BabyBoom
Rating: 7
baseq2/players/babyboom
Intro
Before we get started, I just want to address my scoring system. One star equals terrible, two is below average, three is average/good, four is very good, and five is absolutely amazing.
"This is the baby that not even a mother could love. He is a Quake2 player model that I started a long time ago. But I soon got bored with it and I wasn't happy with it. I scrapped the old version and restarted. He is now supposed to be somewhat "cartoony" with exaggeration and snappy animation."
I think he succeeded on all points rather well, but there's something just...well...WRONG about hunting down and killing a baby during a deathmatch. Now if it were that dancing baby, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it. ;) It's a fairly original idea, an infant with a gun (okay, that's not the original part) running around in a Q2 Deathmatch. I dare say it's a touch out of place, but this is one seriously evil baby. Especially with the included Devil Child and Goblin skins that the author has included for our amusement. But more on that later. Let's get on with this, shall we?
The Model
Upon first seeing this in the new models section, I really wasn't expecting much. The pics showed a disproportionate toddler (which, admittedly, is part of the character's...well...character) with a pacifier and a thoroughly pissed off look. Then I opened it up in Q2Modeler and started giving it the once-over. Then I gave it the twice-over, and noticed some very interesting things. For one, the author really made good use of the polys he used (note the extra-low count). Of course, not being an expert, I can find no real place where poly reduction could have been done. For another, the model is segmented in a very strange way. Now, I'm not a big fan of segmentation, especially on humanoid-type models, but segmentation has its advantages; ease of animation and (if done right) lower polygon counts being chief among them. Most authors segment the arms for ease of animation, while Mr. Craft left the arms, torso, neck and head as a single object. The legs and diaper are separated, and the way they were constructed makes the connection points at the diaper a bit boxy. The diaper itself is a bit boxy as a matter of fact, but not overmuch. The ears, nose, and pacifier are also separate.
The shoulders and armpits seem a bit on the thin side, but, hey, it's a baby we're talking about here. There are really no elbows to speak of, but that's not really noticeable during the animations. In addition, the head's a mite angular (is that even a word?), the hands are mittens, and the feet are also on the squarish side, especially at the toes, but the model's simplicity really contributes to the overall character. Another issue I had with the model is that it's big...too big for a baby. But that's the bounding box for ya. It has to be fair. Maybe it's a giant's child, or maybe he just suffered a hell of a growth spurt. It just looks weird for a character portrayed as a baby to be that big. The proportions really fit the character, though. Very well exaggerated. He's even got that baby paunch thing going on at the stomach, though it rides a bit high.
Now here's the kicker...the eyes and eyebrows are actually separate, flat-poly objects. This turns out really nice in the animations, but I'll get to that in a moment. What puzzled me about this is why the author chose to duplicate the polys on the back side of the eyebrows only, and not the eyes. I think it's probably because from the sides the eyes don't really show anyway, whereas the eyebrows do...to an extent.
In summary, a simple, low-poly model for a simple character which is slightly on the boxy side. Good use of polys, oddly but appropriately segmented. Decently proportioned to fit the character, but a little too big. Three stars.
Score: Six
The Animations
This is truly the best part of the model. Each animation is well executed, giving the model a real sense of life and describing the character almost perfectly. The author shows good use of secondary motion almost everywhere, the exception being the crouch-stand, where the diaper-hips and legs barely move at all, and the run, where the hips simply rotate along the center axis. This was probably done purposely to keep the character centered throughout, but it kind of lacked that extra something...which was made up for, in spades, by the facial expressions. These were really a lot of fun to watch. There are even random sucking motions with the pacifier, which gave it a very nice touch. More and more model authors are adding facial expressions to their models, which is polygonally expensive, but well worth it.
There are, of course, a few hiccups, and SFS (Sliding Foot Syndrome) issues in one of the animations, but I won't punish too severely for these little flaws. Especially since the model was done in Q2Modeler, which I'm using myself, so I know just what kind of a bitch he was dealing with. The software has it's limitations, especially when it comes to animation, but the author did a great job, considering what he had to work with.
Let's go through them one at a time, shall we? The stand was very nice, yet having a small hiccup, with the facial expressions really coming through, but in one motion, he pulls up his diaper, which is nothing more than the diaper growing a little then shrinking. I could have done without it. The run is good, facial expressions again. The attack was good, nothing special. All the pains were good, check out the face on these. In the jump the left foot stretches kind of badly, but it gives a motion-blur effect which turns out nice. The first taunt had me laughing, you have to see it. The salute, point and wave are pretty standard, again, watch the face, especially in the wave. The taunt is the old butt-wave, which works well on this baby ("Hey, smell my diaper...do I need changing?") The crouch animations are as full of character as the standing anims (except for crouch-attack, which has the SFS I mentioned). The deaths kind of bother me...there's just something disturbing about watching a baby, even as mean as this one, dying...but are fairly well done.
Overall, very nice. The facial expressions really make this model.
Four stars.
Score: Eight
The Skin
The skins are what kept this model from getting four stars. These four skins (hehe...fourskins...I guess he's circumcised) are in addition to the two seen at the top.. Being such a simple subject, the author took the simple route with the skins. They're pretty decently shaded, but the flesh-toned skins show up pretty bright in game under my STB Velocity. Due to the layout and super-low 2% wasted space, skinning shouldn't be too much of a problem, but the base skin is a little difficult to interpret at first glance. I also have to dock for the GL-Hating skin dimensions. Also, the eyes probably should have gotten a bit of color, and the brows a little shading. The only reason I can see for this not happening is that the stark black is pretty striking and really calls attention to these areas during the animation, to good effect. Your eyes will naturally focus on them due to the sharp contrast, but I don't see color really detracting all that much from them.
What really bothers me about them, though, is the same thing that bothers me about a lot of other model skins. You can really see the seams. It's probably hard to avoid, but it still bothers me.
There are standard red and blue CTF skins, and the Goblin and Rosemary's Baby skins will make this little bugger easier to kill, but it's still hard to think of it as anything but a child.
All in all, the skins stay pretty true to the character, but don't use the flesh toned skins if you're a camper.
Two and a half stars here.
Score: Five
Sounds
Nope, no sounds. It's kind of strange to hear a baby making the standard male sounds, though.
Visible Weapons Support
The weapon.md2 is the standard id blaster, but other than that there is no VWEP support. It could be added if they were scaled down a bit, though.
Pack Inclusion
Despite its flaws, it's full of character and meets pack requirements. I don't see any reason why not, and it's definitely one I'm keeping on my hard drive. Put that little guy in there!
"Honey, I fragged the kids!"
"Daddy!! He shot me!!" "He shot me first!!"
"It's baby's bath time!"
"Now you kids play nice!"
Always keep your rocket launcher
locked in a cabinet and out of baby's reach.
"Bad baby! It's not nice to shoot daddy."
review by ShadoKat
author name Andy "BoogieMan" Craft
tris.md2
Vertices 244
Mapping Vertices 259
Polygons 426
Skin size 300x200
Skin Wasted Space 2%
weapon.md2
Vertices 101
Mapping Vertices 172
Polygons 166
Skin size 300x200
Skin Wasted Space 56%
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