TF2 Baby Dragon Pyro Upgrade Weapon

hottrod_x

This is my MOD weapon of a baby dragon for the Pyro in TF2. I have it here next to the Pyro's actual flamethrower I decompiled for proper placement of hand grips and overall alignment. I just wanted to get a couple critiques on it before I unwrap it and send it in. Please let me know what you think? Thanks!

Baddcog

lol, I actually think it's a really cool idea, too bad medieval mode doesn't use flamethrowers.

Couple nitpicks though.

1- I guess the bottom pic is the upright view? I'd give it a quick untextured compile in game test just to make sure there are no weird hand clipping issues, really hard to say. The tail is super thick and I can't tell where the front hand would grab.

2-You could do a lot more with the mouth/eyes. It's fine having the mouth bound, but having visible eyes and teeth sticking out would give it easier recognition and a lot more personality imo.

3- I think you could shave a lot of edge loops and still look just as good. But maybe the tris is showing the dragon and flamethrower...

4- the tongue should hang down, and I'd go ahead and give it some thickness, make it a lot longer and jiggle bone it.

5- I'd take all the extra tris out of the body and make the spines 3d. Will look and render much better.

Deeepsleeep

Looking good I would love to run around with this in TF2

hottrod_x

Yea, i wish the Medieval maps used weapons, this would be perfect I think? The bottom pic is the weapon actually upside down, I flipped it so I could show the bottom of the weapon/ top side of the dragon. I figured since he's technically upside down while being carried, I didn't need to go into detail with the eyes and stuff, but I'm slowly reconsidering? I'll see what I can do about shaving the poly count down some and integrating the scales. Its actually 40 triangles lower than the actual Pyro's flamethrower shown in the top pic. its about 4900 triangles, the weapon used in game is 4940, mine is 4904. The big number accounts for both weapons in the scene.

hottrod_x

OH, and the reason the dragon is upside down, is it the only way i could come up with for the Pyro to carry him tied up, like as if he were on skewer or something. He carries him by the ropes that have him hog tied.

MeintevdS

First of all, there is a TF2 thread on this forum for all TF2 stuff related. I think that thread would have given you a ton more replies.

As for the model, it look nice and I like the idea, but I don't think it really fits the TF2 style? It just feels to fantasy for TF2. I know the latest Halloween update introduced ghosts, floating eyeballs and a story about a mage, but I just think the main chunk of the game doesn't really have room for a dragon flamethrower. Maybe a flamethrower designed to look like a dragon, but not an actual dragon.

As for the model, it could use tons of optimization or at least have its polygons used better. For example the neck, snout and legs/feet barely have any curvature yet they have tons of edge loops. As for the tail I understand you'd want lots of polygons in it to have it nice a smooth looking, but when the tail gets thinner you could use a cylinder with less sides.
I also think that since the wings are pretty clearly visible, it might be a good idea to have them as part of the body.. so weld them to the body rather than having separate objects stick through the body.

hottrod_x

Sorry, I didn't post in the TF2 specific forum there, I didn't wan't to get buried in the crowd. I do plan to post this there as well when I get it more perfected. I'm not sure what if anything other than guns fits the TF2 "style" these days, even the scout has a fish for a weapon and that kind of ridiculous? I just thought it would be something cool to submit. IMO the Pyro is seriously lacking in main weapon options vs what you get with most of the other players and this defiantly is unique. I may even go as far as making the dragon match team colors when I texture it, I'm still playing with the idea, so I think with the wacky style of the game it will fit right in? As far as the model goes, I am working on cleaning it up as I make changes and optimizing it more, I just don't want to take out too much before I have the final look. I like the idea of stitching in the wings as well, and I will look in into that. Thanks for all the comments.