I need an "extra-slow" horse

[Monkwarrior]

Hi.
I've never made animations and because of that I need some help.:embarassed:

I would need an animation for a very slow horse and I'd like to know a simple method to do it.

My idea is:
1) to assign the walking animation to the galloping movement, and
2) to make a slower walking animation (not mandatory) by changing either the number of frames or the distance between the first and the last frames.

Is it easy to do? How?

Any help would be appreciated.:help:

[Bwian]

Changing the number of frames will not have the effect you want. The speed of movement is controlled by the distance moved in each cycle. Reducing the frames will just make the thing a lot more jerky.

You will need to do a bit more than just reduce the distance covered though.... as you will see when you try it! The movement may end up looking like the thing is 'moonwalking' and sliding it's feet to stay still if you reduce it too far.

You also need to think about the other animations. Walk to run, run to walk, walk to stand.....if your walk animation moves..say...1 unit, then your walk to stand can't go further than that and should be less. Otherwise the transitions from one to the other will have sudden increases in speed!

It's not hard to do...it's just a bit more work than you might think!

You need 3DS Max, and you need the CAS plugin. Thats it really.

[Monkwarrior]

Thanks Bwian. Your advices will prevent me to spend time in this question.:2thumbsup:

This horse animation was required for a type of chariot, but now the problem is the chariot itself. The model looks nice in 3ds max, but when I try to put it in game I cannot see the chariot. :dizzy2:

I see only the horses, the harnesses, the pole (in wrong position, but it is visible), the wheels and the crew. It is not the alpha channel, as it is correct.

I have also problems with the different values in descr_mount and export_descr_unit. The chariot is much larger than the usual ones, and there is some mistake. The formation of the three chariots is not correct (they are not in one line) and when loosing or packing the formation, they move in a strange way. Finally if I give them the order of walk, the game CTD.

Any idea? :inquisitive:

[wlesmana]

The chariot has no bone, instead the game engine would look for the name of the mesh and attach it to the skeleton. So load up the original chariot mesh and make sure you got the names correct and the same. If you're adding new objects, you have to attach them to the original meshes since you cannot link them to the bones (the game would ignore it if the names are not correct).

As for your CTD, try using the new horse animation for regular horse first, cavalry with no chariot. If it still CTDs, then its your new walking/running animation that's the problem. If it runs fine, then it's your chariot, which I doubt is the culprit since you didn't modify the animation. Modding the models won't cause CTD during the start of an animation.

[Monkwarrior]

The chariot has no bone, instead the game engine would look for the name of the mesh and attach it to the skeleton. So load up the original chariot mesh and make sure you got the names correct and the same. If you're adding new objects, you have to attach them to the original meshes since you cannot link them to the bones (the game would ignore it if the names are not correct).

As for your CTD, try using the new horse animation for regular horse first, cavalry with no chariot. If it still CTDs, then its your new walking/running animation that's the problem. If it runs fine, then it's your chariot, which I doubt is the culprit since you didn't modify the animation. Modding the models won't cause CTD during the start of an animation.
Thanks wlesmana. I will revise the chariot model. The invisibility may be due to some problem with the name of some mesh.

I imagine that the CTD is due to problems with the numbers in descr_mount or in export_descr_unit. I'm using a horse animation that is working for cavalry units, so the animations are not responsible for it.

Thanks.:2thumbsup:

Edit: the invisibility problem was in fact due to renamed chariot parts. Now it is shown in game, with some small problems of relative positions that must be solved in descr_mount.

However the CTD problem persists. These are images of what is happening.

1. The initial formation when loading the battle.
https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Monkwarrior/carros/th_reflejo_carro.jpg (https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Monkwarrior/carros/reflejo_carro.jpg)
This formation is not "stable", as it changes each time I move the position of the unit. My first concern is that they are not in line. I've put very long distances in the formation of export_descr_unit (values: 20, 50 for close formation, 40, 100 for loose formation).

2. When battle begins, I can change formation, but this is what happens:
a) Close formation:
https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Monkwarrior/carros/th_formacion_cerrada.jpg (https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Monkwarrior/carros/formacion_cerrada.jpg)
Note that now each chariot is in different direction (marked with red arrows).

b) Loose formation:
https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Monkwarrior/carros/th_formacion_abierta.jpg (https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Monkwarrior/carros/formacion_abierta.jpg)
Again the chariots are in different directions.

c) Close formation again:
https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Monkwarrior/carros/th_formacion_cerrada2.jpg (https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Monkwarrior/carros/formacion_cerrada2.jpg)
It is different than the previous one.

3. From the last close formation I gave the order to form in a line (red angles more or less in the position of the yellow arrows in game). They move but the directions were again different, but not too much in this case, as shown by the red arrows. Finally the yellow arrows show the next position I marked, and then CTD.
https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Monkwarrior/carros/th_pre_CTD.jpg (https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Monkwarrior/carros/pre_CTD.jpg)


A final concern is the presence of some strange reflections, depending on the place where the chariot is situated (marked with red circles in the screenshots). Could it be due to a mistake in the model? How can I test if I cannot import the animation?

Any idea?:help:

[Monkwarrior]

Problem solved (in part).

The CTD was caused by the animation of the crew, not the one of the chariot.

The question of the different directions when changing from close to loose formations is general for large units (elephants, for example). I have tested it.

Now I'm trying to "adjust the puzzle pieces" with numbers in descr_mount. :dizzy2:

Cheers.