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Post by chriscrawford on Sept 6, 2015 19:59:47 GMT -8
I have integrated the eyes into the Dreamspace animation; you can find a screenshot of the four variations here: www.erasmatazz.com/temporaryStuff/FourEyes.movThis shows the four different pairs of eyes against the Dreamspace background. I don't think that they're striking enough. They seem rather small and unimpressive, nowhere near as impressive as the eyes I used for the demo (see www.siboot.org/dream-combat.html for the original demo). Do you agree with me that the eyes don't have enough impact? If so, what do you think we should do about them? Are you able to differentiate the four different characters from the four sets of eyes? That is, can you look at a pair of eyes and say, "Oh, that's So-And-So!"
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Post by chriscrawford on Sept 6, 2015 20:05:26 GMT -8
Here are a few thoughts I have:
1. I could make them bigger, but I'd probably have to bring them closer together than they are in the actual faces. 2. Perhaps we could come up with radically different iris patterns for the different characters. 3. I could add some sort of "shining" or "halo" animation around each of the eyes to help accentuate it. 4. Perhaps the eyes should shimmy around a little, just to make them seem more alive. 5. Perhaps I could have them blink occasionally.
Remember, the goal here is to produce an unsettling feeling in the player.
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Post by softscan on Sept 6, 2015 20:50:09 GMT -8
Your eyes are too far apart They are not animated. They are not identifyable as belonging to any character The background animation has it most active part centered between the two eyes That dominates the attention not the eyes The backgound does not change in rate or intensity or in sharpness of focus A "focus pull" on the eyes would shift attention to them. And using an animated change in iris size would help expression Your suggestions are all good. I think you need to write the back story for each combat to lay out what intentions and motivation there is for each whole animation sequence. It is presently all form and no content. Exactly what is unsettling? and why ? This would help individuate each characters combat as differing to anothers
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Post by softscan on Sept 7, 2015 5:07:47 GMT -8
The Dream Combat screen has no depth. (Well very little) I appears as a flat plane. Zooming the eyes in this space just makes them just appear larger not moving up from the distance. If the combat swirls moved in perspective space the Eyes would too. Depth can be establised by having for example , four image planes -> background, mid ground, foreground, eyes. The movement of foreground plane relative to background plane will give depth, perspective and movement How is character expresseed in the game. Only by facial expression. If the whole character is seen moving then gait would be an expression of character. Leg length, body mass and CofG would determine gait. Example Skordo <-> Koopies differentiation. Then if the eyes are disembodied and move toward the viewer they would also move slightly vertically and laterally in a gait signature pattern. Blink rates could be another differentiation. These character differences would need to be established well before Dream Combat is introduced.
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Post by laiabee on Sept 7, 2015 5:09:31 GMT -8
I think they're too small compared to the rest of the screen, What about putting the silhouettes of the characters faces in black and the eyes in a bright color?
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Post by chriscrawford on Sept 7, 2015 6:02:41 GMT -8
Excellent suggestions, softscan! I don't think it will be possible to add depth to the background animation; it's a unique algorithm that produces beautiful effects but does not afford a modification that would add the sense of depth.
I agree that the eyes are too far apart. This is the spacing in the original artwork, but for the purposes of the combat animation I think it necessary to push them closer.
I'm not sure how to animate them, other than to have the pupils move about slightly and to add some blinking.
What do you mean by "perspective space"?
I could add a background of speckles, but I'd want to have them do something. They could be stationary, or they could move forward in standard "starship motion" style to give the impression of depth. Hmm...
I doubt that I could add gait parameters, because you see only the face of the character during the game.
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Post by chriscrawford on Sept 7, 2015 6:03:16 GMT -8
Laia, I really want to confine the imagery to the eyes. I think that's important to maintain the dreamlike feel of the imagery.
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Post by Chris Conley on Sept 7, 2015 7:40:46 GMT -8
Here are a few thoughts I have: 1. I could make them bigger, but I'd probably have to bring them closer together than they are in the actual faces. 2. Perhaps we could come up with radically different iris patterns for the different characters. 3. I could add some sort of "shining" or "halo" animation around each of the eyes to help accentuate it. 4. Perhaps the eyes should shimmy around a little, just to make them seem more alive. 5. Perhaps I could have them blink occasionally. Remember, the goal here is to produce an unsettling feeling in the player. Being bigger and having different iris patterns would help. I think it's hard to tell exactly who each is supposed to represent. Maybe they could even have a white outline around the black outline--the current thick black outline gets lost in the primarily black background of the dream, which makes the eyes seem smaller and less important. (I also notice it seems to be antialiased to white for some reason--a thin white outline would fix that!) Unrelated, but it also bothers my symmetrical aesthetics that the eyes emerge from a spot above center--the RGB animation strongly emphasizes the exact center of the screen.
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Post by chriscrawford on Sept 7, 2015 9:12:56 GMT -8
I tried a simple white outline; I didn't like it. Then I tried an outline shading from black to white; I didn't like that, either. I tried a small spiral animation around the eyes, but that didn't look right, either -- it was too similar to the main animation. I am considering a conventional bitblit with an animation of squiggles radiating outward from the center of the eye, but that will be more difficult.
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Post by ldargin on Sept 7, 2015 12:30:43 GMT -8
I think that having the eyes leave behind a temporary motion trail as they approach the user would give a greater sense of movement.
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Post by chriscrawford on Sept 7, 2015 15:10:16 GMT -8
Ooh, that's a good idea, Louis. Yes, I'll see if I can make that happen...
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Post by Chris Conley on Sept 8, 2015 9:38:18 GMT -8
I tried a small spiral animation around the eyes, but that didn't look right, either -- it was too similar to the main animation. Rather than around the eyes, what if it was confined to each iris only?
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Post by chriscrawford on Sept 8, 2015 12:44:58 GMT -8
The irises are pretty small and are partly obscured by the eyelids; I doubt that they'll grab attention.
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Post by chriscrawford on Sept 9, 2015 17:22:53 GMT -8
I have posted a new video of the current state of the dreamspace animation. It can be found for a short time at www.erasmatazz.com/temporaryStuff/Dreamspace#23.mov. It includes some changes and some non-changes. I have made no changes to the eyes themselves; nothing seemed to work. The problem is that the eyes are just too inconspicuous and nothing can fix that. I could not implement Louis' idea of the trail because they follow a straight path to the viewer, leaving no visible space behind them. I could perhaps implement a trail if I had the eyes follow a curved path, something I am considering. Any thoughts on a curved path? Changes that are in place: 1. "stars" in the background moving forward in the classic computer spaceship animation algorithm. 2. For the initiation of combat, the appearance and approach of a sphere representing an auragon. Right now it is grey; in the actual work, it will take the color of the auragon. 3. The application of my "speckle-making" algorithm, which looks like shit. It should show the image of the sphere temporally dithered, but the sphere has no detail, just texture, so the speckle-making algorithm is a waste. I shall toss it, but I need something better than just a plain old sphere. At the very least, it should appear to rotate or pulsate in some manner. I have also spent a lot of time working on a dodecahedron; I couldn't figure out how to get it to rotate without a lot of manual work on each frame. I'm still casting about for something to represent the auragon. One thing is certain: during development I'll use grayscale, but for production, the auragon will be tinted with the appropriate color. Thoughts?
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Post by alvaro on Sept 11, 2015 8:57:42 GMT -8
I think something like this is more bold and clear for the player:
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