On the Native Mesh Format
Posted: 10 May 2016, 15:03
Not to generalise, but probably Morrowind's biggest turn off for players these days next to clunky gameplay is the dated graphics. Unfortunately, while projects like MGE can greatly enhance the visuals (and I think Hrnchamd's recent PBR work is the next big step going forward) the animation side of things is in a different ballpark.
Later engines have their own problems; while Skyrim may have vastly better animation than Morrowind, modding in any new animations is the stuff of nightmares. Even the professional-grade artists, animators and programmers working on Skywind are limited in how they get their gorgeously-modelled new creatures working in game, let alone weapons such as spears.
It's exciting to think what kind of stuff modders of that caliber could produce with fewer restrictions and better tools. If OpenMW can pull this off too, it'll be yet another game changer.
Work on the native mesh format is hoped to continue sometime after reaching the 1.0 milestone. At this stage the missing features include texture animations, skeletal animations, separate collision shapes, and a few other things before its up to par with Morrowind's original .nif format. It's also said that getting it all working will be a monumental task. But I would love to hear further discussion on the subject anyways, even if it's along the lines of "wouldn't it be cool if..."
I've been thinking about questions myself such as:
Will there be a eye for making the new format and workflow intuitive for modellers and animators?
Should they be able to create the mesh, bones, skinning and animation in the program of their choice and export it all into the construction set?
In light of the eventual plan for physics in the future, are there any ideas on how to support cloth physics?
What improvements have Bethesda made to the .nif format in subsequent games, if any, and should the native format follow suit?
Interesting times ahead, to be sure.
Later engines have their own problems; while Skyrim may have vastly better animation than Morrowind, modding in any new animations is the stuff of nightmares. Even the professional-grade artists, animators and programmers working on Skywind are limited in how they get their gorgeously-modelled new creatures working in game, let alone weapons such as spears.
It's exciting to think what kind of stuff modders of that caliber could produce with fewer restrictions and better tools. If OpenMW can pull this off too, it'll be yet another game changer.
Work on the native mesh format is hoped to continue sometime after reaching the 1.0 milestone. At this stage the missing features include texture animations, skeletal animations, separate collision shapes, and a few other things before its up to par with Morrowind's original .nif format. It's also said that getting it all working will be a monumental task. But I would love to hear further discussion on the subject anyways, even if it's along the lines of "wouldn't it be cool if..."
I've been thinking about questions myself such as:
Will there be a eye for making the new format and workflow intuitive for modellers and animators?
Should they be able to create the mesh, bones, skinning and animation in the program of their choice and export it all into the construction set?
In light of the eventual plan for physics in the future, are there any ideas on how to support cloth physics?
What improvements have Bethesda made to the .nif format in subsequent games, if any, and should the native format follow suit?
Interesting times ahead, to be sure.