Slingers

[CaesarBR]

Would it be possible to add slinger units to M2TW?? what would have to be done to implement them?

[Sher Khan]

Most likely import the animations, if possible, from RTW. I myself would love to have them in M2TW.

[CaesarBR]

Most likely import the animations, if possible, from RTW. I myself would love to have them in M2TW.

yeah...it would be great...does anyone knows if it is possible to import animations from rome to medieval 2 and how to make them work properly?

[Alletun]

Yes it possible, but it's alot of work.

There are two ways to do it: either re-do the entire animation by hand for the m2tw skeleton, or create a new skeleton for m2tw that looks like the rtw one, so you can use the rtw animation files. Both are very tedious. Maybe KnightErrant can think of some smarter ways.

The major obstacle is that rtw and m2tw are using different skeletons. e.g. in rome there's 3 bones for cloaks etc.

In any case you'll have to use KnightErrant's animation utilities:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/downl...o=file&id=1469

Also if you havn't tried messing about with animations before i suggest starting out with something simpler

[CaesarBR]

Yes it possible, but it's alot of work.

There are two ways to do it: either re-do the entire animation by hand for the m2tw skeleton, or create a new skeleton for m2tw that looks like the rtw one, so you can use the rtw animation files. Both are very tedious. Maybe KnightErrant can think of some smarter ways.

The major obstacle is that rtw and m2tw are using different skeletons. e.g. in rome there's 3 bones for cloaks etc.

In any case you'll have to use KnightErrant's animation utilities:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/downl...o=file&id=1469

Also if you havn't tried messing about with animations before i suggest starting out with something simpler

Thanks Alletun
but...I'm not a skinner, I'm a historian, so I cannot do it...but no problem...when my mod arrange a skinner I'll ask him if he would be willing to do it...but since it's tedious I'll not demand it from him...

[KnightErrant]

I did this a few weeks ago but Alletun's post reminded me to finally post it.
I released a converter of RTW animations to the M2TW format in this thread:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=144292

The only half decent RTW slinger animation I could find was
SLG 74 Swing sling to stand ready.cas
I paired it to MTW2_Javelin_attack_missile_release.cas
and then animmerged the resulting .cas file with an
armored_sergeant and got this picture:



If you ignore the spear and shield, this is right as the slinger is about
to release his projectile. (The left leg has problems that need to be
reanimated but the rest of the animation is pretty good.)

[SigniferOne]

KE, but one thing slingers have is a rotating sling bone within the hand.

EDIT: in RTW

[KnightErrant]

Ah, but that part is still doable by modeling and animation.
Just add one (better two, to model the sling opening) sling_bones,
export the new skeleton to an animation family, and include
in descr_skeleton.txt. The part I don't understand is where the
game connects a flying javelin to the end of the
Javelin_attack_missile_release.cas animation and has it fly.
Same question for arrows. Can we touch this part or are arrows,
crossbow bolts, and javelins hard-coded and that's all we have in M2TW?

I did a little searching on variations of "projectile animations" but didn't
find any answers.

[SigniferOne]

You connect the animation to the actual projectile in export_descr_unit.txt. There, say for archers, you see arrow specified. The game then loads up the arrow's model, and data about its intended trajectory from descr_projectiles.txt. Then follows a threefold hardcorded procedure for archer-shooting:

-anim1 to go from idle pose to bow-string drawn. This is where he pulls out his arrow and loads it into the bow, drawing the bowstring.

-anim2 idles in that ready state with string drawn, waiting for other archers to draw their bows. It loops until everyone else is ready.

-anim3 is the reaction from loosed arrow (i.e. the 'recoil') and return back to idle.

Somewhere in-between 2 and 3, when everyone is in ready-idle and the engine decides to shoot the arrows, the arrows fly off, and soldiers start running anim3.

[KnightErrant]

Whoa, thanks SigniferOne! So the experiment would
be change javelin to stone in EDU for some unit and
see if stones fly. If that works then slingers are viable.

[CaesarBR]

good news!
wow!you guys are really skilled!

[SigniferOne]

Yup KE, just change the projectile in EDU and a different one will fly.

[KnightErrant]

@SigniferOne
O, wise one, I bow to your knowledge. This is just too freakin'
cool.



Hard to see so I circled the stones. The javelinmen run through their
wind up anim, and lo and behold, magically the javelins morph to stones
and fly off to smite the enemy.

@MaximianusBR
The quick and easy way is to just rotate bone_Rhand and put a mesh
that represents the sling running off the mesh for the right hand. But that
won't look right, especially if you're a historian. The better way is adding
extra bones to animate the sling. When you've got a modeller who wants
to take this on, the procedure is outlined in the User's Guide and Tutorial
for animation utilities, pages 13 through 17. (This was for dwarves which
don't use extra bones but do use a non-standard skeleton.) You still have
to decide on an animation family which mimics the behavior you would want
for slingers, javelinmen spring to mind since they also would avoid melee
and seek to only use missiles.

(This isn't a trivial thing, but with SigniferOne's info all the pieces to the
puzzle are there.)

[CaesarBR]

@SigniferOne
O, wise one, I bow to your knowledge. This is just too freakin'
cool.



Hard to see so I circled the stones. The javelinmen run through their
wind up anim, and lo and behold, magically the javelins morph to stones
and fly off to smite the enemy.

@MaximianusBR
The quick and easy way is to just rotate bone_Rhand and put a mesh
that represents the sling running off the mesh for the right hand. But that
won't look right, especially if you're a historian. The better way is adding
extra bones to animate the sling. When you've got a modeller who wants
to take this on, the procedure is outlined in the User's Guide and Tutorial
for animation utilities, pages 13 through 17. (This was for dwarves which
don't use extra bones but do use a non-standard skeleton.) You still have
to decide on an animation family which mimics the behavior you would want
for slingers, javelinmen spring to mind since they also would avoid melee
and seek to only use missiles.

(This isn't a trivial thing, but with SigniferOne's info all the pieces to the
puzzle are there.)

Thanks!!!