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Inner Circle Update for April 8 2019!
🕑 Added 2019-04-09 04:22:46 +0000 UTCHey guys,
It's been a pretty frustrating week, but we're working hard to get the release ready + things to where I expect them to be quality-wise. As for the release, Mr. Kittyhawk ran into some unexpected issues when hooking the grapple system up to the combat system, and it's delayed the demo for a few days while he fixes it (the source of the issue is known and he's working on it ). It's not trivial, but we think we can have it ready before the next Inner Circle update. Check out all the details below!
Onyx Animation Progress
We've been working on Onyx's Idle and Walk animations this week. I'm really happy with how Idle is turning out -- let us know what you think so far. I had hoped Walk would go easier since it's our second time around on it, but it was as frustrating as before because Spine doesn't have soft IK to keep the knees from popping. I've pretty much got it down to a science though now, and I think this is already a solid improvement over our old animation.
Vioreaper Nest Progress
We've finally got some results to show off for our biomonster nest map :D. This is still a work in progress, and doesn't have the processing we intend to use, but it's a good preview I think. Definitely check out the higher res image below!
Mr. Kittyhawk's Programming Progress
The big issue this week has been getting the H system to play nice with the combat system. The problem is that handing over the controls from the player to the AI director can cause some nasty side effects, and Mr. Kittyhawk has been doing a deep dive into the state machine to root out logic that may be problematic.
The state machine is basically the system that determines what state an actor is in (walking, idle, being attacked, etc). He's created this partial graph of it to diagnose/prevent issues, and I think it could give you an idea as to the complexity involved :D.
Wraxe Boss Artwork
Limbo has been continuing his work on the Wraxe boss artwork. These still need a few edits, but check em out!
"Mixfix" Animation Blending Technique
Spine's automated animation blending (called mixing) was never intended for complex characters with multiple poses (largely because Spine wasn't intended for that). The result is lots of glitchy warping when transitions happen. It's in fact happening in the old release with the Splicer animations, and it's not pretty. One major success this week is the development of a technique I call "mixfixing", which should allow us the flexibility to dramatically clean up these transitions. The technique basically pre-deforms images so that they better match the skeleton when the image set changes occur. This is the magic bullet we needed, as now we can manually fix (most) issues on any animation transition that can occur.
For it to make sense, I made a simple test showing off a rough version of it cleaning up Onyx's completely mangled jacket during a transition. Excuse the WIP animations from early this week / exploding face :D (there's a fix for that too).
Comments
PhatsM
Yeah, from what little I have understood from spine here, placing an animation node "that's what I'm calling it" where her iliac crest would be so her hips sway laterally and therefore up and down with each step seems like it would be a pain in the ass. And yeah, good point with GITS, Ero. I'll be the first to admit that what I don't know about art could fill a warehouse.
As for hip sway, that would mean the side visible to us would have to go up/down ever so slightly. Spine already seems a pain in the ass enough to deal with. "Also, whenever Onyx is idle, her top is fighting for its life to keep those nipples in check." As it should be, make that top work for all it's worth.
MangoFishSocks
Agreed on the walking thing. I feel like there should be left-and-right hip gyrating going on but that might be hard to pull off with the side view. They got pseudo-3D with Onyx' face but it could be tough to implement that into her hips. Just a bit more forward and backward sway could work otherwise. Lighting in MatM's new artstyle previews give me high hopes for immersion between the character and the environment, if not from the system itself then from the knowledge they have gained from that experimentation. Along with the processing thing Ero replied with. The map looks excellent otherwise, and that mixfix video reminds me of that Overwatch animation blending/blurring showcase they did a while ago. Good stuff. The Wraxe boss' upper hand looks a bit disconnected from the handle but I'm sure that's just a prototype. Also, whenever Onyx is idle, her top is fighting for its life to keep those nipples in check. :P
Wouldn't worry about the art style thing -- that's not the final processing. But really it's all a matter of grading and compositing, which we're on top of ^-^. Consider how simple the characters were in GITS, yet they fit into the backgrounds. <a href="https://i2.wp.com/erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ghost-in-the-shell-anime-screenshot-composition-111-resized.jpg?resize=1000%2C625" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://i2.wp.com/erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ghost-in-the-shell-anime-screenshot-composition-111-resized.jpg?resize=1000%2C625</a>
PhatsM
Vioreaper nest map looks amazing. I'd have to see Onyx on set to truly make a judgment, but I feel like her current artstyle will clash with it. It's good to have your characters distinguishable from the surroundings but I'm feeling like she might too much? But as I said, need to see her on stage to make a good judgment call. Her walk animation has a good bounce to it as well, but without noticeable movement of her hips bouncing and sashaying, the animation appears uncanny the more I stare at it. Loving how it's coming together, tho. If you guys can pull off a solid beat em up here, I think it'll scratch the itch of being in this current beat em up dry spell we've been having. It'll be good to have a sexy heroine in the spotlight alongside Blaze from Streets of Rage. So I hope once the groundwork is laid that you guys will allow for some deeper imagination when it comes to style of movement and combos. Good luck on everything.
well then i am excited for the next days and i bet onyx herself to, man teased for so long for her first h animation ;). the idle animations look amazing. we belive in mr.kittyhawk!
