Originally Posted By: Arronax
[..]You know what i've always wanted to see in a spiderweb game? Overly dramatic, fluid battle animations. I can understand why we haven't seen this so far and what we have does get the point across, but in my mind there's a big difference between a half hearted swipe with a dagger and a huge overhead sword swing. Am i alone in my shallowness?
Even a simple walk needs be rendered in all directions. Add to these a sword swing animation of ~8 frames in all directions.. It would look cool if it could be done...
Time required for rendering the frames is short, but what to render?
Who will do the animations, which must look good and have the feeling of adventure?
Even making a simple walk-cycle look good and communicate the mighty adventure is very hard.
Swings with various weapon types - sword, staff, Scythe - requires a lot of time and a pro animator, who needs a nice sum as payment.
If the designer decides you can bash with a shield or throw weapons... it's an additional big expense of money. Time is not really a factor in case of professional animators since they work fast, rather it is the communication that is hard, telling them, that their work must be changed a little bit to reflect the mood of Avadon. Some pro's might lose patience with the whole project if their work is not bought fast, especially if the buyer is not a big company. Who looks up to whom? Prestige problems.
Finding a good young animator almost on the level of pro's is hard, because he might quickly realize he can make a lot more money at a big company with the same amount of work.
