Dog on a chain enemy?

[zknack]

So, I have a new concept for an area on my project-
More or less a 'run the gauntlet' type area where a player will have to run through a group
of enemies that are all dogs chained to pillars (so that they have a limited reach / mobility
radius).

Now I'm trying to figure out how best to animate and bring this one into the engine.

My current thoughts are as follows-

#1 Make each pillar the actual 'enemy'
          *  The attack would then be a pre-defined animation for them lunging at the
               player (or dog bones used to distract them)
          *
          *Then the pillar would be attacking as a melee attack more or less..
                      --Drawbacks: could appear 'stiff', since dog would be just a 'weapon', not sure
                           entirely how to pull it off- but have decent idea.
                   --Advantage: Should be easier.


#2 Keep dog as enemy, create linked chain segments somehow that connect to a rotation point
      in the game.
         ---Drawbacks: Would be resource intensive (physics for chain...), not sure at ****all***
              how to pull that one off
         ----- Advantage: Should be more 'natural' appearing, and easier to create a diverse amount
                                           of behaviour for the enemy.


Am I missing anything? Any tips about either approach?  Advice would be greatly appreciated :-)

[Squat]

This is a bit of a hard one to call. #1 would be more work, but would look nicer. #2 will be easier, but probably less natural looking and much more resource intensive. Especially considering it'd be prettier to animate by hand.

It's also easy to check if an AI dog gets to the max distance from the pole. The chain part might be a bit nasty, but you might get lucky with something like an FX trail. This all kind of depends on how long and realistic you plan on making the chain. The shorter, the better.

You could make the dog kind of like a projectile that just gets a mere force and you set up a basic chain off of that. Combined with the AI, it might work out. The main thing you'll have to balance is ensuring that the physics engine is either on with no extra inputs or vice versa. Don't let AI decisions fight what the physics would do easily. A nudge should do it and the chain will technically work.

Option #1 is better for online play, however.