Hellion Visuals

[ArcherofAiur]

So weve all seen Battle Report 4 and the Hellions. I dont think I am alone in thinking there animation is allittle awkward. I think this is to to two big things.

They havnt been given proper turning animations yet.
I think a big issue is that the Hellion has a large anteroposterior axis. This means it is more obvious when the model rotates through a large number of degrees. One problem is that the more rotations you show the longer the turning animation takes. Additionally, the hellion has wheels and the viewer's mind continually reminds them that wheels tend to move in forward backwards directions much better than rotating.

The Thor has the same problem only in the left and right axis.


Something feels off about how they pathfind around other units
I think this might have to do with the fact that they dont slide like say the Halo Warhog. Hellions wiggle instead. However allowing the Hellion to slide might interfere with pathfinding and could mean that your hellion doesnt go exactly where you want it. Or doesnt get to were it is supposed to as fast as it could without sliding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATCUl...ayer_embedded#


The flame animation looks awkward with stop and go firing.
Like most SC units, when the unit is firing and moves it stops firing. When this happens repeatedly in a small time space the result looks very unrealistic. It might be worthwhile to consider allowing the Hellion to fire on the move though I admit this would change gameplay.

[n00bonicPlague]

I think the conflict is arising from the fact that they want an all-around wicked quick unit but are using the model of a unit that is not made to be quick. A real life Hellion won't have instantaneous acceleration and deceleration and won't be able to turn on a dime in an instant. Only a hovercraft would come anywhere near being able to do that.

btw awesome avi Archer

[Haptic]

I think its still to early to be nitpicking at things such as the animation. I don't see Blizzard disregarding the matter with them and their perfection mentality.

[Hav0x]

Vehicles like the hellion could very well turn in place very quickly if all 4 wheels turned. I do agree that the animation needs to be smoothed out some but I disagree that it is a fault in the design of the unit.

[ArcherofAiur]

Vehicles like the hellion could very well turn in place very quickly if all 4 wheels turned. I do agree that the animation needs to be smoothed out some but I disagree that it is a fault in the design of the unit.

I agree they could. But the problem is that its hard to believe that the wheels can move faster in the rotating direction than the forward direction. The wheels are tracing a circumfrance faster than they could cover that same distance if it were a straight line.

[mr. peasant]

I think the conflict is arising from the fact that they want an all-around wicked quick unit but are using the model of a unit that is not made to be quick. A real life Hellion won't have instantaneous acceleration and deceleration and won't be able to turn on a dime in an instant. Only a hovercraft would come anywhere near being able to do that.

btw awesome avi Archer

I disagree. By virtue of not being in contact with the ground, a fast-moving hovercraft would almost certainly not be able to instantaneously come to a halt.

[Xyvik]

I disagree. By virtue of not being in contact with the ground, a fast-moving hovercraft would almost certainly not be able to instantaneously come to a halt.

simple newtonian physics: an equal reaction. If you blast your hover propulsion backwards instead of forward, while also pointing it at the ground, your hovercraft could stop instantly. Even if the force wasn't applied to the ground you could reverse the direction. Would be hell on the driver, but that's going a little far into thinking about such small things.

[n00bonicPlague]

I think its still to early to be nitpicking at things such as the animation. I don't see Blizzard disregarding the matter with them and their perfection mentality.

Maybe, however the earlier we complain the earlier they hear it, which means the earlier and more likely they are to fix it. And for all we know they could be happy with the way it is right now, which makes it even more important for us to say something now, instead of waiting around for them to fix something that they don't see as bad.

Vehicles like the hellion could very well turn in place very quickly if all 4 wheels turned. I do agree that the animation needs to be smoothed out some but I disagree that it is a fault in the design of the unit.

That's true. In fact, I was just thinking about how a vehicle would be able to do that. However it would take very advanced steering, engine, and transmission systems to be able to pull that off, and I don't see the Hellion as being big enough to hold such a system. Plus, such a system would add a bunch of weight, which would slow the vehicle down a great deal.

simple newtonian physics: an equal reaction. If you blast your hover propulsion backwards instead of forward, while also pointing it at the ground, your hovercraft could stop instantly. Even if the force wasn't applied to the ground you could reverse the direction. Would be hell on the driver, but that's going a little far into thinking about such small things.

Exactly. An explosive braking system would stop a hovercraft very quickly.



On another note, I think it would be pretty cool if there was a hover unit that had poor turning and ac/deceleration, because then you could use its flaws to pull-off some pretty wicked moves. It would present a serious micro challenge that would actually become an advantage in some ways.

[n00bonicPlague]

*double-post*

[Pandonetho]

I agree. That was the one thing that stood out the most for me, the god awful animations of the Hellion.