Changes between Version 3 and Version 4 of Actors


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Timestamp:
Jun 26, 2012, 6:53:40 AM (12 years ago)
Author:
historic_bruno
Comment:

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  • Actors

    v3 v4  
    1 ''Actors'' are the graphical representations of objects in the game. They combine meshes, textures, animations and props, and also control some other graphical features (such as whether the objects casts shadows or has transparent textures).
     1''Actors'' are the graphical representations of objects in the game. They combine meshes, textures, animations and props, and also control some other graphical features (such as whether the objects casts shadows or has transparent textures - see MaterialSystem).
    22
    33Actor data is stored in XML files, which can be edited by hand, but usually the [wiki:Actor_Editor Actor Editor] is used instead. Actor XML files are located in subdirectories of `art\actors\` for a given mod (see [wiki:Mod_Layout mod layout]).
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    1717To achieve this, the actor is split into a set of ''groups'', each of which contains several ''variants''.
    1818
    19 The ''frequency'' of each variant controls how likely it is to be chosen. If a variant's frequency is set to 0, it will never be chosen by the randomiser. A zero-frequency variant can still be selected by the game - for example, actors could have 'Summer' and 'Winter' variants, with the default always being Summer, and then the game could change the whole world to Winter.
     19The ''frequency'' of each variant controls how likely it is to be chosen. If two variants have equal frequency values, they have equal chance of being selected. If a variant's frequency is set to 0, it will never be chosen by the randomiser. A zero-frequency variant can still be selected by the game - for example, actors could have 'Summer' and 'Winter' variants, with the default always being Summer, and then the game could change the whole world to Winter.
    2020
    2121For example here is how an actor might appear in actor editor:[[BR]]
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    2626
    2727 * In the first group, the "Base" variant will always be chosen as there is no other variant and its frequency is 1. This variant defines props and animations common to all the other groups. Note that a prop is also an actor and may be randomized in its own file, as in this case. We only need to reference a single "dudette_head" prop actor which can vary in texture, shape, and other qualities.
    28  * The second group contains different body models and textures. This flexibility means we can have a single mesh with altered appearance due to random texture variants.
     28 * The second group contains different body models and textures. This flexibility means we can have a single mesh with altered appearance due to random texture variants. In this example, "Dress-Chiton" has the greatest chance of being chosen and is 3x as likely to be chosen as "Dress-linen".
    2929 * The last group contains prop variants which differ based on the actor's current behavior. If the female is idle, her hands will be empty; if she's woodcutting, she will have an axe in her left hand, etc. She will be idle by default, since that's the only variant in this group with a non-zero frequency. The game's logic will select other variants when appropriate.
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