Project Champion (REBOOT)

HaloAnimator

Good morning from Boston... been a while since I've posted on this forum (taken some time off from 3D), but I had something to share with you. Back in 2008, I started a personal fan service art work for a wonderful (but forgotten) 2D fighter called Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side. The purpose of this project is to familiarize myself with designing digital human characters that can move around fluidly within a fighting game environment, learn how to design levels and optimize for performance (using Unity3d), and utilise creation tools to create believable characters (with multiple costumes).


For my first model in this project, I started to create the character Trident, who is a gladiator from Atlantis, who was killed when his opponent cheated in a duel, causing his people to become forced to live underwater. So far, i have been working on it in Zbrush trying to get the proper anatomy until he is intimidating enough. The challenge will be getting the idea that he only has one hand and having to fit it into the gameplay. For graphics, I plan on using Diffuse, Spec, Normal, and cubemapping for metal parts.
Each image is a progress...nothing is complete. I was going to go with a very fish like face but decided to go for a human feel... still not happy with the body since i am going for a very olympian feel to him. Once the body is done, and retopologised, the right hand will be replaced with a long trident (no idea how this will work in a 3d fighter)


WARNING: MANY IMAGES! (in Order of Progress)













I am still working on the hands and tweaking the body shape until it feels natural. For the face, i am going for basically a "Don't fuck with me, or you will die a slow painful death" look. Still working on the first costume and proportions... C&C welcome.

Macattackk

Looking good. His knees seem a bit small and his ankles and wrists are kinda fat. His feet may be too big as well. Also his legs are too big in comparison to his torso.

Rockley Bonner

study anatomy a bit more.

HaloAnimator

@ macattack: hey man, thanks for the feedback...i've been working on this endlessly tweaking the proportions, and glad to have fresh eyes. I will go back to work on this.

@RJBonner: thank you for the draw over...i do need to reform parts of the body to make the model pop. I may make the model skinner since he can fight on land and sea. :thumbup: More to come. BTW, nice icon...funny as hell.

HaloAnimator

Hey everyone what's up? It's been a while since I am posted on this forum for this character (finally found some time to work on him), finally got to the real time phase with the shaders and texturing inside of Unity (textures and shaders still WIP). For the last few months I've been trying to get a nice look for him and I came to an interesting looking for him...

C&C would be awesome...still much work to be done. And I am still working on a shader for the weapon on his right arm. Stay Tuned

HaloAnimator

Hey everybody, just passing by with some work that i have been doing in some of my off time. Been learning more and more about the design and shading of real time models and details. Here are some renders of my gladiator within Unity 3, while the textures are still a work in progress as I need to optimise the shader a bit and add some nasty details to the texture

I would love your thoughts on this as I do want to add some progressive battle textures... I was thinking of adding a helmet, but the primary costume already has a helmet. Stay tuned, more to come

HaloAnimator

Hey, everybody, after a few months away from this project, I have come back to it full force with new images and progress... In these series of pictures, I have been working on improving the shader quality of my models and gaining an understanding of level design and planning.

Shaders -- For this exercise, I have been putting together shaders that can be used for general purpose as well for each prop in the game. In the following images, I am showing the quality that I will achieve while working on the characters, especially with normal mapping and reflective textures.






Level Design:

Now, this one was fun and challenging all at the same time... it took me a while to figure out the layout of the level and what was going to be in it. I also had to create shaders that made the island look lively and lush... now the level needs a few more touches like tiny pebbles and rocks strewn about, to make feel lived in. I am also adding some fish and a few aquatic creatures to seal the deal.

I will have to say that creating water, rocks, and foliage are very challenging, and it is important to get those right...

Enjoy the images, much more to come

HaloAnimator

What's up polycount...? After taking some time off to pursue other endeavours, I've finally come back with some new material... during my time off school, I've put together a new character... all starting with conceptual sketches and a load of fun...

I would like for you all to meet Xavier Pendragon (an interesting character from Eternal Champion), the alchemist who turned lead into, and found a way to get clean burning energy only for him to die because people thought he was a warlock... At this phase, I am nearly finished with the zbrush sculpting of his outfits (Dynamesh is a real lifesaver), and set on working on the in-game version once I finish the polypaint and texture arrangement. He still needs some tweaks but I am glad to have knocked this out over the weekend . Here are some renders of the character... and progress shots... Enjoy.

Zbrush Renders:







Unity Renders:

In this captures, I want to convey the character in his damage states... the textures are not final...I'm thinking of adding tears in the pants and arms of the costume to expose some skin underneath. Let me know what you think... . The triangle count on the models are between 22,000 and 24,000

HaloAnimator

Here are some more renders...



Unity Tests:




Here is a size comparison to another character



Damage States:

nathanbarrett

Great work!

Can I ask how you did the armour on your Gladiator? Did you export a low poly mesh of the guy and then model around it in a 3D modelling package, then import it back in?

HaloAnimator

Yup . That is exactly what I did on the gladiator... sure it made his polygon could jump to about 40,000 triangles, but for stuff like leather armour, you can be liberal with it... And exporting a mid high poly version to model clothes over, allows you to work with the near exact curvature of your figure...

All of this was before Dynamesh, and on the warlock, I used a completely dynamesh model to do the whole character...

HaloAnimator

Hey everyone, I have been away for awhile on my work, to focus on other endeavours, but I am back with some new progress on this model (I love when time away gives you a new perspective) with a lot of drastic changes to make this model more appealing. Instead of a flak jacket, I took him to more of a street cop feel... which for me allows more freedom of movement... (note some of these are a week old)





And here is a secondary version of this character (still very WIP and may end up changing it if I don't like it). And I also modelled his gun.











Desert Eagle in Unity using a custom made reflective shader



Here are some textured renders from xNormal. The gloss and specular textures look much different in Unity then here...and the texture work is not finished on this one...








Looking forward to feedback and suggestions... thanks.