[Prop] Sonic-esque critter container

DLoud

So I'm working on this indy project with some guys I know. It's kind of a spin off from the sonic platformers. Some people might recognize the prop from the game. Basically after defeating a boss in sonic, you run over and jump on this container, it blows open, and frees all the critters. Same concept here.

We've done our own take on it. Hope you like it. C & C is of course welcome

Sean VanGorder

Few things jump out at me. For the texture, the normal map isn't translating very well when the diffuse map is applied, mainly on the small details such as the rivets and the black strip things. You can help that by deepening them in photoshop, and also by using the spec map to bring out the normals more. Use a tool like the nvidia filter or nDo to create a cavity map from your normal map that you can overlay on your diffuse and spec to help bring out the edges.

Also, you can drastically reduce the tri count on the low poly model. The main body of the model could almost be a plain cylinder with no height segments. It looks like you have a lot of edges in there to define the dents in the model. Since they aren't really noticeably changing the silhouette of the model at all, you can get rid of those edges and let the normal map define the damage.


Hope this helps, keep it up.

Polygoblin

Sweet model I couldn't wait to hop on these things at the end of the level, but then you have all these little rodents running around, and rodents arn't cool

SeanEG wrote: »

Also, you can drastically reduce the tri count on the low poly model. The main body of the model could almost be a plain cylinder with no height segments. It looks like you have a lot of edges in there to define the dents in the model. Since they aren't really noticeably changing the silhouette of the model at all, you can get rid of those edges and let the normal map define the damage.

I believe those edges are for the shattering effect after it "blows open", correct?

I really like the design, but it is a bit wasteful in a few areas. A little late for that now, but.... Areas that I can immediately see wasting polys: Jumper-cable clamp grips, Holes in wheels on backside of "generator", bevels on everything. Some of these areas could still be addressed easily, and reduce your count by over a 1,000. Fyi

The texture looks well done. The spec could use more contrast, but the only real thing that bothers me is the black outline on the duct tape. If you're looking to separate it from the container surface, try boosting the spec and adding some soft grid texture like duct tape has. It should blend much better without the outline.

Sean VanGorder

Polygoblin wrote: »

I believe those edges are for the shattering effect after it "blows open", correct?

Color me corrected

There are still some areas that could be optimized further, as Polygoblin pointed out.

aajohnny

I think it looks good, I feel the warning sign takes away from it a bit though. I think it should be painted on maybe. Otherwise its really awesome.

DLoud

great feedback guys! I see what you mean about the polycount. I was trying to retain as much detail from the high poly as possible as well as assist with the normal baking process

Details held up quite well. But agreed, polycount is too high. I'm going back through and doing some cleanup now.

Also, I pushed the normal map a bit and it really seems to be helping.

I'll post some more images in a bit.

popngear

I remembering driving down to seattle to pickup Sonic The Hedgehog when it first came out. I bought it for 60USD which at the time was probably like 100CDN when converted lol. Good times. Anyways, cool looking rendition; Very interesting to see this content taken to a more realistic approach and I recognized it instantly. Here are some things I noticed:

1) the 2 bands that are reinforcing/holding the machine together look rather large for what it is. Maybe it's because I'm not a contractor, but I've only seen those made in much smaller sizes so it seems a bit odd.

2) The rivets also look extremely large. Scaling those down will help bring up the scale of the container.

3) The cable for the jump starters look like they are defying gravity. Those cables are usually very thick and heavy so having the curve arch the other way (drooping) might make more sense.

4) Where the yellow pipes on the right sight meet at the base could use some kind of contact texture (fake AO, grime or whatever)

5) IIRC, in the game you jump on the red part and it acts as a button but it doesn't look like it can be pressed right now because there are things in the way. This is nitpicky, but hey I like the game

6) I agree that the sign as separate geometry floating on top is a bit weird but only because there's no visual explanation as to how it's being held up.

7) The rope is not making contact with the container in a few places.

Well, it kinda looks like I ragged on your piece but actually they are all very very minor things to an otherwise great piece of work. My favourite part is probably the support legs; They have a very heavy and weighted feeling which is perfect. Anyways, those are my 2 cents...well maybe 4 cents.

/c

DLoud

So I went through and made a bunch of changes, some subtle, some significant. Poly count has been significantly reduced without hardly any noticeable changes to the model.

@SeanEG - you were right about the geometry. The plan is to substitute separate meshes for the explosion effect. This model doesn't need to be broken down like that.

-It went from 10.8k tris to 7,567 tris. (removed extra geometry in the tank, removed bevels, and extra edge loops to some of the cylindical objects)
-Normal map was strengthened to add more depth.
-Added some fabric-like noise to the duct tape to make it read a bit better.
-Some minor scratches were added to the bolts to make them pop a bit more.

I really appreciate all of the feedback everyone gave. However the model is too far along to make it worth going back and changing some of the significant things some people mentioned.

Final shots are below. Hope everyone likes them.

Polygoblin

Love the re-touches, man. Can't notice any loss in detail, and the poly count is ALOT more reasonable Great work, mate

megalmn2000

Nice update! Now the faces are more readable than a lot of triangles!