Basic Player Model Tags

[RonaldLee[1up]]

The below illustration depicts the basic "tags" that join skeletal parts. As Steed, P. (1999) notes, "[t]o explain this tag system, naming conventions and breakdown of the models sub-structuring, look at the following exploded view of the model":



"Particularly note the naming conventions. This is very important. The head objects (h_helmet, h_faceplate), upper body objects (u_torso, u_larm, u_rarm) and lower body objects (l_legs) have to be identified using exact naming conventions. Think of them as completely separated models that happen to travel around in the same general location (thus appearing to be a complete character) lumped into a sub-class simply by the first letter of their respective names. Note the faceplate of the helmet is detached because material or shader assignment/attributes also dictates the structure of your model. In this case the faceplate has been assigned an environment map shader that is different than the default shaders generated by the grabber code and requires special parameters" (Steed, 1999).

In Urban Terror and other FPS games, we also have tags for animation of hands so that we can project an animated model of hands holding a weapon in game.

APA Reference: Steed, Paul (1999), Thinking Outside the Box: Character Studio, Part II, retrieved from loonygames.com on February 15, 2010, url: http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.30/totb/index2.php