I am really excited about it! Wish I could join you Muzz! Would be fun to work on some stuff around people that are just as excited! Good luck to you when you start!
I really don't want to have to make my own concepts again... That's a silly restriction and it always makes my entry less awesome than it could have been.
Other than that I'm psyched. This might be the first comp since TF2 that I really work hard to finish.
No time to participate in minis, but I'll be clearing up my schedule for actual DWV time.:)
So what's the deal with the pre-DomWar challenges, anyway?
Well they are just mini challenges to get you warmed up for the main event. Cant remember if they have prizes for that though.
I really don't want to have to make my own concepts again... That's a silly restriction and it always makes my entry less awesome than it could have been.
Uh what? Making your own concept is pretty much the whole idea of this.
I really don't want to have to make my own concepts again... That's a silly restriction and it always makes my entry less awesome than it could have been.
If you didnt have to concept your own character I might give this comp a test drive just to try my hand at characters and see how the whole process goes. Characters are not really my thing but I think it would be fun to attempt one, a hardsurface/bio mixxed character where I dont have to worry about anatomy too much would be fun :P
But I will agree, concepting the characters is such a huge part of it.
Have over heard some rumblings from guys from work about possibley doing it. Hope they do as it would be really cool to see first hand some people attempting it even with deadlines and such.
Uh what? Making your own concept is pretty much the whole idea of this.
I guess. I designed my own character in DW IV and the design ended up being one of the things that brought that project to failure (I finished it, but it was worse than my previous models). I am not a great concept artist and I don't think I have fantastic ideas either. I have much more success basing my work on an already existing awesome design, by someone who is good at that kind of thing. If I have to choose between having a great piece from an existing design or an okay piece of my own design, I much prefer the former.
The point of the comp to me is to make a great piece and enjoy the community aspect, regardless of whether my character is of my own design.
For people that love to design their own characters, power to them. I just don't think it should be a restriction to those of us who aren't great at it. During that area of the comp I always get frustrated, bored, exhausted and puzzled. I end up with something I am not totally satisfied with but I must truck forward anyway to meet the deadline.
Um.. Yeah original character design is basically the only point of the contest. It's an overall artistic competition rather than just seeing who has the best modeling skills. Maybe you're thinking a teacup with a concept artistthat has been allowed before but not for a while.
Also bear in mindthat it IS a competition, not just a community building exercise. You have every day to build other peoples conclts into "great portfolio pieces".
But I too share anticipation of delays and whining. on the mean time I really need to crack max back open.
Um.. Yeah original character design is basically the only point of the contest. It's an overall artistic competition rather than just seeing who has the best modeling skills. Maybe you're thinking a teacup with a concept artistthat has been allowed before but not for a while.
But I too share anticipation of delays and whining. on the mean time I really need to crack max back open.
I disagree, look at the Comicon Challenge. Lots of awesome stuff came out of that this year and I'm sure all of the artists who participated had a great time. A lot of them had unique spins on characters but none of them were fully original.
Creating your own unique character is definitely a big part of the competition. Watching everyone's entries develop from concept to completion is awesome, but I don't think it's the ONLY point. It certainly isn't to me.
Either way, I will be doing my own concept because the rules probably won't change.
Also it would be horribly unfair to everyone making their own concepts, as well as you would butt up against copywrite issues a lot. A character proficciency test this is not.
Like you said, if you want to model another concept do comicon.
I can see where Frump is coming from, and to an extent I agree. However, I think other important points have been made, especially in that making your own concepts is essential and basically the entire point of the contest.
Dominance War is much less about simply building cool shit in 3D and much more about showing that you're an all-around strong artist with a good idea of what goes into every step of creating a character. The thing I've found most impressive about past DomWar entries is that people have been able to take things from the very bud of an idea and work on it until it's a complete, finished piece.
I really don't find many of the past DomWar winners to be very aesthetically pleasing, but I recognize that they're very, very good examples of work from people who are good concept artists, modelers (both low- and high-poly), and texture artists all rolled into one. They're people who can take a non-specific, open-ended brief and work on it without outside direction and come up with something that displays that they know their shit top to bottom.
Just broke the T-minus 24 hour mark for the mini-contest. I am excited to participate in my first Dominance War.
As far as the original concept discussion goes, from what I've researched on the past competitions it seems like the requirement of having to create an original concept makes for a lot of interesting characters and a diversity that otherwise wouldn't be there. Like Swizzle just said, having such an open-ended theme and then requiring everyone to come up with everything from scratch really forces you to have "the whole package". It also forces you to do some part of the character creation process that you might not usually take the time to do, which is great for learning and something I am personally looking forward to.
I dont think it would matter that much, but with that said i dont think ive ever seen anyone that is able to resolve an amazing concept with great shape language and interesting weights without having at least passable 2d skills.
I'm quite excited now. I hope the brief is a good. I'll be 2D'ing this year. I was a bit hesitant to take part with all the judging and delay issues. But I'll give it a go and as long as I don't take it too seriously I should come out of it with a nice portfolio piece.
Having said that. I'd be surprised to see the brief within the next 24 hours. Plus they just mucked up on the Comiccon judging so that might have a knock on effect. Anyway. Heres hoping.
I'll be surprised if it all goes ahead without a hitch, as generally it is delayed.
If i was in Brissie, Muzz, I'd totally be keen on that DW LAN. That shit would be off the hook!
I'm starting my internship at a game dev studio tomorrow. Really want to enter (even though I'll get owned). And most of the guys who work there are members of GameArtisans, as far as I know.
The anticipation is pretty insane. I think everyone is just waiting to see what the mini challenge is as most of the forums seem a bit more dead than usual haha. I got up early yesterday morning expecting to wake up to the mini challenge rules. alas i still wait. and I just caught a cold. But i vowed to do Dom War all the way through and no amount of germs is stopping me!
Yeah I don't think other sites have the banter polycount and game artisans have with each other lol. Honestly I haven decided which site I wanna rep in this competition. Both forums have been great to me.
It changed to say "Starting soon" What the hell does that mean?
You said there was a first time for everything, thus implying that there was even the remotest possibility that it could potentially, in theory, maybe do something resembling starting on time.
so you post your concept threads on multiple sites? usually or just the one your supposed to be working for?
Negative, Ghost Rider. You pick a website that you'll be representing. You then start a thread on that website. Once you have a thread, you register on the DomWar website and provide a URL to your thread. Once that's done, people will be able to click through to your thread from the DW website. You'll occasionally update your entry on the DW website with a new thumbnail to show people that you're working on it.
Replies
Other than that I'm psyched. This might be the first comp since TF2 that I really work hard to finish.
No time to participate in minis, but I'll be clearing up my schedule for actual DWV time.:)
Well they are just mini challenges to get you warmed up for the main event. Cant remember if they have prizes for that though.
Uh what? Making your own concept is pretty much the whole idea of this.
If you didnt have to concept your own character I might give this comp a test drive just to try my hand at characters and see how the whole process goes. Characters are not really my thing but I think it would be fun to attempt one, a hardsurface/bio mixxed character where I dont have to worry about anatomy too much would be fun :P
But I will agree, concepting the characters is such a huge part of it.
Have over heard some rumblings from guys from work about possibley doing it. Hope they do as it would be really cool to see first hand some people attempting it even with deadlines and such.
I guess. I designed my own character in DW IV and the design ended up being one of the things that brought that project to failure (I finished it, but it was worse than my previous models). I am not a great concept artist and I don't think I have fantastic ideas either. I have much more success basing my work on an already existing awesome design, by someone who is good at that kind of thing. If I have to choose between having a great piece from an existing design or an okay piece of my own design, I much prefer the former.
The point of the comp to me is to make a great piece and enjoy the community aspect, regardless of whether my character is of my own design.
For people that love to design their own characters, power to them. I just don't think it should be a restriction to those of us who aren't great at it. During that area of the comp I always get frustrated, bored, exhausted and puzzled. I end up with something I am not totally satisfied with but I must truck forward anyway to meet the deadline.
Also bear in mindthat it IS a competition, not just a community building exercise. You have every day to build other peoples conclts into "great portfolio pieces".
But I too share anticipation of delays and whining. on the mean time I really need to crack max back open.
I disagree, look at the Comicon Challenge. Lots of awesome stuff came out of that this year and I'm sure all of the artists who participated had a great time. A lot of them had unique spins on characters but none of them were fully original.
Creating your own unique character is definitely a big part of the competition. Watching everyone's entries develop from concept to completion is awesome, but I don't think it's the ONLY point. It certainly isn't to me.
Either way, I will be doing my own concept because the rules probably won't change.
Like you said, if you want to model another concept do comicon.
Dominance War is much less about simply building cool shit in 3D and much more about showing that you're an all-around strong artist with a good idea of what goes into every step of creating a character. The thing I've found most impressive about past DomWar entries is that people have been able to take things from the very bud of an idea and work on it until it's a complete, finished piece.
I really don't find many of the past DomWar winners to be very aesthetically pleasing, but I recognize that they're very, very good examples of work from people who are good concept artists, modelers (both low- and high-poly), and texture artists all rolled into one. They're people who can take a non-specific, open-ended brief and work on it without outside direction and come up with something that displays that they know their shit top to bottom.
As far as the original concept discussion goes, from what I've researched on the past competitions it seems like the requirement of having to create an original concept makes for a lot of interesting characters and a diversity that otherwise wouldn't be there. Like Swizzle just said, having such an open-ended theme and then requiring everyone to come up with everything from scratch really forces you to have "the whole package". It also forces you to do some part of the character creation process that you might not usually take the time to do, which is great for learning and something I am personally looking forward to.
Looking forward to seeing everyone's stuff.
Having said that. I'd be surprised to see the brief within the next 24 hours. Plus they just mucked up on the Comiccon judging so that might have a knock on effect. Anyway. Heres hoping.
If i was in Brissie, Muzz, I'd totally be keen on that DW LAN. That shit would be off the hook!
Maybe I can try sort one out here in Melbourne.
but I can't resist!
Just because we use our teeth doesn't mean you gotta hate.
That's not ALL you did last night :poly122:
Sweet! I can't wait to see how long they're going to delay it!
You said there was a first time for everything, thus implying that there was even the remotest possibility that it could potentially, in theory, maybe do something resembling starting on time.
You jinxed it.
Good going.
Happy now?
Negative, Ghost Rider. You pick a website that you'll be representing. You then start a thread on that website. Once you have a thread, you register on the DomWar website and provide a URL to your thread. Once that's done, people will be able to click through to your thread from the DW website. You'll occasionally update your entry on the DW website with a new thumbnail to show people that you're working on it.
EDIT: awesome, the mini is just like a smaller version of the actual comp