A while back I made a post discussing rigged animal models with accessories that can be added and removed via turning them transparent and then deleting them when the player clicks “play” or another button to confirm they are done.
Found here: Reducing Animated Model Lag - "Deleting" Transparent Objects?
Although this is useful for my project, it does not help me understand what to do in the case of exchanging body parts / removing parts that are the core part of the rig.
For example, this is my model:
Let’s say I wanted to let the player add an accessory, such as a floral crown, a collar, a sweater, a bow, etc. This accessory would be active on the model, but transparent, until the character selected the option. If they don’t select the option, it merely doesn’t load in when they play the game.
However, I don’t understand how this can be applied in the opposite direction. Let’s say the player wants to remove the normal ears and apply floppy ears, torn ears, etc.
This is possible because I have seen it in Warrior Cats: Ultimate Edition, but I am unable to contact any developers on how it is done. I do not know how this is possible without damaging the existing rig, and I do not know how animations on said rig can apply to the model the same way.
I feel like the solution is easy and staring me in the face, considering games like WC:UE: have replaceable parts like it’s no problem (tails, ears, heads, etc.) and their rigs/animations don’t change in the slightest to accommodate for these parts.
Any help is appreciated, I can elaborate on my issue if needed.