Underwater Adventurer

Azure

Well!
I think its about time I put this out!
I'm working on an underwater adventure/puzzle game prototype in unity and have been ironing out the main character for probably much longer than I should have.


Right now I'm focused on putting together a way to explore the mechanics of an underwater environment. I really want to play with the dichotomy of two worlds of above water and below.
I'm having the most fun right now exploring the handicaps and advantages of his design.
He'll swim, he'll climb, he'll get trapped and yanked out of the water and have to get away from things that will ruin his day. But most of all, I'm hoping to make something gripping out of a mythos that has gotten a little diluted. But that's story time, and something for another day.

[SKETCHFAB]a2667b7731f6423bbc2c9a6cc62f6de0[/SKETCHFAB]

[SKETCHFAB]3a14d6a920b94eca837608f87fe5f6a9[/SKETCHFAB]









Im sharing this here because I'd love to hear your thoughts and the thoughts from this community of wonderful artists and designers. So give it your all!

I'll be posting progress here and on my Tumblr.

Thanks!

Azure

Have some textures. I'll have to admit that I'm having trouble dealing with high poly sculptures on my Core2Duo iMac. But because of this, its been interesting coming up with a simplistic style that still gets the character across.



As far as his tail goes, un-natural? How so? He's got a spine that runs all the way down. He's bendy.. Hmm is there a way to show a videoloop on the forums? I have his walkcycle/swimcycle already animated.

sheckee

Actually, I quite like the style of texturing on this. I'd love to see more!
Whack the animated loops on youtube and imbed them, would be awesome to see.

thatanimator

awesome design!
loving the last pose, and the way he holds the weapon in the first sketchfab link is very original and well executed!
would love to see this animated.. how awesome would this look if he could swim around in a game fluently, smooth as hell.. not rigid with short blend times like games today..

dayum
very cool!

silver_hoodlum

is this udk? some of the renders are really edgy, u may to avoid that, the textures are a bit too flat u need some variation, the design works well, expect the tail inside skin, i guess mermaids dont suppose to have skin there

Archanex

I'm liking this, aside from the flesh colored dorsal fin. Looking forward to seeing more

Azure

Well, I guess his outfit is a little unclear. He's wearing a suit and is flesh colored from head to tail. There was alot of debate between having a colored skin, or just keeping him skin colored. And at the end of the day I wanted to drive home the fact that his kind evolved/mutated from humanity. Then with enough time, they could make clothing that wouldn't cause drag, keep his body at a comfortable temperature, and somewhat protected.

One of the best parts of working on this project was the fashion design. Really! Sitting there sketching away, wondering how the hell you'd dress a dolphin.

My fiance and I hashed out the sash / pouch, and brought a scottish flair to his design. I wasn't a fan of a straight cut skirt, and there was no getting around having it. It came out great, the clothing layer was really needed, but it was hell to get the topology right. And he's got a butt fin, its the highest point on his body, and that's how it works for cetaceans and marine biology.


Sheckee: Thanks! I'll do that!

Thatanimator: Workin on it!

Silver_hoodlum: I agree whole heartedly about the flat textures. And until we get the lighting and look set in unity for the prototype, it's going to stay a little flat. I'll paint in some shading as needed. Anywho, the images with the blue gradient are screencaps from maya.

Archanex: We tried putting a leather wrap around his fin, even a pad like the ones on his fluke, but it all came out looking a little strange. I'll see about posting up shots of that process. It was a fun bit.

Azure

Have an animation loop!

Azure

There was a glitch in the arm, so that gif has been updated. Is there anyway to imbed a small flash movie onto the forums? I'd like to not use gif for easy viewing of loops.

thatanimator

great!

Azure

Have some more!

The rear shot is more set to where you'd be looking if you were playing the game. I thought it would be important to showcase that.


And I just fell in love with the frontal shot. There's some attitude in that cycle. It was tough, and took my roommate to help bring out his push against the water, its easy for him, but not quite effortless. I had so much fun nit picking details!!!
I'm happy with this for now. On to the next series!!

Azure

Well work caught up with me and I had to put this down for the past few weeks. But before my job dumped the truckload of work, I managed to crank out a small rigging reel for Az here.
Have a peek, Id love to get some feedback on it, but if it helps anyone who is rigging, that'll make me very happy.

Az Rigging Reel

jmiles

ooh.. digging this very much. wasn't sure about that textures at first because they looked a bit flat and in need of more form painted into them, but it actually reads quite nicely. nice anims too!

Azure

Thanks!

Work, and other life projects have kept me running in every direction except this one.
More updates to follow later on.

Azure

There is a ton of work that goes into Push Stick Forward.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UmdmBzYJZY"]Azure Progress File 01 - Forward Animation Cycles [/ame]

Your thoughts and critiques are always welcome!
Now off to fine tune all the bugs that I saw in the animations.
⌉-(๑☆‿ ☆#)ᕗ

Dethling

Very nice animation, looks really organic.
Also the "secondary animations" heads, hands etc. matchs very good

Azure

Just a little update!
Working on attack animations and will have another progress video soon.
Here's a decent mockup with lighting!