[Dota2] Phantom Lancer - Humble Beginnings

Timtendo

For this contest I've decided latch on to the fact that Azwraith, the Phantom Lancer, comes from a tiny fishing village. His life consisted of fishing and family before he joined the war. With that in mind, this is the design I've come up with:



I wanted to convey a hill billy vibe without making him seem silly or stupid. I hope it comes across.

In some of the other threads it was mentioned that it wouldn't be a good idea to stray to far from the bad ass hero aesthetic, so if you guys and gals think I might be better served with a more expected look I do have a back up prepared.

Feel pressured to let me know what you think and thanks for looking.

Edit: Dammit!!! I forgot to change the name in the pic. Disregard please.

DashXero

I like it! It kinda reminds me of Dragon's Dogma's beginning for some reason. I'm a little iffy about the fish-head shoulderpad, but that's just me. I didn't even notice the straw in the mouth before I started typing this sentence, though... Might wanna consider dropping that in favor of something else. Maybe a strawhat or fisherman's cap or something.

Timtendo

Thanks for the feedback Dash. If I leave out the fish head and use the polys on a hat instead, that would really be cool. I wanted to do a straw hat at the start but the Phantom Lancer didn't have a helm available as one of the set's items. Does anyone know if I can skip the shoulder piece in exchange for a hat?

agentfx

Nice concept, are you worried about texturing the net since the resolution is so low?

Timtendo

I plan on using exaggerated shapes for the net while hinting at the depth of it with the normal map. I'm also planning on doing it in such a way as to imply transparency without actually having to use an alpha map. I'm certainly going to teat my texturing skills if I decide to go with this concept.

Timtendo

After getting that first concept out, and going over Valve's art and texture guides again, I've started refining my design. There are several things I like about the initial concept, but I feel like I need to push the design further. Like DashXero pointed out, the fish head is a bit iffy.

I did a few more weapon concepts this afternoon. Take a look and share your thoughts.

bounchfx

I like 2 and 3, but I would take your original one (4), beef the blade up a bit so it doesn't feel as spindly, and put it on a proper handle. I do like the wraps though, but man when he stabs someone that's falling off haha.

agentfx

I like #4 I think its the most original. I was playing with the same idea hook/spear/harpoon, and yours is better than what I was working on (in a sketch book). I think it makes the set. I agree with bunchfx that it could be tweaked to look a little more solid.

Timtendo

I really appreciate the feedback guys. It's like when something in a design isn't working but you can't see what it is, I have the tendency to try and scrap the whole thing and start over. It's great to have some extra eyes on this. I will tweak my original design and see what I can improve, then move on to the next piece.

Gajun

I like 1 and 4. The rest is too generic or is close to the ones already in the game

Timtendo

Based on the feedback I have received thus far, I a going to stick with the large fish hook theme but try and make it seem more solid, less spindly. This is my first attempt at this direction. Right now I'm thinking that the blade hook is bolted or nailed to the branch to keep it from coming off when he stabs someone and needs it back. I really liked the way the fishing line bindings looked but if it doesn't work with the lore of the world, thus decreasing my competitive edge, I will work toward something else.

Any suggestions on how to attach this giant hook to the branch?

PoPcorn

I think using string or rope could still work. You might be thinking about the practical logic a little too much.

dArth

PoPcorn wrote: »

I think using string or rope could still work. You might be thinking about the practical logic a little too much.

That's exactly what I was thinking, I even suscribed to tell you this : Think about background. Make the items more legit, and they will be closer to perfection Great job anyway !

dArth

PoPcorn wrote: »

I think using string or rope could still work. You might be thinking about the practical logic a little too much.

That's exactly what I was thinking, I even suscribed to tell you this : Think about background.
Make items looking more legit, and they will be closer to perfection Great job anyway !

Timtendo

PoPcorn, that is a fair point. We are talking about a werecat fisherman here. That would help me cut down on tris too.

n33kos

This is coming along nicely!

In your concept you have a red handwrap toward the bottom of the spear, it may balance things out a bit to include one higher up on the spear as well -- for the other hand.

As for the spearhead connection, I agree with darth and popcorn.

Timtendo

Fully 21 days after my last update life have finally released it's grip on me and I am able to work on this again. At the moment I feel like I really close to being finished with the spear and am sculpting the pants and gloves, having already build the low poly versions.

I'm having trouble viewing my geo in the steam workshop. It gets stuck on the first step of the importing process forever. Any ideas?

Once I get this figured out I will have some shots to show.

Timtendo

Figured it out:


As always, I'd love to here feedback and comments, however, I am moving on to the pants so that I might have a hope of completing this contest by the deadline. I will definitely come back and do as much as I can to make this the best it can be with what ever time I have after I've done the other pieces.

selvesteHE

I'm digging the spear. It works really well from the in-game camera!

Keep at it!

Timtendo

Thanks for the encouragement selveteHE!

Timtendo

There is some clipping happening at the waist that I'm going to have to figure out how to fix.

The minimum for the contest is 3 parts, so I'm planning on finishing the glove in the nest day or two then using the last few days to do some edits based on feedback, assuming I get any. I'm just really happy that I'm going to be able to finish this.

n33kos

Looking great!

The bottom of the shorts bother me though, I feel like they end too abruptly and may look better with some kind of tattered effect or variance of some sort. Im ready to see the whole set!