Not long ago, I was standing around at the House of Blade store on Samurai Island, and there was someone that I was not familiar with there who wanted to spar anyone and everyone who showed up.
He was a decent fighter, not great, but better than many that chose to go against him. Until Malachi showed up, at least. The gentleman refused to fight Malachi until he put on a bigger shape, stating that the smaller avatar was "too hard to hit, and it’s cheating".
I tried to explain at the time that it certainly was *not* cheating to have a short avatar, but I’m not terribly articulate at the best of times, and this gentleman spoke English as a second language, so between those two factors I was not able to explain well.
I will try to do so now, and though I will probably fail again, perhaps some people will understand my meaning.
Damn, and I was so looking for an excuse to explain why Malachi beats me!
Well, that makes two of us
Here’s another thing that people have likely noticed from time to time: It’s extremely easy to slash a dead opponent even while aiming completely horizontally. While it may indeed look like they are flat on the ground, appearances can be deceiving.
Animations do not change how likely you are to hit a person, except in an indirect way by making them appear to be somewhere they are not. So long as you are aiming somewhere below a person’s nametag, you are aiming at them.
Thank you thank you thank you! *bows* I knew about this but having an article by one of the devs explaining it is going to make backing my claims a lot easier. I’ve had this avatar much longer than I’ve been involved in c:si. Nonetheless I have been practicing with an avatar that’s an inch shorter than Zennuo’s from time primarily for those situations where the complaints about avatar height persist.
One thing that does change based on the height of the avatar for the individual is perspective in mouselook and it’s probably a more fair complaint that a smaller avatar can be harder to track. One person suggested to me that because of the height, the avatar appears to move faster even though it’s moving at the same rate. Aimee suggested to me a couple of days ago that the physics are handled a little differently based on av size.
I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of sparring each other yet, have we?
I believe that we have fought once or twice, though I may be mistaken. Keep in mind that I often duel with alts
As for physics being different due to avatar size, there may be some truth to that, though I don’t know any specifics. Some physics that use llGetMass might behave somewhat differently in that a shorter avatar would likely have a slightly different mass (remember that X and Y are constant, though) but I have not done any significant testing in that regard.
Since llGetMass() only works (in the case of avatars) on the person to which a scripted object is attached, those scripts which apply physics to the self would seem to be the most affected. Push might also be affected since the person being pushed would have a slightly different mass, though empirical evidence seems to indicate that the differences are minor.
Interesting note : I just came across a Wiki article explaining how push is applied in Havok 4, and while I’ve not had time yet to read it thoroughly, it might better answer questions regarding how physics are applied to avatars of differing size.
One way that I have observed very different physics based on avatar size is with the simboards by Vetox. I’m not sure how the board’s behavior is effected in h4 but under the old engine it’s significant.
Ah, that’s very interesting, and not something I’ve tried myself.
C:SI is less physics-based than something like that, so I would expect the impact to be much less significant. I’m curious what, exactly, Aimee is referring to when she makes that comment. Hopefully she’ll make an appearance and clarify further
Yah, I’m normally 5′0″ even but I also got a male 6′4″ish shape that I use occasionally. I’d have to go back and like do some real tests to be able to write down results but it’s definitely different.
I’ve found that my tinier shape “skates” more cuz of physics hiccups in really high skyboxes. Like when you twitch the mouse too fast while running and you slide across the ground? That’s much easier to accidentally do with the tiny shape than the tall shape.
Mah, it’s one of those things where you dunno *what* is different but it’s just a reflex where you change what you do to compensate? I’ll have to do some tests tonite!
I think there are some differences when sparring a small avatar. As Malachi said, the perspective changes in mouselook because you have to look down. For some swords, this can actually mean that now your view is blocked by your sword and your hands, when this wasn’t an issue if you could look straight ahead. Yes, you can still hit the person looking straight ahead, but you can’t see what they are doing. Also, when you are looking down your sword slashes that miss hit the ground, which makes a noise. This can trick either person into thinking that they are stunned.
@Colin,
Yes, that’s true, and I’ve experienced it myself on many occasions.
I would never argue that there is no difference at all, but I would definitely argue that the justification given by that fighter mentioned in the original post - smaller targets being harder to hit - is not technically true.
All the other things you mention are definitely true
Yes, I hate that, quite frankly. I don’t believe that anything can be done about it, however
The problem with tracking small avatars in mouselook is real but easily solved; shrink yourself or ask your opponent to grow. I have a tiny Judo that I sometimes use for sparring micro avs.
I don’t have a tiny shape, haha.
I should probably make or buy one, but everyone that knows me knows that I don’t pay like any attention to my avatar *at all*, and only change it maybe once a year
I completely agree with Judo. When sparring Aimee (hi hi!!) I have to shrink myself down just so I can see her reactions. It’s easier for me to do that than to practice refocusing my mouse position on my desk, which requires that I pan as well angle downard (my foam wrist pad makes this a little cumbersome). I’ve also done this the few times that I’ve sparred Malachi, as well as the tiny furry avatars.