108 replies to this topic

[Lily from animove]

thx, please also have a look into the adder, it seems to have a bit too shaky legs in the knees going to much wobbling horizontally.

[Clint Steel]

Yes there are come Clan Mechs that really need an animation rework (Dire Wolf and StormCrow look like they are weightless to me)

And more of a glitch but the rear toe of the left foot of the Mad Dog does some weird stuff.

Edited by Clint Steel, 17 February 2015 - 07:20 AM.

[Navid A1]

Hey Mr. Ramos

With the new clan wave III on the horizon. How much is it going to affect the art team schedule for doing the mentioned revisit on mech animations like DWFs/WHKs/ etc etc?

Thanks.

Edited by Navid A1, 19 February 2015 - 09:17 PM.

[Almond Brown]

Bishop Steiner, on 21 January 2015 - 06:00 AM, said:

and how I would have preferred to see the Crab and Dire Wolf move...
http://vid1279.photo...zpsfc3c0e6b.mp4

Sweet. How fast would you say that Mech was traveling at Bishop? How long would it take that Crab to go... say 3km's? I would bet it would not compute to even the minimum base speed of 54 kph for the Crab. Just curious really.

[Predator459]

These guys need to seriously fix the Dire, Kit Fox and Adder. It's been months and they still look laughable. Because of the Warhawks speed, the only problem is the bouncing, otherwise it looks fine. I personally have no problems with the stormcrow, timber, or any other clan mechs, but those three are the biggest issue.

[Navid A1]

Here is what i think is happening:

The MWO art team are the real cool people that know the difference between a good model/animation from a rushed one. They read about the concern and received permission to answer...
http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__4145712
http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__4162740

However, i think that the permission was only allowing them to try and convince... not confirming the concerns and saying that they will get to an animation pass as soon as possible.

while the long silence on this matter is understandable due to the avalanche of new mechs (requiring their own animations/models)... I think that updating us on the plan regarding any animation pass for the mentioned mechs will go a long way.

Edited by Navid A1, 14 March 2015 - 09:51 PM.

[Navid A1]

Ozealot, on 15 March 2015 - 04:52 AM, said:

Hint: command console.

Ozealot, on 15 March 2015 - 06:17 AM, said:

Hint: River City statues.

Ozealot, on 15 March 2015 - 06:44 AM, said:

Hint: Overheat steam.

Ozealot, on 15 March 2015 - 07:00 AM, said:

Hint: Clan ballistics switchable ammo.

Although these do not have anything to do with the art/animation team...but yes..
- IS CC is a rushed piece of equipment like the clan packs. There was so much potential for it... but...sigh.
- I think they removed the statues probably only when one of the devs has been playing on river city and was frustrated when he was stuck on them.
- overheat steam is there because they want to teach you about the hardships in life... they could get rid of it... but they wont... because reasons.
- I hope that not having switchable ammo is actually a technical problem as they say... not intentional.


In short, my point was that i think the art team is under pressure to pump out mech pack after mech pack so that PGI can bring in money.
I wish PGI could take a break from mechpacks and start a revising/refining cycle.

Edited by Navid A1, 15 March 2015 - 09:33 AM.

[mekabuser]

love this thread.

[Navid A1]

Enrique Barahona Ramos, on 28 January 2015 - 06:18 PM, said:

Hey guys, let me address some of the concerns and observations made here.

It’s true that some mechs need a TLC pass, that’s evident in the DWF and WHK, part of the problem stems from the fact that they were released in a pack so there’s less animation man-hours available to work in them, as opposed to other mechs released individually.

The wonky behavior of the DWF in slopes is a mix of code and animation issues, we’re looking into this. Regarding its “prancing and bouncing”, I have to agree that for its weight class is way too much, and the same goes for other mechs mentioned in this thread.
Bear in mind that animators also try to give each mech a distinctive motion where possible, as the more mechs are released the harder it is to make them stand out in the crowd.
Back in the day, it was really easy to spot a Trebuchet out of an incoming lance. Nowadays a distinctive silhouette is not enough to distinguish who is who in a crowded battlefield, so we try to make up for that with animation (to the extent that is possible to do that with a hulking walking tank).
Albeit the DWF weighs 100 tons, you still need to make sure the anim cover the distance when it runs @ 50kph. So the speeding up of the animation compounds the kinks and bounces and makes them all the more evident.
Anyways, we’ll give the mechs mentioned in this thread a good revisiting, so they move and look the part.

The ground detection (a.k.a runtime leg IK) is a source of frustration too for us since the start.
When we first started to implement it, the first hurdle we encountered is that the sheer size of the mechs made the built-in ground detection inaccurate.
Once coders got around it and got it working (as the cool pic of the hunchback shows), the problem became the overhead in raytracing two feet times a dozen plus mechs, which is what you regularly see on-screen in a regular match.

Coders again sought solutions to deal with that bandwidth problem, but then kinks would appear such as legs still flexing after re-entering level ground, which looked a lot worse than not having the IK at all. So it was a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils, which is why IK is off for the time being. This is a bummer (understatement of the year so far), and as animators are very fastidious about their work, you can be sure we’re the first to be very frustrated by this issue.

This doesn’t mean we’re still not looking for a solution. In the meantime, every new mech is still rigged with the bells and whistles needed to detect ground, for when the time comes to flick the switch back on.

Enrique Barahona Ramos

El Señor Animador.

I understand that the new wave 3 mechs are occupying a lot of your and art team's time but is there any update on animation passes for mechs mentioned in this thread?
(i.e. direwolf walk + jittering arms / warhawk walk + loose arm joints / KGC stiff walking / summoner arm / kitfox left arm + talons / Adder talons / Stalker walk / etc.

[Enrique Barahona Ramos]

Navid A1, on 20 April 2015 - 10:19 PM, said:

I understand that the new wave 3 mechs are occupying a lot of your and art team's time but is there any update on animation passes for mechs mentioned in this thread?
(i.e. direwolf walk + jittering arms / warhawk walk + loose arm joints / KGC stiff walking / summoner arm / kitfox left arm + talons / Adder talons / Stalker walk / etc.

Sorry I haven't posted updates on this issue, there have been some.

The Direwolf fix for the wonkyness in uneven terrain was released in the 03-03-2015 patch. The 'prancing' was toned down, the improvements should be noticeable in current builds. Warhawk will be next.

Work has started to fix some jumpjet animations, the Firestarter, Enforcer and Victor now look noticeable smoother, they no longer rubberband when tapping the JJ (changes were introduced in the April-7th patch)

The fix for the Kitfox's talon animations will be out in this week's patch, Adder will follow suit.

Thanks for your patience gentlemen!

Enrique

[Navid A1]

Enrique Barahona Ramos, on 21 April 2015 - 10:21 AM, said:

Sorry I haven't posted updates on this issue, there have been some.

The Direwolf fix for the wonkyness in uneven terrain was released in the 03-03-2015 patch. The 'prancing' was toned down, the improvements should be noticeable in current builds. Warhawk will be next.

Work has started to fix some jumpjet animations, the Firestarter, Enforcer and Victor now look noticeable smoother, they no longer rubberband when tapping the JJ (changes were introduced in the April-7th patch)

The fix for the Kitfox's talon animations will be out in this week's patch, Adder will follow suit.

Thanks for your patience gentlemen!

Enrique

Thank you so much for the fixes, the update and info.

Edited by Navid A1, 21 April 2015 - 08:18 PM.

[Navid A1]

I apologize for being a little bit picky but i noticed some points:

The lack of prancing really conveys the weight of the mech right now. Really appreciate it.
However, can the same fix be applied to the direwolf reverse movement and first person cockpit view?
Also, Can the left leg be made to move like the right one? They behave differently at the moment with the left leg moving to the side at the knee joint.

A quick vid on the a-symmetric legs and reverse movement.:
reverse: start to 0:15
left leg moving to the side (different from the right one) at 0:15


Thanks

Edited by Navid A1, 21 April 2015 - 08:22 PM.

[Navid A1]

InnerSphereNews, on 04 May 2015 - 04:15 PM, said:

'Mech Changes

• Adder now has animated talons.

Thanks Mr. Ramos

Nice to see these little polishing works.

The warhawk is next? Hope to see a combined pass for both DWF/WHK (2nd pass for DWF actually). Like more slumbering movement (including reverse and 1st person), longer stride (slower pace) for both, symmetrical leg movement (currently the left leg joint to pelvis rotates to sides and out of place during walking... unlike the right leg which moves correctly)

Perfect chicken walk sequence only brings catapult into mind... its animation is flawless.

Thanks again.

Edited by Navid A1, 05 May 2015 - 02:07 AM.

[SgtMagor]

Some peeps may have liked the original animation for the DW. kind of looks weird now like its gliding on land, trying to balance a tea cup on top of its head. just sayin!

[Juodas Varnas]

SgtMagor, on 05 May 2015 - 05:55 AM, said:

Some peeps may have liked the original animation for the DW. kind of looks weird now like its gliding on land, trying to balance a tea cup on top of its head. just sayin!

Gyros working as intended?
I think it looks much, much better than it used to.
.
.
.
Though, for me the worst movement animation for me is the Urbanmech.
I don't know, i just hate how it looks when going faster than walking.
(I don't actually have an urbanmech so i only saw them from the outside and the animations look pretty bad on them)

[Navid A1]

wow... didn't expected this:

InnerSphereNews, on 15 May 2015 - 05:25 PM, said:

Upcoming Patch - Tuesday, May 19th @ 10AM – 1PM PDT

Patch Number: 1.3.395.0




'Mech Fixes

• Dire Wolf animation tweaks
  
  • fixed knee misalignment when running
    
  • vertical translation/'bounce' has been reduced when running backwards
• Warhawk animation tweaks
  
  • fixed knee misalignment when running
    
  • vertical translation/'bounce' has been reduced when running or walking
    
  • fixed torso wobble when going uphill or downhill
    
  • fixed misaligned clavicles
• Adder animation tweaks
  
  • added foot talon animation

Thanks.

[MoonUnitBeta]

Enrique Barahona Ramos, on 21 April 2015 - 10:21 AM, said:

Sorry I haven't posted updates on this issue, there have been some.
The Direwolf fix for the wonkyness in uneven terrain was released in the 03-03-2015 patch. The 'prancing' was toned down, the improvements should be noticeable in current builds. Warhawk will be next.
Work has started to fix some jumpjet animations, the Firestarter, Enforcer and Victor now look noticeable smoother, they no longer rubberband when tapping the JJ (changes were introduced in the April-7th patch)
The fix for the Kitfox's talon animations will be out in this week's patch, Adder will follow suit.
Thanks for your patience gentlemen!
Enrique

This post needs more likes

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 15 May 2015 - 09:17 PM.

[Navid A1]

Found another old issue regarding kitfoxes:
The 1st person cockpit view of the kitfox tilts leftwards when running.
it only happens during running. it is ok when standing still:

a video


a picture:

[RagingOyster]

I would love a reduction in the "bobbing" that many mechs have. It is especially jarring on the assaults like the Dire, King Crab, Highlander and others. You have these huge, 100-ton war machines that I would expect to look intimidating as hell coming towards you, but instead the hop and waddle and sway like autistic ducklings. A gyroscope effect that would keep the torsos stable despite terrain and the like would solve this particular problem, I think, giving the big guys a more stable, looming cruise.

[Navid A1]

RagingOyster, on 27 May 2015 - 09:00 PM, said:

I would love a reduction in the "bobbing" that many mechs have. It is especially jarring on the assaults like the Dire, King Crab, Highlander and others. You have these huge, 100-ton war machines that I would expect to look intimidating as hell coming towards you, but instead the hop and waddle and sway like autistic ducklings. A gyroscope effect that would keep the torsos stable despite terrain and the like would solve this particular problem, I think, giving the big guys a more stable, looming cruise.

The King Crab is the worst offender here. No moving part on that mech has any weight to it... most of its moves are position and angle jumps instead of a smooth flow.

looks like it has defective joints and actuators all over the chassis.


on the other hand... Atlas... one of the original mechs with lots of man hour put into it moves perfectly for a 100 tonner... slumbering... smooth... with no sudden jumps and bobs

Edited by Navid A1, 27 May 2015 - 09:41 PM.