Hi guys,
I've decided to give this a pop (though I'm not sure that my ability extends far enough...)
I'm going to be doing the
Pyro (giggety!)
My theme is
Harlequin.
So far I have a hat (in progress):
The Motley Crown
(738 Triangles)
a modified Flamethrower (in progress) and a solid idea for the melee weapon (to be made).
Also considering a misc. item if time allows, a cowel to be worn around his neck, but only if the rest goes ok.
Any suggestions, criticisms, advice would be gratefully recieved. I should point out that I've only just started modelling (about 4 days ago) and am new to this so please be on the patronising side of simplistic advice
Cheers
Replies
Team fortress is not ready for the existence of purple.
I second this post.
Might look better if you tried to go after the look of Harley Quinn (From Batman)
The hat is going to be based on this:
the colours will be Red or Blue (team dependant) and then Orange/yellow as in the colour swatch. Also thinking of a Flamethrower skin with a harlequin head on the end. Much like the backburner but the bust of a harlequin holding a flame (candle/torch) and blowing.
What do you think?
TL;DR - NO PURPLE!
to make it less eye-rape?
Eye-rape is good but yes, just been mocking up some (VERY) rough colour schemes and this is what I'm going to work on for now:
Thoughts?
Edit: The bells may be gold instead of team coloured
And here's an EARLY work in progress shot of the skin:
As before, advice, feedback etc. welcome. Feel free to comment
*EDIT* Also come up with beta names for the Jester hat and the flamethrower:
Hat - The Motley Crown
Flamethrower - The Cackling Conflagration
I'm not saying you're wrong and please don't think that but I can't see anywhere in the rules that it states we can't use the original meshes as part of the weapon. The reason I have chosen to do it this way is because the backburner model (when viewed in the Source SDK viewer) is just the addition to the edge of the cone.
Would you kindly show me where this has been stipulated? Again, please don't take offence, I'm simply seeking cllarification before abandoning/overhauling this idea.
Cheers
Sorry for being a pain guys, your input is appreciated :thumbup:
I've sent an email for confirmation of what we were discussing last night.
Until then here's the progress I'm making on the Cackling Conflagration and the Motley Crown:
As you can see the shape of the face is really starting to come together on the flamethrower. Next job is the nose which I think is really going to make this come alive. Then the eyes, arm and so on.
The Jester hat:
I've made a completely new attempt from the first try. You can see I've made the crown part smaller, the cones closer together and longer/more rounded and i've modelled the bells properly *NOTE* the purple is still a reference colour, not representative of the finished product!
What do you think? Is this starting to come together or should I go jump off a bridge and save the electricity? :P
No idea TBH :poly141: I'm not sure how to check (I'm VERY new to this) but that is a heavily rounded render of the hat. I can always scale it back if it's too far past.
If you wouldn't mind explaining to me I would love to know... I'm using 3DS max if that's any help.
I don't suppose anybody would care to comment on the idea itself?
Much criticism but no acual opinion about the theme or item ideas themselves. Some feedback from a theoretical standpoint would be nice...
I'm not sure, but it should be the non-numeric keypad number 7, that should show the polys.
I would disagree... I have 3 solid ideas here from the Harlequin theme (which also incorperates Jester as the generic Harlequin is based on a medievil Jester). All of them fit the Harlequin theme as well as the Pyro's character (random/crazy).
I'm not saying you're wrong but I don't understand why you feel this is restrictive. If you'd care to elaborate then I'd be more than happy to listen and take on board your suggestions.
Ok, I see what you mean now. I think half of the point of the Jester's face is that it doesn't make sense, it's just supposed to scare the S*** out of you when you see it running towards you spewing flames. As for the mechanical (manical ) working's, I'm still working that through concept art but initial thoughts are that it's going to tie in with a carousel-type feel (think old, Victorian fairground carousel.) It may make more sense when you see some sketches of it.
With regards to the theme, Harlequins tend to be a part of theatrical (as you mentioned) imagery which is commenly associated with old-style fairgrounds (think Punch & Judy, Blackpool beach etc.)
Does that make any more sense now? Or am I going too far off the wagon?!
I like the idea of a carousel/carnival ride inspired flamethrower and don't think it needs a huge joker face on it to be good.
It's a good idea, thank you for the feedback - it's actually really nice to get some constructive criticism without just being told "It's crap!" so cheers.
I'm going to have a play with some ideas this afternoon, check back later and see what you think
See... Even when it's not finished (not even close) it's still scary. Mission accomplished
I've been working onthe Cackling Conflagration, 'finished' the nose for now, I'm happy with it but it is subject to change. Gonna get the hat in there tonight and then start on the Cowl and Arm. Here's what it looks like so far:
Also going to start working on the Melee weapon later tonight/early tomorrow and begin thinking about texturing.
Also, I recieved an email from Robin Walker in which he let me know that my idea here (using the flamethrower base as a mesh) is allowed. I wouldn't take that as gospel that anything can be used/copied for any purpose but I'm actually thinking about re-designing the Flamethrower anyway
edit: also I'm not trying to diss, but going behind polycounts contest management's back and ask Robin is a bit nasty imo. we pretty much all decided it has to be modeled from scratch, I think its even in the rules.
hey,
I was wondering this myself... I can't see that in the rules anywhere
, and page 2 of the Q&A has someone asking that, but not being given an official answer, can you quote the relevant bit please?
1) "He sets things on fire"
2) "Fearsome"
3) "Frankenstein"
There are other examples, but we wouldn't want to turn this into an essay on themology.
1) In carnivals around the world, there are many acts involving the use of fire. Juggling with it, Fire-'eating', general pyromania.
2) I quote another user in this thread: "I find the flamethrower pretty unsettling". Pyro is fearsome. Flamethrower is unsettling.
3) Frankenstein --> freakshow --> dark carnival.
That's three points that indicate this theme fits in fine with the pyro's character...
I think this theme fits the Pyro very well; it's dark and gritty, it's a little bit crazy which seems to be a recurring theme through the Pyro's unlocks, also - Pyromania = Mental Disorder, crazy, off the wall etc.
I emailed Robin Walker because I hadn't recieved any clarification, I'd recieved 2 different, conflicting responses which didn't answer the question. There was no mal-intent, it wasn't being nasty to Polycount or anyone else, I was seeking clarification because I was told that what I was doing was not elegible for this contest. It is not in the rules that it all has to be modelled from scratch, had you read them (and this thread) then that would have been obvious.
don't forget this part of the rules:
also. it's not a clown SUIT
Awesome, it should be more scary though...
Here's a couple of current screenies:
I'm really happy with how this is starting to look
Here's some screenies:
What do you think?
What do you think of the hat? I, personally, would like this for the pyro in game. Would you?
Mesh smooths are usually a nono
As i've said previously I'm very new to this, it's been 6 days since I started learning so I'm still getting there.
806 is around 800... I can't see anybody complaining. Additionally, it doesn't add any polygona to smooth this (according to 3DS max).
Any advice/tips you could give me to help?
I'm seeing a potential problem, if you are fairly new then I am going to assume that by polies you are indeed talking about polies not triangles, the hats need to be kept to around 800 triangles. A poly (in most sense) is either a single triangle or a quad which = 2 triangles. so 802 Polies is probably quite a bit over the alloted triangle count.
Out of curiosity I imported the hat into TF2 to see how it would look in game and came across a problem, see the following shots:
This is how the hat looks when rendered in 3DS max but when I use it in game, this happens:
I apologise that I have no clue of what I'm doing.
Can anybody tell me why this is happening or how to fix it?
Is it because I have textured the whole hat (including the parts that can't be seen)?
Any help is gratefully recieved
Screenies:
Suggestions, comments, criticism?
The hat is finished. Texture is going to be worked on a little but the model is essentially done, in game and looks good
So what do you think?
I've had a play with jigglebones but can't seem to get that working very well at all. If anybody knows enough to help with that then I'd be very grateful.
Also, any advances on colour/positioning on head etc? Any asthetic changes you can think of that may help?
Yea, I saw the post someone made about texturing and intend to give it a whirl. As you can see this is just solid colours and could look better. Thanks for the support though, really appreciated
Newer model looks good, get an AO back on there, and paint in some brush strokes and you're good as gravy
Had a little trouble with the AO baking but it's fixed now:
This has meant that I need to re-texture but that was being re-done with the brush strokes anyway. So, Watch this space!
Edit: Retextured:
And a BLU texture:
Is there any way that I can make the bells reflective without affecting the rest of the hat?
Could someone either help or point me in the right direction? Please