Aloy Overwatch Style

slosh

Alright, time for a new project.  Gonna do something I've been wanting to try for quite some, an Overwatch styled character.  But instead of doing one that already exists, I am going to try and recreate Horizon Zero Dawn's Aloy.  Started gathering ref and did a suuuuper early WIP on some base proportions.  I still have to push this a lot further but for now, it's something.  Gonna start a paintover soon for an outfit design as I will be designing my own for her.  Probably going to keep her original hairstyle which is going to be interesting to do as mostly chunky geo like OW.  Wish me luck!

CrazyMoon

Ohhhh this is gonna be interesting! Can't wait to see your take on this  

dGreenberg

Sounds like an awesome idea! Looking forward to seeing it come together, @slosh.

slosh

Thanks guys.  This is going to be tough.  Been studying a ton of overwatch characters and I am struggling!  Getting closer but still so far!!!

stickadtroja

none of your images show, maybe check the links?

CrazyMoon

They show for me :O 

slosh

@stickadtroja: could be getting blocked by your provider.  or if ur viewing from work, they might be blocking it.  

So, worked on her face a bit more this morning and I feel like I did more good in 15 minutes than I did in 2 hours last night lol.  Makes a difference when you're awake as opposed to when your tired!  Added some temp lashes and eyebrows.  I think I'm ready to do a paintover for the outfit and hair.

Bar0n

looking very good so far!
can't wait to see how you'll get the hair!
i'm ready to take notes

slosh

thanks BarOn!  The hair will be a challenge for sure.  Started some doodling on her head/shirt concept.

stickadtroja

oh sorry my bad, cant see them my laptop.

artofmars

interesting curious to see how this develops visually 

RocketBryan

Nice start, mate! The OW aesthetic is definitely one of those deceptively simple styles that will jump and and bite you if you let it get away from you. I've got my own OW-styled character on the back-burner too, so I'm looking forward to seeing where you take Aloy here. Breakdowns of any specific lessons she teaches you or difficulties you run into would be enormously useful as well.

I'm going to assume you're using Tracer as one of your primary references? If that's the case, I would suggest taking another look at her basic proportions and bump up the length of her torso and (esp.) arms. Without being able to see Tracer's base 'anatomy' sculpt, the size, length, and distribution of mass is a little misleading under her jacket and gauntlets. The OW character team can/will cheat proportions where they need to so that all the various parts of a character read effectively, but that can throw off anyone using them for reference. I would recommend drawing from either Symmetra or Widowmaker primarily (as you can see more of what's going on) and just modify to fit Aloy accordingly.

dGreenberg

That hair is going to look incredible in the Overwatch style! Lovin how the concept is coming along; do you think you'll be bringing more tech stuff into her outfit from gear later in the game, or focus more on the traditional outcast gear that she starts out with? You mentioned that you'll be creating your outfit specifically for this character, so it'll be really interesting to see how things look as you move forward from here.

Bar0n

RocketBrian said:

Nice start, mate! The OW aesthetic is definitely one of those deceptively simple styles that will jump and and bite you if you let it get away from you. I've got my own OW-styled character on the back-burner too, so I'm looking forward to seeing where you take Aloy here. Breakdowns of any specific lessons she teaches you or difficulties you run into would be enormously useful as well.

I'm going to assume you're using Tracer as one of your primary references? If that's the case, I would suggest taking another look at her basic proportions and bump up the length of her torso and (esp.) arms. Without being able to see Tracer's base 'anatomy' sculpt, the size, length, and distribution of mass is a little misleading under her jacket and gauntlets. The OW character team can/will cheat proportions where they need to so that all the various parts of a character read effectively, but that can throw off anyone using them for reference. I would recommend drawing from either Symmetra or Widowmaker primarily (as you can see more of what's going on) and just modify to fit Aloy accordingly.

I don't see Tracer in this bodyblock, but i can definitely see Symmetra, since both Tracer and Widow are a bit more on the sexy style

slosh

@RocketBrian: I've actually been comparing my proportions to DVA and Mercy 1:1 so this is pretty close as is.  I haven't really compared to Tracer to be honest but I could try that too.  I'll definitely end up playing with proportions more I'm sure.  
@dGreenberg: Yup, definitely adding more tech.  Seems like overwatch doesn't really go full traditional on any of their characters....there seems to always be a little tech.  Horizon's story works perfectly with that theme so I definitely want to add a bit more tech into my version of her outfit then you see in the game. 

Here is my current progress on her concept.  Sort of just did it off the cuff so I'm probably going to have to change a lot to have it fit in the overwatch universe.  Did a first pass on her bow as well.

aaronhiggins

This might be nit-picking, but I feel like you could push the face a little closer to Aloy by pushing the eyes a tad closer together, accentuate the jaw a little more? She's got this sort of "teen" roundness to her face. I don't know, it's tough to preserve certain facial features when you're trying to translate between styles.



 You nailed the eyebrows though. 

slosh

@aaronhiggins: totally agree with you man.  my first goal is to create an appealing female face in overwatch style which is difficult in its own right.  then i want to try to push it more towards Aloy's actual look.  so definitely something I want to revisit!

Edrice

I think your lips are too big and wide. Part of the overwatch style is small lips big eyes. Even characters with bigger lips like pharah and symettra aren't as wide as on your model. For Alloy's likeness I think the eye shape is too open. Her eyelid drops a lot on the top outer part, almost a straight line down so I'd emphasis that on the model for likeness. Hope a fresh pair of eyes helps.

slosh

@Edrice: yea, the eye shape thing I have tried.  having it droop just looked bad for some reason.  I'll give it a shot when I try to infuse more of Aloy's look again but for now, I'm focusing on making her look appealing as that is proving challenging as is.  As for the lips shape, young anna's lips are actually a similar width to what I have now which was what I was using as ref.  They could be a tad too wide so I'll take a look.  

Edrice

Young Ana's model does have I wide mouth. It does blend with her strong cheek bones, and strong nose shape. So you're not wrong there. I'm not sure Ana's the best ref for your project though. Aloy looks more Irish than Egyptian, and young ana is still a good 10-15 years older than Aloy. I'd look at what makes D.Va look young, because she's about the same age and with that knowledge build up Aloy's likeness around those younger proportions.

slosh

So I tried making some quick adjustments to her face to try and capture Aloy a bit better.  I'm a little concerned that she really starts to lose the overwatch face quickly.  I will have to balance it somehow...

Edrice

IMHO it think the changes are great. I'd tone down the saggy brow skin that's a little too strong. But that's a huge step in the right direction for me. If you nail the colorfulness and the shading of overwatch it's going to work just fine.

Archsider

but the sad eyes are for realistic tone , ow has a stylistic anime tone , hence none of ow character eyes have that realistic droopy eye thing

Jakub

I really like what you've done to the overall shapes of the face, the "oval" really helps to bring out the Aloy in her.
Gotta agree with @Archsider , if you aim for OW style, that eye can't be droppy

slosh

@Edrice: I agree it looks more Aloy but it just strays too far from OW for my personal preferences.  Gonna have to balance it more.

@Archsider:  I agree, the droopiness is probably too much.

@Jakub: Thanks man, I think I found the sweet spot so prob going to roll with what i have after a bit more adjusting.

Alright, I think I've found a happy medium.  It's not as much "Aloy" in the eyes but it still has some of her eyeshape while still balancing the OW look.  I kept the broader face shape to match Aloy which helps I think.  With the distinct Aloy hair and Horizon outfit vibe, I think it will be enough to make her identifiable while still feeling like Overwatch.  I started experimenting with her hair now.  I think I'm going to do a rough blockout of hair til I'm happy with it and then hardsurface model it in maya for my final version.

Archsider

slosh said:

@Edrice: I agree it looks more Aloy but it just strays too far from OW for my personal preferences.  Gonna have to balance it more.

@Archsider:  I agree, the droopiness is probably too much.

@Jakub: Thanks man, I think I found the sweet spot so prob going to roll with what i have after a bit more adjusting.

Alright, I think I've found a happy medium.  It's not as much "Aloy" in the eyes but it still has some of her eyeshape while still balancing the OW look.  I kept the broader face shape to match Aloy which helps I think.  With the distinct Aloy hair and Horizon outfit vibe, I think it will be enough to make her identifiable while still feeling like Overwatch.  I started experimenting with her hair now.  I think I'm going to do a rough blockout of hair til I'm happy with it and then hardsurface model it in maya for my final version.

NICE you made a good balance

CaesarAlbertus

Man this is looking really good can't wait to see her finished

Keep it up¡¡¡

slosh

Thanks guys!  I started messing with the hair a bit.  I'm not sure I like it yet.  I want to try stylizing it a little and adding the braids to see if it works better.

Caiterade

Oh man, this is a super cool idea!

Jakub

I like where this is going, but these hair are going to be a pain Good luck mate!

slosh

Slow progress...started blocking in her outfit.

slosh

Still alive on this...sloooow progress.  I'm starting to sculpt out her outfit pieces.  I really need to go back and do another pass on the hair but I'm procrastinating cuz I know its going to be a pain in the ass.

lotet

Looks really cool!
subbed

slosh

Continuing the outfit.  Working on the fur bits right now.  I'm going to reduce the amount of fur lining compared to the concept as I felt like it was a bit much.  The hair is up next but is going to take me FOREVER!!!!

ArNavart

She looks very nice! I particularly liked her profile view, would love to see the full height one, too. But I think the hands are a little off, if I cover the body they look more like male hands and probably their shape is... a little crude and thick and maybe they are also a little big. This one is more like a personal preferance but twisting the knees a little inward may enhance the look. And maybe it's only on the high poly sculpt but the eyebrows are a little thick and draw too much attention.

Edrice

You might  consider scaling a few elements up to go with over the top feel of overwatch.

slosh

ArNavart:  Totally agree about the hands.  I haven't really touched those as of yet.  I will definitely be sculpting the body stuff soon.  I think the eyebrows are probably drawing attention cuz of the dark color as well but I will play with thickness too.  Thanks!

Edrice:  Scaling up the necklace balls is on my to-do list.  i will consider scaling other stuff up as well.  thanks for the feedback!

FourtyNights

I know the feeling of procrastination, it's frustrating. You really wish the project to move on but you're afraid of something to take too long or you have a fear of failing it. For me it's either sculpting folds and wrinkles for clothes or haircards.

Anyway, you've tackled through this pretty nicely though. Btw, is her outfit resembling her being an outcast or part of the Nora tribe?

Recently I just began playing H:ZD a bit more, than a couple of weeks ago when I just started it for first impressions. Now I'm hooked. Just by looking at her in-game hair gives me a headache while it's still awesome-looking hair. I also love the way characters look at each other during the dialogue. Eyes are really focusing on the target which makes it a lot less uncanny.

Elithenia

really nice details Slosh  

slosh

FourtyNights: thanks!  i didn't really take into account the whole outcast vs tribe thing to be honest...I was just trying to make a cool outfit.  I did want it to reflect her Nora look more than other outfit styles she encounters in the game.

Elithenia:  Thanks Sanna!

So not much progress.  I added a headband and her focus.  I'm not sure if I will keep the headband or not.  She had one on a couple of her outfits I think along with much more elaborate headdresses.  I REALLY need to start the hair.

Chidambhar_Swaroop

Looks awesome....

Brian "Panda" Choi

@Optimus
This is just a high poly model.  I would think vert counts at this point of the process matters very little.

Sunray

Looks awesome just finding this thread now

slosh

Thanks guys!
Optimus:  I have no idea what the hires poly count is. 

Thanks Sunray

Unfortunately, this is on hold for the time being.  I hope to pick it up after a while.