[Suggestion] Introduce Accurate Aiming

[Triceron]

That really depends on how the units are animated.

In Warcraft 3, animations are self-contained actions. The 'Attack' animation plays when the unit attacks. If you wanted the unit to run at the enemy while attacking, it would play the attack animation and slide across the floor. Animation blending was somewhat possible, but it usually breaks the animation. Specific 'actions' would have to be tailored to not affect certain areas of the body.

Dawn of War was designed with animation blending in mind. You had separate files that controlled horizontal torso movement, vertical movement, run-cycle, etc. So if you were running towards an enemy and firing on the move, it would be mixing together 3-4 animation files at once, rather than just a static 'Attack Move' animation.

We will have to see what SC2 uses, but I'd figure it'll be something like what War3 uses.

[Zigurd]

I would very much like this good sirs. It could make for some funny scenarios.

[Gt2slurp]

TBH though, you're not really gonna notice much in game. Marines pointing their guns up from an isometric view is like asking for more detail on the zealot's face. You're just not going to notice it, and it's more work and than worth the time.

I think you are wrong on this one, imagine a lurker surround in BW where the marine aim directly on the ground to kill the lurker. This would be really cool and someone who pay a little attention will see it and like it.

IMO they should implement targeting the center of mass in an early patch.

[mr. peasant]

I'm not a computer expert, so I'm really ignorant in this regard but I remember the developers mentioning that they're implementing Havok physics into the game. Would this bear any indication on how units are animated?

[Josue]

As much as I can say is that the Havok system deals with the physics more than the attacking animations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havok_%28software%29

About this, I guess everyone is right now screaming:

BETA BETA BETA!!!

so while implementing such a thing would be nice, I guess the 2nd option of this poll could be implemented with patches or for one of the expansions.

[Arkalis]

About animations, I said from Battle Report 4 that the death animation of a Marine is too bloody...I mean can a single Marine spill all that blood like a volcano?

[Nicol Bolas]

I remember the developers mentioning that they're implementing Havok physics into the game. Would this bear any indication on how units are animated?

No. They said "Havok physics", not "Havok animation".

[mr. peasant]

What I was thinking was that the system would likely involve objects being tracked within a 3-dimensional environment, taking account height of individual pieces of an object (so that debris hit the ground instead of falling right through or colliding with an invisible roof) among other things. Hence, wouldn't it already be possible to calculate the angle of trajectory? It would be about as complex as calculating the angle a unit needes to turn to face its target. The only difference here is that instead of swiveling at the base, you'd be swiveling at the waist/shoulder girdle/head/whatever it's using to aim.

As for blending the animations, it would only need to be as smooth as the current horizontal plane rotation that takes place when turning to face the target's direction since this would logically be when the action takes place.

[Nicol Bolas]

What I was thinking was that the system would likely involve objects being tracked within a 3-dimensional environment, taking account height of individual pieces of an object (so that debris hit the ground instead of falling right through or colliding with an invisible roof) among other things. Hence, wouldn't it already be possible to calculate the angle of trajectory?

Calculating where to aim is simple. Making it happen is the hard part.

[mr. peasant]

Calculating where to aim is simple. Making it happen is the hard part.

In what sense? If I recall properly, WC3 already featured heads that could rotate independently from the body (e.g. a character can be made to turn his head to face someone who's to his side). That same method can be applied here except instead of making the required body parts rotate horizontally, make them rotate up and down instead.

That said, I can certainly see how this might be troublesome to implement if the required elements aren't already in place. That said, I really don't want to ever see an up-close shot of a Marine firing towards the front as he shoots down an Overlord directly overhead.