DataDay's (RabenWulf) Workshop featuring Modo SE
polycounter lvl 8
Heya fellow Polycounters,
So with the Modo Steam Edition being out in the open, I decided to try my hand at making a weapon for Dota 2. It was tough learning new software alongside a personal first steam workshop item.
There's also a contest tied to making a weapon for Dota 2 via Modo SE... Thus if you think this submission is deserving, please show your support by giving it thumbs up on the Modo SE artwork tab or by clicking here. Its a popularity contest, so every vote counts.
So without further ado, here is the Chitinous Grimstone, a scythe for the Necrolyte.
Heres some "in game" videos:
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VQbNtdTcSQ"]Chitinous GrimStone 01 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGW1b6rz_O4"]Chitinous GrimStone 02 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0VDM7aI4mU"]Chitinous GrimStone 03 - YouTube[/ame]
Submission Page:
Here
So with the Modo Steam Edition being out in the open, I decided to try my hand at making a weapon for Dota 2. It was tough learning new software alongside a personal first steam workshop item.
There's also a contest tied to making a weapon for Dota 2 via Modo SE... Thus if you think this submission is deserving, please show your support by giving it thumbs up on the Modo SE artwork tab or by clicking here. Its a popularity contest, so every vote counts.
So without further ado, here is the Chitinous Grimstone, a scythe for the Necrolyte.
Heres some "in game" videos:
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VQbNtdTcSQ"]Chitinous GrimStone 01 - YouTube[/ame][ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGW1b6rz_O4"]Chitinous GrimStone 02 - YouTube[/ame][ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0VDM7aI4mU"]Chitinous GrimStone 03 - YouTube[/ame]Submission Page:
Here
Replies
How do you find Modo SE? I've bought it my self, I personally love it. The work flow & toolset are absolutely amazing. I mainly use 3DSmax, with a bit of Maya - but I really love the way Modo organizes everything & hope that more studios around here make a move over. The material editor is absolutely mind blowing!
I'm currently working on a set of items for Lycan, if I had known about this contest I'd have made something for it instead..
i really like the shape of the weapon though~ the shape is quite unique, though i think it looks so strong in game with its dark colour, not sure is it a good thing or not O: but ya i like it a lot ;3
I am loving it as well. Tbh I was a bit skeptical, but once you start realizing how Modo "thinks", it starts to work in your favor.
The steam version makes it so easy to publish content for Dota. I absolutely love the mesh reduction tool, the UV controls and the simplicity in binding a mesh to a bone, then packing the file for use in Steam.
Its very well thought out. I look forward to future improvements.
As for the weapon, the hardest part was trying to keep it under 500 tris. It really challenges the user to get around such limitations. Getting that shape was not easy, sadly a lot of little details were lost in the process.
I agree, the music was a bit much. Its been removed, thanks for the feedback.
I think your model is pretty solid, but I'm having some difficulty reading the materials. I think they could had used a second pass on the metalness map to really make some of the materials pop while others are more matte.
Secondly, I think your items are suffering from a really par presentation. The thumbnail is slick enough, and brings attention to the eye, but both banner image and videos seem distracting, to elaborate, they seem focused on the character and not on the piece. YOU are the star. You made the damn thing, put IT in the spotlight. haha. I think its okay to show off a couple animations, but make sure your item first and foremost is the attention grabber.
Keep up the solid work! The more I hear about modo, the more interested I become haha.
I actually did the bare minimum with mask1 and mask2, only slight spec and emission for both. Still figuring some stuff out, but you are right, I think I'll revisit the masks and see if I can take full advantage of their potential.
Thanks for bringing attention to the presentation as well. I wonder if there is a better way to show off the weapon in game? The preview window is fairly tiny.
Also I could really use that full version of Modo which is offered as a prize (steam edition cant make use of some great plugins), so please give a thumbs up on this page: Entry Page
I need about 18 more votes to break even. If you dont think this entry is better than the competition, please give him the vote instead. Cheers!
Thanks bud. I appreciate it. Hope to have some more good stuff to show off soon. Truth is though I cant hold a candle to some of the other amazing artist here, not yet any how.
All in all, it's a great start! I believe that you made a solid model, but you still need to nail that Dota look, which is probably the hardest part of the Workshop haha
Good luck, and welcome to the workshop gang!
That said, there's a few days left for the competition and I can use all the support I can get. The competition is fierce... men, women, small rodents...topless....all fighting for supremacy!! Actually there are only two to three people competing right now, and one user managed to pop out of no where using his entire friends list to spike the ratings in his favor... so its a tough race. It would mean a lot to me if those reading this can rate this entry and help the better asset win: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=219834391
There can be only one and may it be Duncun McCloud...or the guy with the barbed sickle.
Of course I could use the support too, I mean, I've only been a polycounter since the Quake days. And you had half your votes before I even started my mdoels.
But hey, what are friends for?
Now I'm starting to worry about that vote I gave you
Anyway, it's all in good fun and I'd be happy to see you win as much as me
Using sentiment to gather support?
Did you not come in at the last minute and use your entire friends list of some 260+ individuals to spike the ratings in your favor? You pretty much said that to everyone in the chat room. Naturally it will rub the other artist a bit raw.
I mean thats the crux of the issue though isnt it?
The Contest starts, a few artist work for weeks on end to pump out something to the best of their ability with new software, and then in the last minute, a user who just showed up after asking for help, pays them back by tossing something out they admitted to being to tired to finish. They then use their entire collection of friends on steam to get ahead in less than 1 day...where as the other two artist took a long time to naturally gather the votes...
I think if anything it shows a slight lack of respect, but that's fine. The rules didn't say you cant do that... so naturally in order to compete we have to try and do the same thing. Its the competetive spirit after all.
Tbh, It was commented that you could have modeled a cube and still gotten first place in a few hours due to that method of friends list based voting.
Nah its not about hard feelings, just the competition changing from good natured fun between artist to something a bit more competitive. I am told future contest will probably use judges and all that.
I hope you honestly believe that. It was fun up until a point. I think for future reference, just don't drop a last minute art piece after getting help from the very same people competing in the contest, and then tell them you are using your friends list to get ahead in less than a day. Might be funny to you at the time, but the guys who worked hard from the get go wont appreciate that kind of approach or presentation. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. (look at it this way, it became a contest of who had the biggest friends list on steam rather than who had good art. Thats not what the contest was about.)
I look forward to the continuation of art the little community over there can pump out. Your work included. I think we can agree that its a nice little spot with a good application tied to it. Competition shouldnt ruin that at the end of the day.
Very interested in buying this since I'm getting in to Dota 2 Item Creation, I do have a 3DS Max license but if this is a smoother workflow combined with those lovely Modo modelling tools it could be a good move!
Hey bud, Modo is perfect for Dota 2 items, in fact any stylized art for that matter. Its a complete package, everything from the modeling, sculpting, baking and retopology. It has some of the best UV tools I have experienced so far and its extremely simple to sculpt, paint and bake out that stylized look. There should be a upgrade path coming up soon from Modo SE if you want to give it a go. At this point I dont think I want to use another 3d modeling application anymore.
That said, this is where I left off with the shoulder pieces for the set Im making to go along with the scythe above. Most of that base texture and normal information came out of Modo in just a few easy steps. Now its just the process of painting on top of it and a polishing pass.
Dont forget to vote for the steam item linked here: theres about one more day left and every vote counts at this point.
First off. You had you art posted gathering votes for weeks before I even got a chance to post mine. That's because I just got Modo. Kind of weird contest where voting starts before submissions are in, guess you were able to take advantage of that longer than me. In chat you were discussing ways to get votes posting on other sites so you could get more than Gecko.
Second, I wasn't 'too tired to finish'. I was too tired to rig the low poly and get the entire piece ready for the game before I posted my pic. I still got the entire high poly in and even did final tweaks based on feedback I got.
I was tired because I bought Modo, learned it and busted my ass for a solid week to get my pic up before the deadline.
Lack of respect asking friends to vote? You're bitter because I have 250 steam friends because I've been online for 7 years? Half of them haven't been online for 30+ days.
I even posted in a Dota forum last night saying we were having a comp and I'd appreciate their votes but if they liked your stuff better they should vote on it.
Like I said, it's all in good fun.
Looks like you are winning anyway, still bitter? Jeesh.
The point I was making was that when the nature of the game changes, the players have to adapt as well. Thats all. I think its completely rational that an artist would want to win or lose based on better artwork as opposed to friends lists counts.
Competition generally means competing, as long as we can all hold hands and sing kumbaiya in the end its all good.