Intro
What you see is the second of three Eva Unit models released by rogue13 and Thump. They say it's the last and final one, but they were all released at the same time, so I'm going numerically... so there!!
Now for the obligatory readme file snippet:
Super-Deformed version of the Evangelion Unit00 from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The model, like all Evas, is to be considered female in gender (Sexy, too!) Well, I don't know about "sexy," but it sure is fun to look at! As for female, the *ahem* prominent codpiece tells a different story. Tell you the truth, I've never seen the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. I hear it's coming to DVD pretty soon, though, so I'm looking forward to that. I, lazy bastard that I am, got all my Neon Gen info from the Unit 00 review. Thump and r13 have taken their own special skewed view of these mechs and stylized them in a manner that they call "super-deformed." Now, I don't know if it's a particular art style or if it has something to do with anime, but I'm sure Picasso would love it. I hate Picasso. I probably would have hated this model, too, if I'd seen Neon Gen first. As it stands, though, I think it's adorable! I quite like it. The Model
First of all the head looks like a battered Morion helmet with a spike in the front. And just what the hell is that thing sticking out from under it? In fact, there are strange little protrusions sticking out all over this model! As strange as I think it is, it actually works here. It's just cute all over.
The mesh is constructed of fourteen separate pieces - well, fifteen if you count that one single solitary poly that's PROBABLY supposed to be part of the model's right foot! Looks like someone forgot to weld some verts. I'm not really sure how this could have happened, except maybe an accidental detach. It's not really a big deal, though. That poly stays where it's supposed to be the entire time. Other than that there are a few polys that could have been lost in the legs and neck where the separate parts of the mesh connect.
Most of this has sounded pretty negative so far, but the truth is, I like this model a lot. The mesh is nicely optimized and the geometry in general seems very well thought out. The overall shape of the model is gorgeous, and even without anything to compare it against it comes off as small and cute. It's a very good mesh.
As far as the scoring goes, Unit 01 is well worth a nine, but I'll have to dock one for that floating poly. The Animations
Very mixed bag here. The stand has a bit of jerkiness, which at one point comes off as some kind of convulsion. The impatient tapping of the foot was a nice touch. No detectable sliding feet, but the attacks looked kind of simple, with the model keyframed into one position, then returning to normal over the remaining frames. In a few anims it seems like parts of the model should be following an arc, but go awry for one or two frames. I don't blame the animator for this, though. There's no getting around the fact that motion will look different in the animation package than in game.
The taunts were imaginative and brought a smile to my face more than once. And when it comes to taunts, only an outright laugh is better. The flip anim doesn't loop properly, though, with the last frame being the default pose. The pains are kind of spasmodic, but then again, they're kind of supposed to be. The deaths are well executed (no pun intended) except for death 3. The model jumps up into the air and ends up with it's lower sticking out of the ground. This may not cause problems, but it looks kind of weird. In deathmatch, I thought it was still alive until I saw that it wasn't moving. The run and crouch walk are both full of life and character and, aside from the attacks, every sequence is perfectly exaggerated.
At the time these models came out, I was highly impressed with the animations. They pale slightly in comparison to many of the newer models, but they were excellent for their time and are still fine examples of good animation practices. Not innovative, but high quality nonetheless.
Unit 01 comes with one skin, which is pretty well done, with shading in all the right places, but for some reason it still appears kind of flat. The greens are a bit too bright (for which I blame the evil that is the Q2 palette), and that yellow neck with the black stripe things going on looks just plain odd. This whole model has an oddness to it, though, which makes it okay. Most of the black lines in general had a bit too much contrast between the black and whatever color bordered it, but still a very nice skin. "Cartoony," I think is the word I'm going for here. It's based on a cartoon, though, so no big deal.
The mapping is well done with 24% wasted space. Not too bad, but a good deal of it could have been recovered if the 21 pixel wide copyright notice were left in the readme. The arms also could have been mirror mapped, as they're identical. Probably also could have used only four fingers instead of five, but that's just an opinion. Then again, so is this whole review! ;)
I was going to give the skins a six, but they are further above average than that. Let's make it seven. Sounds
I'm no expert, but they sound like sped-up default male sounds. They definitely work, though! I never thought that guy could be cute in any way. I guess all he needs is a little editing. Visible Weapons Support Nope, sorry. Not here. Pack Inclusion What?!?! You mean you don't have these babies already?!?! What the hell's the matter with you? These are fantastically adorable wonderful models that make a great addition to any Q2 Players folder. If you don't have them, get them now, foo!!
review by ShadoKat
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