Minor "Cosmetic" Changes I Think Would Improve PS

[BlackHawk]

1. At rest, or idle, animations for characters, with and without weapons drawn. Possibly even empire or weapon specific stances and run animations that are toggleable. For example, the TR, being very traditional military forces, would carry their rifles down in front of their stomachs. The NC, being very laid back about their soldiers activities, allow their troops to hold the weapons one handed by the grip, over their shoulders or just hanging down to their feet.

2. Decimator "reload" animation (after firing and waiting for the next shot), both for the player and the person seeing them. If theres one in the game, I've never seen it.

3. Visible holstered grenades. I just don't get why you can only see them when they are equipped.

4. BFR pilot weapon aiming causes the torso to twist, rather than changing the facing of the weapons. Also, only the BFR feet angle when walking on the sides of hills: the torso stays at the same level of "roll" at all times (Yes, these ideas are from Mechwarrior oops: ). Where exactly are the BFRs' center of gravity?

[Warborn]

3. Visible holstered grenades. I just don't get why you can only see them when they are equipped.

Reduces the amount of stuff your client is rendering, thus leading to better performance.


I like your other suggestions. I'm sure if the PS team had the resources they'd do what you suggested and much more. As it is, they don't have all the staff they could want, so unfortunately stuff like this has to fall through the cracks. Maybe if Blizzard makes a game like Planetside we can see that level of detail and cosmetic coolness in a MMOFPS.

[Lartnev]

1)It's not whether they're toggleable that's mainly the problem. It's the fact that atm there are only 2 infantry models: male and female (or something to that effect, but it's low). To add empre specific animations to those is a lot of effort and also adds slight balancing problems (for example, anyone firing from shoulder height will have an automatic advantage on a hill as they could shield more of their body. This currently happens if you compare the TR MAX (high) to the VS and NC MAXs (low)). Not saying it shouldn't be done, but there are time and other considerations first :)

2)Well technically the decimator doesn't reload ;)

3)As Warborn said

4) Lots of physics and animation would have to go into doing this. Mechwarrior is designed around the mechs and the end product is believable torso and leg movement animations. Unfortunately PlanetSide does not have such a luxuary :(

[KeviN]

I'm pretty sure that you can see a small black box attached to your waist when you have grenades holstered.

[Lartnev]

Probably the attachment point for the holster :)

[BlackHawk]

1)It's not whether they're toggleable that's mainly the problem. It's the fact that atm there are only 2 infantry models: male and female (or something to that effect, but it's low). To add empre specific animations to those is a lot of effort and also adds slight balancing problems (for example, anyone firing from shoulder height will have an automatic advantage on a hill as they could shield more of their body. This currently happens if you compare the TR MAX (high) to the VS and NC MAXs (low)). Not saying it shouldn't be done, but there are time and other considerations first
Ehhhh, let me clarify. The weapon would not be considered to be in a different location, and as soon as a shot is fired, the player would return to the default "ready" stance. Thus, the shot origin would be the same as always. As I said, just a cosmetic change. Something that would look nice, but doesn't really have any effect on the game. Would be nice for potential movie makers, at the least.

2)Well technically the decimator doesn't reload
Yeah, but it always looked goofy to me that three rockets could come out of it, with there being no visible change. And anyway, wouldn't you like having some visual indication that your weapon is ready to fire, or your enemy's is?

Reduces the amount of stuff your client is rendering, thus leading to better performance.
True, I guess. Although the grenade does become visible when equipped, so it's not like the art doesn't exist.

4) Lots of physics and animation would have to go into doing this. Mechwarrior is designed around the mechs and the end product is believable torso and leg movement animations. Unfortunately PlanetSide does not have such a luxuary
Again, true. But as with the Decimator, I just think the current way the BFRs are animated looks goofy. They look like they are gonna tip over at any moment.

These are all just ideas I had that I thought would be nice to have, but are not critical to my enjoyment. I mean, I've been playing for more than a year with the Deci having no reload animation, I'm not gonna quit now because of it ;)

[Lartnev]

The weapon would not be considered to be in a different location, and as soon as a shot is fired, the player would return to the default "ready" stance.

But it would be in a different location?

[ORANGE]

think of it this way lart what he is saying while standing still for a certain amount of time it goes into one of these animations he is proposing then as soon as you move or fire the weapon it snaps back to the weapon ready position, so basically the bullet object wouldn't be created at a different location from where it is already, if you've played tribes vengence you can see this, when a player stands still the weapon drops down to the side but as soon as they fire it is brought back up and even if the animation isn't completed by the time the weapon is finished it still creates the bullet/projectile object at the same spot it normally does

[BlackHawk]

Right. The rest stance would just be art. For all other purposes, your character is the same as always.

[Lartnev]

Ok, so the balance aspect is sorted, thanks for the clarification :)

Still leaves the animation resources though :(

[Lonehunter]

the TR, being very traditional military forces, would carry their rifles down in front of their stomachs.
Um, if you see a military soldier carrying his weapon by his waist and "shootin from the hip" then you should slap him.


2. Decimator "reload" animation
The Deci doesn't reload, disposable weapon.

[Lartnev]

Um, if you see a military soldier carrying his weapon by his waist and "shootin from the hip" then you should slap him.

If you've read his replies, he doesn't mean firing from the hip, rather they'd carry them there whilst not firing. Although, you have to ask the question, why wouldn't they be in a stance where they were ready to fire if the weapon wasn't holstered?

[MrPaul]

The Deci doesn't reload, disposable weapon.
True, but some sort of animation between shots would be nice. Such as whipping out a new projectile or somesuch.

[BlackHawk]

If you've read his replies, he doesn't mean firing from the hip, rather they'd carry them there whilst not firing. Although, you have to ask the question, why wouldn't they be in a stance where they were ready to fire if the weapon wasn't holstered?
That's why I would prefer it to be toggleable instead of automatic after X seconds of weapon inactivity. So it's more of a neat little thing that you could turn on anytime you wanted. If you've seen the "Shadows of Auraxis" movie that Miir did a while back, the scene with the Terran troops running alongside the ANT with their weapons out is a prime example of how I think it would be cool to have a rest stance. The scene was cool, but would have looked better if the unsuspecting soldiers had looked like they were unsuspecting.

Here's a couple (http://www4.army.mil/armyimages/armyimage.php?photo=3270) of pictures (http://www4.army.mil/armyimages/armyimage.php?photo=3786) of what I meant by the TR holding their weapons down by their stomachs. I don't know what this called.

The Deci doesn't reload, disposable weapon.
Which is why I explained what I meant by "reload". Yes it's a disposable weapon, but it fires one shot then has to wait a few seconds before it can fire again. Obviously it's cycling a new round into the firing chamber. Why not show that? They could have the "cone" at the end of the Deci dissappear, like it's part of the rocket that was just fired (I think that is what it's supposed to be anyway), then reappear when the next shot is ready to fire. Like I said, it would just be a nice little thing to let you know when your next shot is ready.

[Lartnev]

But wouldn't you just holster your weapon in most scenarios like that?

[EarlyDawn]

No. I've seen a lot of soldiers just screw around with their guns and fidget around with them instead of shouldering them.