Tesla's Blunderbuss [WIP]

Polygoblin

The following is my entry to GA's speed modeling competition.

Here are the competition guidelines, and info. Want to participate?

Tesla's Blunderbuss
3,400 tris



Still working on the piping and generator, but after that, I'll use the rest of the polys on polish.

...unless, of course, I hear a good suggestion

As always, C&C is welcomed and encouraged.
Thanks for taking the time to view my thread.

NOTE: Here are my reference maps. Feel free to save the steampunk blunderbuss map for your personal use during the competition (if you decide to enter)

SinisterUrge

very cool idea. I'm a big fan of Tesla, that's what bought my attention.

Polygoblin

SinisterUrge wrote: »

I'm a big fan of Tesla, that's what bought my attention.

Throughout this project, I have become quite a fan myself. The guy was quite a character His legendary fued with Thomas Edison was epic. Ever think he invented anything to "take care of" his arch nemesis? I do

If you've never seen "The Prestige", I would suggest it. Nikola Tesla has an interesting role.

Polygoblin

@Dado - Thanks. I made an adjustment

Here is my finished low poly mesh. 5870 Tris






I am still working on the high res, and should finish soon. UVs will be done shortly after.

I really like these speed modeling challenges. I'm learning alot!

Final submission coming soon...

SHEPEIRO

too many loops in each "canister" compared to the errrrrr "coil" and the barrel, at least at the sections that create the silhouette, divide these and it looks like youve got a winner

Polygoblin

@SHEPEIRO - Thanks I salvaged the polys necessary to round it out.

Tesla's Blunderbuss - 5995 Tris

Ok, so here is what I can show off at the time of submission. I spent too much time doing the high poly and didn't finish the UVs first, like a smart guy would. Soooo I guess I'm eliminated The UVs (as of now) are done, but not arranged. Jeez, what a stupid mistake to make.











*Edit - The steam generators are missing in the low poly screencaps. I rushed to the library (no internet at home), and didnt notice them missing until it was too late. Sorry, I'll show it when I finish and upload the last set of updates.*

Because of my ill-advised workflow, I could not finish. Next time I'm going to do the high poly first, like I've seen many other artists do. I am going to finish this anyways, on my own time. I'm nearly finished, so after I do the embellishments in ZBrush, I should be set.

Polygoblin

Decided to finish and get a submission up in hopes that the deadline would be flexible. Looks like that was a good idea The deadline was pushed back.

Tesla's Blunderbuss - 5987 Tris

- Final Submission -

Still have to bake the normals and create the embellishments, wood grain, and stuff in ZBrush. It won't be up in time for voting, though

Polygoblin

Question: Is it considered "unprofessional" to use basic colored shaders when displaying your model early on (before texture work)? I thought it would define the material type(s), but noticed that I'm the only one doing it. If you are unsure of what I'm talking about, check out my earlier screencaps.

Thanx

Progg

To me personally.... shading the model in blank basic hues is distracting to the model itself. I usually display untextured models in a neutral grey so the emphasis is on the modeling and not the color choice. But I guess that it is all opinion.

Polygoblin

@Progg - I agree, and will surely keep that in mind the next time. I'm sure it can be efficient, but only when used with colors that don't contrast as much. Thanks for your opinion. Looking back, I was wondering if that was a problem.

Polygoblin

Base colors with baked base normal map

Emil Mujanovic

Really interesting design you have there. I'm a huge Tesla fan so I'll definitely be following your progress.
Looking forward to seeing your final textures and good luck with the comp.

teaandcigarettes

Tesla makes everything awesome. Don't forget to put "Edison is a piece of ham" somewhere on it, though :poly122:

I am liking the design so far, but you could try to make those cylindrical shapes a little bit rounder. A couple more tris certainly wouldn't hurt.

Looking forward to seeing it finished.

etb342

Hey Polygoblin,

First of all, I'm jealous of this design and idea. You can have some serious fun with anything relating to Tesla.

The forms you've used all over the model offer a great silohouette...especially that weird squiggly offshoot on the bottom. My only critique right now is that, looking at this with fresh eyes, it still reads heavily as a steampunk device. In fact, I wouldn't guess that this gun fired electricity except for the name of it. Maybe start to move away from valves and tanks (which implies that the mechanics of the gun uses gas pressure to operate) and start looking at electrical devices to sell that this thing will fry opponents with a bolt of lightning. Steampunk is a great influence and all but you need to remember that steampunk relies on alot of spun copper and other doo-dads that probably would be ill advised for an electro-gun. Those components would be awfully conductive...

Mark Dygert

lookin pretty good nice work so far

The only beef I have with it is that its a weapon which would probably be viewed the first person viewport? If so the design looks like it would eat up so much screen real estate it would drive people crazy.

The materials still look pretty WIP so I'll hold off on commenting until you get them more finalized. Looking good, keep up the great work!

Kitteh

If your stock is supposed to be wood, it looks much closer to leather. It's too yellow and the texture is too uniform, and it lacks wood grain. I think your brass material is a bit too yellowish. Also, if this is a third person model (which I'm led to believe it is by the blockiness of some large parts), I'd say a 2048x2048 is overkill.

Cool concept, though.

Polygoblin

etb342 wrote: »

... Maybe start to move away from valves and tanks (which implies that the mechanics of the gun uses gas pressure to operate) and start looking at electrical devices to sell that this thing will fry opponents with a bolt of lightning. Steampunk is a great influence and all but you need to remember that steampunk relies on alot of spun copper and other doo-dads that probably would be ill advised for an electro-gun.

The competition guidelines states it has to be a steampunk style. I am planning to add finer details to the normal map in Photoshop to help define how it handles the powerful electricity (via rubber and wiring). Was thinking about adding a few small lightning rods and stuff...

Vig wrote: »

The only beef I have with it is that its a weapon which would probably be viewed the first person viewport? If so the design looks like it would eat up so much screen real estate it would drive people crazy.

The dials, lights, and gauges are supposed to form a basic HUD by telling you pressure levels, electricity generated, overheat warnings, etc. I will be sure to "clean up" the first-person view a bit



Thank you for your critiques, everybody! I am revising a few things that were suggested, and will put some more work into the diffuse and normal maps before I post more screencaps. To help train myself, I will start to keep track of my progress with a stopwatch.

Time spent revising so far : 60 minutes

Polygoblin

Rounded some areas out a bit, and tightened up the "aiming view" by lowering the generator system a few inches. Working on bake errors. Think its caused by the UVs. Couldn't figure it out, so I uploaded my progress to keep myself motivated. Hard to find time to work these days.





Also decided to lose the copper "coils". Good idea? Any recommendations?