Working on design for a minotaur character. This is also part of ongoing general art design work. I want to try and get character iteration time down by like 50% so I need to look at some ways to get away from realism. The struggle is is that realism is pretty much the only style I ever enjoyed. The minotaur will be a boss character. I want for him to feel strong, fast, intimidating, and smart.
Here are some silhouette concepts I've made and my thoughts on them: A - kind of like a water buffalo style. Not really into it, feels dopey B - pin head look. If minotaur was meant to be a dumbass this would be a good fit C - simplest shapes and long horns. I think this is top two. D - it's meh... E - not as good as C F - bad shapes G - pretty good, top two. I think down ears doesn't work as good as up ears like C H - thinner body, thicker head. kind of interesting style, reminds me of Aku from samurai jack for some reason.
I will probably work on the entire first batch of characters like this before getting back into 3d since I want to be sure that I have a consistent style. I will do front and side profiles, and once I settle on a consistent style then I will see if I can make a 3d version that just uses basic block modeling techniques + hand painted textures. I dont want to look as blocky as Synty assets, as an example, but I want to ensure I have that easy workflow and also have strong, distinctive silhouettes.
if anybody has some thoughts about silhouettes here please do share.
Working on design for a minotaur character. This is also part of ongoing general art design work. I want to try and get character iteration time down by like 50% so I need to look at some ways to get away from realism. The struggle is is that realism is pretty much the only style I ever enjoyed. The minotaur will be a boss character. I want for him to feel strong, fast, intimidating, and smart.
Here are some silhouette concepts I've made and my thoughts on them: A - kind of like a water buffalo style. Not really into it, feels dopey B - pin head look. If minotaur was meant to be a dumbass this would be a good fit C - simplest shapes and long horns. I think this is top two. D - it's meh... E - not as good as C F - bad shapes G - pretty good, top two. I think down ears doesn't work as good as up ears like C H - thinner body, thicker head. kind of interesting style, reminds me of Aku from samurai jack for some reason.
I will probably work on the entire first batch of characters like this before getting back into 3d since I want to be sure that I have a consistent style. I will do front and side profiles, and once I settle on a consistent style then I will see if I can make a 3d version that just uses basic block modeling techniques + hand painted textures. I dont want to look as blocky as Synty assets, as an example, but I want to ensure I have that easy workflow and also have strong, distinctive silhouettes.
if anybody has some thoughts about silhouettes here please do share.
Here's a few unconventional minotaurs that I liked,
Kai from kung fu panda Motaro minotaur version from Mortal Kombat
A miniature from warhammer
Berserk Anime - eh, similar to above, though I don't know if I should say the characters name since its major spoilers. I recommend watching the whole anime it might influence the direction of your game.
How much larger is the minotaur going to be compared to the player, since I think this will influence the direction of the silhouette. Like the pin head look is what gives the colossal titan from Attack on titan its collassalness
From your silhouettes A - looks like a gundam proportion wise (robo look) B - Might look more imposing if he was massive C - I like the simple shapes, looks intimidating, (robo look) D - I like the shorter legs, the torso looks fuller E - Feels a bit stocky F - Looks balanced G - very Berserk Anime (caution serious spoilers if you google the character) H - Does look more stylized
height will be like 2.5 ish meters but I may push it more. have to get model in game and see. I just start from "real" size and then exaggerate if it doesn't feel intimidating enough in the game. I always disliked in games when enemies are so enormous but the fact is, I want players to fear him so if making him 10 stories high is necessary I will consider it.
For the style I mostly want to stick to historical examples, just making minor modifications to the shape and colors to put my own flavor on things. Thanks for your initial impressions on these, it helps a lot to see what others think.
height will be like 2.5 ish meters but I may push it more. have to get model in game and see. I just start from "real" size and then exaggerate if it doesn't feel intimidating enough in the game. I always disliked in games when enemies are so enormous but the fact is, I want players to fear him so if making him 10 stories high is necessary I will consider it.
For the style I mostly want to stick to historical examples, just making minor modifications to the shape and colors to put my own flavor on things. Thanks for your initial impressions on these, it helps a lot to see what others think.
I think it also comes down to how the player will defeat him, since bow is the main weapon maybe evasion while pumping with arrows followed by a finisher with a blade. the little legs, chunky torso and head are good for charging attacks and solid punches, but a stocky pyramid like appearance might be good for stomping and kicking
yeah that is something to think about that i hadn't got to yet. His silhouette should work well during his common locomotion and attack animations, and also communicate how he will move/attack. I hadn't got that deep in the character, more just thinking about art style in general, but I should probably back up and maybe do this design exercise with a character whose moveset is already known. Since the main thing I try to do right now is simplify the models in general. big thanks @NikhilR
yeah that is something to think about that i hadn't got to yet. His silhouette should work well during his common locomotion and attack animations, and also communicate how he will move/attack. I hadn't got that deep in the character, more just thinking about art style in general, but I should probably back up and maybe do this design exercise with a character whose moveset is already known. Since the main thing I try to do right now is simplify the models in general. big thanks @NikhilR
Happy to help! I also want to get more into character design and this talk really helped out in how to go about ideation, https://youtu.be/UthCuDB1IEQ
Okay finished an experiment to go for more stylization with the characters. I built a new model for the main hero character. This time I only did basic low poly modeling and just flat colors for materials. Just push and pull vertices in maya, no sculpting or complicated workflow.
The minotaur model is the original sculpt that I called "pinhead" but actually getting him in a mock level and viewing in relation to the character, I dont think he looks like a dumbass any more. He's pretty cool. But I think I will still go through the exercise of building a simple, no normal map, more stylized low poly model like I have done for the hero. Then I can compare. Overall though, I think going for this style of characters will work better because it keeps me more in the fun zone and simplifies art workflow considerably.
Okay, next I will work on texturing for this new stylized character style. She is going to be covered in tattoos but the major goal is to find a way to do that texturing that looks cool and allows me to just focus on overall design and not get bogged down with details. So I think probably mostly flat colors with some subtle gradients, no high detail noise or anything like that.
NSFW (historical nudity)
For the outfit I just base it on the famous statue. Not sure if I actually follow through on the tits out theme or not. I kind of want to because I feel like it makes her more badass. But you know, people are sensitive about body parts.
I feel that maybe I've gone a touch too far with proportions of legs to torso?
My design goal for this character is for her to feel agile and fast and scrappy. If she was an animal she would be like a gazelle. Both an endurance runner but also can jump like crazy and has crazy reflexes.
I think it mostly works to that effect?
Not sure about the little accessories, but I figured some tassle / fur stuff to bounce a little while she moves might look nice
That looks awesome! The setting and mood really adds depth to the presentation of the minotaur. I especially like the shot of the character between its legs. You could try with the other silhouettes, though this one does look great as is. He's got a good arc going, and the head seems to be sized right
Would he have a weapon? Might be good to check with a weapon in hand since some large weapons can take away from the focus.
I feel the character looks proportionate, very gazelle, seems very agile, you should have a moveset that reflects that. Elf like, check out the battles between legolas and trolls and orcs in LOTR and hobbit
And I do think you can use your camera to great effect, having it zoom in close as you aim and pull out as you let go adds a lot of depth to the impact of the shot. And sound is important to. Some references,
Okay, no update on this project for a minute because been working on an update for an older game and it takes a lot longer than I hoped. But its nearly complete so I have been returning to this.
I have been working on scheduling more than anything. After preproduction and then actually doing production task for awhile, getting a pretty clear picture that the timeframe is going to be tough to finish in two years. But I want to finish closer to one. So I chopped down the scope to a smaller version, but keeping the same core gameplay I've already built.
One of the biggest time sinks is the art though so I am working on further simplifying that. It is very difficult for me to do stylized as I just never really got into it even when I was a kid, however for the sake of keeping a manageable schedule I think its just got to be done. But there is one cartoon I liked a lot, even though I actually discovered it as an adult. That was Samurai Jack. Not sure why it clicked for me when others didn't, but like many people I just loved its minimalist style.
So I am working on making something that looks like that. Using an unlit rendering style and stylized characters. So far I've remade the amazon heroine and also did a minotaur character. next I will work on a small level diorama. The nice thing is that each of these characters only takes about 10-20 hours to complete - going from concept all the way to animated in the engine. And then making changes to them is very simple. So that's a nice bonus. And with unlit rendering style, maintaining performance is too easy. some clipping on the skirt but nevermind that for the moment, I did a quick rig for now but will simulate the skirt and hair eventually
For the base mesh I started from the Bitgem basemesh which is like, a decade or more old and made for mobile games. But it's good! Monsters like the minotaur have to be made from scratch, but usualyl i just find anything close-ish in shape and do a quick retopo over that with very low resolution.
Idea is that probably most of the games characters and even enviro assets can derive from a simple texture like this: For some environment stuff I use a world projected overlay, like for brick wall pattern, and I have some simple gradients as well.
Replies
The minotaur will be a boss character. I want for him to feel strong, fast, intimidating, and smart.
Here are some silhouette concepts I've made and my thoughts on them:
A - kind of like a water buffalo style. Not really into it, feels dopey
B - pin head look. If minotaur was meant to be a dumbass this would be a good fit
C - simplest shapes and long horns. I think this is top two.
D - it's meh...
E - not as good as C
F - bad shapes
G - pretty good, top two. I think down ears doesn't work as good as up ears like C
H - thinner body, thicker head. kind of interesting style, reminds me of Aku from samurai jack for some reason.
I will probably work on the entire first batch of characters like this before getting back into 3d since I want to be sure that I have a consistent style. I will do front and side profiles, and once I settle on a consistent style then I will see if I can make a 3d version that just uses basic block modeling techniques + hand painted textures.
I dont want to look as blocky as Synty assets, as an example, but I want to ensure I have that easy workflow and also have strong, distinctive silhouettes.
if anybody has some thoughts about silhouettes here please do share.
Kai from kung fu panda
Motaro minotaur version from Mortal Kombat
A miniature from warhammer
Berserk Anime - eh, similar to above, though I don't know if I should say the characters name since its major spoilers.
I recommend watching the whole anime it might influence the direction of your game.
How much larger is the minotaur going to be compared to the player, since I think this will influence the direction of the silhouette.
Like the pin head look is what gives the colossal titan from Attack on titan its collassalness
https://attackontitan.fandom.com/wiki/Colossal_Titan_(Anime)
From your silhouettes
A - looks like a gundam proportion wise (robo look)
B - Might look more imposing if he was massive
C - I like the simple shapes, looks intimidating, (robo look)
D - I like the shorter legs, the torso looks fuller
E - Feels a bit stocky
F - Looks balanced
G - very Berserk Anime (caution serious spoilers if you google the character)
H - Does look more stylized
Also for your bow mechanics check this out,
https://www.sca.org/resources/martial-activities/combat-archery/
https://tesalliance.org/forums/index.php?/files/file/514-duke-patricks-combat-archery/&
And the game mount and blade is your friend
height will be like 2.5 ish meters but I may push it more. have to get model in game and see. I just start from "real" size and then exaggerate if it doesn't feel intimidating enough in the game. I always disliked in games when enemies are so enormous but the fact is, I want players to fear him so if making him 10 stories high is necessary I will consider it.
For the style I mostly want to stick to historical examples, just making minor modifications to the shape and colors to put my own flavor on things. Thanks for your initial impressions on these, it helps a lot to see what others think.
the little legs, chunky torso and head are good for charging attacks and solid punches, but a stocky pyramid like appearance might be good for stomping and kicking
big thanks @NikhilR
The minotaur model is the original sculpt that I called "pinhead" but actually getting him in a mock level and viewing in relation to the character, I dont think he looks like a dumbass any more. He's pretty cool. But I think I will still go through the exercise of building a simple, no normal map, more stylized low poly model like I have done for the hero. Then I can compare. Overall though, I think going for this style of characters will work better because it keeps me more in the fun zone and simplifies art workflow considerably.
Okay, next I will work on texturing for this new stylized character style. She is going to be covered in tattoos but the major goal is to find a way to do that texturing that looks cool and allows me to just focus on overall design and not get bogged down with details. So I think probably mostly flat colors with some subtle gradients, no high detail noise or anything like that.
NSFW (historical nudity)
For the outfit I just base it on the famous statue. Not sure if I actually follow through on the tits out theme or not. I kind of want to because I feel like it makes her more badass. But you know, people are sensitive about body parts.
I feel that maybe I've gone a touch too far with proportions of legs to torso?
My design goal for this character is for her to feel agile and fast and scrappy. If she was an animal she would be like a gazelle. Both an endurance runner but also can jump like crazy and has crazy reflexes.
I think it mostly works to that effect?
Not sure about the little accessories, but I figured some tassle / fur stuff to bounce a little while she moves might look nice
The setting and mood really adds depth to the presentation of the minotaur.
I especially like the shot of the character between its legs.
You could try with the other silhouettes, though this one does look great as is. He's got a good arc going, and the head seems to be sized right
Would he have a weapon? Might be good to check with a weapon in hand since some large weapons can take away from the focus.
I feel the character looks proportionate, very gazelle, seems very agile, you should have a moveset that reflects that.
Elf like, check out the battles between legolas and trolls and orcs in LOTR and hobbit
And I do think you can use your camera to great effect, having it zoom in close as you aim and pull out as you let go adds a lot of depth to the impact of the shot. And sound is important to.
Some references,
I have been working on scheduling more than anything. After preproduction and then actually doing production task for awhile, getting a pretty clear picture that the timeframe is going to be tough to finish in two years. But I want to finish closer to one.
So I chopped down the scope to a smaller version, but keeping the same core gameplay I've already built.
One of the biggest time sinks is the art though so I am working on further simplifying that. It is very difficult for me to do stylized as I just never really got into it even when I was a kid, however for the sake of keeping a manageable schedule I think its just got to be done. But there is one cartoon I liked a lot, even though I actually discovered it as an adult. That was Samurai Jack. Not sure why it clicked for me when others didn't, but like many people I just loved its minimalist style.
So I am working on making something that looks like that. Using an unlit rendering style and stylized characters. So far I've remade the amazon heroine and also did a minotaur character. next I will work on a small level diorama.
The nice thing is that each of these characters only takes about 10-20 hours to complete - going from concept all the way to animated in the engine. And then making changes to them is very simple. So that's a nice bonus.
And with unlit rendering style, maintaining performance is too easy.
some clipping on the skirt but nevermind that for the moment, I did a quick rig for now but will simulate the skirt and hair eventually
For the base mesh I started from the Bitgem basemesh which is like, a decade or more old and made for mobile games. But it's good! Monsters like the minotaur have to be made from scratch, but usualyl i just find anything close-ish in shape and do a quick retopo over that with very low resolution.
Idea is that probably most of the games characters and even enviro assets can derive from a simple texture like this:
For some environment stuff I use a world projected overlay, like for brick wall pattern, and I have some simple gradients as well.