Dota 2 Monthly Community Competition #12 - February
polycounter lvl 9
Welcome to our Dota 2 Monthly Community Competition #12 
This month we are keeping the single item style and this month of February the Selected heroes will be 3 recently added to the workshop
Legion Commander
Gyrocopter
Wraith King
The link to Wraith King's files currently directs to Skeleton King instead of WK. Here's a link to his files instead: http://media.steampowered.com/apps/d...raith_king.zip
(ty Belkun for the links)
be creative and think out of the box! =]
we are also planning to split the winners and create a new category based on creativity
---The competition
the idea of the competition is to create items in a friendly environment and with the feedback of the other participants to get the best result possible.
The single item style is good for the guys that are not used to make items, sometimes they just need a little pull with references and deadlines to get an item done
From this month and the next ones, its mandatory to post the work in progress, or else the submition will not be accepted!
Each month we are sponsored by HANDPLANE, which give us 2 licenses to be handled to the 2 best items
Handplane is a tool for creating normal maps that are synced to specific game engines. Much like encoding and decoding an mp3, the math used to calculate tangent space must match between the normal map and the game engine. When the code does not match, you will often see gradients on your models. For workshop artists, this means you can eliminate the need for hard edges and supporting geometry that you would have otherwise used to control shading behavior. A video comparing different normal maps in the source engine:
handplane is free for non-commercial use and we explicitly allow commercial steam workshop development under the free license.
http://www.handplane3d.com"
*** update, now its 4 licenses!, thanks Alec!
--- Getting your item displayed on the first post
PHP Code:
or this one for 2 creators
PHP Code:
set_name - name of your set, use equal as on the workshop
workshop_user_link - your workshop page, so people can browse your other items easily
Username - the name you think its easier to people find you, can be the one from polycount or the steam
item_link - the workshop page of your item
thumbnail_img - the image link of the thumbnail that is INSIDE your item page on the workshop (the thumbnail is the one with 200 pixels wide, you can get from your items page or add Code:
/200x200.resizedimage
to the end of the link)
**itens with larger thumbnails will not be accepted!**
---Rules
---Tutorials/working in progress videos
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123800
---Inspiring quotes
"It is absolutely insane the amount of top quality content that is being produced every single time here on Polycount. It's great to see so many cosmetics deliver not just on the technical end but also make for such great fittings in every other branch. You guys are doing an exceptional job and contests like this are only helping boost that exponentially. Brilliant stuff."
Wykrhm Reddy
"It was bloody hard picking from this list, I honestly enjoyed all of the entries. Keep up the good work guys!"
Cyborgmatt
Wow, that's really awesome. Please keep us at Valve informed so we can help draw attention to the winners, progress threads, etc.
Some advice:
Try to give some attention to heroes that are under-served so far (in terms of amount of content).
The success of sets tracks well with the popularity of the hero. (Although popularity can vary between updates and as Icefrog changes balance.)
Look for heroes that the community seems to have trouble creating content for. Good work can really open up the design landscape and help people think about the dynamic range of potential designs.
Don't forget about single items (instead of full sets). Many of the most popular items in the game are single items. Mounts and weapons make good candidates for this, but it varies by hero.
Mix up these approaches. So maybe one month you do a popular hero and another month you do a hero that has few items.
-Brandon Reinhart (Valve)
I love you guys for doing this! Dota2 is my favorite game at the moment and Polycount is my favorite community! I'm very proud to be apart of such dedicated artists and I smile every time I see some Polycount work in game
-coots7
---Presentation
the presentation is a really important part on the workshop, save some time before the deadline for that. the first impression means a lot on the workshop.
If you want to fancy your presentation here is a the polycount logo over the aegis, there is no need of it to be used
http://puu.sh/1QtZy
---Previous Months
DECEMBER
NOVEMBER
OCTOBER
SEPTEMBER
AUGUST
JULY
JUNE
MAY
APRIL
MARCH
FEBRUARY
This month we are keeping the single item style and this month of February the Selected heroes will be 3 recently added to the workshop
Legion Commander
Gyrocopter
Wraith King
The link to Wraith King's files currently directs to Skeleton King instead of WK. Here's a link to his files instead: http://media.steampowered.com/apps/d...raith_king.zip
(ty Belkun for the links)
be creative and think out of the box! =]
we are also planning to split the winners and create a new category based on creativity
---The competition
the idea of the competition is to create items in a friendly environment and with the feedback of the other participants to get the best result possible.
The single item style is good for the guys that are not used to make items, sometimes they just need a little pull with references and deadlines to get an item done
From this month and the next ones, its mandatory to post the work in progress, or else the submition will not be accepted!
Each month we are sponsored by HANDPLANE, which give us 2 licenses to be handled to the 2 best items
Handplane is a tool for creating normal maps that are synced to specific game engines. Much like encoding and decoding an mp3, the math used to calculate tangent space must match between the normal map and the game engine. When the code does not match, you will often see gradients on your models. For workshop artists, this means you can eliminate the need for hard edges and supporting geometry that you would have otherwise used to control shading behavior. A video comparing different normal maps in the source engine:
handplane is free for non-commercial use and we explicitly allow commercial steam workshop development under the free license.
http://www.handplane3d.com"
*** update, now its 4 licenses!, thanks Alec!
--- Getting your item displayed on the first post
PHP Code:
/COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]SIZE[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700]=[/COLOR][COLOR=#DD0000]"4"[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700SET NAME[/SIZE] by /COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]URL[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700]=[/COLOR][COLOR=#DD0000]"WORKSHOP_USER_LINK"[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700USERNAME[/URL]
/COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]URL[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700]=[/COLOR][COLOR=#DD0000]"ITEM_LINK"[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700/COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]IMG[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700THUMBNAIL_IMG[/IMG][/URL]
/COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]URL[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700]=[/COLOR][COLOR=#DD0000]"ITEM_LINK"[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700/COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]IMG[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700THUMBNAIL_IMG[/IMG][/URL]
or this one for 2 creators
PHP Code:
/COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]SIZE[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700]=[/COLOR][COLOR=#DD0000]"4"[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700SET NAME[/SIZE] by /COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]URL[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700]=[/COLOR][COLOR=#DD0000]"WORKSHOPLINK"[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700USERNAME[/URL] and /COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]URL[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700]=[/COLOR][COLOR=#DD0000]"WORKSHOP_USER_LINK_2"[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700USERNAME_2[/URL]
/COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]URL[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700]=[/COLOR][COLOR=#DD0000]"ITEM_LINK"[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700/COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]IMG[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700THUMBNAIL_IMG[/IMG][/URL]
/COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]URL[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700]=[/COLOR][COLOR=#DD0000]"ITEM_LINK"[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700/COLOR][COLOR=#0000BB]IMG[/COLOR][COLOR=#007700THUMBNAIL_IMG[/IMG][/URL]
set_name - name of your set, use equal as on the workshop
workshop_user_link - your workshop page, so people can browse your other items easily
Username - the name you think its easier to people find you, can be the one from polycount or the steam
item_link - the workshop page of your item
thumbnail_img - the image link of the thumbnail that is INSIDE your item page on the workshop (the thumbnail is the one with 200 pixels wide, you can get from your items page or add Code:
/200x200.resizedimage
to the end of the link)
**itens with larger thumbnails will not be accepted!**
---Rules
- open for teams of any size
- its allowed one item per hero per team/person ( two or more items for the same hero made by the same team/person will not be accepted)
- everyone should keep posting feedback on other works, the feedback should be constructive
- the final submition need to be a single item that doesnt break the rules
- it must be submitted to the workshop before the deadline but not before the start of the competition
- The item should be made on the month of the competition, its ok to continue one started earlier, but you should work most of it during the month
- the deadline is the last day of the month at 23:59 (since we live in different timezones, some submitions may be accepted couple hours after the deadline)
- From this month and the next ones, its mandatory to post the work in progress, or else the submition will not be accepted!
---Tutorials/working in progress videos
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123800
---Inspiring quotes
"It is absolutely insane the amount of top quality content that is being produced every single time here on Polycount. It's great to see so many cosmetics deliver not just on the technical end but also make for such great fittings in every other branch. You guys are doing an exceptional job and contests like this are only helping boost that exponentially. Brilliant stuff."
Wykrhm Reddy
"It was bloody hard picking from this list, I honestly enjoyed all of the entries. Keep up the good work guys!"
Cyborgmatt
Wow, that's really awesome. Please keep us at Valve informed so we can help draw attention to the winners, progress threads, etc.
Some advice:
Try to give some attention to heroes that are under-served so far (in terms of amount of content).
The success of sets tracks well with the popularity of the hero. (Although popularity can vary between updates and as Icefrog changes balance.)
Look for heroes that the community seems to have trouble creating content for. Good work can really open up the design landscape and help people think about the dynamic range of potential designs.
Don't forget about single items (instead of full sets). Many of the most popular items in the game are single items. Mounts and weapons make good candidates for this, but it varies by hero.
Mix up these approaches. So maybe one month you do a popular hero and another month you do a hero that has few items.
-Brandon Reinhart (Valve)
I love you guys for doing this! Dota2 is my favorite game at the moment and Polycount is my favorite community! I'm very proud to be apart of such dedicated artists and I smile every time I see some Polycount work in game
-coots7
---Presentation
the presentation is a really important part on the workshop, save some time before the deadline for that. the first impression means a lot on the workshop.
If you want to fancy your presentation here is a the polycount logo over the aegis, there is no need of it to be used
http://puu.sh/1QtZy
---Previous Months
DECEMBER
NOVEMBER
OCTOBER
SEPTEMBER
AUGUST
JULY
JUNE
MAY
APRIL
MARCH
FEBRUARY
Replies
Embrace of the Risen by MdK
Flying Fez by Belkun and SLIMEface
Relic Sword by T_Vidotto
Regal Curls of the Wraith King by BrontoThunder
Stechhelm by BrontoThunder
High-Flyin' Headgear by BrontoThunder
Blade of Shadows by Ares
Firey Cask by multitud3 [Red Moon] and Kraken
Winged Victory by MdK and BladeOfEvil'sBane
Army Collector by [UN]cagdasx44
Narcissus Edge by Frohike
Great Blade of Eren by Deadman and ultimatec
Cursed Reaper by Oroboros [Red Moon] and Kraken
Obsidian Great Blade by motenai and Ken
Black King Banner by rocket and shock
Pauldron of the Eternal King by Nickel Beer
Draugar's Bane
by Deadman and Godzy and with Shock's help on the promo
Wraith-Edge of The Dominator by Flash
Flying Comrade by Joker_47/Ozzymandias
Wraith Infested King Sword by mihalceanu
Wraith's Spine Hacker by Voodoo (aka Baddcog)
Aerialist Wings by Tamarin
Warhog by Pixelherder
Crown of Agony by Pierate
Prosperous Morning Star by Ben.HCT (aka Volken)
Flying Bombardier Trophy Hat by reallymadmaveric
Tyrfing by Rowinish
The King's Voracity by polarbear
The Watcher by Vayne and Stefco
War Wings by ◦♥◦KITE◦♥◦
Maw of Eternal Hunger by vikk0 and Mango
Rocketeer's Cap by Frump
War Banner Weapon by T_Vidotto
Legion Comander - Tornado Blade by Chicken_Basket and ppcc.w2 and forest.run.4ever and WRABIT and KELDESH13
Aurel's Revenge by EtotheRic (Maki Attack)
Weathered Windsock by ike_ike
Ballistic Goggles by Prophet9 and SLIMEFace
The link to Wraith King's files currently directs to Skeleton King instead of WK. Here's a link to his files instead: http://media.steampowered.com/apps/dota2/workshop/wraith_king.zip
Not sure if I'm going to participate this month. LC have loads of stuff already, Gyro has also been getting a lot of stuff and WK is just kinda boring.
Hope to see good stuff coming from you guys as always!
@mdk, That was fast
What about 2 styles? I'm doing a Legion weapon, can I do a two-handed and a dual wield version?
Edit: like the pole-arm blade will be the same blade as the swords
"its allowed one item per hero per team/person ( two or more items for the same hero made by the same team/person will not be accepted)"
If I could suggest something, even though there's no way of tracking this but I recommend everyone add Handplane and Polycount to the third-party revenue share thing for their entries.
:thumbup: Always do always will :poly136:
How much % is normal for this sort of thing?? Just curious as I've never added a site to my revenue list but I totally would in the future.
The third party revenue allocation comes out of Valve's cut and is 10% of the total sales. You don't lose any money and it's a nice way to give something back to free programs/sites which have helped you.
Couldnt it also mean that you can have different teams for the same hero?
As in;
Person A works with Person B on Gyro
Person A works with Person C on Gryo.
Wouldn't that be accepted since Person A is in a different team?
Btw does it really matter? I don't think there are ppl who do more than 2 submissions for the contest.
Really like the idea, reminds me of god of war
I don't know why there's so much confusion over this.
One team/person per item per hero.
I plan on submitting one item for each hero.
I will probably revise it a few times, try and get the hilt and pommel a bit more to my liking, but that is the basic idea.
i think the other guys already answered this, so its possible to 3 items for the same person/team, if you guys team up on different guys i see no problem in submitting again because its a different team
those rules are just to avoid someone making a set and using the excuse of 5 single items. also If you are able to work on just one item you probably are going to try your best on that item instead of 5 "rushed" swords for Wraith king
That is a good point, i always add the programs/sites that helped me on the item, which is like 100% of the time, polycount and xnormals, and since some months ago handplane. Got addicted to it and dont trust my normals without the handplane bake
yes, you can do like that, but try to not get too much so it doesnt afect the final submition.
Could anyone collaboration to me to make it happen or combine with your set?
Sorry for bad drawing
I really like that concept. Very cool design, nice how you brough the details from the head through the blade.
looks really nice with the flat color shader, just export that and you will have a good part of your texture done =]
and the green glow looks great
----
Guys, i just noticed that we are not being fair with the other areas on the workshop, like huds and wards. So my idea is to add on the rules that are allowed item FOR the hero or BASED on it in case its not a wearable cosmetic. So it will allow things like:
Another thing, how we should consider items bundled with other things, like an item with a loading screen or a custom particle? i think it should be considered 1 item and eligible for the contest, but i would like to hear you guys about it
Would that mean like a gyro ward/hud/animation/loadout?
For particles, I thought we couldn't do custom particles since it is Valve who does the particles. There's also little to no information on how to make your custom particles for dota 2.
Bundles should be optional just to give an item a little bit more flare. Sooner or later, if this keeps up, everyone will expect a bundle per item.
http://i.imgur.com/UHzdq9b.png
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mt6rkw0g52ajk48/Missile.zip
That hair would not have any motion with the stock rig for Gyro, or it will look really weird. The only bones that have motion are the scarf bones, and having used them, this hair would not work with Gyros default rig.
Id dint concept, Doing the 3d on this.
gg, motenai wins.
Concept and current progress is looking sick!
Here's a little early progress of my eyepatch covering Wraith King's manky eye.
This is a sketch I made some time ago, it needs to be changed though
And the final submission:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=224098038&searchtext=
You can work more on the texture though
Generally speaking, a skull and leg bone could be used as a makeshift guard and handle, with a jewel placed in each eye socket. The blade would be made of the more traditional steel, sharpened around the edges.
There would also be some wear and tear around the edges, and maybe some cracks around the bones.
Sculpt:
What do you guys use as a blending mode for diffuse generated from a normal map?
I made a comparison between the original sword against mine, and mine doesn't have that neat sharp white lines on the blade and my gold areas look a bit washed out. Suggestions/solutions? PS. I'm following the texture guide of Valve, but it still looks a little washed out like you can see at the right (mine), compared to Valve's (left).
Cheers!
Any suggestions on how to improve the texture?
well bones are more yellow than what you made. Your sword shows a very fresh clean white bone.
Also the sculpt needs to show a more hard surface, now yours is very soft.
I suggest you to download Huskar's model. He is a good example of how bone should look like(at least in Dota2)
You can normally use generated map to help push the edge highlights. I don't know if you have access to Crazybump but for my workflow I normally take the normal map into Crazybump. Go to Specularity, increase the detail sliders and reduce the contrast. Then copy that map and "Overlay" it in Photoshop with about 20-30% opacity.
You are looking for a result like this;
I believe you can generate a height map in xNormal to similar effect though I haven't used the map it generates.
Edit: This is similar to what I do, and is a good place to start:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=123397498#19243
Perfect example of a bone sword. I really think the sculpt needs lots of love too. Right now I hardly see bone in this at all. Outside of the color, the shapes are not helping sell this to me as a bone sword. The textures also look very soft and blurry. You either did not give the UV enough love, and/or did not down sample your textures to the game rez format. The normal map seems to be doing nothing for you either. I think you need to slow down with this. you went from nothing to wip to submit in one post on a month long contest.