Marksman Robot

Bluestemos

Hey guys, 
I've been working on this guy for a few days now, and I feel like I've reached a point where I can ask for some feedback.



So, a bit about this project - this guy is supposed to act as a guard robot, and so my goal is to make it feel agile and strong. However, I'm planning on using this guy in a game project I have in mind, in which the model's shoulders can be shot off. And so because its arms are easily broken, I don't want it to be overly sturdy but rather vulnerable (the inner mechanics and such exposed, perhaps cheap manufacturing ).

There are a few things I'll change, like the fingers (which are too thick), some edges that are overly sharp and perhaps the empty hole in the back which I thought would be like a battery holding bay, but I'm not sure if I should just replace the battery with some gears and cables. I'm a bit iffy on the head as well - it kind of feels out of place to me, so I might make some changes to it, too.

Here's also a pretty sucky concept I made to act as a loose guideline for the project (I'll probably end up changing quite a bit of stuff, because when I made the concept I didn't think about putting this guy in a game, and didn't account for that in the process):



The high poly won't have too much small scale detail, because I want to test Substance Painter's normal map painting features and try to make all the smaller surface detail with it. Having less extra geo in the highpoly also helps me work faster and not having to worry too much about how the little details subdivide. 

Sorry for the huge wall of text, feedback is more than welcome
Thanks

Bluestemos

Okay, so I've managed to get some work done - but mainly I've been playing with different designs for the legs (and their mechanics) and the head. I also changed the waist, as I felt that it was a bit too complex compared to the other parts and it just didn't fit in. I also scaled down the fingers (not really visible in this picture) and started to work on the legs. The lower legs are just a quick block-out, so they'll most likely go through a change.

I most likely won't have too much time to work on this guy during the next few days, but I don't think the modeling process should take much longer

ryebot

Looks like you're off to a good start, though I don't know if I really get a sense of "agile" and "strong" from the design. It's a little strange to me how some parts are very simple mechanically, like the arm and elbow joints, but then he has these very-precicse fully-digitized hands. I'd expect to see something a little more mechanically simple based on the general theme of his design, you know?

One change you could make to convey a different mood from the character would be to change the head unit. The large, circular eye-piece is a design I've seen a lot, and doesn't really have much expression to it - it feels more innocent and blank than the face of a machine that's powerful and capable.

Nice job on modeling all those interlocking mechanical parts! That'd be really hard for me to do.

Bluestemos

ryebot said:

Looks like you're off to a good start, though I don't know if I really get a sense of "agile" and "strong" from the design. It's a little strange to me how some parts are very simple mechanically, like the arm and elbow joints, but then he has these very-precicse fully-digitized hands. I'd expect to see something a little more mechanically simple based on the general theme of his design, you know?

One change you could make to convey a different mood from the character would be to change the head unit. The large, circular eye-piece is a design I've seen a lot, and doesn't really have much expression to it - it feels more innocent and blank than the face of a machine that's powerful and capable.

Nice job on modeling all those interlocking mechanical parts! That'd be really hard for me to do.

I feel like "agile" was probably the wrong word to use on my part -  a mixture of "capable" and "mobile" is probably better.

I definitely see where you're coming from with the contrast in complexity between some parts. The arms and the shoulders are quite bulky and very simple, and I have thought about adding some more detail to them and making them a bit more streamlined. I'll try making some changes to them and see if it helps


Now, the mechanical parts are by no means final. They will definitely go through some changes, especially the parts in the arms, which are indeed lacking quite a bit of detail.

You're definitely right about the head. It doesn't really feel like it fits in, being all flimsy and all. I have actually been making some rough head designs and I feel like I've got a few that I could try and build up on.

Thanks a lot for the feedback, much appreciated

Bluestemos

Okay so I did have a few hours of free time to work on this guy during the last few days, after all. I made the forearms smaller and also added a bit more curvature to them, added some minor details, cleaned up some geo and made a new head. I really like the new head, especially from the side - though I'll need to make some changes to the back and to the front.

Next up are the legs, and then I'll do a detail pass on the arms and the head.

This is the progress from the last few days, I just wanted to post this to keep this thread alive 

Feedback is welcome as usual

Bluestemos

A new WIP

Lately I've mainly been sketching some designs for the mechanical parts. I've also tweaked some parts slightly to make them more readable from a distance.

I decided to toss the hole in the back out of the window and add a beveled piece with an energy core in its place. I also made some mechanics for the "knees" and made the feet, but they still need some improvements. The legs are still quite empty, as I wanted to make the parts around them first to make connecting them and making the filler-parts easier.

I'll try to make the front view a bit more interesting at some point as well. It looks quite empty compared to the back and the sides. There are also a lot of things I want to change, like the arm mechanics and some of the parts on the waist.

This project will definitely take longer than I anticipated - mainly because I only work on it on/off a few days per week, and I really want to push myself to do the best I can with this model. 

Again, feedback is very much welcome

Bluestemos

Alright! The high poly is nearly finished :hurrah:
All that's left is to do some small clean up as well as smoothening some edges, but things are looking fairly bright as of now. I also need to still make the broken cables that will stick out from the shoulder sockets when the arms are disconnected. This guy also needs a weapon, but I'll finish this model first.



Comments and critique are very much welcome