by date
Dev-Diary #4 - Action RPG :: Talking Heads
Dev-Diary #4 - Action RPG :: Talking Heads
| Name: | Matt Huston |  |
|---|---|---|
| Date Posted: | Nov 19, 2006 | |
| Rating: |  Not Rated | |
| Public: | YES | |
| Comments: | YES | |
| RSS Feed: |  or Subscribe with  . | |
| Profile Page: | View profile page for Matt Huston |
Blog post
I have refined the interface of my Dialog Editor and also refined the code since I have learned a great deal about SQLite in the last month. The original version was occasionally crashing during saving/loading/updating so I have squashed all of those bugs, refined the editor, added some cool new features and best of all, given support for talking heads ie: lip syncing (talking heads would be a Fallout reference for those that get it).
So first, about the refined Dialog Editor. I have refined the management of the dialog database files so that it is more modular. Each character has their own dialog file which means you don't need the entire games database to begin creating new dialogs. Passing around the core database file with tons of information would have caused lots of problems in the end. I have also added a search feature so you can search the dialog tree for keywords, especially important when you begin to write loads of dialog and need to make a minor change. Also added is a drop down/up list of script commands for Actions and Conditionals for insertion and reference, making the tool incredibly easy to use so designers won't need to use TorqueScript at all for the most part.
The biggest feature I have added is a lip syncing mode. Although not up to snuff with the Source engines lipsync application, I have written a system capable of creating wideshot and medium closeup dialog and cutscenes with potential voice over work. A very cool and powerful feature indeed. Basically, when you press the LipSync Mode in the dialog editor, it chops up your dialog line word by word, for each word you then can choose an morph animation to play and lastly you can choose a delay between words (as the delay begins at the start of the animation, you must make sure the delay is long enough for the animation to stop playing or it will skip the following animation). This gives the user power to have pauses in dialog if the voiceover deems necessary. No screenshot yet, the interface seems a bit clunky at this point so I will be attempting to integrate it and make it just as easy and powerful to use as the Dialog Editor. I have included a video however (what lipsync blog would be complete without one?) You can see the video here (Windows Media Video) Note: I am not an animator so the animation probably looks a bit cheesy!
So first, about the refined Dialog Editor. I have refined the management of the dialog database files so that it is more modular. Each character has their own dialog file which means you don't need the entire games database to begin creating new dialogs. Passing around the core database file with tons of information would have caused lots of problems in the end. I have also added a search feature so you can search the dialog tree for keywords, especially important when you begin to write loads of dialog and need to make a minor change. Also added is a drop down/up list of script commands for Actions and Conditionals for insertion and reference, making the tool incredibly easy to use so designers won't need to use TorqueScript at all for the most part.
The biggest feature I have added is a lip syncing mode. Although not up to snuff with the Source engines lipsync application, I have written a system capable of creating wideshot and medium closeup dialog and cutscenes with potential voice over work. A very cool and powerful feature indeed. Basically, when you press the LipSync Mode in the dialog editor, it chops up your dialog line word by word, for each word you then can choose an morph animation to play and lastly you can choose a delay between words (as the delay begins at the start of the animation, you must make sure the delay is long enough for the animation to stop playing or it will skip the following animation). This gives the user power to have pauses in dialog if the voiceover deems necessary. No screenshot yet, the interface seems a bit clunky at this point so I will be attempting to integrate it and make it just as easy and powerful to use as the Dialog Editor. I have included a video however (what lipsync blog would be complete without one?) You can see the video here (Windows Media Video) Note: I am not an animator so the animation probably looks a bit cheesy!
Recent Blog Posts
| List: | 04/19/08 - Back to the future 07/06/07 - Resource Dump - GuiAnimatedCrosshairHud, guiObjectSelectionHud 04/30/07 - ModMaker, TGB, TorqueX and More 11/19/06 - Dev-Diary #4 - Action RPG :: Talking Heads 10/31/06 - Persistent Items and Mission Objects 10/28/06 - Dev-Diary #3 - A single player action-RPG 07/31/06 - TGB RPGness Part 1 (Inventory) 07/06/06 - TGB Gaming Goodness |
|---|
Submit your own resources!| Aaron Ellis (Nov 19, 2006 at 00:42 GMT) |
| Andy Hawkins (Nov 19, 2006 at 00:53 GMT) |
| Tom Bentz (Nov 19, 2006 at 02:44 GMT) |
| T Squared (Thanhda Tie) (Nov 19, 2006 at 03:11 GMT) |
| Florian (Nov 19, 2006 at 03:14 GMT) |
anyway, nice work!
BTW, what does the guy actually say on the vid ?:P
EDIT: and when can we expect some ingame vids :D?
Edited on Nov 19, 2006 03:14 GMT
| Matt Huston (Nov 19, 2006 at 09:37 GMT) |
It doesn't read each letter. It reads each word, it doesn't generate the animation based on the word, the user selects which animation plays for each word. Because this is just used for wide and close shots, only maybe 6 basic animations will need to be created for the most basic character dialog. (2 versions of 1 syllable words, 2 version of a 2 syllable word, and 3 versions of a 3 syllable word). If you were to use extreme closeups, a more indepth system, like Valve's lip syncing technology would probably need to be created. Lastly, he isn't actually saying anything, I just made 3 animations to test it out the morphs and animation in the first place (so there are 3 different animations playing I think through 8 different words).
Lastly, this WAS an in game shot. :D
| Florian (Nov 19, 2006 at 16:50 GMT) |
and do you have to select every animation manually or is this automated?
and what are your future plans on this technology cause if this evolves this can become something really awesome!
and if it also posible to create a whole animation containing a sentence, for example
i make a animation for a shopkeeper saying, "Hello, can i help you?"
and then the text gets displayed and the sound gets played?
so that i dont have to do it word by word
anyway, nice work, even better that that was ingame :O, didnt look like torque at all
| Marcus (Nov 20, 2006 at 05:41 GMT) |
@Matt - Good work! This is something that Torque needs integrated badly. I hope you either make this available as a resource or as a content pack. Keep it up.
| Denise Bacher (Aug 24, 2007 at 18:16 GMT) |
You must be a member and be logged in to either append comments or rate this resource.
