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Posted: 2008-05-18 14:54
by Cp
I could use some feedback here, Im starting to go blind from watching the same animation over and over again.
Its still WIP so its a bit stiff.
[WEGAME]sa80_reload_animation_test_2[/WEGAME]
What im not sure about is if the character really should hold the gun up when switching mags, in the video rhino posted the gun dosent move at all except for some tilting.
Another thing im not sure about is if I should lower the gun abit when he performs the forward assist slap thingy as the arm comes up in a wierd angle, problem is if I lower the gun to a more confertable level it goes outside the screen.
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 15:08
by Scot
Nice, looks good, but from the vids that rhino posted, its more of a full palm action(no sexual pun intended) rather than a press with a finger after the working parts are forward
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 15:12
by Brummy
Yup. Using the whole hand is a little bit more realistic.

Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 15:22
by Cp
You're right, The hand should probably be abit closer. But it is in the palm, Its just that the handle isnt visible making it hard to see.
heres a shot of what it looks like in 3ds, You can see the left hand skeleton thumb against the handle.

Posted: 2008-05-18 18:48
by Cp
More videos!
This time I have 2 diffrent, the first one is like the one rhino posted, as in not bringing the rifle up when switching mags, more realistic but also more boring.
[WEGAME]sa80_reload_animation_test_3[/WEGAME]
the second one is a continuation on the earlier one I posted with a bit of improvement on the slapping.
[WEGAME]sa80_reload_animation_test_4[/WEGAME]
The big question is now, What path should I continue on? the realistic and rather boring one or the more badass one?
I also made a strange descovery, The handle that is missing on the rifle is only missing from the one with the SUSAT scope, The one with iron sights still have one.
next up, tackling the vision impairing arm
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 18:53
by Conman51
well their both realistic..so thats good..but the first one is more tactcial..less movement and gives u better view(kinda)..but they both look cool for me...maybe have one for the iron a nd one for the SUSAT
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 19:33
by Dr Rank
Definately the first one. Its way better. Much more realistic and therefor more immersive.
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 19:42
by Scot
1st one ppleease, its more realistic, and tbh i would rather more realistic than if you can fling your rifle in the air and reload it at the same time.(although that would be EXTREMELY cool)
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 19:42
by Rhino
keep up the good work cp, really coming along well this!
I like both of them, so I'll let UKF give you some feedback on it. One thing I would say is maybe tilt the rifle down while also tilting it to the left and maybe slow it down a little and give it some more overall polish to make it look more natural
keep it up!

Posted: 2008-05-18 21:41
by Cp
Thanks for the feedback.
im going with the first one then, Less work for me
I was planning on tilting the rifle forward abit to get rid of the arm.
I cant slow it down without making the animation longer and a longer animation will obviously cause a longer reload time in game, This could affect the balance between the rifles, I dont know if theres a standard reload time all rifles have for balance sake or not.
so, How long can I make the animation without causing issues with gameplay?
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 22:13
by motherdear
i don't know if they still do this, but i have always learned to give the magasine a little slap in the bottom to make sure that no malfunctions happen. i don't know if they ever did it, and if they still do it. but nonetheless i don't see it in the video and i think that it should be added.
except for that excellent work CP.
Posted: 2008-05-18 22:32
by Cp
Thank you,
I was going to animate a slap on the mag as it felt like the natural thing to do, But the animation wasnt long enough to fit the slap. There is no problem with lengthening the animation to make room for it except for the reasons I stated earlier.
Also, Since im going with the first of the two choices, You wont actually see the slap even if I animate it. But we'll see, I Might add a slap depending on how much I can lengthening the animation, You'll probably only see the rifle shake abit anyways.
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 22:40
by halvor1
CP what do you say about working with the norwegian faction within the animation part? Looks like you keep up the quality!

Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 22:46
by jonjacob34
cp instead of a slapping the bottom of the mag, maybe a small tug, i always got the impression feeding lips of the mag got easily bent by slapping the bottom mag. just a thought though.
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 22:46
by Spec
I'd say have a longer, but more realistic animation. I could live with one or two seconds longer reload time, it doesnt really depend on that second. And if this animation was also used on the chinese rifle (they have the same, right?) it would be quite fair. The G3 takes quite long anyway (seems so at least).
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-18 23:02
by CareBear
when changing mag, you dont have to **** it again, as the bolt is held back after the last round is fired, so all you would do is change mag, and then release the bolt with the bolt release catch, the forward assist is only used once in all of the rifle drills, the first time you put a round into the chamber, as you are manually pulling back the springs and releasing them rather than letting the gas parts etc etc, making it more likely that the bolt doesnt fit snuggly in the chamber, (from the A1 days) so the forward assist is not used with everynew mag, just on the very first mag
also i was taught with the SA80 to give it a tug to make sure it is in, not a tap on the bottom
also when i reload the sa80 i do bring the rifle up, but not as much as in the second vid, and i slightly tilt it to the right (so the magazine housing points to the left), more of a smooth line from bringing the mag from the pouch into the magazine housing
Posted: 2008-05-19 00:08
by Cp
carebear, something like this?
[WEGAME]sa80_reload_animation_test_5[/WEGAME]
its a very crude animation I put together in a hurry as an exampel, so no need to comment on the stiff movements.
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-19 01:44
by fuzzhead
Looking great man, really good effort!
From a developer perspective: Do what is more realistic. Adding 1-2 seconds to the reload time really does not affect gameplay balance much at all. However, having a more natural and realistic looking reload animation does add alot to the immersive feel of the game.
I would say most/if not all the current vbf2 reload times are much too quick anyways. Considering you have to:
1) loosen/unbutton your mag pouch on your LBV
2) take out the fresh mag
3) drop the spent/old mag out of the mag well
4) quickly inspect and then insert the new mag
5) follow the proper reloading drills for that weapon (most assault rifles you just have to press a bolt catch and possibly forward assist, you do not actually have to **** the bolt again if its a tactical reload but unfortunately BF2 cannot tell the difference between a dry reload and a tactical reload)
OPTIONAL 6) IRL most of the time you will have to put your spent mag back into a drop pouch or mag pouch, as you are NOT issued magazines when rearming, like in magical BF2 land. You would NOT be discarding the spent mag on the ground like in BF2. When rearming you'd typically be issued strips of rounds that you have to individually load into the magazine, or for speed, using a magasine loader which attaches to the magazine.
So its kind of silly to think that you can do a tactical reload in the couple seconds it takes in BF2, all the while taking incoming fire and crawling on your belly/sprinting somewhere/etc. So anyways, do what you think will look most realistic/natural, the gameplay implications of a slightly longer reload time are negligible.
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-19 02:53
by HughJass
3 and 5 were preatty sweet. the others were eh
I say work on the british sniper animation instead of this. This does not really need work. Or the A-A ones, or something.
Re: [Animation] sa80 cocking hand
Posted: 2008-05-19 08:28
by Waaah_Wah
The british sniper rifle is a bit weird... The guy is pointing it upwards instead of forward when holding it