[Chivalry] – Zweihander – Beerdigung

sgtscience

Hi All.
I am looking to make a Zweihander. My first thoughts were to create a big sword that looks really menacing and intimidating, that has a unique silhouette and would be easily recognizable. I thought of a shape for the blade that has a kind of blunt end, which may be impractical, but would still look really cool and unique.

I have chosen the name Beerdigung, which is German for Burial, Funeral (according to google translate). I chose this name after a bit of wiki research since the Zweihander "became a hallmark weapon of the German Landsknechte from the time of Maximilian I (d. 1519) and during the Italian Wars of 1494–1559.". I think this fits the theme of the game.

Here is my initial ref sheet


Those were just a bunch of cool swords I found with things I liked. I actually didn't use most of these, as I later found more specific actual Zweihander refs.


I started with some sketches of silhouettes


and a little more detailed sketch


I like 5 and 6 the best. Can't quite decide over the curved or straight guard. I like the straight handle for a couple of reasons; 1. It fits with the name as looking like a giant cross, and 2. It differs from the current Zweihander curved guard. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated!

Ivenend

Hello sgtscience, I am a big fan of zweihander swords, so I'm very happy to see your work(s). However, I don't like the blunt tip , it seems too 'fantasy' and not look like a real zweihander.

P.S. have you ever seen these swords? http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15290&highlight=handed+sword

sp0nge

Hey, if you're set on the non-pointed tip take a look at executioner swords of the middle ages. These tended not to have points and due to the fact they were reserved for royal executions of important people, there's no reason you can't make them look fairly ornate too Also fits quite nicely with it's current name...

Maybe adjusting the theme of your zweihander slightly to follow that track might help fix it in reality without having to change much in the design. Also, I'm loving the straight cross guards, like you say, suits the theme/name and also just looks less fantasy and more medieval.

sgtscience

Hi Ivenend, I appreciate the comment and I will keep it in mind. I personally like it and think if it was made in a way that was plausible for the time period it should be fine (I hope?).

Here is an image of a preliminary base mesh.

While I did want this weapon to be scary and massive, upon considering your comment I think that everything below the handle is way too thick and fantasy. I think if I slimmed it down to the width of real period swords it would be better.

Thanks for the reference link! Those are some really great shots. The armour and the Katzbalger are cool too. I like how the armour echoes the saw-like blade in the trim.

Hi sp0nge, you make some very good points. Thanks for the suggestion of executioner sword design. I didn't know that about executioner swords!

Nolt

I like the base. Maybe a little heavier pommel to counter balance the blade?

Sophax

Cool looking blade, but the grip and pommeld look way too thin imo

McGuire

I really like the design of the hilt in 6, it's a good counter to the curved top of the blade. I agree with 9th and Sophax, that grip and pommel need to be beefier

sgtscience

Thanks guys. Here is an earlier shot of a thicker pommel.


Everything in here is way thicker than the other shot lol. I think a happy medium needs to be found. I'm thinking I should maybe get things going in the SDK even with these base meshes, just so I know the sizing is not clipping or just looking too ridiculous.

Magicspook

keep in mind that in/game, people will stab with it...

sgtscience

I thought about that... And my conclusions were that I wouldn't want to be stabbed by that.

Sophax

Well yea it doesn't have a pointy tip but its not realy blunt either, clearly has a cuttign edge.

sp0nge

yea you can stab people with sledge hammers in Chiv so wouldn't worry too much about it The damage inconsistencies a flat point used as a piercing attack are probably not that much of an issue

sgtscience

Here is another wip:

I took your advice sp0nge and looked into executioner blades. Very cool stuff. I took some inspiration from them for the cross guard, as well as made the handle thicker based on feedback. I think it looks better, thanks for the advice guys! I also found some cool German inscriptions that they put on executioner blades that I'm gonna try to put in that groove in the blade. It's so massive though, I'm just hoping there is enough texture resolution for it to look good.

I also tried something here:

Adding an extra metal bit to mimic the Parierhaken ("parrying hooks"), but I don't think it really works. Since Wikipedia states that a Zweihander did not necessarily have both Parierhaken ("parrying hooks") at the top of the ricasso as well as side rings on the hilt, I'm not that concerned, but I thought I'd give it a shot. I might also try a cross guard with the side rings. I really don't think it'll do, but, I figure I should give it a shot and see what happens.

I got a base mesh into the game just for testing and it's all good thanks to the tutorial, however I looked all over the FAQ thread, and couldn't find any info on how to get the weapon into a player model's hands for the presentation shots. I read that the only way to see it in first person is by making a mod with scripting, and there in no simple way to do that, but I'd really like to just see how the form looks on a player model before finalizing everything. Any help here would be much appreciated, thanks!

alexd

I like the design, would definitely buy it

sgtscience

Thanks! I could still do a horrible sculpt tho :P

sgtscience

So I did a Sculpt and rough texture of the sword and took a couple of screen caps in Marmoset. I should look at it in engine for a better idea of the colours, but I don't like the metal of the blade, and the way the etching looks. It looks like someone draw it in with marker. Any suggestions are welcome!

Nolt

I really like blade ends like that. I think they remind me of Ganandorf but they're just a cool shape. Great job