Topic: New SPORE Creature Creator - 06/03/08

[uj]

Hmmmm. I haven't considered joint to joint only attachability for limbs. I assumed if it's possible then it can be attached anywhere on the mesh like attaching to the torso or attaching decorations to limbs. Brb after I read the presentation thing.

edit: It's most likely possible with joint to joint only attachability for limbs.
I still think it's odd that nobody tried it in a video.

[DarkDragon]

From a programmers point of view, it is easier for a script to animate if it knows where the joints are as it doesn't have to calculate where a new joint would be, etc. It is therefore easier to just let people attach limbs on joints instead of anywhere on the limb. We've also seen that when a limb is close enough to another they merge the mesh, so that's another option.

[outlander_biz]

From a programmers point of view, it is easier for a script to animate if it knows where the joints are as it doesn't have to calculate where a new joint would be, etc. It is therefore easier to just let people attach limbs on joints instead of anywhere on the limb. We've also seen that when a limb is close enough to another they merge the mesh, so that's another option.

I agree completely.

but for a fix to placing extra limbs anywhere on a limb, simple move the joint to where you want the new limb and then add another limb as an extension, if done properly I'm sure it would look like one limb with another comming out of the side of it.

[DarkDragon]

From a programmers point of view, it is easier for a script to animate if it knows where the joints are as it doesn't have to calculate where a new joint would be, etc. It is therefore easier to just let people attach limbs on joints instead of anywhere on the limb. We've also seen that when a limb is close enough to another they merge the mesh, so that's another option.

I agree completely.

but for a fix to placing extra limbs anywhere on a limb, simple move the joint to where you want the new limb and then add another limb as an extension, if done properly I'm sure it would look like one limb with another comming out of the side of it.

Yeah, that's my third option in my examples.

[Lippy]

We've also seen that when a limb is close enough to another they merge the mesh, so that's another option.

That's how metaballs work.  If two metaballs are close enough together, they connect and make one mesh.  And since limbs and the body are made with metaballs, if you position say the knee back up into the body, it should make the entire upper leg look like it's attached to the body. I'm not sure how much limitation (if any) you have with moving the limbs back into the body, but it would be nice if you could loop the limbs back into the body to make some very interesting topology on your creatures. 

[DarkDragon]

Yeah, except instead of metaballs they're metaobjects, or maybe a chain of metaballs, either way it works

[Petike]

I still think it's odd that nobody tried it in a video.

It is not so odd.
We didn't see any tripods either, since 2005 , and everyone started to specuate that they are taken out, until we saw a few new ones in 2008, but simply no one thought of it before.