make infantry more dynamic & lifelike

[ace40k]

i always hated the infantry anims in gen1/zh. they carelessly ran across the battlefield, just stood their, didnt try to head for cover, kept standing on the spot when under attack, didnt flinch even when tank rounds kept pounding them, kept facing usually one direction and didnt even bother to turn around to look out for enemies. they were simply boring and didnt behave naturally.

now, i may ask for too much with this and i also believe that it is a huge task to put this into action. but how great would it be to have more believable infantry units in a c&c game! for example, i gotta love the infantry in company of heroes who (barring the squad management) always behave with huge awareness and respect of dangers, they crouch when passing enemy terrain, they immediately prone or try to find cover when being under attack, they get pinned when under fire by a superior enemy, they get demoralized when facing overwhelming & cruel enemy weaponry, etc.

no, i am not asking for hardcore realism in this game. i dont want a copy of coh infantry in gen2 either. please dont respond with hasty accusations. i just think the devs should enhance the infantry formula of c&c and also make use of the mighty animation system in frostbite2. i'd be hugely disappointed if they gave us 'lifeless zombie' infantry like from gen1/zh again.

[Klandri]

A similar system was in CnC3 TW/KW, have you played that game? But I fully agree making them more lifelike is a must. But since there are almost 10 years since CCG was released it's understandable.

[Alaskan_Viking]

It's funny, even the infantry in C&C red alert 1 was more realistic than Generals 1: they would go prone when fired upon.

[Garbarsardar]

Some extra animations wouldn't go amiss but I don't want anything really realistic like in CoH. Maybe do something like in Act of War where soldiers will look around when running (e.g. one of them will turn around and run backwards a few steps as if checking for enemies behind them) or shooting. Unless Generals 2 is going to be radically different from past C&Cs then I don't think there should be anything like pinning infantry down which prevents them from shooting at all.

[ace40k]

@klandri
no, i didnt play cnc3 unfortunately but you're right it's been 10 years since gen1, they SHOULD actually move towards a more realistic and lifelike infantry animation/behavior system. if they dont then it'd be a real disappointment. they are already powered by fb2, so proper animation shouldnt be an issue

@alaskan
THAT was the very same thing i thought as well! you read my mind by any chance? yes even the old '96 red alert had infantry which hit the dirt immediately and began to crawl when they had to move under fire. while gen1 infantry just stood their, shooting their rifle without any emotion or movement at all, like they were rooted to the ground. this definitely has to change in gen2!

@garbarsardar
i remember act of war. they had good infantry unit anims as well. shame i havent played any contemporary rts games (cnc3/4, world in conflict, ra3, etc) to see how the industry progressed on infantry anims these days. i still cling to dow1 & coh as no new game on the market is appealing to me right now. i am eagerly waiting for gen2, cant wait to see how that will turn out.

btw, do the bioware devs even read this forum & answer questions? i really hope they are contemplating all our ideas here.

[bladexj]

I also really like the infantry in act of war. I think they should do something similar in gen 2.

[[GR]Agm]

As long as what you're talking about is purely animation. If you're suggesting that infantry should take action on their own without player input (e.g. stop shooting and find cover), then please donate your computer to a needy child.

[Klandri]

As long as what you're talking about is purely animation. If you're suggesting that infantry should take action on their own without player input (e.g. stop shooting and find cover), then please donate your computer to a needy child.

Do you think Tib Wars was too much or are you talking about them effectively acting on their own?

[[GR]Agm]

Tib Wars was fine, I'm talking about this quote from the original post:

they carelessly ran across the battlefield, just stood their, didnt try to head for cover, kept standing on the spot when under attack

That implies that he wants them to disobey your orders and act on their own when they are being shot at, even though you may need to sacrifice them so that they kill a target that you really need them to kill.

If he wants them to dance around or cry or do something, that's totally fine, as long as it doesn't result in inconsistent DPS.

[HOPE1134]

If he wants them to dance around or cry or do something, that's totally fine, as long as it doesn't result in inconsistent DPS.

Developers, make it happen.