Smoothing groups

Data animation separate to the model file.

Sound file stored in the model file (like the quake 3 models).

I rather like Userdata file. Something like :

In myModel.usd
==============
myVertex = 1024;

In script
=========
// Assign the following action to myModel.mdl
entity* ent;
action modelact
{
ent = my;
vec_for_vertex(temp,ent,ent.myVertex);
}

The animation data being stored/loaded separately from the models is a very,very important improvement we need urgently(or at least to know it's coming for the full release).

The animation system needs to have this and the skinning done on the GPU too eventually, for A7 to remain competitive with the other indie engines out there.

I think adding these features or at least putting them on the roadmap, is especially relevant as high quality animation has been made an A7 Pro only feature, but as it stands currently you really won't be able to do Pro quality animation due to the lack of these elements.

what do you mean with

Quote:

---

the skinning done on the GPU too eventually

---

? i don't really get your point here. the engine uses hardware t&l if you mean that.

joey.

I doubt the lack of that one feature (which isn't even needed) is going to take A7 out of the competition (i.e. remain competitive with the other engines out there). The engine has given them all a run for their money for years and will continue to do so.

@Orange Brat: Let's be clear about this, I totally agree the latest A6 is very good and A7 is looking great.

However, if you try to do anything with character animation of a Pro quality, (and remember we are only talking about A7 Pro here)these missing animation features are a big deal.

Without the separation of the animation data you will rapidly run out of memory if you try to have the number of animations needed for a typical modern game, as you can't share one set of animation data among multiple models. Ask Larry about animation space difficulties on the Mothers's Den demo for example.

That's why this method is already used by all the AAA engines and all the best indie engines too.

GPU skinning simply gives you a performance gain in most cases and frees up CPU cycles for other uses like better AI etc. which is why most modern engines give you the option to do it this way.

Please don't take my comments as knocking A7, these are simply positive suggestions for the future of the Pro version that are already the industry standard way of doing things, not some sort of crazy request .

@joey: here's a link to good explanation of GPU skinning if you want to understand what I'm talking about http://lynxengine.net/ati.htm

It's always interesting to learn which features are "needed urgently for Pro Quality" or even "used by all AAA engines" . Just some comments:

- "GPU skinning" is used for demos. In game engines the CPU needs access to the current mesh shape for tracing and polygonal collision detection.

- "Separate animation data" has nothing to do with "out of memory" or "AAA engines". It's used for easier assignment of bones animation in model editors. It has some advantages to load bones animation separately, but not for memory reasons. Animation matrices are very small and can't get you out of memory.