Another Boltgun thread!

ZePupster

So I've been modelling in 3DS Max for just over a year now. This is my first post on Polycount, wanted to get some crits of this model before I start to UV it. Don't think I'm going to be making a high poly or normal map for this model, got most of the detail I wanted in to the low poly, and I'm working to a tri-count of around 4k. Think I need to do a little more work on the grip and around the trigger guard and also on the wing decal near the barrels.

Yeah, so basically, just crit away. All shots are from Max's viewport with the realtime shader.

Here's some of the reference I've been working off



http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/844/bolter4al.jpg/

Changed a couple of things from the reference as you can see, but most of it is pretty similar. Now for some screengrabs and wires!

mr gelmir

Heya, fellow boltgun crafter
first off: nice choice of weapon. It's looking really cool, and has the right bolter-look (sturdy and stuff). I've got some remarks for you though. If you are going for low poly, you have to save up on quads wherever possible, as long as your silhouette doesn't pay for it. it could help deleting some of your vertices (or target welding them, saves you the effort of connecting afterwards) where they are not needed for the outline of your model. for this, see this overpainted image I made of your wireframe. The vertices I encircled are not helping the silhouette of your model, so they could be target welded to eachother, or to the nearest corner. That would save you some tri's. Also your edges are abit sharp, If you want a more natural look, you could try beveling them (not all edges, only the major ones) to get a 'rounded' corner look (especially on the top of the bolter casing, and at the back of the gun)
keep it up, Bolter Brother!

Illusive

could you explain a bit more what this is for? personally i think low polys without a normal map is pretty dated unless you're going for that hand painted look. also if you're trying to save polys it's a good idea as you could save a lot already ie the cylinders and wing things.

how much do you know about saving tris? cause there's a lot wasted already but that may because you're keeping it clean for the modelling.. i dunno but you have a lot of edge loops that aren't doing anything.

also is this suppose to match the references proportions?? i know you've changed a few of the design elements (personally i think you would have been better sticking to their design but w/e) you should bring that image into max and just double check everything's lining up right because atm yours looks a little off in a few places.
the grip needs a lot of work (should be square and not so round), the clip needs a lot more then 1 edge loop, the handle needs a lot more love too. i'd fix those areas up first

ZePupster

Thanks for the crits guys.

@Gelmir

Hadn't even thought about welding that stuff together, will definitely get onto that as soon as possible. I've chamfered some of the edges of the main body of the gun to try and round it out a little, I'll look at changing that and maybe increasing them of bevelling them out.

@Illusive

I'm hoping to stick this in my portfolio when it's a finished piece. Currently, I don't have a portfolio, this is the first thing I'm working on that I want to get to a really high standard. I want it to be a game resolution mesh for an FPS, and I am still not sure whether I'm going to take this high poly, but the more I think about it the more I am tempted to.

I've tried to maximise my poly usage, but I can now see areas which can be improved upon, I'm going to try and bring them right down. In regards to the proportions, I've got an image plane set up in Max with this image on it to try and get my proportions right. The grip is shaped liked that because in my second reference in the OP it's similar to that, and I prefer that look to the more square one. The handle is my number one priority at the moment anyway.

tigg

You've changed the pistol grip. Whilst I'm all for changing the concept to add interest or whatever, the original pistol grip is a lot nicer.

You've also changed the fore grip. This is a good idea, the original fore grip is boring and boxy. Unfortunately, yours is boring and round.

For a first person viewmodel, I would seriously consider adding a lot more details etc. to the model. I'm not saying to waste polies, but you could definitely go a lot higher with the polucount than it is now.


I would also recommend changing the front sight. At the moment yours looks a bit like a p90 sight or something. Anyway, it makes even less sense than the sights on the gears of war lancer.

If it's specially for First person view, I would seriously considering adding stuff to the rear/buttplate part of the gun. At the moment, the main view of the gun in first person view is his big blank cube, essentially. That's boring, so I would think about a really nice 40K style logo or something to stick on there. Some kind of winged medallion or something would work pretty well, I think.

I think it would be nice to do something like the fore grip on a french FA MAS rifle: the stronger shapes will stand out a lot more .

Some nice fat bevels from the first person view would help the silhouette a lot. I know 40K is supposed to be blocky and all, but I think the main reason for that is the difficulty in sculpting curves/bevels into such tiny models. Obviously you don't have these kind of restrictions, so I think you can definitely go a bit more crazy with the shapes/silhouette. Sure, there's a balancing act between making it interesting and losing that distinctive 40K look but blindly following the concept would be short sighted, in my opinion anyway.


I'm going to stop talking now.