In the zombie MMO H1Z1, the current animations are being replaced with ones refined through motion capture techniques. This will make H1Z1 look significantly better and smoother.
This week in the dev blogs for H1Z1, a veteran of the gaming industry, David Carter, was in front of the camera. He has previously worked on the original Unreal and Unreal Tournament. And in the dev video, you can see that he has a slightly quirky sense of humor. Just look at his various hairstyles/headgear. At the end, he even does the voiceover for someone else.
He seems to have had a lot of fun with this video, where he quite literally teaches a zombie how to dance.
http://youtu.be/6CiMqcilEtI
Motion capturing has taken place, is now being gradually implemented, takes time
Carter takes his craft seriously. It’s about animations, meaning how the characters move in the game. This is a complex and detailed task.
One of the most frequent criticisms of H1Z1 at the moment is its somewhat rustic appearance. The SOE team is working on this. Currently, H1Z1 is replacing its existing “placeholder” animations with “motion capture” animations.
For this purpose, the team was allowed to go to Sony’s studio at the beginning of October and performed various movements with stunt people, ranging from mundane tasks like rummaging through a backpack to moves and actual stunts. All this data and movement sequences are set to gradually find their way into the game. It takes time.
From the Mocap Stage at SCEA…Stunt Man Chris Robbins kicks ass while Shawn and Dave track progress..#h1z1 pic.twitter.com/n2gZfxoKDd
— Brad Constantine (@Bradc001) October 7, 2014
The implementation of the new animations will still take some time, and many of the more elaborate and challenging ideas are only planned for the future, after early access.
Climbing zombies and player stunts are also balance issues
Whether zombies could eventually climb and whether players could perform outrageous stunts? were some of the fan questions directed at Carter. Both are indeed possible and conceivable for the future, he replied. However, these are also balance questions.
If zombies could suddenly climb, it would shift the entire balance of the game. The same goes for player “stunts”: If they could slide down slopes, the whole world would have to be designed in a way that makes sense and is logical. Otherwise, players could easily bypass certain dangers. Or they would no longer be safe from zombies, making H1Z1 too difficult.
There has been movement in H1Z1 itself. Tomorrow, on Monday, December 8, there is supposed to be a release date for early access. Those who want to learn more about the game can check out our H1Z1 theme page or browse through our large preview.
