DiabloFans

Quote from "Dimebog" »

WC4 has been KINDA confirmed on Blizzcon. It was more like a slip than an official confirmation.

Quote from "Dimebog" »

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that the new B.Net is going live this year.

Quote from "3CXOD" »

You can't make new patches with content such as new game characters and stuff.
That's why Lillith was jiust a discolored Andy.. or that's at least what Blizz said.

Quote from "3CXOD" »

Tie-In Quests is a must for me.

Quote from "CapKosmaty" »

No, i think Erebus means something else. Weapons and shields are indeed separate meshes, they are rigid AND NOT related to the monster mesh in any way. Equinox, a mesh is a bunch of polys, but the polys are connected together. in spore, the different body parts are separate meshes (legs,head,arms etc), and that's why they look so blobby (because the meshes are not connected at the joints). Erebus' logic is flawless here.

and of course, a mesh's code is written automatically. you model it in 3ds max or maya or similar, and then you export in the right format and import it into the engine. done. i don't know what you mean by your vertex methods here, equinox. that's completely irrelevant as far as this discussion is concerned (Devil_Dark's argument does not hold either).

as for the spikes: as i look at them, i honestly can't see whether they are in one mesh or not. the spikes on the arms seem to be, because the spike's protrusion is aided by the texture on the flesh (i mean more red, you can see how the spike ripped through the flesh and left scars - but that's just the story behind it). the spikes on the back seem to be primitively attached, though.

so, to keep looking it that good (with the marks on the body), not only is the position of the spike relevant, but also the texture on the flesh, because both spike and body are related to eachother. if you put the spikes in randomly, you won't be able to put the flesh texture accordingly to it (=you lose visual quality). why? that would require additional matrix transformations and projections for each spike, and you still wouldn't get the quality that you get when you do it by hand. UV-stretching and UV-seams are guaranteed here.

and there is another big problem with animations. usually, after modeling and texturing is done, the character gets rigged and then animated. and, in the case of the unburied, the animator exactly knows where the spikes are and sees immideately where the limitations of his movements are (e.g. you couldn't put the arm close to the body because the spikes would pierce the body). when you randomize the position of the spikes however, you won't be able to control such things. unless you utilize procedural animation. and that's out of question.

so, characters (monsters, heroes) are separate meshes, and equipment are separate meshes. and that's good this way. but the spikes are a different topic, because they relate to the body visually. equipment doesn't. you can attach it anywhere (in the hand, at the hip, on the back) and it'll be okay. but the spikes have grown out of the body, so there need to be some marks on it that represent it. and it's the case right now. if it were automated, it would look much uglier.

Quote from name="T"hain Esh Kelch" »

Well, I have to agree with the people stating that this is easier than what Bashiok makes it.

You could have a single simple overlaying mesh, that could be applied to 80% of the monsters, and then just rotate it, flip it, turn it upside down, etc. Heck, they could have 3 different ones. They wouldnt take more than a few hours to make in PS for a skilled artist, and I don't expect the coding would take more than a few hours either.

Quote from "Daemaro" »

I personally think they do have better things to focus on right now, but it would be nice to see a few changing aspects later on, placement of spikes, faces, slight color variation.