Lucie - a zombie apocalypse survivor [ Telltale's The Walking Dead-like stylized character ]

GravityBwlast

EDIT: Project finished - Marmoset Viewer and more shots at https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3a4lJ







Original topic:

Hey everyone!

Here is a character I'm currently working on; her name is Lucie and she's your average zombie apocalypse survivor. I originally started it for the artstation challenge but I barely had free time to work on it. So I'm continuing it now as I have some. 

I recently started playing Telltale's Walking Dead game and really loved the art direction. That's what I am aiming for with this project.

So yeah it's only diffuse, here is a shot with a basic Lambert shader and another one unlit.

I am planning to do a diorama with her stepping back, aiming the gun at half a zombie creeping towards her, in a urban environment with like, a container, some bricks, planks on a door and some dirty ground ofc.

I want to make this a portfolio piece so I would love you guys to give criticism to push it further.
I'll update this post with new progress shots until it's done.

Thanks for reading, cheers!

GravityBwlast

Worked a bit more on the face, getting something I like more. I also added few little wounds and makeup messed up by tears to add some story!

0bizwan

Nice progress ! The messed up make up gives an interesting background to the character but maybe you can bring it out by adding some few more elements, like a backpack, flashlight or whatever the story you want to relate about her.
Also could be nice to accentuate a bit the dirt in the texturing, to fit more like Telltale's character's look like.
But so far, really nice work, Im looking foward to see next updates!
Cheers

GravityBwlast

Hi Obizwan, thanks for the feedback.

I modeled a backpack (was anyway planning to do one) and a flashlight, it's a good idea! Also I gave her a knife.
Just started texturing them, so it's nowhere near done (no highlights, colors will probably change, ...)

 

I'll add another dirt pass when I'm done texturing the props!

GravityBwlast

Hey, me again. I worked on the accessories texturing. I'm not sure at all for the knife tint. I took a military survival knife as ref and tested with a lots of different colors, this one was the least bad but I'm still not convinced. Highlights and dirt pass not done yet.

Crits always welcome!  

DoctorBloup

Sweet work man, I love it. You managed to capture Telltale's WD's vibe pretty neatly. The only thing I don't like on your last update is the logo on the backpack, I feel it's too detailed compared to the rest. It's been a while since I last played a TT game but I don't reckon I've seen something like this (?). Of course I could be wrong but imo it doesnt fit with the rest of the character. Anyway the backpack, flashlight and knife accessories are a great addition to the character, like Obizwan suggested, good job!
Keep up the good work, can't wait to see more of it, cheers!

Apocrs1980

The only suggestion I would make is assuring that time is evident in the model, what I mean of that is how long into the apocalypse has it been until we see her story. If it's been a while usually the clothing shows that with dirt, rips, and worn areas from what I remember with TT's concepts. Other than that I think it's fantastic and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the official stuff and this. Fantastic job!

GravityBwlast

Hey guys, thanks for the critiques, I appreciate it!

@DoctorBloup You're right about the logo, I'll try and simplify it on another update (forgot to do it this texturing session). It is a family crest (actually my sister and I's family crest - as this character is based on my sister. Story of my life KEK) so I just took and reworked the image but I should try and re do it stylized.

@Apocrs1980 Yes! I tried to work a lot on that part in this session, by bringing violet colors to the skin as well as blood splats, stains and mud on cloths, as the character is supposed to be - at least - a few days-weeks-ish in this apocalypse.
Thanks, I'm working on that! I'm trying my best, and I luckily found on the net some 3D models ripped from the game (Larry and Kenny from episode 1) so I can turn around them in Toolbag and check the mod and textures how I need.

Here is my current progress:





I will keep tweaking some things on the textures, but will start skinning soon, as well as creating some props and environment to build the diorama. But the the funniest part will be sculpting/texturing the half-of-a-zombie creeping towards her.

Looking forward to read more critique soon, thanks for viewing this topic!

DoctorBloup

It Looks so much better with all the new wear/damage on the clothes!! Good job!
Also, nice bag brand

Apocrs1980

I agree, awesome job, and great attention to the look of the blood splatters you nailed it, looks like a character that was ripped right out of one of thier games.

GravityBwlast

Thank you guys! I'm sure there's still a bit of tweaking I  can do on the texture but I'll move on to the next part for now, which is the environment and the zombie. Probably starting with the environment tonight!

GravityBwlast

Here is the small scene environment I'm working on. The zombie will be creeping towards her.
Do you have any crits on the texturing, the lighting or just the setup ? It would help.



Maybe I added too much grass, idk lol

GravityBwlast

Here is a progress shot of myself as a basesculpt before getting zombified.



I think I'm gonna have half my face missing, like destroyed jaw, broken nose/glasses. I will cut half an arm and the waist will end in a bowels mess.
New progress soon, cheers (still need critique ofc )

GravityBwlast

Hi guys! Another progress shot, started sculpting this thing. Gonna need a bit more work on the face and arms and I'll bake it down to paint! Any crits welcome!

Lucospade

Sweet selfie! I think you need to rough up the glasses and hair they look way too pristine to be sitting on a zombie. I guess you could do that with textures but it would be nice to see some sculpted messy hair.

GravityBwlast

@Lucospade Hi, thanks for passing by! You are right about the hair, I'll work on them tonight. For the glasses I was planning to make shattered glass in the texture and then just play with the lowpoly model to break the shape.
Thanks for your input.

0bizwan

Cool progress ! Everything is getting in place in the right way, can't wait to see the final result ! :awesome:

DoctorBloup

Very nice! I would have put more damage around the mouth though, and for the hair maybe clear out patches of it? A bald zombie is a healthy zombie!
You going to make him crawl on the grass?

GravityBwlast

Hi guys, thanks!

@DoctorBloup Yep he is gonna crawl like in this pic from AMC's The Walking Dead:



Here is where I'm stopping the sculpt, have enough information to just paint and have more fun!
But before I need to manually retopo this guy, gonna try to do that fast

GravityBwlast

Hey guys, low poly done and texturing almost done on the zombie!
Had no time to post progress shots lately but here it is!



Still some details and color corrections to add, also I will separate the overlapping eyes on UVs so I can flood one with blood. Glasses not textured yet, flooded black hehe.

Any crits welcome, as usual!

Cheers

GravityBwlast

Hello guys!

Here is the finished project!







You can see more shots and the Marmoset viewer on my artstation page: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3a4lJ

This was tons of fun to work on, I had a blast!
Also I saw the E3 trailer for season 3, and I'm so stoked. The fact they now use normal maps and gloss/spec/whatevercontrolsreflectivity maps makes it even more beautiful.

I hope you like the outcome of this project, but most importantly, if you have critics on what is not that good/could be improved (about the models, textures, posing or even about the presentation on social media (which is something I would also like to improve myself in)), I am eager to receive it.
Also if you have questions on how I did things on this project, I would be pleased to answer.

Thanks for the feedback and for taking a look at what I do.

Cheers!

DoctorBloup

Good job man, looks awesome!

GravityBwlast

Thanks, Bloup!

TomGT

You captured the game's style spot on! Great work.

Robert Berrier

Very cool! nice presenting.

GravityBwlast

Thank you! Glad you guys like it!

(I love your last character TomGT btw!)