two questions about 'skeletons'

[SirRethcir]

First: descr_skeleton.txt
Could someone explain how to make changes in this file effecting the game.
I think several mods using it, though '-utill:animdb' seems not to work.
Seems to be a big secret!?

Second: bone structure in unit models
I guess it is hard coded, according to my tests.
Or is there a way to, let's say, add another bone to a horse?


Thanks in advance!

[hoggy]

descr_skeleton does nothing it seems ro be a redundant file.

I don't think we have a way to add bones to the existing skeletons yet sadly but don't quote me on that.

[Bwian]

Hoggy is right...there is currently no way of actually making a fundamental change to the skeleton. Don't let that limit you TOO much though!

First off...DITCH the old anim editor, and get a copy of hte latest version of XIDX. It works much better. Vercingetorix virtually started again with this tool to sort some fundamental bugs in the old one. XIDX is loads better.

Secondly...whilst you ARE limited in the number of bones you have, you can distort the skeletons in all sorts of ways to make new stuff once you get the hang of animations, and provided you have access to a copy of 3DS Max.

The text file descr_skeleton has no effect on the game that I can see. In fact...delete it, and the game runs just fine.

[SirRethcir]

The text file descr_skeleton has no effect on the game that I can see. In fact...delete it, and the game runs just fine.

I suppose you know this thread:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=44433

ChivTW-Demo: in descr_skeleton their is for example a skeleton type 'fs_crossbowman'. Is this just a remnant of an sad attempt to implement a new skeleton?

Hoggy is right...there is currently no way of actually making a fundamental change to the skeleton. Don't let that limit you TOO much though!

The limit is beyond your imagination!

First off...DITCH the old anim editor, and get a copy of hte latest version of XIDX. It works much better. Vercingetorix virtually started again with this tool to sort some fundamental bugs in the old one. XIDX is loads better.

Yeah, already done!

Secondly...whilst you ARE limited in the number of bones you have, you can distort the skeletons in all sorts of ways to make new stuff once you get the hang of animations, and provided you have access to a copy of 3DS Max.

Not just in the number of bones!
Ok, i wanted an additional bone for the horses.
Due the fact that the dog has more bones than the horse I tried to use these dog bones for the horse. Not good.
Then I had the idea of making generals riding dogs. But to accomplish that I need a new skeleton or the animations are limited to the dog animations.

And all this, because I just wanted to make a more realistic animation for the general on the rearing horse.
(Besides, changing the general animation won't do it, because general_signal_charge.cas is used for the charge signal -horse not rearing- and for the regroup signal -horse rearing-)

[Ciaran]

No, th crossbowman in Chivalry works just fine. The point is, all relevant files regarding animations are packed in the files in the animation folder, animations.idx and skeletons.idx and they have to be packed in order to work. The descr_skeleton is redundant, but perhaps it´s a good way to make the list of available skeletons easily acessible.

[Bwian]

Ahh, I see... you see...the terminology here is a bit confusing...

You CAN make new 'skeletons' in terms of say fs_dagger kind of skeleton. You CANNOT make a new skeleton in terms of the actual underlying skeleton in the model mesh that is animated.

The files you want to change can be changed. These are animation routines. You will need 3DS Max and Vercingetorix's script to import and export animations.

Use the XIDX tool to extract all the animations and skeleton files, and make yourself a copy of the horse animation sets. Then you can modify the ones you want, and re-pack. It's quite a tricky task at first, but once you have the process done once...it gets easier!