New saber forms, LS_ animations

[Boli_Delish]

Hi all, thanks for even taking the time to read this. Anywho...

 

Currently, I have the rather tedious job of animating some new lightsaber moves for my clan (Trust me, I'm enjoying it, it's just...tedious) who, as a Rolplaying clan, want to get their server closer to SW universe. For me, that means animating the Lightsaber forms.

 

Anywho, I just had a few questions, the first being how would I go about implementing a new lightsaber form in game? I'm not even looking for a fourth single saber form, more a seperate form (much like the Tavion and Desann sets).

 

Secondly, I was wondering how I go about setting up animations to use with the .sab file's katamove line, for example...you know, the LS_ animations?

 

Thanks again for your time, peace.

[razorace]

The big issue is to simply make animations for all the animations used by the game. You'll have to look thru the LS_ file and figure out everything that needs to be replicated.

 

After that, you'd have to define everything in the anim.h and add it to the SS_ define and finally add the offset to PM_SetSaberMove.

[Boli_Delish]

Thanks for the reply, but I've got a minor problem: I'm pretty new to coding, and so have no bloody clue what you're talking about. (and I got this job...makes sense, huh?)

 

If you could please explain it a little more fully (more coder noob level) for me, that'd be REALLY appreciated.

[razorace]

I can't really be more specific. I haven't tried it either. :|

[stubert]

you should add to the forum rules razor "we are not your programming teachers"

[katanamaru]

As far as I can remember no one has made any new moves to add to JA. Keshire made a new form but was never able to implement it into game. The files are probley up for down load somewhere on the net. You could practice putting them in the game first that way if you can't figure it out you didn't waste all that time making new moves that can't be used. Also why would your clan give you a job this large when a) you don't know how to do it and b) not offer to help you with this? Some friends I think.

[Boli_Delish]

Katanamaru: Don't talk about stuff you have no idea on. I volunteered to do this, and it's a learning experience i'm taking on willingly.

 

Kthnxbai.

 

The main reason I want to learn this is so (eventually) I can animate all seven lightsaber forms for the single saber. At the moment, I can only add two (replacing tavion/desann) and that still means i'm using existing katas etc. So you can see why I want the LS_ stuff as well.

[razorace]

It shouldn't be hard to add additional LS_ stuff. Just add extra entries to the bottom of the saberDataTable thingy.

[Boli_Delish]

*Face in palm*

 

Uhh...where would I find this?

[razorace]

the bg_saber files... I think.

[Boli_Delish]

Alright, I managed to enter new lightsaber forms in bg_saberload.c. Which files do I go to from here to add the new lines for these to use?

[razorace]

Did you add the new animations to anim.h?

Also, you're going to have the new stance to the SS_FAST, SS_STRONG, etc enum and add the offset code to PM_SetSaberMove.

 

Does that mean you've already completed all the animations needed?

[Boli_Delish]

Currently, i'm both animating AND coding, mainly coding in preperation for when I complete the animations and add them to the animations.cfg and _Humanoid.gla.

 

"Also, you're going to have the new stance to the SS_FAST, SS_STRONG, etc enum and add the offset code to PM_SetSaberMove."

 

You're talking coder...which i'm not too good at. Can you dumb it down a tad?

[razorace]

PM_SetSaberMove() in bg_saber.c

else if ( pm->ps->fd.saberAnimLevel == SS_STAFF && newMove >= LS_S_TL2BR && newMove < LS_REFLECT_LL )
{//staff has an entirely new set of anims, besides special attacks
	//FIXME: include ready and draw/putaway?
	//FIXME: get hand-made bounces and deflections?
	if ( newMove >= LS_V1_BR && newMove <= LS_REFLECT_LL )
	{//there aren't 1-7, just 1, 6 and 7, so just set it
		anim = BOTH_P7_S7_T_ + (anim-BOTH_P1_S1_T_);//shift it up to the proper set
	}
	else
	{//add the appropriate animLevel
		anim += (pm->ps->fd.saberAnimLevel-FORCE_LEVEL_1) * SABER_ANIM_GROUP_SIZE;
	}
}
else if ( pm->ps->fd.saberAnimLevel == SS_DUAL && newMove >= LS_S_TL2BR && newMove < LS_REFLECT_LL )
{ //akimbo has an entirely new set of anims, besides special attacks
	//FIXME: include ready and draw/putaway?
	//FIXME: get hand-made bounces and deflections?
	if ( newMove >= LS_V1_BR && newMove <= LS_REFLECT_LL )
	{//there aren't 1-7, just 1, 6 and 7, so just set it
		anim = BOTH_P6_S6_T_ + (anim-BOTH_P1_S1_T_);//shift it up to the proper set
	}
	else
	{//add the appropriate animLevel
		anim += (pm->ps->fd.saberAnimLevel-FORCE_LEVEL_1) * SABER_ANIM_GROUP_SIZE;
	}
}
/*
else if ( newMove == LS_DRAW && pm->ps->SaberStaff() )
{//hold saber out front as we turn it on
	//FIXME: need a real "draw" anim for this (and put-away)
	anim = BOTH_SABERSTAFF_STANCE;
}
*/
else if ( pm->ps->fd.saberAnimLevel > FORCE_LEVEL_1 &&
	 !BG_SaberInIdle( newMove ) && !PM_SaberInParry( newMove ) && !PM_SaberInKnockaway( newMove ) && !PM_SaberInBrokenParry( newMove ) && !PM_SaberInReflect( newMove ) && !BG_SaberInSpecial(newMove))
{//readies, parries and reflections have only 1 level 
	anim += (pm->ps->fd.saberAnimLevel-FORCE_LEVEL_1) * SABER_ANIM_GROUP_SIZE;
}

Basically, this code manually offsets the animations from the basic animation name given in the saberMoveData table thingy. It's pretty simple, but the downside is that you gotta have your animations defined in anim.h in an order that matches the base animation order.

[Boli_Delish]

Hmm...would a code for example like BOTH_AM_t__b_ work, replacing the number with a letter? I'm adding four forms, and seven plus four equals a mess.

 

EDIT: so what am I doing here to add the new forms? We'll say that I want to add a group called SS_MAKASHI.