388 lines
35 KiB
Markdown
388 lines
35 KiB
Markdown
# Nimso Studios — Project TX / Hybrid Presence Engine: complete transcript study
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Purpose: the owner wants Nimso's VR physics player recreated as faithfully as possible (and possibly
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packaged later). This is the exhaustive record of what Nimso himself says across his videos —
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chronological per-video notes, then a topic synthesis and a recreation spec. Companion:
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`vr-physics-rig-hexabody.md` (Boneworks-family/BIMOS reference + Box3D joint mapping).
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**Sources**: `research/sources/nimso-transcripts/` — YouTube auto-captions for 82 videos of
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`youtube.com/@NimsoStudios` (physics/TX/Hybrid/Walk-O-Motion era), pulled with
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`yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-subs --sub-langs "en.*"`, de-duplicated to plain text.
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`_index_by_date.txt` = upload date, id, duration, title. Auto-captions are noisy ("IKEA" = IK, "Sony" =
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Nimso, "rag doll" = ragdoll); quotes below are lightly de-garbled. Re-pull/extend with the same command.
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Status (2026-09-08 video): Project TX entered full-time production; focus moved from physics systems to
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gameplay → the body/physics design shown up to 2024–2025 is effectively his current design.
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Legend: [S] he said/showed it (video id), [I] inference.
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## 1. Chronological notes
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### 2018 — Walk-O-Motion → first active-ragdoll VR player
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- **7I3Jb7bqW1A (2018-07-20, Stabilised VR Physics)** [S] hands physically connected to the player body →
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climbing, ladders, ropes, zip-lines "all physically connected to the player"; conveyors/moving ground move
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the player. **Grab looseness control**: the grip can be loose (object swings) or solid, needed so pulling on
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a physics ladder doesn't launch it.
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- **hzShV7qqbAE (2018-07-31, SLAYR upper-body IK)** [S] upper body derived from head + 2 controllers only:
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shoulder rises when the arm lifts, chest rotates with reaches/punches ("puts his shoulders into it"), elbow
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points derived "not perfect". Hybrid locomotion = stick sets walk speed blended with head-bob walk. Grab
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strength capped: one hand only lifts/throws so high, "you literally have to have two hands to go higher".
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- **Ov1CUo4Y4YM (2018-08-04, lower-body animation + jump)** [S] arm strength limits make climbing need two
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hands; weapons share the same physics limits.
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- **SwQFkzBIczY (2018-09-01, "Accurately tracked pure active ragdoll in VR")** [S] "everything is 100% rag
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doll — not the old system where you've got floating hands connected to the body"; force limitations; pushing
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a wall pushes "with my arm, not just my hand"; hips force-limited so they don't track perfectly; the enemy is
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the same kind of ragdoll driven by ANIMATED TRACKING ("he's basically another VR guy") → "would work
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perfectly in multiplayer".
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- **nfUb7HWbj9U (2018-09-07)** [S] rebuilt from scratch; whole body is ragdoll (can grab own leg and hop).
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- **8kkeh1RQfUo (2018-10-26, Tiny Knights ragdoll, non-VR)** [S] active ragdoll where the JOINTS rotate to match
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an animator — "no position forces"; all joints limited. Balance: "very simply a joint holding him up" to "an
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invisible object"; "nothing holding him off the ground — that's done by just applying a force whenever he's
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grounded". Loses balance control in the air (flails), stands back up. [I] = upright-joint-to-kinematic-anchor +
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grounded support force: the ancestor of TX's ground control.
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### 2019 — HYBRID locomotion → Hybrid Presence (full ragdoll body)
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- **9DzzrAoc4so (2019-01-23, HYBRID locomotion)** [S] stick alone = very slow walk; tiny standing SWAY adds walk
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speed; jogging in place = running with quick "bursts"; jump moved to a plain BUTTON. Physics hands rewritten
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with a full FOREARM on a joint (forearm stops at walls) — but hands NOT connected to the body in this build
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"for reliability" (pushing a wall doesn't move you). Grab points on guns.
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- **Kh678PsP-5Y (2019-03-17)** [S] sneak peek of the full-ragdoll body: objects lean on your SHOULDER (heavy
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hammer carried on the shoulder, easier to lift), slide-along cylinder grab (grab the heavy end, slide to
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lengthen the lever), hands deliberately "realistically weak" (can't fling yourself around like climbing
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games), grapple rope attaches to the physical hand.
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- **Fg7fPRWe8Bw (2019-04-06, seated vehicle)** [S] physical fingers on a wheel; vehicle wheels = smooth
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non-rotating bodies on spring joints with internal "rolling" variables (Unity WheelCollider rejected). Not
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body-related.
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- **rk7GC1It7w0 (2019-06-09, "Hybrid Presence — it's not Boneworks")** [S] entire body a physics ragdoll incl.
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stepping legs; the HEAD body blocks you at walls ("my head stops me from moving through" while the camera
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soft-clips), so crouch/prone lets you pass under obstacles and clamber over — "no mechanics, the physics
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engine does all the work". "think of this as a VR Human Fall Flat". Hand rotation drift → "damping requires
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… quaternion math". **Forearm colliding with the grabbed object caused rotational weirdness** (to be fixed —
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same issue VR Messs hit). Heavy objects balanced on the shoulder. Coined "presence system" → "Hybrid Presence".
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- **DMn0P3K85jE (2019-07-01, rMod non-VR sample)** [S] the same body as an AI ragdoll for the non-VR player;
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feet moved "by mathematics"; **"the feet themselves don't actually hold the player up"** (support is not
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through the legs); jumping kicks the ground body backwards (real reaction); slight head bob emerges from feet
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hitting the ground.
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- **Y8R3VKpiumY (2019-07-23, Spideriini)** [S] CALIBRATION: "stand straight, press menu → head height; touch the
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ground → floor"; arm length "will be added later". Arms-only Hybrid Presence: hands AND elbows collide; arm
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wraps around ledges/corners; pushing hands against a wall while falling slows you (pure physics). Rope joints
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attach to the hand → arm → body. Speed curve: stick = slow, sway-walk = human walk, run = much faster via
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"a simple mathematical power function". Air control via stick.
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- **Ah9sDKwfpZw (2019-08-02, cross-platform)** [S] calibration = menu button standing straight + touch the
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ground; hands-only build with a "body changing mechanism" to clamber further past a ledge edge; feet now KICK
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floor objects instead of auto-stepping onto them; uses SteamVR action bindings.
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### 2019-08 → 2019-12 — Project TX begins
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- **dEl1M2UK2Is (2019-08-18, "Project TX — Next Gen VR Presence")** [S] full ragdoll body; feet push objects.
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New per-object GRAB POSE system; pressure-based SLIDING along grabs; weapons LEAN ON THE BODY (shoulder brace
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cuts recoil; two-handed holds can't also brace); heavy weights pull the whole body ("the whole ragdoll is
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doing the pulling and pushing"); door handles must be turned; crawl under low ceilings; "no IK, no animations".
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- **9IDhcrzJtY4 (2019-08-23, IK-Less Control)** [S] see §6 of `vr-physics-rig-hexabody.md`: physics joint
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chain with limits instead of IK; elbow steered from hand twist; elbow blocked by a wall while the hand still
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reaches its target.
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- **L9E8NIdVf7Y (2019-09-01, Trespasser)** — inspiration only (1998 physics hand), no tech.
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- **PSOV2vX5MrM (2019-11-27, "Do we need arms?")** [S] with physics hands, FOREARMS change gameplay: the wrist/
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forearm blocks reaching behind objects; elbows used to clamber; "PRESSURE GRAB" = hold a box between arms /
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against the body without gripping. Floating hands are fine visually only when they don't affect physics.
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- **IunRs2U1n1A (2019-12-08, Strength manipulation / "Crysis mode")** [S] normal human strength: one hand can't
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lift the body when climbing, two hands add acceleration; ONE strength value scales everything — "all I needed
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to do was change a single value and the whole game has changed" (lifting, throwing, climbing, recoil control,
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even aiming in slow-mo because acceleration is higher).
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- **LhbmofaHkIk (2019-12-15, rewrite "Super Stable Ragdoll Body")** [S] see hexabody doc §6: hands "super nice
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and soft"; climbing balanced, no bounce; camera itself is a physics collider; stands on objects stably;
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"it should never feel like a rag doll".
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- **rY0O4IqmB8g (2019-12-22, Wing-Chun — need for physics arms)** [S] arms at this stage "wobbly and chickeny";
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the core argument: with physics hands but no arm structure "your hand is on the other side of the object while
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your body is on this side" — a full arm prevents it (= the VR Messs anvil-clip complaint). Forearm/arm contact
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essential for melee, grappling, balance of held things.
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### 2020 — control, ground control, AI ragdolls, hands
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- **lA2_RZ5bPII (2020-04-21, "Control Improved") — THE ground-control explanation** [S] Three invisible
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upgrades: (1) CONTROLS: all movement on the sticks so both hand buttons stay free for held objects — left stick
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move; right stick X = turn, right stick HELD DOWN = proportional "fake crouch" (lets you reach below the real
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floor), right stick UP = jump. (2) LOCOMOTION: "less analog feel" — solid, no slow-downs, smooth jog. (3) GROUND
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CONTROL: "normally … you use a capsule collider; the problem … is that it hits on short steps … you're running
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a function to actually keep your body off the ground [and] you get this looseness to the ground hold where
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while you're swinging your hands up and down you can see the body push up and down" — his version does NOT bob
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even holding something heavy; an obstacle at the feet doesn't lift the body "until I push on it with enough
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pressure, at which point I actually clamber over". Full-body ragdoll collision "from the head down to the
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ground" yet you can clamber into tiny gaps/cups, even from mid-air. Run doesn't auto-launch after a crouch-
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clamber. Push yourself along walls while standing on a physics object (Human-Fall-Flat style). Leg control and
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leg collision DISABLED in this build while ground control was reworked.
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- **TpEzyoWMFZs (2020-05-18, AI ragdolls)** [S] NPC = literally the same ragdoll as the player, driven by an AI
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controller instead of the player controller; balances; "if he accelerates too quickly he falls down"; slow
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pushes he resists, fast pushes trip him; weak legs = can't get up under heavy objects.
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- **hxU8O5GCnF8 (2020-06-07, Ragdolls & grab upgrades)** [S] NPC hand joints fixed by correct joint SETUP, "not
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an increased setting … no performance difference"; grab add-on architecture (trigger add-on runs only while
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held). Design value: physical limitation = fun — "it only feels cool when you can feel that pull back"; flying
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is boring, rope-swinging with limited strength is fun.
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- **UZVgfOtjD1E (2020-06-14, Physics upgrades & hand poses)** [S] **the hand is "a full physics hand with a
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physics joint and no additional motion … applied to it externally — completely based off a limited physics
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joint"**; tracks position and especially ROTATION very fast; with weight hanging off one side, twisting no
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longer makes the hand bob up and down — "it's simply relaxing and relying on the actual rotation" (strong
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angular drive vs weaker linear). Calibration moved into the menu. Custom hand-pose editor (pose library,
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mirror left↔right, poses attached to grab points with handle radius).
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- **rqLEL3kE4hc / TOmVCvpq5QM (2020-07, "How It Works 2 — Half-Life: Alyx hands & physics design")** —
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analysis of Valve's design, not his, but states his own principle by contrast [S]: Alyx keeps THREE hands
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(raw tracking, an invisible physics hand never jointed to anything, and a visual hand animated/placed by
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traces from the head + soft "magic" zones; weight limits are pure design flags, not physics). **"In my own work
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… my visual hands are directly connected to the physics hands — whenever you see the visual hand doing
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something, the physics are doing that."** I.e. TX never fakes visuals: what you see IS the simulation.
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(Ebp600yzSHA, 2020-10, is his Unity recreation of the Alyx hand trick — not part of TX's body.)
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### 2021 — the full rewrite, climbing, feet, strength presets
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- **9f7Bq_R_wHs (2021-03-01, "New Physics, New Control, New EVERYTHING")** — everything rewritten; see
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hexabody doc §6 (True-Body input layer with trig elbows + shoulder logic + chest + hip; ragdoll rebuilt;
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ground control rebuilt; avatar-to-ragdoll link rebuilt). Extra details [S]: hands hang naturally at the sides,
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reach limits match real reach "almost perfect"; elbow strength now high — "it's no longer just a floating hand
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with an elbow stuck onto it, this elbow has actual impact on the game world"; leaning on a wall with the arm
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holds until the arm extends ("the elbow is no longer pushing … because of the wrist strength"); a weight too
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heavy one-handed far out can be lifted close, held over the shoulder, held overhead one-handed only while the
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elbow is under it; ground control: slopes beyond an angle can't be run up "no pre-made slopes … just working
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based on that angle"; small obstacles stepped over; legs are ragdoll legs but "just don't have collision at the
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moment" (clever ground work instead). Hand-directed movement with head fallback ("hybrid directionality").
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Systems decoupled from the character model via a PROFILE system (moddable characters). Inverse wristwatch menu
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placed using the derived elbow/forearm frame.
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- **b91SafKV7Vc (2021-11-28, It's time to CLIMB)** [S] two strength SETTING SETS (normal / high); high used to
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make the climbing course possible; "now if you miss … your arm will collide so you'll get saved by the fact that
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it's a ragdoll"; zero air control in that build (weight balance only); frictionless slide surfaces.
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- **DxOV9wNglzk (2021-12-05, Foot upgrades)** [S] feet track the ground properly, also animate with the hands
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while climbing; legs "have always been ragdoll but now I've changed the looseness of them so that they bounce
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around quite a lot while still having a lot of control"; ground detection still glitchy when objects pass under
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the body.
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- **4yQdbjT1Auk (2021-12-19, Customisations)** [S] strength and SPEED modifiers switchable at runtime (watch);
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normal strength: "much more difficult to climb … impossible for me to fling myself … I have to use two hands";
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a heavy barrel liftable only by crouching and resting it on the shoulder; skins swap mesh pieces (cosmetic
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"chubbiness" doesn't affect physics); the body could NOT yet tilt on rotating/looping ground → Sonic "spin ball"
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workaround (fixed later by Full Tilt). Over-strong arms + stiff vehicle-handle springs made vehicles twitchy —
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natural strength fixed it.
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- **xknNoliE-wM (2022-01-02, Back to First Person)** [S] high strength makes the elbows "pop out a little"; normal
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strength ("still a little stronger than me in real life"): climbing needs both hands and controlled
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acceleration — "you sort of pull down … and launch yourself" (body moves from arm acceleration); running = jog
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in place.
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### 2022 — rebuilt "super stable" body, calibration, crawling, scaling prototype
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- **ZCTAEobBEds (2022-05-02, New Menu & Advanced Body Control)** — a rebuild for stability [S]:
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- CALIBRATION SETTINGS: floor offset (corrects a mis-set VR floor), height (calibrate button measures standing
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height incl. floor offset), **ARM LENGTH = "the length between the wrist point and the end of the shoulder —
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literally where the arm itself begins — these two bones"** (upper arm + forearm, NOT clavicle). His natural
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value ≈ 0.51 m ("five one"); "works pretty fine until about 0.6"; set so full stretch in game = full stretch
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in reality. Changing it rebuilds the arm colliders; too long → can never reach full stretch / clips ceilings.
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- Legs: on turning in place the legs don't snap round — "as you walk, that's when they catch up".
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- Crouch: body leans forward a lot; lower = CRAWL ("it feels legit because it is legit"). When the body rests
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on the floor, "there's no ground detected" → stick locomotion stops; crawl by pulling with the hands.
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- "no fake capsule … me moving around is literally the actual collisions of my body"; walking into an object
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= your body (and arm) hitting it; crouching under something pushes you forward.
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- **Hip collider: a capsule, ~27 cm diameter** (fits 30/40/50 cm gaps when crawling; 40 cm = minimum gap he'll
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design levels with). Real-world head sideways tilt needed to fit a 30 cm gap.
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- **Derived-body trick for ledges**: as you lower your body the HIP KICKS OUT further back → you can lean far
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out over an edge; lift up and you drop. (Standing at an edge otherwise makes the derived body try to step
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over.)
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- Standing up in reality while under an obstacle: the body is held down "just because of the strength of the
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actual joint" → small view offset (to be fixed). Tall avatars walk over 1–2 m boxes; speed not scaled by size.
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- Stability milestone: "doesn't break when you teleport … doesn't shatter into pieces and crush the engine".
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- **ecgiV9hFbdQ (2022-07-24, Legs Day)** [S] hybrid locomotion = stick + jogging in place (natural jog, not gym
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knees); right-stick UP jump gives little height alone — he always CROUCHES then pushes up with his real body
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("I have been manually controlling the jump mechanic in every single Project TX video"), Boneworks-like;
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crouching slows locomotion so jumps need a burst. A "real jump" (must physically jump) mode existed but was
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dropped as dangerous. "one hand pulling down … will lift you within the muscle strength … you have to use both
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hands to get full height". Fake crouch (stick) only goes so far — a real crawl needs real lowering.
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- **NNHXKJLjzDo (2022-09-27, 3-day prototype: Ragdoll Avatar Matching, Bonelab-inspired)** [S] scales the
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ragdoll pieces' COLLIDERS individually ("not using local scale") from a per-character profile: waist,
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shoulders, stomach, hands, arm length, head, neck; view height scales; **arm reach scales "the distance from
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your body to your hand"** so a long-armed character is at full stretch when you are; strength scaled by size;
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mass scales → "the grounding has to be stronger as well, so the leg strength is stronger"; big characters feel
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floaty (gravity is slow at scale). Physics gets wobbly at giant scales.
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- **POQ_Wm_ZK2o (2022-08-22, Breakables & Advanced Loose Grabbing)** [S] "reactables" (impulse/explosive/
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bullet-driven breakage, material-dependent). LOOSE GRAB: the held object's rotational joint loosens with grip
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tightness — thumb/finger pressure controls how loosely it hangs, and it tilts under gravity (cylinder/linear
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grab only so far); secondary hand still rough. Ground detection uses the objects underneath the body — falls
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through when a detected object under you is deleted.
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### 2023 — engine modularised, RoomWalker, fluid hands
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- **PN8h4rGf1IM (2023-11-21, RoomWalker)** [S] locomotion variant: stick sets a direction; you physically walk;
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backward room motion is remapped forward. Lists his modes: Hybrid (walk/jog in place + stick/controller
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direction), Exploration (playspace-position steering), plain joystick, RoomWalker. (Out of VR Messs scope.)
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- **lHgpibsjgek (2023-12-07, Fluid Hand Adaptation + Hand Tracking)** [S] now "HYBRID PRESENCE ENGINE":
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modular — "everything from tracking to the body physics to the body posing to the elbow IK — not really IK,
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inverse kinematic at a logical level". Bonelab-style arm retargeting (full extension maps to the avatar's full
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extension). FLUID HAND POSE: only 4 stored poses (open, grip, trigger, grip+trigger) blended + capacitive touch
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data; adapts to ANY finger/thumb/segment count; wrist extension stretches the fingers; random "micro stutter"
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twitches so held poses are never static; OpenXR hand tracking converted into the same pose space; finger
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colliders are physical (hooked hands can climb). Quest-compatible build.
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### 2024 — "Next Gen": no-jank interactions, adaptive legs, full tilt (the current design)
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- **VftAqOUhQsk (2024-02-02, NEXT GEN — No Jank)** [S] goal: GRAB, HOLD and RELEASE with zero jank.
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- GRAB: "soft" — the object is eased into the hand pose, never a jump/stretch toward it, never a snap, even when
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grabbed in a wrong orientation (cylinders/one-way grips smooth into a valid orientation); finger pose (then)
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only from object SIZE, not shape.
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- HOLD — the key mechanical statement: "in a regular VR physics system … the hand is floating … at the
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controller … if you're holding a heavy object … your hand gets thrown downwards vertically. That's not
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realistic … in reality you've got a muscle holding the wrist … the first thing that would happen is that would
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rotate, but if that muscle holds then the next muscle here would also rotate … it would rotate from the muscle
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downwards … it wouldn't go vertically, it would go ROUND because the arm [is round] … shoulder, chest, spine,
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hip, all of it … is involved." → a sledgehammer swung around doesn't wobble, bounce or "slap" back into
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place. Strength is ASYMMETRIC by direction ("a bit more strength this direction … because it's holding at the
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limits of the arm"). One hand lifts the body only to a certain arm angle; extended, it collapses.
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- TWO-HANDED: "I'm not doing any corrections at all other than the tilt of the hand" — the object levers
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naturally (katana pose, golf pose); both hands can SLIDE along a shaft simultaneously, cross, or hold the same
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spot without jumps/flips.
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- RELEASE: throws go where you threw — no fling ("throw the hammer up … it just goes straight up").
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- All grab systems built only against simulated hand-tracking data → real hand tracking "just works".
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- ACCESSIBILITY CROUCH: double-flick stick down = crouch LOCK; pull further = lower to crawl; double-flick and
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hold = straight to prone; push up = unlock. Lets seated players crawl/dive. Hand size follows the avatar.
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- Legs "a very basic procedural leg system … all physics parts of the body".
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- **tMDmwD1cQPg (2024-04-04, IN-DEPTH VR PHYSICS INTERACTIONS pt 1)** [S]
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- **BODY MASS 60 kg** ("my character is 60 kg"). Answer to "your character is too strong": strength is not
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inflated to allow climbing — STRUCTURE makes climbing possible (arm angle). A 12 kg sledgehammer can't be held
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outstretched one-handed; "if you just let your structure correct it you can then lift it"; swing works.
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"the actual values — the structure of your arm — need to be as accurate as I can get". Wrist/forearm "muscle
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here does most of the work" (fast) vs lifting via the shoulder "has to lift the whole arm" (slow). Slight motion
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of the object WITHIN the hand (grip compliance) on top of the arm chain. Use the shoulder as a lever; slide the
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hand down a handle for power swings. Light objects still throw your hand off on sudden stops; enemies can push
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your weapon/arm out of the way (accurate weakness matters for combat).
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- PHYSICAL PROPERTIES extend physics materials (not objects): impact sound by SURFACE CATEGORY (soft/hard/metal/
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rock…) of the two materials; sparks metal-on-metal; STABBING decided by material DENSITY + insertion friction +
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tool sharpness + applied force (a strong character stabs concrete); MAGNETISM flag (magnetic grabber).
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- Visual model is positioned exactly at the physics parts (tiny offsets visible when rotating the head).
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- "Force-based pull" (distance grab): hovers objects in front of you with a FORCE LIMIT — heavy things only drag.
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- **ATTACHMENT SYSTEM**: objects holstered on the back/hip/leg are PHYSICALLY attached (no collision) and add
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their mass to the body — 60 kg → 72 kg with a 12 kg hammer, 84 kg with two; affects landing and climbing
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("weight balanced to be able to climb at 60 kg"). Retrieval needs a button held (no accidental pocket grabs).
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- **LEG COLLISION is a TOGGLE**: "the legs are now fully collidable if I should choose to"; it interferes
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(legs cross and lock up, impede climbing and crawling through gaps) → normally OFF; leg holster points live on
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the leg colliders.
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- DYNAMIC GRAB RADIUS: a curve along the object (bat widens, bottle neck bump) instead of fixed-radius grabs.
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Always allows two-handed grabs on anything ("no need for me to say you can't hold that with two hands").
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- **BTlY8SWLtgo (2024-04-20, IN-DEPTH pt 2 — guns)** [S] mostly weapon mechanics: magazines are PHYSICAL SLIDES
|
||
(not snaps) and the grab pose rotates the hand to push them in with the fingers; slide racking is a physical
|
||
grab; one-handed reload against a table works; recoil computed from bullet mass × acceleration over the barrel
|
||
length (not a set value), so "because of structure the hand gets thrown back" naturally; pocket buttons pick
|
||
gun vs magazine vs grenade; magazine/bullet property types (rubber, plasma, balloon…). New buoyancy that floats
|
||
even very light objects without bounce. Attachment points also work on objects (containers): mass is added AT
|
||
the attachment position. Body: "my player currently is about 70 kg" (cf. 60 kg in pt 1 — the value is tuned).
|
||
- **D4SfYp2e1oI (2024-07-29, 3-DOF FULL TILT)** — see hexabody doc §6: "the entire player system is a full
|
||
ragdoll — no collision exists outside of the ragdoll"; whole character can rotate/tilt to the ground ("full
|
||
tilt" setting, designed in from the start: legs and every system must expect a rotating character); corrects
|
||
upright in mid-air; NPC uses the exact same player ragdoll/strength setup; avatars (gorilla, Sonic, Mario) swap
|
||
the physical body.
|
||
- **i7F4V9K6SlU (2024-02-24, Adaptive Leg System)** and **WGgPrne7Ctk (2024-01-12, Advanced Body Adaptation)** —
|
||
see hexabody doc §6 (procedural flight-phase gait; tracking as a guide; 1100 N stand / 5000 N jump ground
|
||
force; per-avatar pose profiles, strength, speed).
|
||
|
||
### 2025 — NPCs on the same muscle ragdoll (states the core ragdoll principle)
|
||
- **0R8Q96ukYeo (2025-04-24, "Possibly the most advanced physics NPCs")** [S] **REJECTS the "animated ragdoll /
|
||
partial ragdoll" approach: "all of your bones kind of pinned in place in the world space … when you push an arm
|
||
… the hand stays in pivot position … all of the bones individually are trying to get to their positions, which
|
||
is very, very awkward. That's not the case with my ragdolls … driven by muscle systems, which means each and
|
||
every bone here is actually driving itself."** Locomotion: the NPC follows a target and "drives himself … the
|
||
feet aren't directly driving his motion, but they are holding him up" (pushable, stumbles, tips over). BALANCE
|
||
is "more than a simple upright check — it's checking the matching value of how close he is to what he wants …
|
||
his overall tilt"; balance keeps running DURING get-up animations (can be held down mid-get-up). Physical state
|
||
machine (balanced / stumble / fallen) under an action state machine under a goal state machine; memory-based
|
||
perception (memory time), "breathing space". Stairs: lifts feet higher and lowers the body; reacts to its own
|
||
velocity when dropped.
|
||
- **_ByrqrCSh2w (2025-05-19, NPCs get even better)** [S] NPCs RUN as fast as the player while staying full physics;
|
||
a mode that reads step height and slows on stairs (decisions affect physics, no magic stability boost); roles/
|
||
teams; FATIGUE/"stumble bar" — hits (scaled by object mass, material, body zone) weaken the muscles ("his bones
|
||
have kind of weakened … limped out"), recharges; dodges/leans away from incoming swings via the posing system.
|
||
|
||
### Remaining videos (keyword-scanned for body content; locomotion/vehicle/weapon/fluid-focused)
|
||
- **TdFni0DjqN0 (2020-01-12, SLAYR older physics)** [S] an upper-body-only ragdoll build; "his ground SPRINGS
|
||
[are] too strong" (ground control is spring-based); the earlier IK-arm Hybrid build had "my elbow rotate
|
||
randomly and wrong" → the reason he moved to "full arms right from the structure of the shoulder down the upper
|
||
arm, down through the forearm"; head physically collidable (step aside / crouch under).
|
||
- **LMKmyLXGVv0 (2021-03-22, Guns & Holsters)** [S] holster points on body parts (pockets, shoulders, head);
|
||
recoil depends on arm STRUCTURE: arm outstretched or gun turned sideways → much more recoil ("lack of strength
|
||
behind you").
|
||
- **0nP-4SatYVQ (2020-06-21, Seats)** [S] sitting = the player body JOINTED to the seat with a true physics joint
|
||
(no body collision while seated); "full physics on the ground detection".
|
||
- **WYMygKXI0vA (2021-05-17, Hybrid Garden)** [S] movement direction = blend of HEAD direction and a HIP
|
||
direction "calculated based on the two controllers"; calibration "recenter"; accessibility: move with the stick
|
||
without leg effort. **_jPfasWzUpU (2019-07)**: accessibility calibration places the crouch "ground" where your
|
||
hand touches (e.g. knee height).
|
||
- **RTUJ2JzZnT0 (2019-07)** [S] calibration: stand straight → menu; touch the ground → menu (floor).
|
||
- **2vuQ0HFxEO8 (2017-11)** [S] earliest hands: a physical limit — "you can't actually move further than your
|
||
shoulder arm length"; objects physically jointed to the player.
|
||
- **7JDJe_PjeXk (2020-05)** [S] "legs are quite strong right now so … grab things from the bottom" to lift heavy
|
||
objects; heavy barrels (~20 kg) carried on the shoulder.
|
||
- **iFniqwjspug (2022-05)** [S] energy grab follows the CHEST position; grab layering didn't yet work with ground
|
||
control on NPCs.
|
||
- **rkWjbebZiKY (2025-07, Swords)** [S] physical-property extensions; "we've reached the limit of what is possible
|
||
with this character's strength"; simulated liquid in containers shifts mass/COM.
|
||
- Walk-O-Motion era (2017–18: S9uPWiKTbWo, vaGn4cZsZy8, zG-l4fhRRng, cets0eIn1HA, cSzUUit11QA, hnktOL1Idw0,
|
||
ySaSe4D7t8k, YaHLBF3JZ9Q), HYBRID demos (dhTpDjtN930, RVYF2dChsgQ, GfwdUns1nLM, vnJ3bS4MqCw), vehicles/boats
|
||
(cIug4Ok-8e0, qit0-s63FmI), Quest (7Gup4b1Sqow), combat (PWAeqfuaTM4), Alyx recreation (Ebp600yzSHA), misc —
|
||
scanned: no additional body-architecture content beyond the above.
|
||
|
||
## 2. Topic synthesis (what to copy)
|
||
|
||
**Architecture (stable since the 2021 rewrite, refined 2022–2024; NPC proof 2025).**
|
||
1. TRACKING (head + 2 controllers, or hand tracking) is a GUIDE, never the final pose; only the camera is 1:1.
|
||
2. TRUE BODY: derived pose from the guide + the user's measured metrics — chest position/rotation (incl. crouch
|
||
lean), shoulder logic (lift with arm raise, put into punches), trig elbows steered by hand twist, hip with
|
||
velocity/acceleration lag (sways), hip kicks back as you lower (crawl, lean over edges), hip direction derived
|
||
from the controllers. "Not true IK — a bit of extra trigonometry".
|
||
3. SCALED BODY: True Body retargeted to the avatar profile (proportions, per-character pose profile). [Back-burner
|
||
for VR Messs per owner.]
|
||
4. RAGDOLL = the player. Every bone "drives itself" with MUSCLES (joint-local drives toward the pose) — explicitly
|
||
NOT world-pinned bones. Joint limits = anatomy (replace IK constraints). Hands pulled to the tracked targets
|
||
through the chain (a "limited physics joint", fast rotation, weaker linear). Colliders are anatomical shapes;
|
||
hip capsule ~27 cm Ø; camera/head is a collider; legs ragdoll but collision OPTIONAL (default off — legs cross
|
||
and snag). Mass ~60–70 kg; attachments add mass. Visual mesh = physics pose (no visual faking).
|
||
5. GROUND CONTROL: ground detection under the body + a STIFF support ("ground springs") that holds the pelvis up
|
||
with no bob from arm motion, yields only under sustained pressure (clamber); strength ∝ body mass ("leg
|
||
strength"); slopes beyond an angle unclimbable; small steps stepped over; when the body rests on the floor
|
||
no ground is detected → no stick locomotion (crawl with hands). Feet hold the body up (2025 NPC wording) —
|
||
procedural legs place feet; flight-phase gait.
|
||
6. STRENGTH: one global strength scalar (normal ≈ human: one hand can't lift the body or a 12 kg sledgehammer held
|
||
out; two hands can; close-to-body/shoulder leverage works). Asymmetric by direction near joint limits.
|
||
Fatigue = temporary muscle weakening.
|
||
7. INTERACTION: soft grab (eased into pose, never snapping), hold without wobble (the muscle chain absorbs load
|
||
in arcs), clean release; two-handed holds need no corrections beyond hand tilt; grip compliance (object moves a
|
||
little in the hand); loose grip from finger pressure; per-object grab poses + fluid 4-pose hand blend; magazines
|
||
and holsters physical.
|
||
8. CONTROLS (TX): left stick move; right stick turn + HOLD DOWN proportional crouch + UP jump (jump needs a real
|
||
crouch-push to be big); double-flick crouch lock → crawl/prone. Buttons free for objects.
|
||
|
||
**VR Messs scope (owner, 2026-10-02):** copy 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and simple controls (thumbstick move Boneworks-style,
|
||
snap/smooth turn, stick crouch); NO hybrid/sway/jog/RoomWalker locomotion, NO jump for now, avatar scaling (3) on
|
||
the back-burner, NPCs later (same ragdoll — keep the player rig controller-agnostic so an AI driver can replace
|
||
tracking, as Nimso does).
|
||
|
||
## 3. Proportions & calibration (answers the owner's arm-length / shoulder questions)
|
||
|
||
Nimso's practice [S]: calibrate HEIGHT (stand straight → button), FLOOR (touch ground → button), and ARM LENGTH
|
||
= glenohumeral (shoulder joint) → wrist, i.e. upper arm + forearm, NOT including the clavicle; set so that full
|
||
real stretch = full in-game stretch (his ≈ 0.51 m; system fine up to ~0.6 m). The shoulder is NOT fixed: "as you
|
||
lift your arm the shoulder moves up and down, it lifts … you have to figure out all the mechanical structures …
|
||
in order for the limit of your arm to be accurate" (i7F4V9K6SlU). Hip capsule ~27 cm Ø.
|
||
|
||
Default anthropometry when only height H is known — **Winter, Biomechanics and Motor Control of Human Movement
|
||
(4th ed.), Fig 4.1 (Drillis & Contini 1966) and Table 4.1 (Dempster), verified from the figure/table scan**:
|
||
- Heights: eye 0.936H, chin 0.870H, shoulder (acromion) 0.818H, elbow 0.630H, wrist 0.485H, fingertip 0.377H,
|
||
greater trochanter (hip joint) 0.530H, knee 0.285H, ankle 0.039H; head 0.130H.
|
||
- Widths: shoulder (biacromial) 0.259H (neck→shoulder 0.129H), chest 0.174H, hip 0.191H, foot length 0.152H,
|
||
foot breadth 0.055H.
|
||
- Lengths: upper arm 0.186H, forearm 0.146H, hand 0.108H (arm GH→wrist = 0.332H). Contini 1972 gives 0.189/0.145/
|
||
0.128 — definitions differ slightly.
|
||
- Mass fractions of body mass M: hand 0.006, forearm 0.016, upper arm 0.028, foot 0.0145, leg (shank) 0.0465,
|
||
thigh 0.100, head+neck 0.081, thorax 0.216, abdomen 0.139, pelvis 0.142, trunk 0.497. COM from proximal end:
|
||
hand 0.506, forearm 0.430, upper arm 0.436, thigh 0.433, leg 0.433, foot 0.50.
|
||
- Worked example H = 1.75 m (eye ≈ 1.64 m): shoulder joints 0.227 m each side of centre, shoulder height 1.43 m,
|
||
upper arm 0.326 m, forearm 0.256 m, hand 0.189 m (grip centre ≈ wrist + 0.06 m), hip joints ±0.167 m at 0.93 m,
|
||
thigh 0.43 m, shank 0.43 m. With M = 65 kg: upper arm 1.8 kg, forearm 1.0 kg, hand 0.39 kg, thigh 6.5 kg,
|
||
shank 3.0 kg, foot 0.94 kg, head+neck 5.3 kg, thorax 14.0 kg, abdomen 9.0 kg, pelvis 9.2 kg.
|
||
- Recommendation [I]: derive everything from the calibrated eye height (H = eye / 0.936) by default; let a
|
||
T-pose/max-reach calibration override arm length (armLen = (wingspan − 2·0.129H)/2 − grip offset); model the
|
||
clavicle as its own driven segment (sternoclavicular → glenohumeral, 0.129H) with elevation/protraction limits
|
||
so reach "beyond" the arm comes from shoulder lift/protraction + chest lean, exactly Nimso's "the shoulder moves
|
||
up as you lift your arm". Arm length must come from a saved calibration, never from the current head height
|
||
(the placeholder rig derived it from head height ×0.46, clamped to ≥ 0.50 m — the owner's "arms were just short").
|
||
Full decision + sources: `vr-avatar-arm-length.md`.
|
||
|
||
## 4. Still unknown (must be designed/tuned by us)
|
||
Exact ground-control force law and gains; muscle drive gains/torque budgets per joint; the elbow "simple
|
||
calculation" from hand twist (we have our own clamped/flip-proof version); gait math; how room-scale walking into a
|
||
wall is reconciled with a ragdoll player (he only states "camera is always 1:1"; VR Messs uses the owner's
|
||
Bonelab-style push-back requirement).
|