The idea that knowledge equates to power has been around for millennia. The Warlocks lore is based upon this tireless pursuit of arcane books, and in that search he has explored every manner of sacred crypt, catacomb, castle and dungeon. As Head of Acquisitions, Demnok has the greatest level of access and authority over newfound artifacts, and has rewarded himself with not only knowledge, but some of the finer relics as well.
I broke down the source files to determine which pieces are combined. Right now Im to focus on the Hood, Shoulders and Robe as the three primary items; they seem like the most visually interesting parts of the model and affect the silhouette. We may add additional pieces of time permits. Ive been working on an off-hand and main-hand weapon that are still in the modeling phase, and Im not sure if these can be added to the set or not, based on the Q&A feedback regarding existing concepts.
The solid-purple parts are part of the base model and not a swappable item. I don't know if I'll be able to change these colors if my color scheme changes. If anyone knows for sure, please let me know.
I found a helpful web application that's great for creating color schemes. Check out Color Scheme Designer 3.
Im working with my concept artist partner H13r0gn0s1s for the details, and so while we iron that out I did some various paintovers on his current armor to get an idea for the color scheme we want to use. This will need to be refined when we pick our final design, but it does help me visualize and plan for textures in the mean time.
Thanks, Qwiggalo. Based on the requirements and Q&A I assumed colors could change slightly, as long as the silhouette value remained intact and the character was still unique. Those crazier bright orange/yellow schemes are definitely out, though I think a black/purple version like the right-most paintover is still easily recognizable as Warlock.
Be sure to avoid grays used on the dire side. You can change the colors, but not drastically.
The texture PDF is a nice read. Important things to take note of is the top of your hero should be the brightest, most stand out part and by the time you get to the feet it's almost void of color.
I'll stick with the default color scheme for the time being and tweak it slightly later on if deemed that it's allowed.
We're playing with the idea of making the shoulders look like parchment scrolls. Also adding trinkets, jewelery and fancy trim that would go with robes that were imbued with magic or belonged to an affluent owner.
I think the belt and some of the shoulder details are too small and will come off as noise so we'll have to make the shapes larger and lower their frequency to read well. Also need to make sure areas of contrast are higher around the chest/head than anywhere else.
Getting closer to a design that we like. Got rid of a lot of extra trinkets and some of the runes as it was getting too noisy. They may come back, depending on what it looks like once we get colors and proportions determined.
The shape of the hood is a bit dull, so we'll have to beef that up a bit.
Really nice, though I'm afraid a lot of the high frequency detail such as the little runes will get lost in-game. Also, he looks like he's really sad for some reason
Really nice, though I'm afraid a lot of the high frequency detail such as the little runes will get lost in-game. Also, he looks like he's really sad for some reason
Ya, we've cut down the amount of high frequency patterns from the original sketch and may have to do it for more. I'll test simple textures and see what all shows up. Thanks for the heads up.
Here's the proxy model. Originally the scrolls were realistically proportioned for thickness and it just looked incredibly awkward so I thickened a lot. The scroll shoulders are the oddest part of the set and so I keep changing stuff to see what looks best.
Here are some variations on the color designs and placement. The gradients do look more interesting than the flat shading we had before, and there's more contrast around the chest/head to help lead the eye.
I'm not not happy with the way the proxy's scroll shoulders are looking right now and am trying to figure out a better way to give off the idea of scrolls/books through his shoulders but not have it looking as wonky as it does right now. I did a few rough versions with books on his shoulders and I'll post those tonight.
I'm always looking for feedback so please post any critiques you guys have.
These are some neat concepts but I feel like most the details are going to get lost at the size you have them. Keep in mind how large the heroes are when you play. Even the original warlock has very large sweeping shapes in his forms.
These are some neat concepts but I feel like most the details are going to get lost at the size you have them. Keep in mind how large the heroes are when you play. Even the original warlock has very large sweeping shapes in his forms.
Totally agree, praetus. These designs have a ton more detail than the earlier ones and a lot of it just won't translate down to final model and textures. For ceoncepts and designs though, I'm ok with having too much detail as opposed to not enough. When we pick which version we like best, we can then strip away what can't/won't fit until we have something that will translate well. Thanks for bringing up the concern.
Re did the robes at the bottom to go more with this style hood and shoulder pads. I started the proxy tonight but need to get more done before posting. I'm thinking this is one we're going to do. Thanks for the feedback praetus.
I really like the design on the left you got! It's great to see how your idea has developed over time I'd love to see how you plan on coloring his outfit, it still looks a bit detail-heavy right now, but its easy to tone down on complexity by grouping colors in the right spots. Also, great pencil drawing skills!
Thanks Vindalia! The photo on the right shows what his hood and robes look like underneath the shoulder pads. All the credit for the line drawings goes to H13r0gn0s1s. We'll get some colored stuff up in a bit.
Here's the proxy with the new design. I left out some of the trinkets that are flush against the body and won't affect the silhouette. Also removed some of the scrolls that feed from various parts of his robes.
I took at look at Warlocks material file, and unfortunately he does not have alpha masks enabled.. Its a shame, since I really wanted to make use of that for his jewelery and trinkets. The shoulders are poly heavy right now so I'll have to come up with a more efficient way of covering up those inner-shoulder pads that are part of the base model while still having 2 layers of our shoulder pads.
I'm really digging the silhouette, I love "top heavy" kind of characters with big shoulder pads. I think you're stuff looks great right now, but if you want some food for thought: I think you could make the shoulder pads a little bit bigger and the chest piece a little wider at the shoulders to make the waist look a little narrower. Or, if it is even possible, make the waist a bit narrower.
Also, I do think the design could use a center piece, kind of like the eye in the original design, but it could be anything. I saw a fleur de leaf kind of thing going on in some of your earlier concepts and that could look cool, or I saw some demon skull things which could look cool. The design doesn't even have to be on the chest, it could be on the belt, or maybe even the lower robes.
Here's an image of what I'm talking about (as well as some other ideas), but don't feel compelled to make changes if you don't like the direction.
Oh, I also forgot to mention, I- for one- am digging the curly scrolls/fabric.
Thanks for the feedback Ugly. I'm glad you're liking the shoulder redesign, as the early scroll one jus wasn't cutting it. I'll play around with the idea of beefing up the shoulder pads. The waist can't get much smaller though, as it's already very close to the unchangeable base mesh of his body.
I love that his original shoulderpads have such a great emphasis on the center eyeball and so it does make sense to carry that over, or have some prominent design on his chest or belt. Early proxy replaced the eye with a large open tome but I nixed that idea.
In the concept, there are eyes on his top shoulderpads that are partially hidden by the scroll wraps, as well as multiple eyes going around the belt. I've got a few paintovers done on paper but I'll digitize it this weekend and that will help determine how much eyeball is overkill and if a center eye has a better look. Thanks for the detailed feedback.
Oh, I also forgot to mention, I- for one- am digging the curly scrolls/fabric.
I like the scrolls too. If the poly budget gets too close to the wire, then I may fake most of the scroll in the diffuse channel going down the robes and then use floating polygons where they actually curl off and break the silhouette.
Replies
I broke down the source files to determine which pieces are combined. Right now Im to focus on the Hood, Shoulders and Robe as the three primary items; they seem like the most visually interesting parts of the model and affect the silhouette. We may add additional pieces of time permits. Ive been working on an off-hand and main-hand weapon that are still in the modeling phase, and Im not sure if these can be added to the set or not, based on the Q&A feedback regarding existing concepts.
The solid-purple parts are part of the base model and not a swappable item. I don't know if I'll be able to change these colors if my color scheme changes. If anyone knows for sure, please let me know.
I found a helpful web application that's great for creating color schemes. Check out Color Scheme Designer 3.
Im working with my concept artist partner H13r0gn0s1s for the details, and so while we iron that out I did some various paintovers on his current armor to get an idea for the color scheme we want to use. This will need to be refined when we pick our final design, but it does help me visualize and plan for textures in the mean time.
They want the heroes to be instantly recognizable, so the general silhouette and color scheme cannot be altered too far from it's original.
The texture PDF is a nice read. Important things to take note of is the top of your hero should be the brightest, most stand out part and by the time you get to the feet it's almost void of color.
We're playing with the idea of making the shoulders look like parchment scrolls. Also adding trinkets, jewelery and fancy trim that would go with robes that were imbued with magic or belonged to an affluent owner.
I think the belt and some of the shoulder details are too small and will come off as noise so we'll have to make the shapes larger and lower their frequency to read well. Also need to make sure areas of contrast are higher around the chest/head than anywhere else.
Getting closer to a design that we like. Got rid of a lot of extra trinkets and some of the runes as it was getting too noisy. They may come back, depending on what it looks like once we get colors and proportions determined.
The shape of the hood is a bit dull, so we'll have to beef that up a bit.
Ya, we've cut down the amount of high frequency patterns from the original sketch and may have to do it for more. I'll test simple textures and see what all shows up. Thanks for the heads up.
I'm not not happy with the way the proxy's scroll shoulders are looking right now and am trying to figure out a better way to give off the idea of scrolls/books through his shoulders but not have it looking as wonky as it does right now. I did a few rough versions with books on his shoulders and I'll post those tonight.
I'm always looking for feedback so please post any critiques you guys have.
Totally agree, praetus. These designs have a ton more detail than the earlier ones and a lot of it just won't translate down to final model and textures. For ceoncepts and designs though, I'm ok with having too much detail as opposed to not enough. When we pick which version we like best, we can then strip away what can't/won't fit until we have something that will translate well. Thanks for bringing up the concern.
Thoughts from anyone else?
edit - added the back view
Re did the robes at the bottom to go more with this style hood and shoulder pads. I started the proxy tonight but need to get more done before posting. I'm thinking this is one we're going to do. Thanks for the feedback praetus.
I took at look at Warlocks material file, and unfortunately he does not have alpha masks enabled.. Its a shame, since I really wanted to make use of that for his jewelery and trinkets. The shoulders are poly heavy right now so I'll have to come up with a more efficient way of covering up those inner-shoulder pads that are part of the base model while still having 2 layers of our shoulder pads.
Feed me crits please!
Also, I do think the design could use a center piece, kind of like the eye in the original design, but it could be anything. I saw a fleur de leaf kind of thing going on in some of your earlier concepts and that could look cool, or I saw some demon skull things which could look cool. The design doesn't even have to be on the chest, it could be on the belt, or maybe even the lower robes.
Here's an image of what I'm talking about (as well as some other ideas), but don't feel compelled to make changes if you don't like the direction.
Oh, I also forgot to mention, I- for one- am digging the curly scrolls/fabric.
I love that his original shoulderpads have such a great emphasis on the center eyeball and so it does make sense to carry that over, or have some prominent design on his chest or belt. Early proxy replaced the eye with a large open tome but I nixed that idea.
In the concept, there are eyes on his top shoulderpads that are partially hidden by the scroll wraps, as well as multiple eyes going around the belt. I've got a few paintovers done on paper but I'll digitize it this weekend and that will help determine how much eyeball is overkill and if a center eye has a better look. Thanks for the detailed feedback.
I like the scrolls too. If the poly budget gets too close to the wire, then I may fake most of the scroll in the diffuse channel going down the robes and then use floating polygons where they actually curl off and break the silhouette.
Some varying color patterns and their grey scale equivalents to determine the level of contrast.