel a hovering animation with frantically flapping wings is exploitive in nature. It'll probably be pretty easier to see the outline of cloaked units if they're moving fast.

RyoOhki · March 2003

I'm just a little unsure as to how having the hovering idea would be a problem as a) lerks when they're moving currently flap their wings all over the place and b) from my reading of the initial question this would seem to only apply for movement. So when the mutalisk stops it's body just rests on the ground and the wings stop moving; it would hardly negate cloaking advantages. If mutas COULD land in SC I'd expect this is what they'd do, the lower area of the body is definitly long and flat enough to act as a "foot"

EDIT: Ok, lerks on the ground don't flap their wings but they DO make quite a bit of movement; they're easy to spot. Rapid wing flags would not change this at all.

Bigwig · March 2003

I don't like the idea of having it just hover... I would prefer some sort of bouncy movement (where it kind of hops around). Maybe if you make it bounce around while flapping it's wings? I can picture it perfectly in my head right now.

Gordon · March 2003

I think Version 2 it's the better one, but release both <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'>

Delarosa · March 2003

here's an idea.... havde your hover, have him fly from place to place, but when your just standnig stil... suction cup to the floor, that way, jamil gets his way, even though he won't use/see it (since he doesn't play anyway....)

Sylver · March 2003

i like the hopping idea <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'>
i've got a perfect picture of it in my head too <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'>:D:D

Vash · March 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Wertdagf @ Mar 28 2003, 11:07 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> and jamil lands another punch!!!! yes that animation whould totaly defeat cloaking.  </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> 
Oh no. It totally defeats cloaking! Now everytime we play with Sensory first all the one hive lerks are screwed!!!

.....

Cloaking is useless anyway. By the time you've got Sensory (3 hives) You've pretty much won.

Vash · March 2003

Uh huh...so you're saying 1.1 was just released today? I did not know...I'll have to go download it now! Sorry, I forgot who was making the model, but I believe he said he'd probably done by the end of the weekend? I'm pretty sure NS 1.1 wont be out by then.

Xanieth · March 2003

Wertdagf, please SUYF. That is the stupidest comment I have ever heard. It has no resemblance to something that makes sense.

Black_Ops_Lerk_Master · March 2003

MAKE IT HOP! that would look so cool, and like jamil said, if its only level 1 cloaked it will be a little easier to see when flapping, but then again, why are you under that bright light with level1 cloak?

Pvt_Hudson · March 2003

ok, i have finally decided to use version 2 , ie the snake like movement.
the reason is that although hover is also feasible, the version 2 makes mutalisk movement more diverse. Since we see the level 3 alien fly around flapping it's wings all the time, its a nice change to see it move like a snake on the ground <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'>

Mutalisk Animation, Which One Should We Use

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