[h2]LIFES A DRAG[/h2]

Something that, clearly, was fundamental to Build 41 was the new animations system and thus far for Build 42 we havent mentioned any improvements to this.

Importantly, it should be underlined that his work isnt in the internal test build yet (and is certainly unconfirmed as a part of 42 when it first enters an Unstable beta) but were far enough along now with work done in this area that were comfortable to talk about Zacs GrappleTech.

Right now in Build 41 all the animations work perfectly fine in their solo states. This is when one player character, or one zombie, is doing its thing individually and not interacting with others around it.

Where problems can arise, however, is when that human/zed interacts with another human/zed. Bites, pulldowns and shoves happen to the air around their target rather than the character model itself.

This generally works fine enough but can also lead to feelings of graphical non-interaction, game events not being explained to the player efficiently enough, and the whiff of stun-lock.

How to remedy this then?

An extension to 41s anims system, GrappleTech allows us to join two characters in a more personal and combined state.

Essentially on a code level, in vaguely technical terms, we have a Grappler and the Grappled that combine and synchronize their animations together until the grapple is broken.

Whats more, because this is an extension of the Animation system the Grappled state isnt just a single, fixed animation, nor just a non-interactive cutscene. Rather, all the interactivity inherent in the Animation State system remains.

In short: the Grappler character initiates a grapple perhaps with an attack or pull-down of some sort and the Grappled code decides whether the Grapple is to be accepted or rejected.

The grapple system also takes into account whatever variables we desire when making that decision: tiredness, clumsiness, or injuries on either side that could cause the grapple to fail.

As a prototype, and most its likely first application in B42 once the Unstable beta is underway, we made the player able to pick up and drag a corpse.
[previewyoutube=J42QKHxo4us;full][/previewyoutube]
As you can see here, Zac has leveraged the logic in the Animation State system, and has been able to wire up Martins animation variants for picking up a body from the front and back, and then dragging it.

This is fairly rudimentary currently (clearly it would look better with some physics-bobble on the zombie legs as they are dragged around, and we dont have SFX yet) but what we do have running to prove out the system are a raft of player effects: an impact on player stamina, the exhaustion from dragging the heavy corpse, and the trail of blood thatll sometimes drag out behind also.

Super-importantly this whole system also lets Animator Martin, and of course modders, animate two characters interacting in their animation software and then to see that interaction replicated directly in-game. Formerly interlinking character actions would have to be animated separately, which was trickier to say the least.

An instance of this can be seen below which also serves as an example of how we can also tie the Grapple state to other useful gameplay activities: like dumping the corpse out of windows all in one animation sweep. Every stage of the Grappled state is as interactive as any regular state.

We dont usually show animations that arent in-game yet (this is in Zacs test build, but very rough around the edges still) but again, this is a great example of how both character models can now be worked on at once for both Martin and our modding community inside their animation software.
[previewyoutube=oRnrxqM_mjQ;full][/previewyoutube]
Ultimately, the possibilities are exciting and open-ended for this.

While perhaps not for 42, in which we mainly plan to use GrappleTech during the beta period to polish existing rough spots of character interaction in the current game, this is the gateway to all sorts of potential gameplay.

The key word here is potential (potential!) but this does mean that one day well be able to consider stuff like zombies grabbing players and dragging them through windows, dragged zeds being dumped into pits and graves, animal attacks and tramples, or even (maybe? who knows) mountable steeds one day.

It would certainly be extremely helpful for that thing that hilarious meme reviews always demand too, but that aint gonna happen




So some notes on where were currently headed with the gameplay and balance:

• Blacksmithed weapons will generally be the most durable and high quality, but also require the most infrastructure and skill to produce.
  
• Weapons fabricated in a welding shop will be cruder and lower quality, but still durable.
  
• Weapons made out of different kinds of sticks and broken pieces of metal or bones, will generally have a much shorter lifespan.
  
• In terms of more improvised/compound post-apocalyptic weapons, like adding a modification to a baseball bat, for most cases youll be making a trade-off between durability and the ability to inflict more short-term damage.
  
• For the most part in each family of crafted weapons there will be options for all the different sorts of weapon that PZ provides: blunt, small blunt, axes, spears and short blade. That said: long blade is an exception. Were trying to keep swords special, high-tier and high-value partly because they arguably fit the post-apocalypse less neatly and need to feel different, and partly because weve already seen the success of this approach with the katana.
  
• Spears have been rethought, and many of the spears that you may be used to in B41 have been removed. However, there are also many new spears and many different ways to make a spear compared to whats out there currently.
  

• The map teams quest to polish up Louisville, and beyond, continues with an emphasis on rooftops and higher floors.
  

• In general, were trying to add more variety to existing items in the world as well as adding new ones. A good example is that youll be able to find different kinds of generators, all with different characteristics. This has been set up to be as easy as possible for modders to also add new varieties of generators, requiring only a simple item scripts, a tile and some modder ingenuity for whatever cool new features they dream up.