Sketchbook: BlueBlankey
polycounter lvl 6
Thought this would be a good place to document model progress, if a literal snail in a marathon counts as "progress".
I don't really have plans for working in the industry, but I do have some animations floating around in the head, and will do what it takes to get them.
[all models are made exclusively with Sketchup, since apparently I have the patience to work with low-level geometry but none for software with learning curves]
Things I've been working on for quite awhile (but not quite finished)-
Replies
Procedural Tanks
Inktober 2019
Sketching
+More hecking unfinished model concepts
(personally getting kind of bored of the untextured stuff)
Maybe though look into blender and give that a go? seems to be the next big thing, a lot of people are moving to so get on it before it becomes the new hotness and it leaves everyone in the background. It is usually what happens with trends and its free (for now.)
Researched around and found some good ways to make a blog and proper a game design doc, but I'll stew on it until I have something actually useful to say, this one is good enough for now.
-I found out forcing myself to do my own things just doesn't work, it just makes more anxiety with no payoff. Having a goal oriented/progressive approach rapidly outstripped my actual skill level. It was worth doing though to open my eyes to where motivation actually comes from, and that I totally forgot why I started doing this in the first place.
I see now I need a "producer" mentality rather than a "consumer" mentality. Give to the world just because; stop being so stuffy/pedantic and just make cool stuff. Still serious business, but all in good time.
+some old and new stuff to get the creativity going
Spent some effort making a mechanimal at the "target aesthetic" for testing how many polys I can actually get away with in realtime. It's poly ready for UVs and rigging so it'll be something actually nice for once.
It might be too high poly for the gameplay I'm going for but it'll be a good platform for experimental dynamisms.
The UV mapping was a nightmare but the worst is over- test render to celebrate and figure out material direction
Long time no post, a lot has happened in the last few months. I've finally pulled the trigger and uprooted myself and started college, a short 2 year degree for game design just to jump start what I should be doing at this point. I apologize for putting so many renders per post so I'll keep it short.
I've resolved to change my lifestyle and center it around the completion of large projects in a structured way this fall. It's a never ending cycle of supposed epiphanies and frustrating realizations, so I no longer hold claims as promises. All I know is that the planets have aligned and this could be what I've been searching for a very long time.
i like it, it's a lot of fun. i look forward to seeing how this type of approach grows. you most certainly are exposed to lots of useful challenges and technique discoveries all at once with densely detailed models like these.
@killnpc Thanks, the modeling process I've leaned into is low-level and automatic. It offloads a lot of decision making willpower but has a problem with making things polished or usable. I tried applying more willpower to the process but it slowed it down too much, and I tried just making things for fun but then the models lacked meaning or direction.
I finally got the space I need to treat this more like a job than a hobby, so what I think will work is finding a way to mix and habitualize both low level procedure and high level planning. Kind of like authoring a well planned word prompt for an AI generator, or prepping a windup toy and carefully pointing it in the right direction.
I have lots of theories on how to split it, but one of the things I've learned from everything so far is that planning and improvising are not mutually exclusive. It's better not to pen yourself in and structure everything ahead of time, wind up the toy and trust it'll find its way 🙂
some begin with pencil, some ink, some clay, some through art history, comics, video games, anime, some graffiti. the best art teachers always said, the natural process was the best process. every ingress, into art, has a strength and a weakness. what matters is to be creative with what you learn.
This thread is very difficult to load but I haven't found the time to consolidate it, and I should be making long posts like this on a personal website but haven't found the time for that either. Either way though, things are going exactly as I'd hoped with a large amount of experiences and connections in a short amount of time. It's invigorating to finally be on the right path 💚
Cool mechs, look super complicated, with all these works, you should make a game around the world you created here already. All the best with your direction, last one looks HQ perhaps there is a market for that kind of work.
@iam717 Thanks, I'm studying game development and will make a prototype before assembling a team/studio. I've done a few commissions and the market is definitely there, but I sidetracked it to avoid becoming "too specialized" for now. These are all pretty procedural and I'm looking forward to some more cerebral/larger things soon.
Perhaps a single image will be a nice change of pace, wanted to try some actual worldbuilding
Hit a few month snag with covid/depression/loneliness the usual human roadblocks, school is proving to be a lot easier than I was expecting so I'll take it as an opportunity to resume finding "hills to die on" as it were. I had my first true taste of success by being flown out to multiple places involving the things I've been making, but I'm still temporarily rejecting the role of concept designer in pursuit of being an indie developer. I'm hoping I can prove it to myself and others again by finishing something big.
(One more small thing)
"The game" will start with its movement system, beginning with one of its more mobile characters to prototype gameplay without the need for vehicles
The vehicles are more complex and will have to be done later with what's learned from simpler mechs, they will all use Unreal's in-engine rigging and procedural systems for limb placement
I was about to pull the trigger on "the beast" to force a completion, but opted instead to focus on it's antagonist first to tie multiple projects together (the link between movement system, beast, castle)
One of the largest antagonist machines will have gameplay loops relevant to the end-game, so it will have to be part of the prototype
I invested in an RTX 4060 to get decent frames in Ue5 with dynamic lighting, with the target being to make a modular kit for assembling moving cities. This one will have to wait until after what's learned from the antagonist, then it'll be a tossup between this one and the beast, unless a level design project intervenes.