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Gears of War 3 - Textures

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Wanted to post up some texture work from the Gears of War games! Haven't posted much of anything in so long... feels good to post again!!

Was responsible for weapons, few creatures, some vehicles, some characters in Gears 3, and UI for all 3 games. Art Direction from Chris Perna, concepts by James Hawkins, and all of the models made by the crazy talented modelers here: Kevin Lanning, Pete Hayes, Chris Wells, Mike Kime, Mark Morgan. Character shader was created by Jordan Walker, which had an enormous impact on the quality of flesh rendering. Few pieces were touched by a few people in the texture stage, noted where that happened below.

Gears 3 Character & Creature work:

gears_char_csam.jpg
Sam Byrne, mesh by Chris Wells. Her face, hair, and tatoo were done by Chris W, she went through a lot of revisions before we found what we wanted.

gears_char_bernie.jpg
This is Bernie, she was super fun. Chris Wells and I both worked on her face.

gears_char_clayton.jpg
Clayton was a big collaboration, his body was done by Kevin Lanning (fun fact, his body is a reskin of Cole), helmet by Kime, and Jay Hawkins did the memorial tattoo. I was responsible for all the details, graffiti, other tattoos, and technically implementing it. His body required a 2nd uv set since the upper body and arms are mirrored on the main mesh. Allowed for much higher resolution for the sayings and tattoos!

gears_char_clayHelm.jpg
Clay's helm, mesh by Kime.

gears_char_credshirtHelmet.jpg
Generic redshirt cog soldier helmet for Gears 3, model by Kime.

gears_char_civcole.jpg
Superstar Cole! Chris Wells made some edits to him, he originally had gold jewelry all over, but we changed it to platinum.

gears_char_Grunt.jpg
Upresed Locust grunt for Gears 3. Doesn't appear in single player, only in MP and in Horde.

gears_beasts_siege.jpg
Siege Beast, single player locust torture-catapult.

gears_beasts_tempest.jpg
Tempest, final boss, Myrah's mount, dragonbeetle! This thing was so much fucking fun. The majority of it was hand painted, and the metals are driven by a gold shader in game. The wings were my favorite part :D Entire critter has 3 materials. Chris Wells posted the model up on Zbrush Central: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc-thread-gallery.php?t=162703

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  • moose
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    moose polycount sponsor
    Vehicles:

    gears_veh_centaur.jpg
    centaur tank from Gears 2. The shader supported snow & mud buildup on the wheels that never made it in.

    gears_veh_rattruck.jpg
    Truck you ride in during a mission in Gears 3, and in a few cinematics around Anvil's Gate.

    gears_veh_sub01.jpg
    Submarine, used to travel to
    Azura
    . This thing is massive in game, uvs were spread out across 4 materials.

    gears_veh_sub02.jpg
    Sub pods the player rides in, as well as the 1st person view of the sub pod. Had a lot of fun in here, put a few LOST references in there :)

    Weapons:

    gears_weap_sawedoff.jpg
    Sawed off! Love it, hate it.... had a lot of fun putting way too much detail on it. Took a day to texture, was fun giving it a bunch of life, even if you'd never see it in game :)

    gears_weap_oneshot.jpg
    the One Shot, another new gun to Gears 3. High powered insta-gib sniper rifle.

    gears_weap_vulcan.jpg
    The Vulcan, the co-op mini gun of death and destruction!

    gears_weap_digger.jpg
    Digger Launcher, another new gun in Gears 3. It fires a little chompy man of teeth, and it eats people.

    gears_weap_grenades.jpg
    All of the grenades in Gears of War: Frags, Smoke, Ink, Incendiary.

    gears_weap_gorgon.jpg
    Gorgon, a gun we added in Gears of War 2. In Gears 3 it was changed to a fully auto pistol.

    gears_weap_boombolt.jpg
    Boomshot, and Boltok!

    gears_weap_snubhodlancer.jpg
    Snub Pistol, Hammer of Dawn, and the Lancer. Chris Perna did the original skin for the Lancer, and I did some polish on it after it was re-uved, as well as beating the shit out of it for Gears 3.
  • Shiniku
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    Shiniku polycounter lvl 9
    Ridiculously awesome, all of it. I don't think we'll ever get another game on this generation of consoles that looks better.

    I'm really impressed by the sheer detail in it all. Even in multiplayer, when i go into ghost cam and zoom in, the texture res never seems too blurry, it's crazy.

    Never would have guessed Carmine is a reskin of cole in this one. pretty cool though, you definitely did a lot to differentiate them.
  • JDinges
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    JDinges polycounter lvl 18
  • RazorBladder
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    RazorBladder polycounter lvl 18
    I was waiting for this!

    Gorgeous texture work, especially on the Tempest Mount Boss wings like you said! MOOSE PIMPAGE! FINALLY! :D
  • Zipfinator
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    Zipfinator polycounter lvl 9
  • Razgriz
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    Razgriz keyframe
    Simply magnificent. Thanks to the art, the Gears universe has become more and more alive, more realized, more of a world unto itself. These are simply gorgeous assets.
  • ScudzAlmighty
    .... I just..... I don't even.......... crap.

    Seriously killer work here, and I'm glad the advances to the enging really let the textures shine this time around. I think the overall art and clarity to the visuals is probably the most impressive part of the whole game.
    If the Sawed-off took a day to texture, how long would something like the One-shot or Gorgon take? Is it relative to the size of the model at all or just a case of "when it's done"?

    Also just generally curious about weather the model has base texture work on it before it comes to you and you're refining or if you do the whole thing from scratch? Just curious about how much freedom you have in the process I guess.

    p.s. This is the first time in any game using unreal that I've been impressed with the character shaders so please by Jordan a beer for me and some day some how I'll get ya back ;)
  • ae.
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    ae. polycounter lvl 12
  • JacqueChoi
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    JacqueChoi polycounter
    Absolutely H'amazing!

    Any chance we can see more wires n texture flats?

    Would love to see a breakdown of PSDs.
  • megalmn2000
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    megalmn2000 polycounter lvl 13
    Very nice stuff! It's nice to see artworks from Gears of War 3! Thanks guys!
  • daphz
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    daphz polycounter lvl 13
    ...wow... simply awesome.
  • cholden
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    cholden polycounter lvl 18
    I love these threads. thank you!
  • beancube
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    beancube polycounter lvl 17
    Nice! my fav GOW thread so far. Love seeing the end product all come together!
  • Alberto Rdrgz
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    Alberto Rdrgz polycounter lvl 9
    MY MY MY! Thanks!
  • KyleJensen
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    KyleJensen polycounter lvl 12
    This texture work is incredible. Very inspirational! :D
  • DaveSilver
    I have to say, while I was playing Gears 3, my favorite part of the entire game, art-wise, was the textures. You guys did such a great job making everything look so dirty and used. I'm so happy to see these posted. Great job Moose, truly incredible stuff.
  • rollin
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    rollin polycounter
    hey ho moose.. this is just YIHAAAA !! :thumbup:
  • pity
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    pity polycounter lvl 8
    This is fantastic! I need all!) Thank you!
  • shawnell3d
    i jizzed on each image
  • g2000
    Oh man so many awesome art,great job on the characters,weapons and vehicles,thanks for sharing :poly142:
  • JR
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    JR polycounter lvl 15
    Jesus... Christ.

    I think this is the most awesome belong all the other GOW3 threads. Because this one show all the talents combined. You guys rock. Thanks for sharing.
  • ES_139
    what??? my brain just turned to mush.
    amazing stuff, congrats!
  • Tenchi
    I'm very grateful that you guys post your work, it's very top notch, inspirational stuff ^^
  • Jeff Parrott
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    Jeff Parrott polycounter lvl 19
    New post from moose! YEAH! Awesome work too. They need to release Gears games every month so you all keep posting. :D
  • Jessica Dinh
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    Jessica Dinh polycounter lvl 10
    oh my god these are so crazy... mind is blown *_*
  • clockchrome
  • Snefer
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    Snefer polycounter lvl 16
    killer stuff man! :D
  • Lonewolf
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    Lonewolf polycounter lvl 18
    YAY MORE PORN!

    i was waiting for that

    can u post some of the high poly of those? (the one that havnt been posted like weapons and vehicles)
  • Clark Coots
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    Clark Coots polycounter lvl 12
    awesome job, you people at Epic do amazing work. What are texture sizes looking like? symmetrical UVs used at all?
  • metalliandy
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    metalliandy interpolator
    Very inspirational stuff! Thanks for posting :)
  • toxic_h2o
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    toxic_h2o polycounter lvl 8
    hot damn this is some amazing texture work. I'm jelly and also interested in Coots7 questions as well. :D
  • PaulP
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    PaulP polycounter lvl 9
    No wonder your studio is called EPIC, amazing work!
  • shotgun
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    shotgun polycounter lvl 19
    good stuff moose!
    i particularly like the puke on the old chick's boots
    the mud on the gangsta's pants is also very well done, just the right amount of bump
  • r13
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    r13 founder
    I nominate collecting all the GOW3 materials and archiving them in the wiki :D
  • Twoflower
    Awesome!

    is it just me or does it look like a zipper keeps the two throwing arms together on Siege Beast? : P
  • Kot_Leopold
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    Kot_Leopold polycounter lvl 10
    Epic work is EPIC! <----see what I did there :D
  • Oniram
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    Oniram polycounter lvl 15
    fantastic work!
  • AyalaN3D
    Awesome! Great job from all you guys! Texture work is clean and crisp! Loving this hard work!
  • d1ver
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    d1ver polycounter lvl 14
    Thank you very much, Moose.
    All this Epic epicness deserves a frontpage plug!
  • Electro
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    Electro polycounter lvl 18
    They're beautiful :')
  • [HP]
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    [HP] polycounter lvl 13
    Jesus christ It's hard not to be amazed by such quality. Definitely some of the best texturing I've seen lately.

    I would pay big to attend / watch a workshop from you on some of your workflow and tricks for texturing, I bet you've got some wicked tricks!
  • Rapture117
    I'm an aspiring Level Designer, but actually got a little misty eyed looking at all of these images. After seeing these, I'm very much interested on learning how to texture on the side, and was wondering if you have any good tips, tutorials, sites, etc I could go to and really learn more about. Thanks Moose and beautiful job man!

    Nick
  • moose
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    moose polycount sponsor
    wow thanks so much guys! Really know how to make a guy feel good! It's really special to post this stuff and see your all's responses, having got my start here at polycount (and skindom!) so many years ago :poly106:

    ae, megalmn, cholden, alberto , shadowforce, Dave Silver, pity, jramauri, Jessica, clockchrome, luke, scb, oniram, ayalan3d, electro: thank you guys!! Means a lot!

    Shiniku: thanks!! That is high praise, means a lot to hear that! Don't forget Space Marine, Dark Souls, Deus Ex, Rage, Batman, Crysis, and probably Uncharted 3, Saints Row 3, Battlefield... list goes on and on and on and on!

    JDingles: :poly106:

    RazorBladder: thanks!! haha yeah it has been a while! Will try not to take 8 years between pimps from now on, need to start posting more!

    Zipfinator: http://bit.ly/riC0Wr

    Scudz: Thanks!! I think what happened with the sawed off is that I had a great day that day. Was in a crazy good groove hitting all the right parts at the right time, and to top it off the unwrap for it was perfect (thanks Pete!). Had a very clear vision & idea of what to do, the process went very smoothly on it. I usually spend more time on things, just was on a roll that day. The One Shot was a lot longer, and spent more time on the Vulcan to add some animating shader stuff for the gun engine belt and bullet belt. Size of the weapon does play a huge role too, as the Gorgon was a very quick skin. I also had a very specific workflow down for the Locust weapons. A mesh like the Submarine takes a lot longer. Sometimes the modelers will beat the hell out of the mesh or put crazy detail on it, and other times large surfaces will be left blank and I will add extra normals with crazybump. and yes, Jordan is amazing :)

    jacque: thanks!! Chris Wells (wallabyjoe) posted some wires in his character thread, don't want to steal his thunder! Don't think I'll be able to show any flats or psd breakdowns. I will say that I started using a lot more layers than I should have been. I'm pretty anal about organizing layers (most of the time), start with an AO base, break parts and pieces out into layer groups w/ masks to define an area, lots of local painting, and do ao coloring around the mesh on specific parts. I use a lot of clipping layers, masks, adjustment layers. Keep my Diffuse, Spec, Normal, Masks, and Emissives all in one PSD (or psb). It is crucial that any detail you add to your diffuse go into your spec, and sometimes your normal - keeping all that stuff together in one place makes it easier to maintain.

    daphz: thanks dude! fucking love your work!

    beancube: dunno, Chris W, Mike K, and Kevin J's are pretty awesome :)

    Rollin: hiyyaaaaaa!

    Nerf Bat: :poly106:

    shawnell3d: Moose gives shawnell3d [crusty mop]

    ES_139: my brain is mush too! you guys melt my head.

    tenchi: thanks!! I'm grateful of such an amazing community of people, not many forums quite like polycount.

    jeffro: yah!! thanks man! I want to keep posting, have some personal art goals i want to achieve with modeling, so may be posting more!

    Snef: woo!

    lonewolf: Pete Hayes (yemyam) did most of the highs for the guns, will see if he'll post em.

    coots, toxic: thanks! texture sizes vary. Characters were 2048 mostly (1024 in game), weapons were 1024-512, vehicles 2048-1024. There is a bit of mirroring going on, but it was used when needed and in inconspicuous locations when possible. Carmine for example needed to have an asymmetrical body texture to make sure all the writing was ok, and arm different tattoos. The base mesh had mirrored arms & chest/back. Created another set of UVs for him to unmirror the chest, back, and arms for this reason. On the tempest, his body is mostly mirrored, legs share uvs, etc. The Sub was split into multiple parts, but also mirrored.

    metalliandy: thanks man! love eat3d :D

    shotty: thanks duder! That puke was for you.

    r13: coo :)

    Twoflower: thanks! hahaha, yeah it kinda does :) When texturing him I had a naked version that id spin around like a weird naked chicken-catapult.

    kot: wut

    d1ver: :o

    HP: whoa, thanks man!! your crisis stuff is bonkers awesome, you saying that means a lot to me. I've got a few tricks up me pant leg, would love to share knowledge with the community.

    Nick: thanks!! i'm getting misty myself reading everyone's comments! :poly142: A lot of old tutorial sites seem to be gone, or im not looking in the right spots anymore :( Polycount has some great info, both in threads and on the wiki! Some advise to keep in mind while texturing: always keep your intended materials in mind. Ask yourself while texturing "what kind of surface is this, and what is around it?" Granted, the textures I've done aren't "real," but its how your display it next to other materials that matters (metal to leather, flesh to cloth, rubber to plastic). Study stuff, and don't be afraid to use/look at reference. Before starting any texture i always make a sheet of images to get inspired by, metal types, paint, rust, bolts, colors, etc. The other thing I will say is practice, practice, practice! People don't release pure SDK's much anymore, but the SDK thread does still exist. Download people's models, and just texture it! It is a fantastic exercise, keeps you on your toes and gets you to think in the constraints of someone else's UV maps.
  • Donavonyoung
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    Donavonyoung polycounter lvl 6
    This is just so amazing. I really have enjoyed this thread at great lengths. And if possible a breakdown of your workflow would be greatly appreciated. Awe inspiring work mate.
  • leslievdb
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    leslievdb polycounter lvl 15
    amazing work! would love to see a textureflat of one of the characters if that's possible?
  • Maph
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    Maph polycounter lvl 8
    Totally gobsmacked! You Epic lot are so... epic at what you do!
    Ditto on the request of texture flats if at all possible!

    Now, time to save all those goodies to my ref folder.
  • LRoy
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    LRoy polycounter lvl 10
    Fantastic work dude. Thanks for thanking the time to answer everyones questions. Epic took over polycount this week haha
  • vofff
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    vofff polycounter lvl 10
    You guys are totally epic!!!
  • iniside
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    iniside polycounter lvl 6
    The first one is hot!

    Love you characters, especially how they are looking in game. amazing.
  • dtschultz
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    dtschultz polycounter lvl 12
    Awesome work, moose! Those metals are so beautiful. I've got some new study materials, lol. Thanks, man.
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