Animations - switchMove/playMove

[Wiki 1558]

Hi guys.

Got a couple of questions:

 

• How to know which animation is to be used with "switchMove" and which is to be used with "playMove"? Because some of them work with one but not the other.
• Also, when using the anim viewer, there is a timer for the animation, but sometimes it's not right. (for example, it says 30 sec. but the animation does last longer)
• Finally, with some animations, when I use "playMove" ("switchMove" not working) the soldier goes prone at the end. Why and how to prevent that from happening?

 

Thanks

[Kydoimos 915]

Hello, Mr. Wiki!

 

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How to know which animation is to be used with "switchMove" and which is to be used with "playMove"? Because some of them work with one but not the other.

 

I'm not sure if there's any feasible way to check for compatibility between an animation and the playMove command without trawling through the config viewer. It's all to do with the way the animation is configured and that information is not really presented in the animation viewer. As a general rule of thumb, you'll probably find many (not all!) of the animations classified as cutscenes or unknown will not work in conjunction with the playMove command. PlayMove can be used with any animations that occur in-game with player movement or actions; e.g., running, crawling, reloading a weapon, etc. SwitchMove on the other hand, as you've probably discovered, works with everything and will instantly switch the unit's animation state. 

There is also playMoveNow, which prioritizes an animation over the basic playMove command. In answer to your question, you can't really 'know', I don't think (I could be mistaken?), but you can use the cutscene and unknown categories as a rough guide. 

 

Quote

Also, when using the anim viewer, there is a timer for the animation, but sometimes it's not right. (for example, it says 30 sec. but the animation does last longer)

 

Yes, I've also noticed this; must be something to do with the way the RTM (data file for animation) has been configured. 

 

Quote

Finally, with some animations, when I use "playMove" ("switchMove" not working) the soldier goes prone at the end. Why and how to prevent that from happening?

 

SwitchMove should work with all animations - but I think I might be able to see where the problem lies. For AI, you'll need to disable a few components before executing the switchMove command (similarly, also if you want to stop the unit going prone after executing the animation with playMove):
 

// Most important one, as it stops AI doing it's thing

_unit disableAI "ANIM";

// This one prevents AI twitching with weapon 

_unit setCombatMode "Blue";

// Prevents any head movememnt not defined in the RTM file

_unit enableMimics false; 

// Then your animation 

_unit switchMove "Static_Dead"; 

// You may then wish to restore the unit's AI after the animation's finished

sleep 1;

_unit enableAI "ANIM";

 

Hope that helps, matey! 

[Wiki 1558]

Hi Kydoimos.

Thanks for the answer.

I managed to have what I wanted with "swtichMove".

Concerning the AI going prone after "playMove", it still happens even with disableAI "ANIM".

So I used swtichMove instead.

[AZCoder 921]

@Kydoimos enableMimics stops the head moving around during animation? I have to try that one! I do a lot of cutscene talking and the AI don't like looking at each other. Thanks!

 

On a side note, all of this was so much easier in Arma 2. Didn't have to disableAI "ANIM", they didn't drop to the ground or do the 1/4 second animation. I suspect the Arma 3 idle animations are part of the reason it's more, uh, involved than before.

[phronk 895]

Keep in mind that enableMimics needs to be remoteExeced to work for everyone.  Otherwise, it'll only work on the machine that called the command.  This is also true for playing synchronized animations.