Looks clean. Mostly I would use zero height for the background and bleed out the edges. Also I dont see the map a[[lied to the model so I have no idea where you are getting artifacts.
Yeah you really need some padding between the different elements, butting them up right next to each other is going to cause bleed problems when mipping or simply at lower texture quality settings.
The contrast between tones is still too high. Try to blend it a bit more so that the transition flows over smoothly. As for a good way to improve, I would highly recommend the Tyson Murphy handpainting tutorial on 3dmotive.com
I think I'm about "done" with textures. I've made some minor adjustments to his face and body proportions (as noted in my previous post). Mostly just trying to better blend the stylization and realism/accuracy.
I decided to stick with it for a day, there's still a noticeable tint and my eye didn't really 'relax' as such. But I went to turn it off and almost felt my eyes being raped by the brightness. Not too sure if this is a blessing or a curse :(
i plan to make a plank pieces from the same map to have strewn about, and i may do some blackenig vi a blend with another material, since theres goina be a decent amount of things exploding.
Awesome stuff! and probably one of the best presentations I've seen on here. Quick question, is the animation between the wings and the wings with the heads with it controlled through like a blend shape? Would be interested in how thats set up.
Couldn't this essentially be simulated by square irises a round eyeball with a square shaped eye socket? Otherwise I think that animated UV's might be a bit less resource intensive that multiple blend shapes per eye movement.
Where the hell is Timesplitters 4? Star wars battlefront 3? (I hope that Crytek uses their newly acquired talent well, the character art in Timesplitters was BEYOND good, let's hope that bleeds over into the Crysis franchise.)
I often (since I saw it in UDK) blend textures in the shader using vertex paint, and avoiding too much repeating texture as well. Find that it works better then decals and gives more freedom and easier to adjust.