Questions concerning modeling for games
polycounter lvl 17
I just realized that I have no idea how some of this stuff works. A couple questions:
If a character is able to equip different weapons. Do I need to keep this in mind while rigging the models? I mean, would I need separate character models for each weapon, or is there some way to simply attach the weapon models to the characters?
During cutscenes, how would you make a character pull something out of somewhere, like say a watch from a pocket? Would this have the same method as the above question? How about having an item change into another model while a character is holding it? Stuff like that.
If I wanted to make the effect like a chain extending from a source, like a hookshot from Zelda, how would I do that? Is it like a plane that has some sort of UV thing while it stretches, or a shader, or what?
Do any of these have to be done in the modeling software, or is it all done from the engine?
If a character is able to equip different weapons. Do I need to keep this in mind while rigging the models? I mean, would I need separate character models for each weapon, or is there some way to simply attach the weapon models to the characters?
During cutscenes, how would you make a character pull something out of somewhere, like say a watch from a pocket? Would this have the same method as the above question? How about having an item change into another model while a character is holding it? Stuff like that.
If I wanted to make the effect like a chain extending from a source, like a hookshot from Zelda, how would I do that? Is it like a plane that has some sort of UV thing while it stretches, or a shader, or what?
Do any of these have to be done in the modeling software, or is it all done from the engine?
Replies
1. Most engines will attach weapon models to joints, tags, bones or some other such dynamic data attached to the player skeleton. You should never have to model more than one character just because it's holding different weapons.
2. Similarly they may have keyframe or scripted event setups which allow you to say what frame of an animation to attach a given model, and to which joint.
3. A chain extending from a source might be a simple animated skinned mesh, or it could be a shader, or a combination.
Most of this is a combination of software and engine - in the software you will have to set up your rigs and items so they all align and can attach in the right place at the right time. Then in the engine you would script/code/otherwise attach those items at the correct frames (for a cutscene) or permanently (for ingame).
The method of doing these things will vary hugely from engine to engine.
1) So I would need a special bone, or a triangle for a tag to attach the weapons to? Also, would the weapon model need to have the place where it would be held be at 0,0,0 on the coordinate plane?