muscle dynamics

[Scratty]

Hi!

Anyone knows if real-time muscle dynamics has been used in games yet?
Just curious.
Tried to google about it but couldn’t find anything particularly related to game development.

[Unlucky7]

Not quiet sure either. I noticed something similar in a game called Fable. The more you use your sword and upgrade experience the larger you become. In the original Project Ego, you actually say arms growing gradually and could even get them cut off! But they scrapped it and now you just quickly get larger from eating and upgrading your strenght from points you get from using the sword. As far as being full all out dynamics, no don’t think so. Would be nice to see in something like Madden or another sports game.

[Scratty]

Hmmm… nice to hear that there are chanses this field is open for research (some way or another I presume). I’ve seen some articles about real-time muscle dynamics, but it seems the applications are mainly for medical purposes, or control of muscles of “artistic” models in real-time. I’ll do some more diggin’. Will try to get my hands on one of these collections of siggraph articles which might reveal something.

Fable, hmm… never heard of (guess I have my stonage comuter to blame for that :P). Would be nice to try it out someday.
Have played with the thought of creating some sort of a medieval longsword fencing game, with a lot of gore and all that (both for educational and entertainment purposes = edutainment?). Anywho, I’ve heard the intimidating fact that most fighting games never pass completion, so I’m not so sure if I’ll go thru with it.

[Unlucky7]

Yeah, I’m new to this field entirley. I’ve been wanting to create a game similar to GTA and Zelda with a dash of better graphics. I’m hitting every book I can possibly find. Bought C++ for dummies last night and already made my first simple program. Don’t get how they do the larger ones. You should give fable a try, some of the best concepts I’ve seen for a long time. Seriously, you age and can grow horns if your evil alot of stuff. Feel it can be taken further though. Should give your idea a shot. Who knows, it could be the next best thing.

[Vertizor]

You don’t normally see polygon counts high enough in games to appreciate muscle dynamics. In film and animation however, “soft-body dynamics” comes close to simulate tissue and flesh.

If you watch the extras from films such as Shrek, they show you an underlying muscle system that aids in giving the characters “mass.” The end result is clothing with twist and stretch as the character moves. And when they flex a muscle, like the bicep, you see it bulge.

In games, clothing is typically painted onto the body as a texture. Even in highly detailed games what you’re seeing most of the time is just “skinning” a mesh onto a skeletal system so it twists and moves correctly. It’s a much more basic form of soft bodies, the real difference is the number of constraints that affect the way the mesh deforms when the bones move it.

[DiegoFloor]

i remember a dinossaur game (don’t know the name) that was using muscle dynamics… maybe the project didn’t catch up… wish i could remember the name thou…

[Scratty]

You don’t normally see polygon counts high enough in games to appreciate muscle dynamics. In film and animation however, “soft-body dynamics” comes close to simulate tissue and flesh.

Mmm… yes, I know it is used extensively in the movie business. Wasn’t ILM the first one to use such techniques in JP back in the mid-90s?

If you watch the extras from films such as Shrek, they show you an underlying muscle system that aids in giving the characters “mass.” The end result is clothing with twist and stretch as the character moves. And when they flex a muscle, like the bicep, you see it bulge.

Yep, that what I thought might be done in real-time if you “cheat” a lot.

In games, clothing is typically painted onto the body as a texture. Even in highly detailed games what you’re seeing most of the time is just “skinning” a mesh onto a skeletal system so it twists and moves correctly. It’s a much more basic form of soft bodies, the real difference is the number of constraints that affect the way the mesh deforms when the bones move it.

Hmm… ok, I understand.

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