Avatar Naming Schemes

[Nerik]

I've just been having a look at creature animations in BG 2, and I think the avatar naming scheme described in the IESDP is incomplete, as some of the sequence codes listed for IWD appear to be in use as well.

Also, no mention is given of the 'monster weapon animations' that some monster animations in BG 2 use.

From examination, the naming scheme appears to be:

X yyy W ZZ

 

Where X and yyy have the same meanings as listed in the IESDP.

 

W is a 1-letter weapon code, thus:

 

A: Axe

B: Bow

C: Club

D: Dagger

F: Flail

H: Halberd

M: Mace

Q: Quarterstaff

S: Sword

W: Warhammer

 

and ZZ is a two-character sequence, this one is used for hobgoblins and kobolds, for instance.

 

Although some animations use a different scheme; (Fire Giants, for instance)

 

X yyy ZZ WW

 

Where WW is a 2-character weapon code.

 

Is this analysis correct?

 

Charles

[devSin]

There are about three different conventions.

 

Baldur's Gate: <Animation ID><(optional) Single-letter weapon ID>Gn<(optional) E for +180 - +360 degrees>

For example, the sirine animation has MSIRG1.BAM (unarmed/creature, "left" animation), MSIRBG1E.BAM (bow, "right" animation), etc.

 

Baldur's Gate II: <AnimationID>Gn<(optional) Digit)><(optional) Two-letter weapon ID>

For example, the rakshasa animation has MRAKG2.BAM (unarmed/creature), MRAKG2CB.BAM (crossbow), etc.

 

Icewind Dale: <Animation ID><(optional) Single-letter weapon ID><Sequence ID><(optional) E for +180 - +360 degrees>

For example, the armored skeleton animation has MSKAAGU.BAM (battle axe, wake), MSKAMA1.BAM (morning star, attack-slash), etc.

 

In cases where the animation has separate weapon sprites, the "default" unarmed animations are the creature animations and the BAMs where a weapon ID is specified contain only the weapon animation itself for the various sequences.

 

I don't know if anybody figured out what all the Baldur's Gate naming convention was (e.g., which sequences MRAKG23.BAM contains).

 

All three conventions can be (and are) used in Baldur's Gate II.

[Avenger]

There are numerous animation schemes used in the IE games.

So far I counted more than 10 (including PST).

 

1. IWD style (i like this the most). As DevSin/Nerik mentioned, one optional weapon letter for weapon overlays. (gemrb animation type: 9)

Actions:

GU - Get up

Switches to the SC/SD sequence

SD - Stand

SC - Stance (ready for attack)

GH - Get hit

Switches to the SC/DE sequence

DE - Die

Switches to the TW sequence

TW - Twitch (dead, actually these are still images most of the time)

This sequence is played till the last frame then freezes.

SP - Spell

After some loops this switches to CA

CA - Cast (the ending sequence of spell casting)

Switches to SC/SD

SL - Sleep

This sequence is played till the last frame then freezes. May switch to the GU sequence.

WK - Walk

A1/A2/A4 - attacks

 

2. BG1 character anims. These also have [E] files for eastern orientations. There are only 8 orientations of which 5 are in the first file, 3 are in the second file. Both files have the full 8 orientation slots, but only 5/3 are useful. (gemrb animation type: 6)

 

3. BG2/IWD character anims. These got no secondary files for mirrors. There are 9 orientations for each action, the 7 eastern orientations are generated by code. Melee animations are 'A<number>', CA-cast, 'SX'-xbow shot, 'SS'-sling, 'SA'-bow. Weapon overlays are in separate files. (gemrb animation type: 0)

 

4. BG2 monster anims. These got no secondary files for mirrors. There are 9 orientations for each action, the 7 eastern orientations are generated. All animations are 'G<number>' (gemrb animation type: 4)

 

There are also minor types for birds/cow/carrion crawler/dragons etc which are very special. (types: 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10)

 

5. PST animations are a bit similar to the IWD style, there is a separate file for each action.

Some are missing SC sequences, these anims look relaxed even in combat (morte), some miss SD sequences, those anims seem always agitated (nupperibo).

Some got special anims (fidgets). (gemrb animation types: 16,17,18,19,20)

 

The major difference is that the PST naming convention is:

[C/D][Action][Prefix]

These animations are colored based on the 0x8000 bit value of the animation ID.

I believe there are only 256 possible animation slots for PST, but this isn't confirmed.

[igi]

Yeah, there are a crazy number of naming systems.

It's not currently a major feature of the IESDP.

When I get some more free time, I'll see if I can update the lot and make a it a little more comprehensive.