I finally found some free time, and instead of trying to tackle a big chunk of work like multiplayer implementation, I decided to do modeling work. I had completely forgotten about cloth simulations in modeling software until my coworker used it, and I immediately got the idea to use blender’s cloth simulation for creating bodies covered with sheets / bodybags. And it truly was really simple! Just set the cloth modifier, subdivide the starting mesh, add a bit of thickness, set the parameters, position a collider object and press a button! The most time-consuming part was finding out the right parameters, but that wasn’t too hard. Then it was down to finding good textures, and once again texturelib.com was the answer. I added a bit of grime and blood in GIMP and I was ready!

There’s currently four different texture variations, but I’ll create a few more soon. The end results look like this:

All in all I think the cloth simulation is a wonderful, simple way to add nice models if you’re in need of something like this. I think I will use the cloth modifier for the first boss I have in mind, a kind of mass of zombies fused together. More about that when the time comes!

I’ve played around with integrating Final IK to my project. First I felt that I should rework how weapons are parented by attaching the weapons to the player character’s rig, but I realised it is probably better to have the weapons remain static in the air, and not follow the player’s hands in normal situation. The common scenario is that the weapons don’t move, so it is probably simpler to keep them static and only “fake” the parenting effect in reloading like I’ve done so far. I tested the rig parenting, but it introduced a bunch of problems that are harder to solve than the ones in the current scenario. So the weapon and IK system remains unfinished. I did integrate Final IK into the system I’m currently using, and it adds a lot of flexibility out of the box.

That’s it for now, see you next time!