Why Does It Take So Long For Pgi To Release/produce A Mech?
#1
Posted 03 March 2016 - 02:04 PM
#2
Posted 03 March 2016 - 02:06 PM
-Maps
-Modes
-Mechanics
-Polish
#3
Posted 03 March 2016 - 02:06 PM
Seems more like too soon to me. So many mechs with shared generic weapon and/or body geometry, stuff like animations (e.g. Clan wave 1), etc.
I'd rather have quality over quantity here. If they put more work into making dynamic geometry look actually dynamic, that would be a large improvement. We don't need to crank up the rate of bloating any more than it already has been.
#4
Posted 03 March 2016 - 02:11 PM
- artwork
- translation from artwork to model
- model then needs to be animated and hitboxes need to be done.
- animations and hitboxes need to be test thoroughly to make sure that they work well with each other
- then textures need to be applied and tested with various settings. there are a lot of camos, and each has 2-3 channels...
- cockpit needs to be modeled and textured (and tested with each cockpit item)
- sound effects specific to the mech need to be created and tested
- probably more steps
That's a lot of work, and a lot of man-hours and testing.
#5
Posted 03 March 2016 - 02:26 PM
1) Concept art (which not only requires creation, but also approval and revision by committee, which always takes forever).
2) Modeling and rigging in Maya or Max.
3) Import from Maya/Max into CryEngine Sandbox Editor.
4) Massive, iterative scripting and debugging in Vehicle Editor, as while there are obvious commonalities in each mech, there are enough differences that shared assets may be difficult to manage. Movement parameters, structure and parts properties, mass distribution etc.
And that's just to get a basic working vehicle that can move. You still have weapons, variants, damage modeling, etc. not to mention all of the texturing, visual and sound effects that Charlatan already mentioned. AND then each mech has what equates to a custom UI too.
PGI is not a massive studio. That they get one mech out a month at such a high level of quality is downright astounding. If they're not in constant crunch, then their project management and dev teams deserve accolades.
#7
Posted 03 March 2016 - 03:09 PM
TheCharlatan, on 03 March 2016 - 02:11 PM, said:
- then textures need to be applied and tested with various settings. there are a lot of camos, and each has 2-3 channels...
- cockpit needs to be modeled and textured (and tested with each cockpit item)
- pagan goat sacrifices
Fify. This and only this lol.
Edited by JackalBeast, 03 March 2016 - 04:40 PM.
#8
Posted 03 March 2016 - 03:32 PM
then i'll be content
#9
Posted 03 March 2016 - 04:10 PM
#10
Posted 03 March 2016 - 04:55 PM
1. Create Concept art
2. Translate art into some form of workable blueprint
3. Generate Highpoly 3d mesh for Normal mapping & reference (sometimes, but not always)
4. Generate main low poly3d mesh for ingame model which will be animated
5. Unwrap UVW main low poly 3d mesh for mapping & texturing
6a. Generate bone structure for Animation keyframing and link geometry to bones for limbs.
6b. Create and Assign bones for weapon hardpoints (MWO has alot of them)
7. Keyframe each animation sequence one at a time.
8. Q&A animation sequences
9. Generate RGB texture layer for main geometry (Mwo needs to create a unique one for every single Camo layer as well)
10. Generate normal maps either from RGB layer, or highpoly Geometry model (for lighting and shading)
11.Generate Specular/occlusion/Self Illumination maps (if necessary) from RGB or scratch.
12. Generate Hitbox geometry
13. Generate collision Geometry (sometimes same as hitbox)
14. Generate Shadow or Ray-trace geometry (sometimes same as main geometry, depends on engine)
15. Code in scripts
16. QA and testing
Probably alot of little steps missing, each engine is different, but this sums it up pretty close.
And then they have to do the Cockpit, which repeats all steps above.
Then sounds for all mech actions.
Engine, Torso twist, Torso Pitch, Arm pan and pitch, startup/shutdown and any other unique sounds necessary
Its alot of work.
Edited by Mister D, 03 March 2016 - 05:18 PM.
#11
Posted 03 March 2016 - 05:03 PM
#12
Posted 03 March 2016 - 05:24 PM
#13
Posted 03 March 2016 - 05:29 PM
There is nothing slow about PGIs mech releases, they are in fact really fast for the quality level.
#14
Posted 03 March 2016 - 05:30 PM
Armored Yokai, on 03 March 2016 - 02:04 PM, said:
WHUT? is this a serious question? This game is saturated with pointless overlapping redundant mechs.
#16
Posted 03 March 2016 - 06:10 PM
cdlord, on 03 March 2016 - 02:06 PM, said:
-Maps
-Modes
-Mechanics
-Polish
Slow down. PGI has unlimited resources and none of them compete with each other.
PEEFsmash, on 03 March 2016 - 04:10 PM, said:
But those other companies are releasing other pay content and aren't solely reliant on a single revenue stream.
#17
Posted 03 March 2016 - 06:11 PM
The biggest delay is probably the camos. Every mesh has to have reach camo customized, and any new camo has to be retrofitted to all existing chassis.
#18
Posted 03 March 2016 - 06:11 PM
GRiPSViGiL, on 03 March 2016 - 05:30 PM, said:
What? I was told there were hundreds of mechs on Sarna that were all unique, special snowflakes and that redundancy wouldn't be an issue before real mechs roamed the earth. Are you telling me they were wrong?
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