[DS2] Axe, Impala88

Impala88

[latest update]

meshbin:
http://www.keenleveldesign.com/modelviewer/m.php?id=4f6241bb270fc

Final




Scale Test:


Ok, i'm gona have a go at this This'll be my first propper weapon so who knows what it'll end up like. Been following this from work so now i'm home i'll post up my doodle on my note pad.

Apologies for the crappy quality, cba installing my scanner atm.



It's still missing a pommel but i'll mess around in zbrush with that. Not sure on the proportions either, it looks a bit to long (blade) for the bounding box, and the floating axe head on the rear side will either need attaching or changing to some spikes or something, either that or have the other axe mirrored across not sure what yet.

edit: oh it's also demonic styling, if you hadn't already guessed.

Daven

Pretty sweet so far. Be careful though, I heard there's no floating bits allowed. Everything has to be reinforced.

Impala88

Blocked out the base mesh before zbrush:



edit: changed a bit.

Impala88

Ok spent a few hours on this before bed! Got alot of the main parts in, but its still lacking alot. Also the spikey bit beloow the small axeblade really needs some work, it's kind of just a stump atm ><

should be looking good with the runes/decorative engravings on the blades, not sure to model them though or put them in on PS, will find out.

Impala88

Ok, got a few changes lined up once i can get back on this:

Replace the holes in the skin section with faces stretching out of the weapon.
re-work the rear blade with either serrated plates similar to carapace armor from a hive tyrant, or just give it a series of 4-5 spikes jutting ou from the blade along the edge.
sort out the stump below the small blade.

Impala88

Anyone want to provide any crit for this? I think it needs something as a main focus point, but other than what i've already got planned to try out, i can't think of anything else (well anything that would fit the curent style) gota be something.

duoxan

i like the face idea, perhaps have it stretched over to hold the axe head in place? i know bobo mentioned runes in his livestream last night.

MiAlx

hey i like what i see so far, looks cool!

I agree with the focus point though. You could insert something with a flow to the center of the axe (not the handle, mark you). You could also do something about the handle to axe transition. Now its a bit plain. You could add a thicker layer of molten material there or make the demonic part "branch out" a bit more towards the hanlde, to show that the handle was somehow merged with the rest.

Good luck! Excited to see more!

Daven

Seems like we need a little...



I'm really digging the top, right patterns you've got going on, but you don't really seem to have a central theme right now. One thing I love about weapons like this is that you can give them a sort of creative history, a sort of purpose for being and an origin. Giving a bit of a story might help you sprout some more character into this thing instead of just slapping on details and skulls and shit like that. You're a damn good artist and this has a lot of potential so far, but I'd say take a step back and find out what's really going to make you want to work on this other than just wanting to compete.

Impala88

Thanks guys, some really good feedback here

duoxan do you mean have some sort of tendrils stretching from the face edge or skin w/e wrapping around the axe head? that would look pretty sweet yeah! definitely gona have a look at that. Will likely be on the large axeblade rather than the small as i intend to have the small as it's own UV island for texture optimisation.

MiAlx Sort of like a central crystal or something? I wouldn't want to do an eye though, too many of those already but yeah that could definitely work. I'd likely have to re-think some of the tendril flow around that area but will likely have a look into it!

suburbbum I've actually been thinking about a sort of reason for it's corruption, with the idea of the small heads or that bigger head duoxan suggested i've been toying with a sort of soul sucking demon devouring the target's soul as they get torn to shreds, each soul being a tormented face trying desperatly to escape. I'm going to start putting these ideas into practice tonight, and will show my results either later on or tomorrow

Cheers guys!

MiAlx

Impala88 wrote: »

Sort of like a central crystal or something?

Hmm... Not necessarily. Maybe a "corrupted" and torn pimple from where the demonic stuff "exits". Something like that, maybe.

duoxan

pretty much. im at work on my phone haha so i cant find an image quickly. id take a look at warhammer 40k art. cant remember where i read it, but in that universe heretics would stretch skin and faces over weapons. youd have to play with your axe head a bit but it might work. i understand not doing eyes, maybe encorporating tongues or something else associated with demons might spark some ideas. nice work so far man.

Impala88

Here's an update:



I've changed a few things, given it a mre demonic look with the trapped souls trying to escape, as well as bit of sort of "history" on the blade, it being a previous rune weapon owned by some sacred warrior of a tribe blessed by their witch doctor/shaman until it was corrupted.

Also turned the mangled bit above the handle into a skull, thinking this could maybe be the demon manifesting physically on the weapon itself.

I've also been having thoughts on the colour scheme, basically the skin area will be a blood red with all the purples and pinks etc ascociated with the inards of living things! The blade will be tempered orn bluish tinge, with various areas where it looks like it's met something very hot and it's been stained. The edge however i have something special for. I was thinking and looking at Archaon lord of the End Times from chaos fantasy, and his armor has a red oputline along the sharp raised edges.

So basically i'm going to try and give the very tip of the blade a white hot look using the emissive which fades to orange/red as it gets further into the blade. Maybe have some flares here and there along the edge to break up the line.

Impala88

gona have a look at wrapping skin from the face parts over the small blade inbetween the spikes like duoxan suggested

0Hayes

Its looking real cool and I'm looking forward to seeing your colour idea in place! Must say though, that noise on the blade is just giving it a bit too much micro detail when darksiders is all about that chunky feeling =]

lupi

0Hayes wrote: »

Its looking real cool and I'm looking forward to seeing your colour idea in place! Must say though, that noise on the blade is just giving it a bit too much micro detail when darksiders is all about that chunky feeling =]

don't get attached to the details - work with bigger and exagerated shapes, very good concept tbh

Impala88

Yeah, the squiggly bits on the axe were just going to be sort of bumpy brass in nature, similar to alot of armor seen on warhammer fantasy khorne berserkers. The kind of clashed with the runes though so i've removed them.

Also got some tendrils wrapping around the smaller blade now but i think they need beefing up.

Impala88

Decided to push out some colour tests:



Still got thoughts about the pommel, and might add a few more tendrils around the small blade.

As for the colours i can't decide

I think the far right is my least favorite though.

0Hayes

Cool update, 1 and 3 are my favourite, I think the colour scheme 2 although it looks cool is a little bit over done, but that might not be a bad thing =]

Neongoat

Planning on doing any wear and tear on the larger blade? It looks rather too perfect at the moment. The only other thing that strikes me is that the tendril around the handle makes it appear a little like some kind of confectionery (sorry, might be the time of night!). As for colours, I'd say 1 and 2 if you dial back the blue a touch. Looks great!

Impala88

Thanks guys, i think i'm considering colour 1 atm although 3 is nice just because of how striking it is. Most of the weapon will recieve alot of edge highlighting which isn't in these quick tests, and yeah i'll be roughing up the blades a bit to get the axe looking similar in style to the other ones in game

I'm also thinking of making the entire handle bone to match the lower section of the axe head, will also look at making the bone and sinew connection better, gona see how it looks without the spiral.

duoxan

one is pretty damn good dude, dig the back story btw. you definitely nailed what i was trying to explain, but id beef the tendrils up like you said, and perhaps dull the blade where they wrap so the blade wouldnt cut through. i agree with these other guys though, those faces look mighty tiny, and id be afraid of losing them in your bake (i by no means know if this would happen, baking is somewhat new to me) maybe do two or three faces running down the little blade and a larger face on the main? good work so far man!

ENODMI

Nice start. Id push all those forms a bit further and beat it up a ton. Most of the weapons in Darksiders look like they've been in use for a few milleniums, this needs some deaths under its belt:)

SouthpawSid

your sculpting and use of color are very inspiring. Can't wait to see your final product. I agree with ENODMI and think some shape could be pushed a little bit more for more interest.

JamesWarren

This looks really awesome so far but there are a couple of things that I wanted to point out. The tendrils spreading out towards the left side of the blade seem to actually merge into the metal, you may want to define the borders between the two and separate them. If you would rather not change the left side, I feel like the right side should at least match the left, in the way that the tendrils would fuse into the metal. Also, the runes are pretty different stylistically from the runes in DS2. The runes in DS2 are a bit thicker. I think the swirling cone shaped thing coming out of the right side kind of takes away from your model too, just my opinion though.

SgtNasty

I like #3's punchiness, but I think the colors are clashing a bit. Maybe push the green more towards yellowy green, and desaturate everything a bit?

Impala88

Cheers for the feedback guys. I've come to the conclusion that yeah, it'd be better for the axe to be covered or wrapped in the demonic flesh rather than have it merge, so i've made the two sides more similar. I've also bulged up the faces a bit to make them more prominent, and beefed up the tendrils, although not as much as would probably need to eventually.

The spirally stump is gone and replaced with a clean spike, not sure what this'll be in terms of materials, might make it look like the bone of the handle.

The handle has lost its fancy spirals and is now completely bone, with bits of blood and guts at both ends from the axe and from the pommel. I've given it some carvings to keep with the history of the axe, and have gone for some more tendrils creeping up from the base.

I'll have a look again at the colours once the HD mesh is complete i too liked the bold brightness of colour set #3.

Impala88

Hmm, i think what it's also lacking is jagged blades. Pretty much every axe here has them so it might be why this seems out of place a bit, gona mess around with some jaggedness.

Impala88

Couldn't resist doing another couple of colours now (see previous post). Definitely like these ones more, although they still needs work where the pommel joins the handle.

naruSol

I really like the color scheme on the Blue and orange one, but the orange might be a little overpowering. Maybe take it down closer to the bone color on the haft and let the blue and pinkish colors be the POP instead.

Impala88

Well, the main aim with having the blades that bright was basically because they'd be using emissive to give it a powerful glow. Had a try with reducing the orangeness of it but it just didn't look right. I've now posted up a colour scheme that does work with a darker blade though

naruSol

Lose a lot of the contrast with that one though, and that great fossilized bone color in the haft. Keep tweaking though, seems like you're on the right track somewhere in there.

mindschnapps

the only thing bothering me in the model is the ends of the blade seem a bit to cleanly cut. otherwise great design, I prefer the one with the orange blade

Impala88

just done a quick scale test. Still not completely sure on which colour scheme i'm going to go for, i kind of like all three.

Desaturated the blade on this one and the rest of it, but not quite as much.
Also thinking that i should ditch the runes on the blade completely if the blade is going to glow anyway.

pulyx

Wow.
Looking spect

TaylorMouse

HOw do you do these color schemes?

Cause they ROCK!!

T.

Daven

Awesome man. Really getting the feel with that scale test. Keep it up!

Impala88

thanks guys! going to have a look at using some wrappings along the handle. Also it needs beefing up a bit as death had a hard time holding it, bit too thin.

Also going to give the skull above the handle a re-work, changing from a skull to a demonic screaming face, maybe add a tongue along the side coming down onto the upper handle section. Will likely keep the colour the same though, no detailing needed as it's basically a carving.

@TaylorMousey Basically i just take a pic of zbrush after rendering straight into photoshop and paint over it. Various multiplies and overlays here and there depending on what i need, just some pretty simple layer stuff really.

JamesWarren

That looks really cool man.

leslievdb

mmm that fits beautifully with the style
gj

Impala88

thanks

hmm, blade still needs more work it's still too smooth, needs more chiselled bits and a more general cut and worn appearance. Since the blades in all 3 of these colour concepts are more akin to glass or crystal than metal, a crystline chiselled look is definitely somthing it will do better with, so i'll look into that
Will mean the glow will need to be toned down a bit too, well on the green and orange colour anyway. Hopefully the removal of the runes from those 2 should help to give more of a view of the blade surface too. (these comments i keep putting up here are more for me than anyone else btw :P my mind wanders waaay too easily).

naruSol

If you can make it work, an obsidian look would be pretty awesome.

Impala88

Yeah it'd be pretty sweet, colour 3 was sort of going in that direction, just not dark enough. Only thing is, obsidian tends to be quite reflective, trying to find a pic of the cleavers the witches use in stardust but i can't. But yeah if i could get it to work it'd look pretty nice. Might do if i can find the time

duoxan

this is turning out to be sweet man, nice work.

r4ptur3

damn dude, quick!

Impala88

did a quick liquify of this, changed the shape of the axe, should give me alot more sharp edges to play with for chamfering and chiselling as aposed to the sleek curved look it had before.

Impala88

edit: liquify test updated.

fearian

Much nicer shape! I think you need to rethink the hilt though - it looks a bit random, like filler, at the moment.

Di$array

Your definitely hitting the right notes with this design mate, plus you've pushed it further with the new shape of the blade. Also you've done a good job with the colour scheme even though I prefer the 3rd one myself but the new one has a nice touch in the way its using Death's colour palette.

Impala88

thanks guys! yes i have something special in mind for the pommel, it does look off atm (i'm guessing by hilt you mean the end bit ) so i'll add up all these additions to the sculpt once i get home.

Impala88

Update on this:

Re-worked the pommel and section above the handle, also done the blade in zbrush now. I've also added some more suitably styled runes to the blade, but not glowing.

Which handle material? I'm in favor of the charred bone tbh.