Intro

  "2076 A.D. Everything that you believe to be true is a contradiction. Imagine a world that is suffering a slow decay, and a culture on the edge extinction. A world of chaos brought to obedient order by the machines man created. In this time, man has become a docile creature herded to submission under the mechanical laws that apply, programmed and desensitized for their convenience." ...   "Now that SMASHER/DEVOURER is on the scene, we will hopefully see an end to the violence, and our city will sleep in safe comfort tonight."  * Authors read-me

Taken from the inlay of the Fear Factory album: Obsolete,  has the track SMASHER/DEVOURER which  inspired this model. The names of the two deathmatch skins, Replica and Scumgrief, are named after tracks on their Demanufacture and Soul of a New Machine albums. I recommend checking them out, as their music is perfect for deathmatches, and the lyrics are a bit smarter than what you get normally with this sort of music

Smasher/Devourer is Burnt Kona's second model (Wraith was his original) and the first to be in a biped form. (having 2 legs) As you'll see below, it is a nice improvement in his skills as a modeler, animator and skin mapper since his last creation.

The Model

Hmm, here we go again.. yet another mechanical, robotic, non human box of bolts to frag away with in the world of Quake2.. In a way these damn things are actually starting to grow on me, but that's probably because the few I've looked at, in the past, were of above average design, thus Smasher/Devourer can happily take a seat on my HD with the others. The model has a solid,  original design, and easily portrays its apparent heavily armored, bulky construction. The mesh is segmented (as most mech-styled models are) into 37 pieces. This number could have been lower (not that it makes a difference) by combining some of the pieces (like the leg parts) into one segment. Optimization was not a main task here, since there were some areas that were in apparent need of some.  The left shoulder-piece could have been tweaked quite a bit and, as it is, there are some polygons that are almost hidden due to vertices being shifted during the mesh creation. Vertice count was a bit higher than it should have been because a few of the segments were each made up of a group single faces that were not welded at the adjoining vertices (that same shoulder-piece). An example of this, is a square shape being made up of 6 vertices and 2 polygons, instead of 4 vertices with 2 polygons. This isn't a big problem normally, but it could cause serious "jiggle" or floating of the polygons, and/or cause bad deformations of the mesh when animating, but luckily this is not the case with Smasher/D. The total face-count is 681 (about the average for a mech like this) This should have also been lower since there are quite a few faces that are hidden from view (due to the way the segments are "joined" to make the model). Though, it was good that those "hidden" faces were still mapped (which some authors wouldn't have done out of laziness) on the skin just so they reflect the basic model color when the model moves and some of these "hidden"areas may be observable. The models bounding box is close in size to the male when standing, but during the crouch, you may find a few well placed shots pass through Smashers head or shoulders and/or have some clipping when crawling through areas with low head-room. Smasher also has a nice variety of custom vweps (as you can see from the skin and screenshots) except for the rocket and grenade launchers which are of the standard id-style.  The one thing I would have thought is a slight flaw, is the placement of the weapon in the left hand (sorry to all of you "lefties" out there.)  In gameplay (during a DM) shots and particle streams from the models are projected from the models right side. (actually a bit off center, than the actual right side)  So in custom models, occasionally, the weapon shots may not appear to emit from the weapon models themselves but instead from midair. This is usually apparent in many models that have weapon placed in the left hands or use various sized custom vwep or have stances that are taller or shorter than the male and female models, but in Smasher's case, this is not so apparent since its torso is turned (bladed) sideways so the weapon is held more at the model's center then to its'  left side. (I guess Burnt Kona really thought this one out ahead of time.) Basically a nice solid job designing the mesh. The subject matter is relatively original and a somewhat refreshing change. Custom Vweps are a plus but the model is not without some problems that could have been tweaked. A few recovered polygons here and there could have been implemented towards making the right arm more of a square shape rather than the triangular one it is..

Score:    Seven 1/2

The Animations

Not a bad job for this modelers second creation. (Actually it is the first one with legs)  I truly thought that Burnt Kona was going to get more into mapping and skinning models but I sure hope he continues with this aspect of PPM creation, because it seems like he has gotten a good start. Although he does need some "scrubbing-up" on his techniques, he has already improved his skills tenfold from his Wraith model. Hmm. .. where to start..  ok, first off, Smasher does seem to suffer from "quicksand syndrome" (that is, the model sinks below the ground during animation sequences)  This doesn't take away from the model to such an extent, and for would be animators, the easy fix is to keep your model just a hair above the ground level.  Clipping seems noticeable throughout most of the cycles. Most noticeable , are the small thighs totally disappearing into the lower legs during run and crouch animations. (Something that BK was aware of)  Due to segmentation, certain body parts either become "disconnected" during movement, or just collide and pass through other parts. During the "flip" cycle, the torso and the waist disconnect at the "spine". A closer inspection, of the model, also reveals that the waist and body itself sort of rests on top of the legs and also aren't really "attached", per-say. The torso's pivot point (when twisting at the waist), should have been moved towards the back of the model, closer to the spine's location. Instead it's in the middle and causes serious clipping with the "spine mechanism" when the model twists its torso. This is fixed in most of the other cycles, but is most prominent in the "run".  During the stand sequence, the model is standing sideways, bladed to the right, so when starting to run, from a standing position, there is a sudden jump to the next animation sequence.  This happens again when stopping and firing. The keyframes should sort of flow together from one animation to the next, so there are not any shifts to alternating cycles.  This shifting is made less noticeable with Quake2 interpolation but still, Smasher's animation transitions are not as smooth as they should be. Before you think bad of this model, let me say that the animation cycles, individually, are extremely smooth and very "lifelike".  Movement is exaggerated, which better illustrates certain personality and impact, as opposed to a model with minimal movement.  The run cycle itself is carried out extremely well, the torsos sway and extreme swing of the arms illustrates weight and a bit of a struggle for this bulky machine to attain speed. Good job of constructing the model and converting it to .md2 format Since there was no severe jiggle we can assume the vertex coordinates were somewhat preserved. One thing many reviews fail to comment on is weapon alignment and/or animations, and in Smasher's case, the weapon models (default and vwep) are firmly secured onto the models arm.  Movement was almost perfect but, like most vweps, they do clip a bit during certain cycles. There was also some nice attention paid to secondary motions (this is usually a neglected area of animation) with head and arm movements following just behind the body motions. This is one of the best ways to emulate the physics the body exercises when moving.
     I guess it seems like I ripped this model apart in this area, but on the contrary, I guess I have just started to scrutinize different aspects of PPMs more than I have in the past. I guess you can always find faults in even the most perfect of models, and almost all of these do not effect game-play one bit.  They are more an observation for the benefit of others, to sharpen their skills, learn new techniques and to avoid the common problems one encounters when creating a model for in-game use.  In whole, Smasher/D is a very solid creation, which definitely could have been refined a bit here and there but for the most part has flaws which are negligible. As a whole, the author has created a model with much improved animations over the previous model, and I am sure, his next PPM will be even better. Fluid movements and good illustration of body mechanics/physics helps to overlook some of the noted flaws, and gives Smasher-D a "well above average" score.

Score:   Eight

The Skin(s)

Smasher/Devourer comes packed with 5 skins (CTF Red and Blue, and 3 other varieties.)  The model mesh is laid out on a  256x256 skin (so they are Open GL friendly) and have an insanely, impossible 0% wasted space. (If you are wondering how this is possible, its a matter of mapping the entire skin, as a whole, onto 2 faces which are usually hidden somewhere on the model. In S/D's case, its behind the little mechanical box on the left chestplate.) There is really no reason to do this other than to "artificially" lower the skin waste percentage (Before you think bad of Burnt Kona, let me say he is not the first, or last, to do this, hehheh.)  Without using this little trick, Burnt Kona still manages to get a very low 14% skin wastage, which is well below the average of most other models.  <Good work, man>  By looking at some of the pics on this review page, you can see there is some very nice detailing on the skins themselves. BK did all the mapping and skinning himself (as he does so for many other authors too)  Except for the thighs (which are a little messy) mapping was very efficient and is laid out neatly which makes it  "skinner friendly", so you can make your own variations and not be so confused as to where the parts are laid out.  There are some apparent "seams" on the skin, especially on the right side of the torso. Some of these aren't really mapping seams but the way the Quake2 lighting engine illuminates the non-planar surfaces. (not flat)  So what appears to be bad seams is actually a lighting byproduct of the Q2 engine. Although if you look on the front chestplate you can see a nasty seam created by placing a vertex from a polygon, next to the edge of another (buts that's more of a mode design flaw)  Thus during animations the vertex moves and the seam is very noticeable, since the "inside" surfaces aren't skinned. (This happens in a few places on Smasher)  The Q2 color palette was utilized nicely and color #255 was placed on a few of the .pcx files so the colors are dithered well for that Open Gl.  Some effective use of coloring shades the skin nicely, giving Smasher/D more depth and a look of reality. (Nothing is worse than a nice model with a flat colored skin, UGH!).  However, the "Smasher" skin (which has a brown/green/tan color-scheme) looks very light and extremely washed out in Open Gl. mode (Hmm back to color #255). The only parts of the model that are not too light is the lower leg skins. The Red and Blue CTF skins are re-colored versions of each other, with some changes in decals and markings, thus giving each a fresh look.The vwep skins were all the usual 128x128 size, and most were also rather efficient with the mapping space. I don't think the big hydraulic hose on the rear of the model was mapped out large enough, though. With all the nice detailing on the rest of the model, that hose had almost none and instead the skin is sort of stretched onto the larger mesh. Hmm, otherwise a great overall skinning job (mapping too) but some noticeable seams, one slightly Gl unfriendly skin, and that artificial 0% wastage, hehheh. I think a few deductions will be justified.

Score:   Seven 1/2

Death Match Screenshots

Sounds

Visible Weapons Support (Vwep)

Pack Inclusion

review by Hunter