This is somewhat impressive...

http://www.naturalmotion.com/euphoria.htm#video

The interesting part is that it already reached production state: it is the technology which is being used in the latest Indiana Jones (in that particular case, it's a pity that all the effort goes there when they would really need a good plot with solid writing).

I didn't know it was already implemented in GTA IV though: I thought their animation system was in house.

cool ! - but it looks like ragdoll animation ...

i couldnt even imagine the complexities of getting a figure to stand by itself,

I liked the self preservation.

I don't think they make the figures to stand by themself. I think this system is added on top of the normal keyframed/motioncaptured animations. When someone is shot/pushed/thrown/got something dropped on, this system makes the figures behave like this, and when this autogenerated animation is over the normal one kicks in again.

ISn't this technology in Star Wars: Force Unleashed?

Yeah pretty cool. About 12 year ago I was talking to some colleagues about the need for this kind of stuff in games to make them more realistic instead of having "canned" animations. Good to see it's finally happening.

Yep, and GTA4 and Indiana Jones...IMO it's promising. We shall see the real possibilities once some game like Toribash use this engine.

...and why this isn't implemented in B3D already???
Will it come as a module for BMAX?



Just joking ;)

It's really cool in GTA, like when you just nudge a pedestrian with your car and they stagger in reasonably physically correct fashion.

It's also fun in this little demo/game, which programmatically handles humanoid balance:

http://www.fun-motion.com/physics-games/sumotori-dreams/

(Shoot through the right-most bar on the menu screen to hit the low wall, unlocking the shoot-stuff-at-the-robot game, the best part.)

Sumotori Dreams is hilarious... I found it in the demoscene a month ago! XD

Doesn't Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, use Euphoria and DMM?

EDIT: Yes it does.

Isn't that what they explicitly say they're *not* doing?

Is that force unleashed game out yet? I told myself I'd buy it when it came out, all the next-gen physics stuff looks amazing.

The euphoria stuff is cool. It almost seems cruel looking when you torture the ragdoll with the self-preservation.. It looks like it's trying to survive... scary.

Its done with AI using a set of given rules on how the body works. At least thats what i understand. No capture at all.

Not yet. It's been 'officially' confirmed and unconfirmed for a PC version so many times I don't really know whats going to happen.

Good thing I've got a wii, (It is still going for the wii right?)

I wonder what kind of processing power is required for "on the fly" animations...

I think TFU on the Wii is a hoax (although it would AWEESOME).

There's no way Euphoria and DMM can work on the Wii, not nearly enough processing power.

EDIT: Apparently there is a Wii version, http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-The-Force-Unleashed/dp/B00113T0VA/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1215648361&sr=8-1
(comes out September 16th, 08)

the balance in Sumotori Dreams is a bit like the balance of a guy suffering from a vertigo spinning attack (I know I've had them)... heck, they cant even hold still without falling down, quite entertaining :)

Sometimes they even laugh at each other when the adversary is falling down. :)

When I ran it my brother came along to see why I was laughing, and then we couldn't stop chuckling and occasionally bursting out loud for thirty minutes straight... it's the modern day equivalent of The Three Stooges. :)

The interesting part (apart from the 200kb size while boasting a simple game, CSG operations and AI animations, but that's not uncommon in the demoscene) was the dynamism: there isn't a single scene which doesn't show some original behaviour even in such a simple environment. That's certainly a hint of things to come...

Other then in gaming, these technologies will become incredibly useful in the entire CG industry (for example think about any war scene, from Starship Troopers to 300, where you could have a single artist adjusting the overall effect instead of commissioning ten artists to create unique animations repeated every N models plus massive character animations for things like explosions on the field).

There still have to be some direction by the programmers though. I mean, it would be kind of stupid to be playing TFU and see General Grievous get hit, stumbles, and falls down a hill?

I'm sure there are constraints if needed in order to simplify scripting and player character control (for example in GTA IV the player compensates it's weight when moving through stairs and the such, but the character is entirely controlled by the player and probably uses animation blending with a 'touch' of Euphoria).