FPS-to-Third-Person Animations and Models

Hello all,

I'm very new to Unity (3 weeks in) and I have very little game development experience. So if this has already been answered in detail, please point me in the right direction because I was unable to find the right information. Note: this is in the context of a multiplayer FPS

My main question is this -- what is an appropriate way to build a FPS system with the following criteria.

Criteria:

1. FPS body animations (you can look down and see your own arms/torso/feet)

2. Third-person body animations (what other players see)

3. Shadows from FPS model cast onto weapons, but not third-person model's shadows

4. Third-person model's shadows cast onto environment (for other players to see)

While some aspects of this may seem trivial with the use of layers, I am unable to understand the right technique to accomplish this. Here are some of my constraints and the problems I can't seem to wrap my head around as I am designing my approach:

Constraints:

1. I already have assets and I'm not really good at creating content (anymore; did some 10 years ago)

2. I have first-person arms only (with animations)

3. I have full body third-person animations

4. I have different first-person and third-person weapon models (essentially just different LoDs)

Problems (trying to design before implementation):

1. How can I have shadows cast in the way I describe above in criteria (3) and (4)? My guess is to use a script to change the 'cast shadow' flag on the mesh renderers based on whether it the local player or a remote player (uNet: isLocalPlayer). Is this the right way to go?

2. How should I construct the first-person body model given my constraints (I only have fp arms)? I have the ability to modify the 3D assets (minimally), so I imagine I should somehow take my third-person model and retrofit it to work in first-person, too. But it's unclear what this retrofitting process looks like to me. Should I somehow separate the head and arms from the torso/legs and then just hide the head and arms in my first-person view?

3. Should my weapons follow the same pattern since I have FP and TP weapon models?

Any guidance would be much appreciated.

• B McFrizzle