Character Updates
We’ve been doing some pretty big adjustments to characters in MMORPG Tycoon 2, lately! By and large, characters are becoming less blocky, while remaining very simple and flat-shaded. (We need to be able to draw them really quickly, since there can be thousands in view at any given time!)
I’d like to highlight a couple of notable changes from the past month, just as examples of what we’ve been up to:
The Mage
The original ‘Mage’ character was the second character model created for the game. He’s undergone a major revamp! The old original model is on the left, the new model is on the right. The animations are all-new as well!
All the same lighting and shaders are active on both these models.
The Rhino
The ‘Rhino’ was the first quadruped character in the game. Again, we’ve been moving away from the old “blocky” style, and toward more interesting shapes, while keeping the low-polygon and flat-shaded aesthetics. As above, the old model and animations are on the left, and the new ones are on the right.
The Spider
Let’s be honest; the original ‘Spider’ model never quite worked. So it was always high up on my list of characters to have remodelled. Take a look! (In addition to the model problems, it also never quite worked with our animation system properly, typically sitting halfway submerged under the ground. That’s all now been sorted out, too!)
The Raid Boss
The dragon raid boss model was originally created for the game’s Greenlight trailer, and it’s only being integrated into the game properly now, years later. But even so, the model is changing a lot, compared to the old one which was visible in our original trailer!
The new model (the one on the right) isn’t quite in the game yet, but it’s close! The animation on the right is taken from the 3D package, so it doesn’t yet have the game’s shaders on it yet. But this one is coming soon!
This is only a small selection, of course! We currently have eighteen character models in the game, with plans for a couple dozen more. I’m pretty pleased with these new models, and am excited for the ones still upcoming!