Since some folks are doing more Futurama based models (Leela and Fry) to go along with my Bender model, I pretty much made up my mind to do the delightfully weird Prof. Farnsworth as my next UT2004 game model.
However, his character raises some interesting problems.
As most of you know, I'm a stickler for realism these days and keeping characters in character - that is to say, not doing anything they wouldn't be able to do in 'real life'.
Yes, it's a fake game with fake physics. Yes, Prof. Farnsworth is a cartoon character and it seems oxymoronic to talk about 'real life' issues when the subject is a cartoon.
But even characters like this are enhanced by realistic presentation.
In the show, the Professor is a doddering old wreck. To the best of my knowledge (and I own the DVD set) he has never broken into a full run. If situations require speed, he's always carried by one of the other characters. He also doesn't twist, bend, or flex in any extreme or athletic way.
But UT2004 requires this kind of action. In game, the professor must run, crouch, jump, flip, swim and do all kinds of acrobatics. And I just can't envision him doing that on his own - even in a fake game with fake physics. It just wouldn't look 'natural'.
I've toyed with some different ideas on how to get around this, but I need second opinions before I actually start modelling and animating. Here are the options I've got so far....
1) The Professor ignores his age and brittle bones, and his model runs, jumps, flexes and crouches like all the other models do, with no enhancements.
Pros - no extra bells/whistles needed
Cons - having an old codger doing all that stuff just isn't in character
2) The professor wears some kind of leg exo-skeleton to enhance his running/jumping/crouching ability.
Pros - gets around the old codger limitation
Cons - the leg setup would be some kind of cyber-thingy and he wouldn't have his normal cartoon 'look'.
3) The professor scoots around using the "hover chair" he used in the "Roswell that Ends Well" episode.
Pros - My personal favorite idea. It opens up all kinds of fun things like having him fall asleep for some animations and snoring as he zips around.
Cons - The chair would almost certainly clip through the vehicles when he pilots those. Unless someone knows how to remove the chair mesh for that animation without UED freaking out.
As I said, I'm leaning toward the chair since it would keep him in 'character' and preserve his cartoon persona. I would even overlook a clipping chair in the vehicles in favor of that. But I'm looking for a majority opinion. I always try to make the best, so rev up your squeaky wheels and tell me what you think before I have to resort to my OWN judgement....
Slyrr
However, his character raises some interesting problems.
As most of you know, I'm a stickler for realism these days and keeping characters in character - that is to say, not doing anything they wouldn't be able to do in 'real life'.
Yes, it's a fake game with fake physics. Yes, Prof. Farnsworth is a cartoon character and it seems oxymoronic to talk about 'real life' issues when the subject is a cartoon.
But even characters like this are enhanced by realistic presentation.
In the show, the Professor is a doddering old wreck. To the best of my knowledge (and I own the DVD set) he has never broken into a full run. If situations require speed, he's always carried by one of the other characters. He also doesn't twist, bend, or flex in any extreme or athletic way.
But UT2004 requires this kind of action. In game, the professor must run, crouch, jump, flip, swim and do all kinds of acrobatics. And I just can't envision him doing that on his own - even in a fake game with fake physics. It just wouldn't look 'natural'.
I've toyed with some different ideas on how to get around this, but I need second opinions before I actually start modelling and animating. Here are the options I've got so far....
1) The Professor ignores his age and brittle bones, and his model runs, jumps, flexes and crouches like all the other models do, with no enhancements.
Pros - no extra bells/whistles needed
Cons - having an old codger doing all that stuff just isn't in character
2) The professor wears some kind of leg exo-skeleton to enhance his running/jumping/crouching ability.
Pros - gets around the old codger limitation
Cons - the leg setup would be some kind of cyber-thingy and he wouldn't have his normal cartoon 'look'.
3) The professor scoots around using the "hover chair" he used in the "Roswell that Ends Well" episode.
Pros - My personal favorite idea. It opens up all kinds of fun things like having him fall asleep for some animations and snoring as he zips around.
Cons - The chair would almost certainly clip through the vehicles when he pilots those. Unless someone knows how to remove the chair mesh for that animation without UED freaking out.
As I said, I'm leaning toward the chair since it would keep him in 'character' and preserve his cartoon persona. I would even overlook a clipping chair in the vehicles in favor of that. But I'm looking for a majority opinion. I always try to make the best, so rev up your squeaky wheels and tell me what you think before I have to resort to my OWN judgement....
Slyrr
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I'll leave Zap to others. Plus, that doesn't really answer my request for opinions about what I posted.
That just made my morning. 
