To root motion or not

So I'm at the point where I've looked at every example I can find of using root motion for character movement, without finding examples of what I need. I'm about ready to throw in the towel and not use root motion, but wanted to double check.

Play is a typical mmo with third person camera and there are a lot of movements that need to snap and where I don't actually want animations tied to them. Characters generally need to move at constant speed and changes in direction are almost instant, no foot shuffling, not that much realism. It's more of a twitch mmo pvp game.

I also have moves such as teleport and melee rushes that move a character over longer distances in a very short time period that do not always have associated animations.

I love mecanim because it lets me retarget animations. I'm not an artist or modeler but a developer, so this is a huge plus. Most of the time I'm creating prototypes and tech demo's where functionality is the focus. I'd also like to be able to use tools such as UMA.

So I'm looking at just using legacy character controllers for movement and controlling animations with mecanim. Not sure what pitfalls I might run into there for what I need. Like I said most of what I work on is functionality focused, so animations that aren't perfectly timed and such is generally ok.

 

Where you use root motion is blindingly obvious: accurate placement of feet on ladders, or where something has to absolutely match up with the surroundings.

It's not a choice of all or none, it's just another tool in the box.

 

So why do none of Unity's own tech demo's follow that advice (at least none I could find) ? Why do most of the assets in the asset store that use mecanim not follow that advice?

Not that I disagree with you, but it's not blindingly obvious when even the authors of the feature don't use it that way and leave few to no examples of how it should really be used in practice. If they intended it to be used as you say, you would think their demo's would reflect that.

 

I use mecanim in our up coming PS4 exclusive and it's fine. We use both where they're needed. We don't drive character movement by root motion because we like instant response. Mecanim works fine with and without. For ladders we do.

As for Unity's demos, I've never bothered looking at them since it seems quite straightforward to figure out just with a few searches and some test studies.

As for your comment about demos not demonstrating everything, well how could they? there isn't time in the day to demonstrate everything.

Mecanim shines as an animation state machine. If you choose to let it also adjust movement or not, that's a tickbox. I don't understand what your actual problem is.

 

Thanks for the input. I've just been frustrated because their tech demo's really give no direction on practical use and it's set a pattern for others. For example if you look at the top camera's on the asset store, none of them use a mix of mecanim with standard controllers, they all go completely legacy or completely mecanim/root motion. I can't even find a controller that was designed for mix of root motion and physics movement, with the right abstractions and such in place.

If they want people to adopt mecanim, a controller like that should have been included. I'd even gladly pay $100 for it, because vs a day of my time to write it myself and test everything, it's a no brainer.

 

I'm not actually a fan of animation driving movement in general. I think it makes most games feel very sluggish. It's realistic and has a great place I think, for games based on realism.

Basically you've got driving games which are arcade or realistic. I think that's the same for animation in mecanim, or a 3rd person game. These days realism is all the rage, but it does actually impact playability in my view. Sorry for the tangent.

 

noob alert!
just started using mecanim and getting myself familiar with the root motion that comes with animation.

i am currently working on a 3d side scrolling game, puzzle solving mainly(like limbo style or Max Curse of the brotherhood style)

i am not sure in which approach i should proceed, with root motion or without root motion or mixed? if mixed, then how to do that?

where can i find more info about this?

it will be highly appreciated if can get your help on this

 

I'm using root motion for my npc's. One issue i have is with the nav agent. it can;t be set to 0 else my chars just walk off in whatever direction they facing .01 speed has them going to the destination as they should kinda cept if they are already in line on one axis they will veer off slightly till about midway then veer back in no idea why..