An expansion/overhaul mod of epic proportions, with entirely rebalanced gameplay, expanded factions, new gametypes, graphical overhauls, and five new factions; stealth-based Confederate Revolutionaries, tower defense-inspired Atomic Kingdom of China, economy-focused Mediterranean Syndicate, DotA-esque Order of the Talon and spammy Electrical Protectorate.
Hey guys! It's been a while since we posted something on the site (as usual), so I figured you'd like to see some of the stuff we've been up to.
This video contains the updated Confederate Piledriver Tank, a miniature, portable version of the rebels' seismic technology. Compare with the old version here: Moddb.com - I think you'll agree that the newer version is an improvement in design.
If you want to know more about the unit, head on over to our Wiki entry for the Piledriver: Paradox.infinityrealms.net
The animations themselves are WIP, so we're open to comments in regards to that.
We'll have some more shiny in-game screenshots soon, so stay tuned!
Looks good :)
Not bad at all. Really like the design.
As far as the animations go, it is far too static. The one thing I loved about RA3 was that the anims were so vibrant and so full of life. Really review a few of the principles of animation (the ones proposed by Disney in the "Illusion of Life"): overlapping action, secondary action, follow-through, and anticipation.
You really need follow-through when the piledriver mechanism hits the ground. Do a couple of quicker and shallower bounces to really bring the main action home. The whole tank and all it's pieces should react to this main action (I mean it does cause an earthquake).
Also on the parts that swing upwards, also add in a little bit of followthrough (exaggeration is good in the RA universe).
Another suggestion for secondary action would be the normal jittering of the tank due to the engine, and moving of the smoke stacks.
Hopefully some of these pointers can help make this animation fit right in with the rest of the RA3 anims.
I missed your comments! It's been a while since you've critiqued our stuff!
A lot of what you said makes sense and will be implemented. I agree in that the animation is a little static right now, but it'll take some time to get the rest of the vehicle shaking.
As for jittering while idle - this is actually controlled by object modifiers in the code, so it would be redundant to have it animated as well.
I'm glad you mentioned the principles of animation! I'm very familiar with them, though I've always had a problem in execution of said principles... I guess a good way of doing that would be to isolate each individual movement and apply the different actions, then refer to the overall motion for rhythmic cues.
I think I have a good idea of where to continue forward from this. Thank you very much for your critique! It's always a pleasure!
Good thing you guys respond positively to criticism. :)
It looks like a sweet tank though. :)
Yea, break everything down to individual actions and apply what ever principles are needed individually. Go through each motions and ask yourself several questions:
What's causing it?
How can I show what's causing it?
What force is causing the motion to stop?
How can I show that it's stopping?
Is the momentum enough for follow-through?
Ect Ect
(Those questions actually came from a guy at Dreamworks SGK I've been talking to...some great advice)
Girlfriend thinks I'm crazy, but I always try to act out the motions even on machinery; the "if my hand was a piston, how would it behave" sort of actions. It really gives me good tips, plus it makes me look like a fool.
Glad to know I'm not the only person who does that!
I think we could solve this 'static' problem if the whole vehicle shakes along with the ground.
Sweet. the M.A.D tank reborned.
not really
This is awesome! It should fit right in with a good texture, and some of lazy6pyro's suggestions.
As much as I love the animation and model, I do have one comment that will no doubt be explained away, thus resulting in me having greater confidence in Paradox.
My critique is that it looks too futuristic and clean. Now, good textures can take care of that (and you guys do good textures) but the strength of the original model was that it looked like an old tank that had a hammer on it. This looks too purpose made. The lore can easily be changed, but in my opinion, it lacks the Confederate slapped-together look.
I'm not saying it's a bad model, just saying my mind is all.
Please don't ban me!
I kind of agree with you- but I am hoping that a good rusty texture will fix things.
Since when dows MDODB have add's before videos?
I've always noticed them before actual movie videos, as opposed to music. I don't mind; how else would Moddb function for free?
Do you get them EVERY time though? They can be annoying.
The design is a massive improvement, the old one was poor TBH and this more than makes up for it.
However most of my complaits about the animation are mirrored by Lazy6pyro, in particular the static output of the animation. Having things shudder and shake as they click into place would improve the overall fell greatly.
I also feel there should be a moment of anicipation, a pause before the hammer begins to desend. It might also be worth increasing the speed of the desent.
The aniamtion is good, just needs to be a litle better ;)
Good looking model and nice animation too :)
Can't wait to see it finished
i can't imganine what this would do to cockroaches who happened to be under that hammer...
It´s good to see a descent update
Damn, i don't knoww how many incarnations of that unit the community has seen, but that's epic...
Overall it looks great, but I agree with many of the above in that it looks too static. This is (I believe)supposed to be made of salvaged pieces, so perhaps some aromor rattling and hammer recoil. But as I said it looks like an awesome unit.
Bring On the Smackdown!!!!!!!