New combat animations

[Prezo]

I'm going to start by saying I'm a programmer by profession not an animator and I've only done a bit of 3d art in general but I want to give this a go anyway.

I've been doing re-enacting for a few months now and after playing Kenshi for an afternoon I realized that I really didn't like the guards being used and some of the idle combat stances, so here I am wanting to fix it. Now what I need to know is how do I get at the animations that Kenshi is using and what can I use to make new ones (I have easy access to 3ds max 2010 and a number of other tools).

If all goes well there might be some new swords coming as well so that I can make use of the anims on the correct weapons (as I'm sure that the Japanese style is significantly different to dark ages European)

[gusmil]

Cant help but I look forward seeing what you can make.

[Prezo]

After doing a bit of research I've figured out the basics but I still don't know how to get at the rigged models so that I can make new animations (because making my own wouldn't work to well =P) is there a way to import .mesh back into a modeling suite?

[vurt]

You can make a .mesh into a .xml by using:

http://www.ogre3d.org/tikiwiki/OgreXmlConverter.

Just drag the .mesh onto the OgreXMLConverter.exe and it will create a .xml version (the other way around works too, to convert to .mesh).

To import / export i use Blender and the tools to do that are here:

http://www.ogre3d.org/tikiwiki/Tools%3A+Blender

[Prezo]

already looked at that, its entry on the ogre wiki says that it doesn't yet do any of the animation stuff, but I'm about to sit down with my modeler friend and try to convince him to help me out (which will greatly improve the end product), we'll see what happens!

[vurt]

Aha, i thought it could import animations too.. well good luck with the project

[Prezo]

I think I might have inducted my team into Kenshi (woo another $20 for Chris) but I also figured out that that importer can import skeleton files which is what I think I need, so all ahead full!

Edit: I've noticed two things looking at the animations in game and the files in the editor, one; that the attacks are only ever down and to the left side of your opponent and two that all the animations I've seen are two handed, is there any intention to widen that field to single handed strikes as well as right side and leg shots? also shields would be really nice even if they aren't included in the base game just the code to support having a blocking implement in your left hand when not using an explicitly two handed weapon would be excellent

[evildog112]

I am by no means an expert modder, and i don't even know if this is possible, but could you in theory use some combat animations from another game as a base for your mod? The best example I can give would be Shogun 2. Looking closely into the units fighting the combat animation looks excellent. Just an idea, not a clue if it could work though.

[Prezo]

the problem that's halted me at the moment is that the models have been rigged with a skeleton and you move the 'bones' in this skeleton to create the animation, at the moment I don't have a skeleton to animate, now theoretically I could make my own or use one from somewhere else but I'm not sure if that would mean I have to re do all of them or not (not sure on this I'm not an expert either).

For all I know each animation in its .skeleton file can be rigged entirely differently but I haven't worked with this engine before so I'd kinda need either Chris or someone who knows whats whats word on that. If that was the case I'd just have to get one of the importers working well enough to extract the man model and then I'd rig it myself but I can't extract anything at the moment so that's not a going prospect

[The Biolizard]

Any new progress?

[Prezo]

without a way of getting at the .skeleton files I have nothing to work from unfortunately and I can't find an importer that works with skeletons

[Sydious]

The only thing that comes to mind for the .skel files is Nifscope, Its what i used when I was modding the OLD fallout games. It doesnt do it from the original install, U have to dl the plugin for it. But unfortunately the site i used has since shut down so u may have to look for em

[Harpuea]

I have aboslutely little knowledge in coding and animating, but I am somewhat confident in tinkering around. I found that there are lots of meshes and skeleton files in Kenshi/data/characters/meshes in the kenshi directory. Some of them have the exact same name as the animation as found in the editor, such as "man2_chop down.skeleton" as well as a .mesh version. I have been surfing around the web trying to find a way to open and view the animation files. I came close with "Tiger Viewer" which allows you to see the animation, but not actually modify the animation itself. The problem right now is actually editing the .skeleton and .mesh files. I cannot find a program that loads directly those file and allows you to edit them. I will try some more later

Here's a picture of a female character doing a "flying down cut" which is not implemented in the game yet. Funny thing is, I can't use the male character for the animation, but the female mesh seems to work. The female is named "mau". Other interesting animations are "crawl", "mass attack" and "ninja run upper". Since it is already there, I will see if I can get it in game.

[Druglord]

Nice! Im starting to get into 3ds max and working on modeling swords. Iv'e noticed figuring out kenshi and all the game files is actually quite easy since there aint that much yet.

[Prezo]

Cool stuff Harpuea, if we find a way of actually getting at the files I'm still keen to mess around with the animations and add in a more western combat style (and maybe eventually some kit to go with it). Might have to grab that viewer and poke at em a bit myself