Skeletons army animation

[Mazisky]

In the last streaming there was a scene in which devs summoned a skeletons army, it was pretty nice but when the fight ended, skeletons just disappeared without any kind of animation: it looked pretty cheap and weird.

 

I would like to see a sort of fade-out animation to improve a little the visual of the scene

[Stun]

We'd have to see the description of the spell/chant. As far as I know it's a standard summon. Which means their disappearance is apt. They've been unsummoned. They disappeared just as they appeared. That's how BG1 did it.

[Quadrone]

I've already reported this in the bug forum when I noticed it on the summoned Blights in [435].

Just having them disappear abruptly feels very fake. There really should be a fade out or death animation when they expire.

[Mazisky]

Just having them disappear abruptly feels very fake. There really should be a fade out or death animation when they expire.

 

This.

Death animation or just a simple fade-out would be enough.

[Stun]

Death animation or fade out? Ok, lets discuss the logic behind those two.

 

 

Death animation - Why? Does the chant description specifically say that the summoned skeleton dies when the chant expires?

Fade out - For a creature to fade out would suggest they were phased in. As far as I know, this is NOT how that chant/spell works.

 

 

The skeletons are summoned. So the devs would have to spend an enormous amount of time and money designing an elaborate animation where the skeletons go back to where they came from (if that's underground, then that means they have to re-bury themselves; If they're from the nearest tomb/cemetery, then they'd have to walk away. Both options are a silly waste of time) Alternatively they could design them to just sink into the ground. But that would look silly too.

 

 

Wait, I have an idea, why don't they just... disappear when the spell expires? You know, like they do in every IE game.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Stun

[Mazisky]

Dude, it is just a visual feature, there is no need to have the secret of the universe behind that to be effective.

 

Disappearing without any animation or fade out looks bad, that's all.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Mazisky

[dffgmmj]

I agree with op. There should be animation for death or unsummoning.

[LadyCrimson]

Could collapse/crumble to dust, so to speak.

It does look a little weird but not something that bothers me much.

[Jarmo]

At least in Icewind Dale 2, summons vanish in a puff of green smoke.

[Lephys]

Death animation or fade out? Ok, lets discuss the logic behind those two.

 

 

Death animation - Why? Does the chant description specifically say that the summoned skeleton dies when the chant expires?

Fade out - For a creature to fade out would suggest they were phased in. As far as I know, this is NOT how that chant/spell works.

 

 

The skeletons are summoned. So the devs would have to spend an enormous amount of time and money designing an elaborate animation where the skeletons go back to where they came from (if that's underground, then that means they have to re-bury themselves; If they're from the nearest tomb/cemetery, then they'd have to walk away. Both options are a silly waste of time) Alternatively they could design them to just sink into the ground. But that would look silly too.

 

 

Wait, I have an idea, why don't they just... disappear when the spell expires? You know, like they do in every IE game.

Do they simply instantaneously appear when the spell is cast? Or is there an actual process/effect? If a process for their summoning is representing, then there's absolutely no reason why a process for their "death" (doesn't mean actual death-death... just RPG "this thing has lost whatever gave it 'life'"-death) should not be represented.

 

Also, are they corporeal? I don't need to know the science behind all of magicdom, but you're either animating matter or you aren't. If you're animating matter, and they just teleport into existence right there on the field of battle, then why don't people use that to simply teleport across the world? Obviously it makes perfect sense that the teleported person would simply disappear instantaneously when the spell's duration ended. So, why not summon armies inside of castle walls? Why is that a thing no one's discovered in the lore of the world, if it's so easy to do with skeletons?

 

Yup. Obvious logic. Anything other than their ambiguous disappearance would just be silly, u_u...

[teknoman2]

they could simply play the summoning animation backwards

if the sumoning is 

a small smoke cloud appears, the skeleton is on is on its knees and stands as the cloud disappears

at unsummoning you play the same animation reversed

the skeleton gets on its knees as the cloud appears and then it disappears along with the cloud

Edited February 21, 2015 by teknoman2

[Osvir]

 

17:50-18:00

Presumably, Skeleton enemies have a death animation, and they might use that. Or they could use the cloud animation when summoning. Or we don't get anything.

*shrug* will still be fun and silly :D

[Mazisky]

I hope devs are seeing this, we agree almost all with including a little animation for when summon ends

[Stun]

Hear that devs? All of 4 people on this thread have professed their wishes for you to... halt the bug-squashing process and go back to designing new animations for this one Chanter invocation.

 

So get to it! March 26th is just a month away!

Edited February 21, 2015 by Stun

[Sonntam]

Hear that devs? All of 4 people on this thread have professed their wishes for you to... halt the bug-squashing process and go back to designing new animations for this one Chanter invocation.

 

So get to it! March 26th is just a month away!

 

It had been already mentioned that the devs can reuse animations that already exist in game (run summoning animation backwards or use the dying animation). 

 

The last month is for polish and such small annoyances are exactly what is being taken care of right now.

[Mazisky]

well, in every place there is always one guy who try to feel himself special by going the opposite way, nothing new.

 

However, we're not asking to create 40.000 new animations motion captured by the most expensive hollywood actors, we're just asking to reuse a simple death animation or fadeout, or whatever.

 

Little work needed = all happy = worth it

Edited February 21, 2015 by Mazisky

[Stun]

It had been already mentioned that the devs can reuse animations that already exist in game (run summoning animation backwards or use the dying animation).

 

The last month is for polish and such small annoyances are exactly what is being taken care of right now.

Run the summoning animation backwards? Ok. In the stream, each summoned group of skeletons appears and a loud and flashy green crystal-like... thing comes into existence on top of them. First, that's NOT an animation, that's a spell graphic. Second, Are you saying that you want this loud, flashy spell graphic to play again when the spell expires? Well...ok, but that will require that the skeletons first warp back together in a bunched pack from where they currently are on the screen, and then have that green crystal like graphic play again on top of them, and then have the skeletons disappear. Yeah, like I said. SILLY.

 

As for replaying the death animation. I'll ask again: Does the spell/chant description say that the summoned skeletons die when the chant expires? No? Then why should a death animation play?

Edited February 21, 2015 by Stun

[Stun]

well, in every place there is always one guy who try to feel himself special by going the opposite way, nothing new.

 

However, we're not asking to create 40.000 new animations motion captured by the most expensive hollywood actors, we're just asking to reuse a simple death animation or fadeout, or whatever.

 

Little work needed = all happy = worth it

Oh, I'm sorry, but you're assuming that I'm some lone wolf with unique viewpoints, instead of one of the masses who wants things to be how they were in the infinity engine games. Edited February 21, 2015 by Stun

[Luckmann]

Hear that devs? All of 4 people on this thread have professed their wishes for you to... halt the bug-squashing process and go back to designing new animations for this one Chanter invocation.

 

So get to it! March 26th is just a month away!

 

And all of 1 has a problem with people mentioning the issue of summons simply plopping out of existence without as much as a smokescreen, with the only stated argument of "B-b-but in IE...!".

 

No-one asked for new animations, no-one said they should drop everything they're doing to fix this enormous issue, no-one voiced anything but a wish for something better, same as most of us, all the time, whether it's realistic to squeeze in at this point in time or not.

 

Stop strawmanning, Stun. It's frankly below you.

[Mazisky]

 

Oh, I'm awfully sorry, but you're assuming that I'm some lone wolf with unique viewpoints, instead of one of the masses who wants things to be how they were in the infinity engine games.

 

 

Yeah, u should ask them to let avaiable only 640x480 resolution and windows 98 o\s only compatible, cause u want things to be how they were in the IE games.

 

Why don't u just buy original baldur's gate on gog and let others play a 2015 game

Edited February 21, 2015 by Mazisky

[Luckmann]

 

well, in every place there is always one guy who try to feel himself special by going the opposite way, nothing new.

 

However, we're not asking to create 40.000 new animations motion captured by the most expensive hollywood actors, we're just asking to reuse a simple death animation or fadeout, or whatever.

 

Little work needed = all happy = worth it

 

Oh, I'm awfully sorry, but you're assuming that I'm some lone wolf with unique viewpoints, instead of one of the masses who wants things to be how they were in the infinity engine games.

 

 

In this case, it's a pretty safe assumption. I loved the IE games, and I wouldn't mind if PoE was nothing short of a remake of any of those games, but just because something was done a certain way in the IE games, doesn't mean that it couldn't have been better. Most summons in at least BG actually has a little spell-effect when they unsummon, although I can't be sure about skeletons specifically. And those summons that simply vanish dead in their tracks all of a sudden are terrible, and should've been fixed then and there, 15 years ago, but wasn't - that doesn't mean that it's the greatest thing ever.

[Stun]

 

Because I already have the Original 5-disk version from Bioware.

 

And because I Backed this game.

 

And I can play Baldurs Gate with windows 7, and in today's wide screen resolutions.... can't you?

Edited February 21, 2015 by Stun

[Mazisky]

Sarcasm man, sarcasm.

 

Btw, if they will provide new animations for summoning, u can always go to options and run all settings to low, so we'll be both happy (us with animation and you without it)

[Luckmann]

[...]

 

And I can play Baldurs Gate with windows 7, and in today's wide screen resolutions.... can't you?

 

And I can change the unsummon animations of Baldur's Gate; if I do, does that mean that it's suddenly legitimate to give proper unsummon animations/spell effects of unsummonings in Pillars of Eternity? Is it then "Infinity Engine approved"? Because that's some ass-backwards logic.

[Stun]

Sarcasm man, sarcasm.

 

Btw, if they will provide new animations for summoning, u can always go to options and run all settings to low, so we'll be both happy (us with animation and you without it)

Really? so putting the game settings on Low removes animations?

 

 

Where in the world did you get that notion from?

Edited February 21, 2015 by Stun