[DOTA 2] Lina - TBA
polycounter lvl 6
Ahoburg and I present a set we are both working on for the polycount competition. We have decided to call it "Saraab of Misrule"
The core idea behind this set is that she used to reside in the desert for many years, and as such had a set of armor suited for the harsh arid desert climate. The armor would show age being torn and ragged after escaping that harsh environment.
Concerns:
I'm very unsure about what to do with the head slot item, if we were to do something that would remove her hair and put her in a hood it could break the silhouette of the character to severely. I feel the best road to take would be option 2 where the cowl covers half her face but still leaves room to have the hair present.
UPDATE (10/22/12)
Voice your opinions, I'm very interested to hear what you guys think about this set.
The core idea behind this set is that she used to reside in the desert for many years, and as such had a set of armor suited for the harsh arid desert climate. The armor would show age being torn and ragged after escaping that harsh environment.
Concerns:
I'm very unsure about what to do with the head slot item, if we were to do something that would remove her hair and put her in a hood it could break the silhouette of the character to severely. I feel the best road to take would be option 2 where the cowl covers half her face but still leaves room to have the hair present.
UPDATE (10/22/12)
Voice your opinions, I'm very interested to hear what you guys think about this set.
Replies
I find the shoulders break her silhouette much more than a hood would. So I would stay away from them, unless they were smaller.
I'm really digging the concept, especially number 3. I'd suggest taking the Arab theme one step further and adding some more of the female aspects of it, namely some of that half transparent or tattered cloth that is worn as a veil/cowl oftentimes (since Lina has transparency enabled that shouldn't be a problem to accomplish). I'm mainly thinking of this iconic picture:
I think if you mix some lighter cloth on the top of the head with some of Lina's hair showing through like in the pic, you'll get a much more dynamic result.
Same goes for the shoulders/neck area, I think if you go with something a little less round and a little more wild (fits her character better
Hope that helps. Best of luck!
Advices are welcome
The newer shoulder designs for A and B fit the curvature of her silhouette so I don't think those pose a problem. And according to spudnik she has a transparency layer in her masks, so if we did go with option B we would look into that. My personal favorite is option B, I think the veil covering the top half of her face could look fantastic in the portrait view.
The head slot item would have to function alone, we're make sure to design this set with that thought in mind, so a player would be able to equip solely the shoulders or head slot item and both should function perfectly.
Trying some new hoods out after hearing some suggestions. Not sure which we will push, so cast your vote.
Cheers!
If you're worried about the headpiece breaking the silhouette too much, and want to do the cowl design.
Here are two other characters in the game that have a cowl/masked face with cloth around their neck for an idea of how Valve did it.
http://www.dota2.com/hero/Templar_Assassin/
http://www.dota2.com/hero/Bounty_Hunter/
It's not the characters the cloth is on that's important but bounty hunter already has some other cosmetic items that are like capes. If you need to I can probably pull some images/video of it.
Well, there are two other ideas I'm throwing around, Ill get around to posting concepts of them in a bit, where she wears the cowl but wears it down exposing her hair, so the silhouette wont change that much. If we were to go that route, a new hair piece would be designed to replace her default one to give her a full 4-piece set.
The other alternative is to say 'screw it' and make the hood regardless of breaking the silhouette, its just her head piece and there are plenty of other items in the game for other characters that break the base silhouette relying more on color. If that were the case, it would probably change the color of the hood to match something closer to her hair, a fiery orange. I can also add some scraps of cloth attaches to her rear head joints so they would somewhat flap while she moves. This could also correct the silhouette issue as well.
I'll have more to post tonight/tomorrow depending on how I feel. I did have four wisdom teeth pulled today and my face is still slightly numb. Hahaha!
nice to see another animator modeling here =]
great work, i will be following
3d preview http://p3d.in/LSV0C
The arm wraps look pretty good, here are some shots of lina's hand fire effects in game.
Just thought this might help if you decide to use the gemstones, or not.
The top lina is her normal idle state.
The bottom linas are with her passive buff active.
Some images of the arms rigged up, its still not finished as you can see by some minor clipping. I need to clean up the weights a little bit, but its getting there.
I like the gemstones, but I feel they are too small and unnoticeable, especially from the in game view. Thoughts?
I think the wrap color looks a bit dark in those shots. but that might help while the character is in action with flames in her hands for better contrast.
I'm looking forward to seeing the cape when you make it. I hope you make it tattered like in the concept which looks great. In my opinion, the cape could be a bit shorter than the default one. I've always found her cape to be too long, since she's bold and aggressive. Being a Lina player, that always bothered me.
If I could make one criticism, I like the hood idea but I'm not sure it works with Lina. She has an explosive personality, and a hood doesn't really suit that.
Changing the silhouette is also a really big deal in Dota, since it's played on a professional e-sport level, and all the cosmetic items are available in tournament play. Unfortunately, I think Lina is one of those heroes that would be changed a lot by adding a hood.
BUT!
I think this idea is really good. You could have a cowl/hood draped down around her neck, and then a new hairstyle. That way you still get the bold attitude as well as your "Saraab" theme, without changing her silhouette.
Another thing I kind of dislike is Lina's default hair. So, if you did this option, I would personally love to see a new hairstyle. I've always preferred her hair in this picture:
I think a tied-up hairstyle looks great and also kind of fits with your exotic-looking theme.
Anyway, those are just my thoughts, hope you find something of use. Looking great, good luck!
Anyway, almost done with belt texturing/lowpoly/etc
I have an even better one coming in a bit
these are mainly just tests and such
I dont think the hood breaks the silhouette as much as anticipated. Its still pretty clear by the color that that character is still lina.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=107501475