Character Animations

Fantasy General II - Invasion is the reimagination of the strategy game classic from the 90s!

Armies once again draw battle-lines on the war-torn land of Keldonia, and a new generation of commanders will test their bravery and tactics against each other. Fantasy wargaming is back!
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brettwjohnson
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Character Animations

Post by brettwjohnson »

Is there a way to turn off the constant character animations?

I'm strongly considering buying this, but the constant motion of every unit on the screen is a problem for me...

Note I don't mind the movement/attack animations, just the constant "jitter" of every unit in constant motion...

Also is there an option to turn off 3D completely and get the old 2D top down view that the original Fantasy General provided?

Thanks!
OBG_primetide
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Re: Character Animations

Post by OBG_primetide »

Hi there,
no, we do not have a 2D mode (we thought about it, actually, but the amount of extra graphics required and sprite animations made it impossible). Turning off idle animations is also not currently possible, however I have to say I don't even see them anymore and most are rather subtle - once you played for a while, you likely won't notice them.
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Re: Character Animations

Post by brettwjohnson »

They may not be a problem *for YOU* - however for me, it is a major issue.

I'm a veteran Fantasy General (original) fan and have been hoping for a remake for many years.

Unfortunately, this is *not* it... I've been both pleasantly surprised/pleased with "re-imagined" games (XCOM 2), but more typically disappointed.

I'm not thrilled with lack of 2D, but I would likely have been willing to give this a try in spite of it...

I was prepared to buy the Hero or General edition for Xmas, but the constant character motion makes it a non-starter for me.
If this is added in a future patch, I will probably buy it.

Not everyone likes constant jittery motion.

Giving the player the ability to customize things makes games both more fun and more appealing to a broader audience.

An example is the old "Heroes of Might & Magic 2"... Players could control move speed (slow, med, fast, instant). Give the player the control and don't think that you as the designer "know best".
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Re: Character Animations

Post by OBG_primetide »

Hi,
I would in no way assume I know best how players want their game set - we do for example have an animation speed setting for exactly this reason. However as mentioned, though we were looking into implementing a 2D mode with just sprites the extra cost for all those sprites, unfortunately, made that impossible.
Turning off animations is currently not an option either due to the associated problems with understanding what happens in combat - however this is something we are looking into alongside a possible "bird's eye" 2D mode. I cannot currently say how this will develop as a feature, but we are trying to listen to what players would like and do our best to get that in.
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brettwjohnson
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Re: Character Animations

Post by brettwjohnson »

Has there been any additional consideration for disabling non-combat animations?

Note, I'm perfectly content with seeing combat animations, I just don't want the constant screen "jitter" when thinking about moves...
Arent
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Re: Character Animations

Post by Arent »

brettwjohnson wrote: Tue Feb 25, 2020 8:32 pm Has there been any additional consideration for disabling non-combat animations?

Note, I'm perfectly content with seeing combat animations, I just don't want the constant screen "jitter" when thinking about moves...
In most games there is, for performance reasons, a way to disable animations.

However, that's because of performance. This is the first time i have seen someone calling the animations distracting.

But i see where you are coming from. I do actually also sometimes switch off music in strategy games because it distracts me from thinking about my moves.
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Re: Character Animations

Post by brettwjohnson »

Screen jitter and visual eye candy can be problematic for people with certain problems/conditions including: Attention Deficit Disorder, Visually Induced Seizures, certain eye problems, easily distracted, etc. In many cases, applications give people the option reducing/disabling this (example - Microsoft Windows 10 gives the option to disable live tiles (because many, like me, find them more irritating than helpful).

Looking at the various videos posted, I would find the constant animation so distracting/irritating, that I wouldn't enjoy the game. Again, I have no issue with the combat animations (and would probably enjoy them), but seeing every unit on the screen constantly dancing around would drive me bonkers.

Note that in the audio arena, games generally provide ability to disable background music, environmental sounds, etc. This is typically BOTH for
performance reasons and because some people find it irritating/distracting.
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Re: Character Animations

Post by Arent »

Well, i don't have any problems in that direction, but i do switch off animations, music and switch on quick movement just to concentrate more on the actual game.

But many people also buy games because they look pretty. So, developers have to strike a compromise and that is usually the option to switch everything off.

Fast movement can be done in fg2 by double clicking, which results in me constantly clicking because i don't want to wait until movement/combat resolves.
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Re: Character Animations

Post by OBG_primetide »

Actually you can simply skip any animation by double-right clicking during movement - so the only thing left is idle animations which we don't have that often tbh.
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brettwjohnson
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Re: Character Animations

Post by brettwjohnson »

IDLE animations are exactly what I have a problem with.

Add the ability for a player to turn that off and the game is an insta-buy for me.

I also *really* wish you guys had left in the original FG concept of different player-generals OR the ability to create a unique player-general (like in Panzer Corps 2).
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Re: Character Animations

Post by Arent »

brettwjohnson wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2020 1:21 pm IDLE animations are exactly what I have a problem with.

Add the ability for a player to turn that off and the game is an insta-buy for me.

I also *really* wish you guys had left in the original FG concept of different player-generals OR the ability to create a unique player-general (like in Panzer Corps 2).
In the onslaught campaign they are adding that. You can for example choose Ailsa, who can recruit beasts and trolls and has some kind of 'omniscience', recreating 'mordra' from fg1. You can see that in the screenshots.

I also looked for that feature.
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