videogaming247 interviews Pete Hines

[Ar.Pi]

And it isn’t all you do in the game, so it does require context in that it isn’t the only thing you can do in the game (...)

A good excuse seems to showcase my bad comic:

haha, thats really nice man!

 

[BunkerBud]

At fo3 blog, this picture was at head of this same article, i believe.
Do you know what this is? looks like he's got a flaming sword of some sort?

http://fallout3.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/washbloody.jpg

 

[Brother None]

Do you know what this is? looks like he's got a flaming sword of some sort?

Blurred bullet:

 

[quasimodo]

I think if they were to render the original games' death animations in 3D they would be considered significantly more over the top than the current set they're showing. You know, if when an arm came off it also took a huge chunk of the chest and exposed the rib cage... details like that are particularly gruesome.

I'm thinking it seems less tasteful now because it's so up close and personal, and the whole rag doll dead body thing (when it isn't looking awkward) is probably hitting a bit too close to home, in terms of portraying actual human death.

At least, that's my reaction.

I agree. It was one of my concerns when I heard Beth was going with FPP. The perspective in FO1&2 helped keep the "bloody mess" deaths comic. If I play FO3 I don't think I will go with the OTT deaths.

 

[Kyuu]

The perspective in FO1&2 helped keep the "bloody mess" deaths comic. If I play FO3 I don't think I will go with the OTT deaths.

My problem with the limbs-popping-off-style violence in FO3 has nothing to do with it being too "realistic" or "gruesome" because of the graphics or perspective. It has to do with it just looking crappy. The death animations in FO1/2 were gruesome, but well-done and enjoyable to watch (if you're not the squeamish sort). The awkward rag dolling, limbs popping off, and ketchup-spray I've seen just don't compare. It's a radical step backwards in terms of quality. From a decade-old game. Funny, really.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

The perspective in FO1&2 helped keep the "bloody mess" deaths comic. If I play FO3 I don't think I will go with the OTT deaths.

My problem with the limbs-popping-off-style violence in FO3 has nothing to do with it being too "realistic" or "gruesome" because of the graphics or perspective. It has to do with it just looking crappy. The death animations in FO1/2 were gruesome, but well-done and enjoyable to watch (if you're not the squeamish sort). The awkward rag dolling, limbs popping off, and ketchup-spray I've seen just don't compare. It's a radical step backwards in terms of quality. From a decade-old game. Funny, really.

Indeed. After playing with rag-doll physics controlled deaths for an hour I had enough to last me, I much prefer prerended death animations since they are actually stylish and look cool rather than the enemy collapsing in a heap or, when it's interesting, the physics engine freaking out and the body bouncing around. The only draw of rag-doll physics deaths for me is glitching or breaking the engine but I can get just as much enjoyment out of that after they've died and landed on the ground as I can when they're dieing. It's probably a lot more work to make a library of preset death animations, especially a big one that can keep the deaths interesting throughout at least 20-50 hours of gameplay, but I think that the product turns out looking a whole lot better.

 

[CodeZombie]

Problem with pre-rendered (or to be more precise, pre animated) death sequences, is that its impossible to take into account where the NPC dies. This then leads on to clipping issues such as the npc cutting through furniture, walls, floors etc...
Which is why rag doll deaths became popular in the first place, but rag doll is imperfect at doing realistic deaths.

Of course smart developers blend prescripted (or pre-rendered if you perfer) death animations with ragdoll physics to try and get the best of both worlds.

I'd hope that Bethesda are also doing this.

 

[whirlingdervish]

of course they are! the script goes something like this:

initiate huge bloom effect when bullet hits

render 1000000 blood colored pixels from the hit location and every spot a limb can fly off and apply a random speed and direction to those particle effects that are minimal so the blood kind of hovers there in the air..

unlock npc model skeleton at bending joints and preset decapitiation points.

apply a random velocity to the body so it falls over in pieces.