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Polycount - Generals - [Valandar]

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polycounter lvl 18
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Valandar polycounter lvl 18
Tossin' MY hat into this ring. laugh.gif

And I'll start it off with this concept sketch:

http://valandar3d.fools3d.com/quakestuff/basepicFirst.jpg

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  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    By the way, started modelling... got the head done (without the "gear"). Is 632 Tris for the head and neck too many at this scale? Not used to making things at 5k tris, usually stick to 2000 or so, or 25k+ for rendering.

    Oh, and the head model:

    Headrender.jpg
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    The geometry is coming right along... Sitting at 3280 tris without the planned additions...

    inquisitorWIP01.jpg

    He will have a pair of "Inquisitorial" cyber arms coming from his back, and arcing over each shoulder like evil scorpion tails. laugh.gif
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Okay, I got the majority of everything done, and still got well over 1000 tris to play with for the pistol and gunbelt:

    inquisitorWIP03.jpg
  • Neo_God
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    Neo_God polycounter lvl 18
    with a 5000 poly budget , I would add some wrinkles in jacket and such, unless this guy loves his starch. Though I would like to see a picture of his mechanical limbs.
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    I'll be adding some in the sleeves and mantle, but the chest will be a breastplate. Meanwhile, gotta figure out how to 'pump' this guy to look more like a general and not, as has been suggested, a line soldier...
  • Wells
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    Wells polycounter lvl 18
    Bigger boots, smaller head, bigger hands would make him look more impressive and General-like.

    Exaggerated proportions to make him seem larger than life.

    fast work, keep it up!
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Hands and feet are bigger, and more added - up to 4062 tris.

    inquisitorWIP04.jpg

    Should I keep the WH40K style "purity seal" on his belt or not?
  • Joao Sapiro
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    Joao Sapiro sublime tool
    theres something in the hands and the face that are bothering me...they seem that u rushed on them ... take ur time to make things perfect u have time wink.gif

    go for it soldier !!!
  • rooster
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    rooster mod
    great progress man! not wasting any time are you :] One thing that springs to mind is while he looks like someone high up in military, there could be a few of those guys and itd still look right. I think you should add something (more than the seal) that singles him out as the head honcho
  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    Yeah, this is a very fast start, commendable! However I have to agree with what the guys have been saying - it looks more like a spruced-up infantryman than a high-up general. I think a lot of what's contributing to this is his helmet - it looks like a standard-issue army helmet, generals always have fancier hats than that, and I think that's one thing that would really set him apart.
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Ahah, thanks! I'll get to work on changing the helmet for a hat... no to mention 'tweaking' the hands (never WAS much good with hands...)

    EDIT:

    So how's this?

    inquisitorWIP05.jpg
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Okay, tweaked his feet a bit, and modelled his nice and nasty Powersword.

    Current polycount: 4500 tris exactly. Leaves me a bit o' room to add in some details, like wrinkles and such, to be exxaggerated by the normal map.

    inquisitorWIP06.jpg
  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    I don't know if you saw the paintover link I posted in IRC, so I'll put it up here:

    valandar-general.jpg
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Cool.
    I don't think I'll be able to squeeze the lower arms in with the poly limits AND add in the cables and other details, but I'll see what I can do.
  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    alpha-mapped planes can go a long way smile.gif
    by all means ignore those extra arms, i was just going mad scribbling. you could do a lot of stuff that would add more interest, i think smile.gif
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Okay, up to 4642 tris. The two translucent purple polies will be exactly what MoP suggested - alpha mapped planes for a couple tubes and cables. With a litle over 350 tries left in the budget, time to start adding wrinkles and stuff and pushing vertexes to improve a few shapes here and there.

    inquisitorWIP07.jpg
  • Wells
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    Wells polycounter lvl 18
    Yes! Thats more like it.
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    One last change, and I think I'm done. I detailed the robot arms quite a bit more, and then changed the "head" of the right one from the drill and saw set, to a nasty vise thingy. I also added space for more cables on TOP of the arms. I also removed the flappy cloth thing on the back of his hat, ir really didn't fit the new look. BTW, the polygons that will be used for the tubes and stuff have been made almost totally transparent in this picture. I also tinted the arms slightly different shades to make them easier to differentiate.

    inquisitorWIP08.jpg

    Final tally? ... well... 4978 tris.

    Now it's time for me to map this puppy, then get to work with the normal mapping and other skinning chores. laugh.gif
  • Wells
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    Wells polycounter lvl 18
    give us a look-see at the wires?
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Okay, here they are:

    inquisitorwires.jpg


    inquisitorwires2.jpg
  • Spacey
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    Spacey polycounter lvl 18
    Yeesh, you're just rocketing through this comp! Here are a couple sloppy paintovers to show where you could save on poly's. The green bits are edges I would remove. Especially on the mechanical bits, you can use intersecting geometry without many problems.

    The face's meshflow could use some work. The edges should flow around the deforming areas (eyes, mouth) in a circular fashion. This will make it loads easier and prettier to animate. There are lots of examples of head geometry on here that you can save and study. It looks like you extruded up from the head geometry to create the helmet. To save on poly's you can detach the hat from the head and just have it sitting on top of the head. This will let you remove some of those edges that were only there because they had to conform to the head geometry. Another note on the hat, depending on how important you feel the hat is, you can delete those faces that are facing toward the camera on the bill (the thickness of the bill). Lastly, you could easily remove an edge loop from the medallion thing on his chest (how I have it drawn, dont remove all those edges). It won't take much (if anything) away from the silhouette and a decent texture job can get the round effect you're looking for.
    Valandar01.jpg

    Here are some areas where you can remove edges from the mechanical bits. Example being the teeth on his Awesome-Death-Grip-of-Death-Claw. You can detach all the teeth then remove the unnecessary edges. Also the bottom poly of the teeth can be deleted because it will never be seen (seeing how its always going to be buried into the "jaw" of the claw). There are other examples on him, but hopefully you see the point.
    Valandar02.jpg

    Hope that wasn't too confusing. Now take those saved poly’s and make him totally badass. Overall I think you could push the concept more toward the year 3000 era, but this is an improvement over the original. At the pace you're going you'll have time for another! Keep at it mate.
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    I've taken your advice on the hat and the mechanical arms, and also tweaked some of the facial polygons. Got another 150 to play with out of that, so I added in another edge loop on the arms, closer to the shoulders, for a bit better shoulder deformation. Thanks, Spacey!

    Oh, and I hadn't originally planned on rigging the head for animation, so I concentrated more on just overall shape when I made it, and got a little sloppy, heheh. Must remember to never get sloppy. laugh.gif
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Just started work on skinning, got a lot left to do. Because my system is having problems displaying normal maps for some reason, I'm probably going to end up just making "ordinary" bump maps for him.

    Most of the work I've done so far is on the face, as if that wasn't obvious:

    inqfacetest.jpg
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Okay, and started on the body... This is with no lights and the skins also set as self-illum. No spec or bump yet.

    DEFINITELY gotta work on the wrinkles on the mantle, and maybe exxagerate the wrinkles in the coat... definitely lose the "cloth" texture, maybe give it tight spec mapping and a "leather" look. Also, better darken the slate blue quite a bit...

    inqbodytest.jpg
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    To be honest, here's where things fall apart for me. If someone is willing to go in with me and partner up, they can have an SDK to skin this puppy, complete with the partially done skins if they want 'em. laugh.gif
  • Vailias
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    Vailias polycounter lvl 18
    hmm. Interesting offer. If you are sure you don't want to skin him I'll do it.
    Could I put him in a black leather uniform rather than blue? I can certainly skin him up over the next week.

    almost forgot: Email it to Vailias@gmail.com if you wish to send it to me.
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Certainly, black is always good. By the way, the scroll on his chest says "Scientia Sceptrum", or "Knowledge Rules". laugh.gif

    I'll zip up the mesh in obj format, with wireframes at twice the size they're intended to be - he has three 512 maps and a 256 map... I don't know about anyone else, but I tend to work on a skin at two to four times the "final" resolution, then shrink it down.

    Vailias, PM me an email addy to send the zip to.

    EDIT: Okay, cool, got the addy.
  • Vailias
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    Vailias polycounter lvl 18
    Recieved. Will start on it after I get home from work. smile.gif

    Personally I work at the final res I will be using for the model. One part of this is just how I work, plus I know that the viewport renders will match the final product, and one part is Poop's vehemence on the issue. wink.gif
  • Vailias
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    Vailias polycounter lvl 18
    Valander: looks nice.
    I'm going to re work the UV's in a few spots, and change it to a single 1024. Might as well use the space we are given to make the model really pop.
    Also there are a few more places around the model that could be optimized to save quite a few polies.
    Fred/R13 (or any of the other persons who actually wrote all this out) if I (as a team partner) modify, and or add to, the iniitial geometry does that violate the teaming rules, or do we simply state in the end submition something like:
    "
    Valander: Concept and Modeling
    Vailias: Optimizations, Textures. Riging
    "?
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Oh, you're going to rig it, too? Okay, fine by me as long as I get a copy back. laugh.gif I was picturing him standing in some sort of lab or command deck, one torture arm curling forward somewhat and the other rearing back like a cobra, with his left hand holding on to his scabbard and his right resting on the pommel of his blade, whose tip would be touching (and possibly slightly melting) the deck. But if you plan on rigging him, too, then go ahead and pose him however you want to.

    Meanwhile, I've been toying with a second concept as well, since I can find nothing in any of the rules preventing a second entry for an individual. Some of y'all saw the concept in Chat earlier:

    concept2.jpg

    This is how far I've gotten him:

    concept201.jpg

    I am going to revise the head a bit, and a human face will be somewhat visible through the faceplate, and he'll have mostly further electronic warfare gear. He may also possibly have some sort of chainsaw blade for personal defense on one forearm or the other.
  • naruSol
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    naruSol polycounter lvl 18
    The egg shape of his upper body makes me want to see a 'pilot' hooked up matrix-like to the machine and curled in a fetal position. Maybe being used as a battery aswell as CPU for the mech. (a human is cheeper to produce than a computer of comparable power and capacity). I just cant see a pilot fitting in there any other way considering the design of the suit.

    Lookin good so far. Keep it up!
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Who says the pilot is human? laugh.gif
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Okay, finally figured out what I'm going to do with this one. One of the huge forearms will have a console with fancy buttons and lights and gizmos, while the head will be VERY insectoid, coming out of the darker grey Collar area...

    concept202.jpg

    Besides, the idea of a human as the "cpu" for a mech is great for an evil line trooper, but not for a mecha.
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Ahah, not a bug head, a SLUG head! The body is just an exoskeleton to give him greater mobility and manipulative limbs!

    concept203.jpg
  • Slash
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    Slash polycounter lvl 19
    Hehe, i love the slug idea. Very surprising! laugh.gif
  • LoTekK
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    LoTekK polycounter lvl 17
    Nice! The slug's a great touch. laugh.gif
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Okay, made the EW suite larger, and made the hands. I'm at a little over 4100 tris right now.

    concept204.jpg

    Now my big problem is... what to do for a weapon?

    EDIT: Okay, got a weapon idea... a six-shot missile launcher of unique design. laugh.gif Rendering as we speak... adding a "control module headpiece" to the slug's head and...

    concept205.jpg
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Due to some suggestions, changed the weapon to vaguely resemble a bow-like weapon:

    concept206.jpg

    Currently 4782 tris...
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Started work on the skin. Here it's about 25% done - got major color regions blocked out (except the head and weapon), and started adding in some scuffs and such. The dark slate areas will have a "shiny" shader on them to make them more metallic...

    concept207.jpg
  • poopinmymouth
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    poopinmymouth polycounter lvl 19
    lol, slughead. I think that's probably the most interesting part of the concept. What would happen if this was a suit the slug had slowly taken over? You could have sluggy bits oozing out of several of the joints, and even a giant slug melee hand. Lots of potential with specular and normal maps.

    poop.gif
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Okay, did a little more work today... worked on the specular map, among other things, and began work on shading the slug head.

    concept208.jpg

    Still need to detail the armor and weapon (panel lines and vents and such, as well as the Polycount markings), add some grunge around the feet and lower legs, and make the bump from the final result.

    Any C&C?
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Added some more bump (panel lines, vents on the sides of the weapon) and included them in the diffuse... muddied up the feet some, and added a variant of the Polycount Toothed Smile to the paint on he chest, plus touched up the head. From here on out, it's pretty much detail work...

    concept209.jpg
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    After some advice, I completely re-did the base "paint scheme" of the armor. It's primarily inspired by a Nautilus shell, but I kept the green breastplate, "lower shoulders", and feet for Polycount Alleigiance reasons. I also added a little noise to the "mud" layer on the feet and lower legs.

    concept210.jpg
  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    Yeah, that should be fine for the submission, I think. It's not violating any rules as long as you state who did what.
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Okay, after many suggestions and much thought, I've scrapped the textures above and started on something closer to "near-real" than "real". The pose of the torso and head have also been slightly adjusted, and the feet made just a bit wider. As it stands, I've only got the torso even started, beyond a very, VERY basic lighting...

    concept211.jpg
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Hrms... the new skin must be quite underwhelming so far...

    Basically, if it's a neutral grey, I either haven't done anything to it, or haven't done very much at all - the green and the slate blue-grey are the areas I've begun work on...

    concept212.jpg
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    And yet another step.

    The weapon in the previous pics still "wore" the skin from the original version. I've just started skinning it, now...

    concept213.jpg
  • Wells
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    Wells polycounter lvl 18
    Didn't your momma tell you never to render on pure black?

    new texture is looking cool.
  • Hedhunta
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    Hedhunta polycounter lvl 18
    i really liked the desert-tiger striped scheme.. maybe do a version of that over your new details?
  • Valandar
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    Valandar polycounter lvl 18
    Okay, here's the current state without the stripe, and current state with the stripes (I've done the spec map and am working on the bump map)

    concept2nostripe.jpg

    concept2stripe.jpg

    Which is better - with or without?
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