Torque engine controlled animations?
by Alex Huck · in Artist Corner · 11/13/2005 (10:52 am) · 4 replies
Hi, I was wondering if it were possible to make animations controlled by Torque.
What I mean to say is, instead of having a DSQ file control where the Bones will move in an animation, have some code, which will make it so my mouse movement will control the bones. So, if I were to move my mouse upwards, it will thrust my arm out as if to punch, then moving it left and right will swing your arm.
Now, I know the old adage goes that it's not what is "Possible" But more, what time you have to code it into the engine itself. So with that being said, does anyone have a ballpark range of how much C++ experience will be neccessary, and how long it might take? Would I need a complete understanding of how the DSQ format works?
Thanks
What I mean to say is, instead of having a DSQ file control where the Bones will move in an animation, have some code, which will make it so my mouse movement will control the bones. So, if I were to move my mouse upwards, it will thrust my arm out as if to punch, then moving it left and right will swing your arm.
Now, I know the old adage goes that it's not what is "Possible" But more, what time you have to code it into the engine itself. So with that being said, does anyone have a ballpark range of how much C++ experience will be neccessary, and how long it might take? Would I need a complete understanding of how the DSQ format works?
Thanks
About the author
#2
If that is the case it would simply be a matter of capturing the mouse movements and having them translate into bone movements.
While not directly related, a good place to look for a heads up on this would be duncan's tutorial called "Custom Shape Mod". It allows you to change the length of any bone on the fly. Consequently it wouldn't be to hard to modify that to customize the orientation or movement instead.
The other thing would be overidding the default animation engine, which I think would be harder than telling a bone to orient to a particular position.
11/16/2005 (12:18 am)
IIRC .dsq files are simply sets of instructions to the engine to do things like raise l.arm 1.2, lower r.arm 1.3 etc.If that is the case it would simply be a matter of capturing the mouse movements and having them translate into bone movements.
While not directly related, a good place to look for a heads up on this would be duncan's tutorial called "Custom Shape Mod". It allows you to change the length of any bone on the fly. Consequently it wouldn't be to hard to modify that to customize the orientation or movement instead.
The other thing would be overidding the default animation engine, which I think would be harder than telling a bone to orient to a particular position.
#3
So it's possible yes... ;)
11/16/2005 (12:48 am)
You can do it with the current setup... I know when I first tried the melee combat code waaaaayyy back I had it implemented wrong and somehow got almost what you looked for. Only limited to one animation though... The more i move my mouse towards me the further the animation, frame wise...So it's possible yes... ;)
#4
11/16/2005 (9:12 am)
Look at Paul Dana's turret resource for an example of animating bones with code. 
Torque Owner Cinder Games