Titan/Starbase Construction Animation

I've always wondered about this

from Sins Forums

I can understand that complex construction animations are costly to make and are intensive to design, but what are the problems with a more complex construction animation?

The Starbase and Titan animations would have been so cool if there had of been a more in depth animation instead of the usual faded out/ top up fill in animation.

 

What would it take to get that in the full release? Would anyone be willing to mod it in instead?

8,251 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

What exactly did you have in mind? It would be pretty hard to get it assembled in prefabricated pieces since the models are usually all in one piece.

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

I believe it is simple and elegant as it is.  Personally i wouldn't sacrifice CPU on this if it means that there would be even more in game lag.

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 1
What exactly did you have in mind? It would be pretty hard to get it assembled in prefabricated pieces since the models are usually all in one piece.
End of GoaFan77's quote

What exactly do you mean?

 

I was thinking of having a superstructure, and then different modules on the superstructure, and then more modules, but shaped similarly to the ship/structure, and then the hull/armor and then it's done. That is what I was thinking, are you saying that that is hard to do because of the programming of the engine?

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

What you want is fine for small single player games, but for large multiplayer games every bit of CPU efficiency helps, and the games already lag a lot as it is. 

One thing the beta is showing in spades is that you can't even play a 5v5 currently as the system is so unstable.  

I can't test my theorycrafted strategies needed for effective balance if I can't play real people to actually provide the real balance.

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

ah, see, this is where my lack of knowledge shows through, I've never really had the time or chance to play a multiplayer game, so with this information, it makes sense that the animation is as it is. Maybe if it was an option/ a singeplayer feature?

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

well i would say if you desire it so, its a niche demand which is perfect to sink your modding teeth into as a first project.  Its small and completely doable, and great for single players. :)

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

ok well, when my coding skills are better I'll probably give it a try!

 

Also, totally need to wait for this to not be a beta anymore!

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Testamentof, reply 3
I was thinking of having a superstructure, and then different modules on the superstructure, and then more modules, but shaped similarly to the ship/structure, and then the hull/armor and then it's done. That is what I was thinking, are you saying that that is hard to do because of the programming of the engine?
End of Testamentof's quote

Its just that currently the models are all in big completed pieces, and you can't just start with one part of the ship then have the others appear because they aren't designed to be taken apart like that. Even if you set it up like you'd have to make a separate model for each little component, which will substantially increase the number of meshes Sins loads. Now you could mess with the filters to get it to look a bit different, but currently you'll never be able to say "First build the bridge, then this turret, then attack this engine" etc.