Implementation HumanoidCharacters - proper visuals for player characters

[Florian]

HumanoidCharacters is a module that makes players in multiplayer look like humans and not just like some placeholders.

The goal for now is to get something going that is good enough for use and that can act as kind of tech demo for others that want to make other character visualizations.

The module uses for now a female human model created by Quaternius. He has also created a male version so that one will possibly follow too at some point.

When you activate the module a screen pops up where you can specify the character colors:

 

[Tomás Laulhé]

I will be remaking the humanoid rig and it's animations, as the current one doesn't have inverse kinematics.

 

[Florian]

Latest changes: During movement a run animation gets now played.

 

[manu3d]

Good stuff @Florian!

 

[XenonCoder]

@Florian
Please see my voxel style models, which I am currently converting with blender making them low poly and perfectly optimized. It would be great to combine my models with your mod, you and I can probably join forces to create NPCs and fantastic characters in Terasology with a very high quality.

Screenshots (the eyes of some models are separate textures that I made to change facial expression):

Spoiler: Screenshots of NPC characters, merged body parts, and armor and applicable objects

Spoiler: Screenshots Boss Concept (Forest Biome, Ice Biome, Sand Biome, Volcano Biome)

They will all be converted into a low-poly mesh optimally. I think it's a good idea to join forces, you and I can model and optimize them while you develop the module to implement NPCs and mobs in the game.

As you can see there is a model called "NPC_simple" (the first screenshot), I created it simple to make it generic and usable as a model for the player.

Let me know if you like my idea

 

[Florian]

@XenonCoder looks cool, do you have animations for them?

 

[XenonCoder]

@Florian I was waiting impatiently for your answer.

I am working for the following objectives:

• Optimization of the models in .obj format, and textures (perfect uv mapping) and make all the low poly models.
• Look good voxel models, my idea is to create voxel style models very beautiful and simple to animate (head, arms, hands, legs, feet, they are all detached, to simplify the rigging, and avoid the glitches, and the overlap of polygons).
• I'm working on the very detailed wiki on the use of softwares, modeling, export, and optimization techniques I use.

I want to make the first test animations, to be published on my new thread.

Your character creation module (players) is really nice, it fits perfectly with my models. Together we can do a very cool job. Thank you for your reply, I update you on my work through PM messages, and I open the new thread, so I organize all the work in a more orderly and definitive form.

Thanks so much @Florian

 

[Florian]

The thing I plan next is to allow for selection of a model. So that players can select also the male variant of the model quaternious made.

My plan is to make it flexible so that it is easy to select other models. I am a fan of having a lot of small iterations that show something instead of working on something for a long time and have it possibly abandoned unfinished.

@XenonCoder So for the models you made I would propose the following steps:

1. Get a model exported as Md5 with stand and walk animation ad md5anim files. There is an exporter here: https://github.com/MovingBlocks/TeraMisc/tree/master/blender_addons/io_md5_exporter
   • For the above you will need to create an amature to animate the bones. Maybe you can ask Quaternius to lend you a hand there. He seems to be really good at that. If you search for rigging you will also find tons of blender tutorials about it. I also have the technical knowledge but am no real expert at animating. Also I don't have that much free time for terasology.
2. For a quick test you can just try replacing in your local copy the existing model and animation files of my module with your files to see how you model looks ingame.
3. Once I am done with the multiple model section we can integrate that or more models in the HumanoidCharacters module.
4. At some point we might want to split the modules up. Possibly I will have to create one module that acts as kind of libary and then have maybe a module called CubicHumanoidCharacters with your models and maybe HumanoidCharacters with the original ones from Quaternius. Then server owners can choose which models they want to offer the player to pick from by activating one or the other module.
5. A little bit in the future: From the models I have seen I think you plan to have the user choose each body part separatly. As a first simple approach I would suggest that we have each model part be it's own animated model. Ideally when we put the model parts at thier model origin we would get a model that looks properly assembled. An easy approach to get there is to take the full animated model with the amature then delete everything of the mesh except one body part and then export it. The other amature would be also be exported but would be unused. It would just be exported to allow the same animation file to be used to animate all of the body parts.e.g. we could have a legs body part that just has meshes that are attached to the leg bones. The model would contain the head bone but since there is no mesh attached to it the head is not visible. If you play the animation you just see the moving leggs. If later ingame you have a leg model at the same position like a chest model. The chest and legg model wouldl both play the same animation and thus the user would not know that it are technically different models. The good thing about this plan is that it is relativly easy to implement and does not need something radically new implemented. If it is easy we can ingame combine the models into a single one, but we have the option to keep them separate.

 

[Cervator]

Also see https://github.com/Terasology/TutorialAssetSystem/wiki/Installing-Blender-Add-on for that Blender addon (two more chapters available)

(and keep up the nice work all!)

 

[XenonCoder]

@Florian Thank you. The technique you described is the one I have in mind for some time. Actually I noticed that the Terasology project uses models in .md5 format, the exporter is good and Blender has been using it for years so I have no problem working on it.

Your idea of making custom templates in game is just what I wanted! I wrote you just because seeing your beautiful form I understood very clearly that you have my own ideas.

I am a purist! Terasology Vanilla I want classic / cubes and voxel style, no slopes and rounded shapes, for these things you create external mods), I have a lot of material created, documentation to be revised (which I use for the wiki of my repository).

I have very beautiful models both male and female with unique characteristics (heads, hair and bodies), my voxel models are with arms, legs, separate heads without connections as you saw, because my idea follows exactly yours (style beautiful and unique simplicity of implementation).

The stand and walk animations are not a problem for me, I'm not an animator but these are basic animations I've done before. The models will have smooth and simple animations (stand, walk, jump, run, hand and head movement when the player interacts and talks with the NPC).

I finish the first model and do the first tests. Thanks for your suggestions, the ability to change models with mine in the module is very convenient.

@Cervator Thanks so much. On github I'm looking for all the external modules and tools for Terasology, I also found very interesting things. I want to use the simplest modules as a tutorial to learn more about modding.

I update you as soon as possible.