Zaugok the Skullcrusher
polycounter lvl 14
Watching the Hobbit got my monster making desires all fired up again. I've started working on an Orc character. His name is Zaugok (Zauw-gok) the skullcrusher. I know, I know, he's missing his crushed trophy skulls from his many years of brutal warfare. But don't worry those will come later. 
Here's what I've got so far: some concepts and a rough block in of the model:
Originally I had wanted to do a bit of samurai style armor and a sword based on Samwise's orc blade-master concept... but after I picked name and I did some concept sketches I liked the idea of a totally brutal orc with crude armor, a huge axe and tons of trophy skulls better.
Here's what I've got so far: some concepts and a rough block in of the model:
Originally I had wanted to do a bit of samurai style armor and a sword based on Samwise's orc blade-master concept... but after I picked name and I did some concept sketches I liked the idea of a totally brutal orc with crude armor, a huge axe and tons of trophy skulls better.
Replies
Teach me your ways!!
On a side ntoe, I feel like a hammer might be more appropriate for skull crushing. Bladed weapons tend to slice.
There's quite a bit of cleanup left but here's where it's at right now.
I don't know how far through the texturing you are (so you may already be planning this), but I would look at adding some grime to the face.
Some remnants of blood near the gums (unless he brushes his teeth real well
Nothing too noisy, you don't want to spam it with dirt, but just a bit of subtle "wear and tear" would look really cool.
Thanks! I initially wanted to push for a more stylized look (imagine if WoW went with dx11 tessellation and physically based shading.) Now that I look at him again I agree with you. Since it's out of the lowpoly range it calls for some grime and extra details. I'll for sure add some of that in.
I'll layout my goals for this project so anyone critiquing can help push it in that direction.
Here are my top 3 goals for the project:
- Create a full stylized character that combines the old gen of classic full bright diffuse with high resolution sculpts and physically based shaders. (Think Darksiders but with a color palette more like Warcraft. Dota 2 will also be referenced quite a bit.)
- Game-play driven approach to character design. Bold, recognizable shapes from a distance for gameplay with details that support larger shapes. (So it holds up at closer distances as well.)
- Back-story driven approach to character design. I think characters come alive when you give them a story. So I really want to drive the look of my character from his story. I haven't completely fleshed the backstory out yet... When I do I'll post it.
So there you have it
I should also mention that what I posted isn't textured, it's a render of the model in PS but painted as if I were painting a texture. So basically I'm painting the diffuse texture on my flat image for look dev. I used the layer blending modes to simulate what the shader would do with each pass. (linear dodge (add)for lighting/spec and reflection on the eyes with 2 multiply layers, one for shadows and ambient occlusion, and the other for base color.)
I started a rough concept for the armor and took a stab at the design of his weapon.