Lerk dangling legs
Moody
Join Date: 2010-07-18 Member: 72528Members
Join Date: 2010-07-18 Member: 72528Members
When the lurk flies, I think it would be good to have his feet kinda dangle (so when he flies forward they will kinda push backwards, given the effects of momentum). This would make flying look more realistic, and less of just a plain animation.
I'm not sure whether this could be done via ragdolled, or if it would require complex coding/animation. If it could be done by ragdolls then there would have to be a good balance between stiffness and freedom of movement to make it not look silly. Although, I do realize this could just be a lot of work for a small visual effect that is just plain not worth it.
I'm not sure whether this could be done via ragdolled, or if it would require complex coding/animation. If it could be done by ragdolls then there would have to be a good balance between stiffness and freedom of movement to make it not look silly. Although, I do realize this could just be a lot of work for a small visual effect that is just plain not worth it.
Comments
IMHO no flying creature on earth, and surely no predatory creature like the lerk just lets his legs dangle while flying.
when <b>you</b> run you won't let your arms dangle free at your sides either. (unless you're a ninja in naruto.. bleh)
so this suggestion just brings more work for no gain, just for the point of being more realistic, which it isn't, ironically. IMHO
another point: this is an multiplayer, competitive first person shooter based in space, where marines fight off aliens. so.. realism.. nah.
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I don't want to sound rude or mean... but why did you post it when you realize that? I'm not trying to shoot you down, some suggestions are good, and some are horrible, and honestly: this idea is leaning more on the 'good' side.
I suggest you lurk the forums for a while, get to know what isn't already suggested or not. your idea is original, but not necessary for the game, IMHO. that's just a suggestion.
When I said realism I meant visual realism, not gameplay realism. Of course a birds legs wouldn't move if it is trying to land or grab some prey. Yet, birds do let their leg muscles relax when they don't need them for a specific purpose. Also, I also specifically said that there would have to be balances between floppy and rigid physics. I don't want legs that flop everywhere (although the mental image is quite funny). I just want to notice a slight shift of position when the flight path is changed. This slight shift makes the creature look less static, and more organic. It also slightly increases immersion. My suggestion could also be accomplished via animations, but that would definitely be more work than it's worth.
Again, this isn't a feature that it would suck not to have, it would just help make the Lerk look more organic. There is a new style of animating called jigglebones, which is what I was thinking of when I posted this.
Actually, they lift them up to lower the air resistance.
Dangling feet are not realistic.
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Dangling feet are not realistic.
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You're right about the birds, but notice in the Lerk reveal video, the creature has a "hunched" appearance, meaning the the legs <i>do</i> dangle down (from what I can see of the video). But the video also seems to show my suggestion to be true. If you look closely between 0:34-0:36 you can see the legs angle slightly back as the Lerk starts to fly forwards.
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So I suppose my suggestion is rendered invalid.
edit: added in video for convenience.