[Dota 2] - Phantom Assasin - Killer from Above
Final Image:
Hey Polycount, whats up?
Before I go to the actual model I want to give you guys some background on how I decided to enter this contest and why I chose exactly Mortred.
Why enter the Competition:
I've been playing Dota for more than 7 years now and I am super hyped for Dota 2! I'm playing Dota practically every day with friends and I've been watching the competitive scene for a while now so one can say Im pretty involved in this game
. When I heard about the contest I thought to myself nows the perfect time to learn 3D modeling! A little ambitious, I know, but Ive been doing (2d) digital art so I decided to give it a try. Ive been learning from the announcement of the contest until now and I think I grasped the basics that I need in order to do a decent job so now the real work starts !
Why Mortred:
I love most of the models in Dota 2 and I hate to criticize the work of artists miles above my level but I have to be honest: I think the Dota 2 PA models a bit bland. She certainly looks like and feels like an assassin and the weapon is badass but as a whole I think she doesnt offer a lot of interesting elements in the design. If theres a quarterback in a game of Dota it is hands down the hard carry so I feel a carry should bring the cool looks to the table along with the big numbers. In addition, after all the game is set in a fantasy world so the design possibilities are limitless!
My Concept:
I thought to myself- what better to build the concept of a professional killer around other than a real predator? So I decided to do an animal concept and since PA is not much of a bear or crocodile in my eyes I decided that a predatory bird captures her essence best.
The Helmet:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
The first part of the set I started working on is the helmet. I think the best looking raptor-head is that of the Owl so I tried to capture that general look into my design without making it obvious.
The rather big hole for the eyes is supposed to remind of the big eyes of the bird and the wings that wrap around the front of the helmet are similar in form to the reading glasses that owls have circling their eyes when seen from the front. The small top wings are there in order to make the silhouette more interesting.
Hey Polycount, whats up?
Before I go to the actual model I want to give you guys some background on how I decided to enter this contest and why I chose exactly Mortred.
Why enter the Competition:
I've been playing Dota for more than 7 years now and I am super hyped for Dota 2! I'm playing Dota practically every day with friends and I've been watching the competitive scene for a while now so one can say Im pretty involved in this game
. When I heard about the contest I thought to myself nows the perfect time to learn 3D modeling! A little ambitious, I know, but Ive been doing (2d) digital art so I decided to give it a try. Ive been learning from the announcement of the contest until now and I think I grasped the basics that I need in order to do a decent job so now the real work starts !Why Mortred:
I love most of the models in Dota 2 and I hate to criticize the work of artists miles above my level but I have to be honest: I think the Dota 2 PA models a bit bland. She certainly looks like and feels like an assassin and the weapon is badass but as a whole I think she doesnt offer a lot of interesting elements in the design. If theres a quarterback in a game of Dota it is hands down the hard carry so I feel a carry should bring the cool looks to the table along with the big numbers. In addition, after all the game is set in a fantasy world so the design possibilities are limitless!
My Concept:
I thought to myself- what better to build the concept of a professional killer around other than a real predator? So I decided to do an animal concept and since PA is not much of a bear or crocodile in my eyes I decided that a predatory bird captures her essence best.
The Helmet:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
The first part of the set I started working on is the helmet. I think the best looking raptor-head is that of the Owl so I tried to capture that general look into my design without making it obvious.
The rather big hole for the eyes is supposed to remind of the big eyes of the bird and the wings that wrap around the front of the helmet are similar in form to the reading glasses that owls have circling their eyes when seen from the front. The small top wings are there in order to make the silhouette more interesting.
Replies
I've been working on the weapon today. The concept is wings and tail of a bird
here's the base mesh.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Thx alot
I would just make it a flat black or make the feathers a lot more visible, a few really big ones might work out if you want to keep the feathers.
Either way looks great nice update.
Please keep he feedback coming, its been really helpful so far
P.S. Binding the cape to the joints turns out to be a bitch... however I bind it it moves funny in the game, so if you have some advice on how to do it properly I would love to hear it.
Is there any way i can edit the title? (Sorry, I'm new to the forum)
It seems a bit massive especially from the front but I think from other perspectives it is fine.
I will try to make it a bit smaller (thinner from the sides maybe) but i'm afraid of losing the basic concave shape of the 'owl head' + owls have a biggish head so... I see what you're saying but I'm not sure how to fix it without damaging the whole feel of the concept.
Will give it a try tho
Thx for feedback
I just finished working on the textures of the shoulders and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. Here are some closeups- tell me what you think
And here's how they look ingame:
I bound them to the clavicles and spine and painted weights so that the head and the tail of the owl are bound to the spine joint. This way the head and tail don't move while the actual shoulder pads move slightly as she moves her arms in different directions.
Now I am going to add some details to the texture of the helmet so it looks like the shoulders. I'll also try to shrink it a bit. Will upload some photos when I'm done.
+its textures are upgraded
Feast ya'r eyes:
I managed to bind the cape properly and did its textures (will post a scr later
I did a base mesh on the belt (daggers) so I'll be doing the maps but this shouldn't take long.
I am thinking about breaking up the symmetry of the shoulders a bit. I might remove the small vertical wings on the side of the weapon. This will also free up some polygons so I will add some details on the owl face so it doesn't look so flat.
I also want to add an accent color on the shoulders and helm so they don't look so monotonous.
I'm not happy with the textures of the weapon yet, will have to work on that.
I fixed the maps so it has a proper shine and the weird shadows in the edges are gone, however I'm still thinking about how to make the colors more interesting
Any recommendations and ideas are welcome.
Tell me what you think especially for the weapon.
I think the owl head still needs work and the material overlay details for some of the surfaces seems a bit to much for my taste, will see how I change that tomorrow.
Cheers :P
Also added belt (daggers).
It is a flat, 1 sided mesh so i have to copy it and reverse the normals of one of the copies in order to get a two sided object.
I do it in 2 different ways:
If i copy the actual obj, reverse the normals of one of the copies, select everything and then bind it to the joints and paint the weights i get result 2. The lighting is just fine but on the edges i get some polygons acting really strange and i think its because somehow the weights are not painted exactly the same on both copies.
Therefore I tried to bind and paint the weights on just the one sided object and then copy it and reverse the normals. This gives me result 2- the weird polygon problem is fixed but somehow the game engine decides that it has to light up the inside of my cape
Help?
Hope you like it guys, here's the workshop link:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=110746705