Boarding and Exiting animations in Planetside 2

[Higby]

Originally Posted by Logit

But they won't.

You never know, man!

This is something we've talked about quite a bit in the office, but it involves a lot more than you guys may realize. It's not just making a couple dozen character animations, it involves modeling and texturing all the vehicle interiors, making all the doors separate, animated pieces of the vehicles, i.e. essentially remaking many of our current vehicles.

We definitely get that this is something that you guys love from ps1 and want in ps2. I'm on a bus with T-Ray and Elam for 5 hours today, so we'll pow wow about it a bit and see what can be done...

[EASyEightyEight]

That's good, and even if you decide it's not worth the hassle, at least consider a booting/revving up period between entering the vehicle and actually having control over it's functions? You know, guy warps in, then the engine takes a moment to rev up, or the main gun of the tank needs to power up, etc.

The key here is no one wants to be shooting someone next to a tank and in the instant they enter they can lob a shell at you. The entering/exit animation itself is eye candy. The player model is immortal once they begin entering the tank in PS1 as is.

Related question: will the vehicle still required to be at a stand still to board, and will we need to holster our weaponry first? Please say yes

Another related question: can we persuade you to include "cockpit PoV" for more open cockpit vehicles, like buggies, and maybe the mossy? I miss my old wing commander days of where I actually felt like I was sitting inside a craft, as opposed to seeing the world through a camera.

[Sirisian]

Darn was hoping for a nice minimalistic cockpit view for planes and vehicles. Sounds like the windows are tinted?

[Bags]

Originally Posted by EASyEightyEight

That's good, and even if you decide it's not worth the hassle, at least consider a booting/revving up period between entering the vehicle and actually having control over it's functions? You know, guy warps in, then the engine takes a moment to rev up, or the main gun of the tank needs to power up, etc.

The key here is no one wants to be shooting someone next to a tank and in the instant they enter they can lob a shell at you. The entering/exit animation itself is eye candy. The player model is immortal once they begin entering the tank in PS1 as is.

Related question: will the vehicle still required to be at a stand still to board, and will we need to holster our weaponry first? Please say yes
.

This.

[GTGD]

While I agree that animations would be best, there are other ways to go about it:

Maybe have the player getting into the vehicle board it normally, and simply freeze for a couple seconds while in the driver/gunner/passenger seat. During that freeze-time, have the player appear to be deconstructing, or fading out, or something. A visual cue that signals they are entering the vehicle.

That way there won't be any confusion as to where the player went, and it won't be able to be abused like in the past.

I'm still under the assumption that there will be specific spots where one is able to board from, and the player will appear in open-cockpit vehicles. Is there truth to that?

[Brusi]

NOTE: Boarding animations for ancient tech vehicles were crap.

[CutterJohn]

Originally Posted by Higby

You never know, man!

This is something we've talked about quite a bit in the office, but it involves a lot more than you guys may realize. It's not just making a couple dozen character animations, it involves modeling and texturing all the vehicle interiors, making all the doors separate, animated pieces of the vehicles, i.e. essentially remaking many of our current vehicles.

Heh. I gave that explanation almost point for point earlier. But then I'm a nobody who's worked on mods, not a lead dev on a project worth millions.


Don't be too persuaded by the argument. Remember that having animations is nifty from an eye candy perspective, but there are downsides. You use up that much more texture memory for the interiors, lose that much more time for making new weapons/vehicles, and you lose easy control of vehicle seating. If seating is arbitrary, you can easily add in an extra seat or two for balance, or certs for the vehicles.

[Bags]

^ "Don't be too persuaded" by something the vast majority of players want! Sounds like what SOE always has done with PS1.

[RedKnights]

I just kind of wonder why this was left out in the first place, there's no way, I hope, you were planning to be able to jump into and instantly pilot a vehicle, so it begs the question of what the plan was from the beginning.

Adding a time delay is one thing but that would be so aggravatingly boring. At least in Planetside you had a third-person view of your character getting in and out to distract you. Even Halo has vehicle entry animations for balancing purposes.

Personally I'd like to see a short 1st person scene of you hopping into your plane, flipping switches desperately/professionally depending on the situation and the engines revving up, and then you're given control of your galaxy in the standard camera view.

My advice, don't skimp on something like this, give the game polish, buff it to a nice shine like the major studios do.

Planetside 2 is kinda SOE's last chance to remain relevant in the world of MMO gaming. You already regained some of your popular opinion with making DC Universe "Not as terrible as expected". You might as well pull all the stops and make Planetside 2 a game to be reckoned with and market the shit out of it. Give it the detailing it deserves, or you might as well not even bother.

And if the game is really on such a shoe-string budget such that re-texturing vehicles so that they can be hacked, or modeling cockpits and doors will break the bank (Something that a squad of university students could probably cobble together in a day or two) Then I really worry about the game as a whole, and I suggest a kick-starter project.

[Aractain]

I agree that acient tech stuff was terrible to board however I also agree that if people just climb on top of a vehicle and 'transport' inside would be a good tradeoff.

I don't want people to spend time doing extra stuff that could be spent making MOAR GUNZ!

[Bruttal]

Originally Posted by Higby

You never know, man!

This is something we've talked about quite a bit in the office, but it involves a lot more than you guys may realize. It's not just making a couple dozen character animations, it involves modeling and texturing all the vehicle interiors, making all the doors separate, animated pieces of the vehicles, i.e. essentially remaking many of our current vehicles.

We definitely get that this is something that you guys love from ps1 and want in ps2. I'm on a bus with T-Ray and Elam for 5 hours today, so we'll pow wow about it a bit and see what can be done...

really am just kinda curious is to why you would need to make vehicle interiors. cant the char just disappear as they climb into it?. doesn't make sense to render an entire "cockpit" for every vehicle. to me if it requires that much work Id rather it come out 3-6 months after release its not that huge of a deal id rather have the game balanced and ready to play then spend another 3-4 months on redoing vehicles just for a boarding animation.

and to all the people am about to be flamed by. I GET IT VEHICLE ANIMATIONS ARE COOL AND MAKE THINGS FELL MORE REALISTIC and I would like to see them to but not at release lets get the game out make sure everyone can login and play with the current style and then we can give some feedback.

[Talek Krell]

I think the general consensus so far is that we'd like animations, but what we really want is the delay.

[basti]

Originally Posted by Higby

You never know, man!

This is something we've talked about quite a bit in the office, but it involves a lot more than you guys may realize. It's not just making a couple dozen character animations, it involves modeling and texturing all the vehicle interiors, making all the doors separate, animated pieces of the vehicles, i.e. essentially remaking many of our current vehicles.

We definitely get that this is something that you guys love from ps1 and want in ps2. I'm on a bus with T-Ray and Elam for 5 hours today, so we'll pow wow about it a bit and see what can be done...

<3

If you guys cant just spam it out, thats fine. As long as we get them before or some time after release, its all ok.

Those animations doesnt add anything to the gameplay (enter and exit times dont need animation), but they add a lot to the immersion, and thats quite important. You play a whole lot better and have a lot more fun with a game if you just let youself get sucked into it

[bjorntju1]

What about something that ArmA 2 did. For example:
( @ 0:26)

Make it a little slower and a little more polished. This way you don't necessarily have to make the interiors and the moving doors.

[Crator]

I was playing PS1 yesterday and while entering/exiting vehicles I thought of this thread and how it would be a shame if we never see those animations again in PS2. Not saying have them ready for day 1 of go-live, just sayin' put them in when ya can. As for time delays I have a question. When entering/exiting in PS1 were you vulnerable to being hit? I never could tell for sure if this was the case.