Universal Forum Archive

Would anyone interested in modeling some monsters for me if I provide the concept art? Hmm? Hmm?

Possibly... time is limited, it depends what you want (how complex it is), and what sort of quality "concept art" we're talking about. Ie, if you provide accurate orthos, it'll be a lot quicker (and closer to what you want) than if you provide a quick sketch on the back of an envelope :)

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I'll bang out some side/profile sketches. Should I include 3/4s isometric as well as a top view? Quality will be moderate, I'm no slouch when it comes to artistic ability. Should I e-mail them to you or post the images here?

Don't mind either way... isos might be useful for a general sense of depth etc. If you'd rather mail them direct, it's fooli@ (this domain name :) ) Or if you post them here, maybe a few people could have a go and we'll have five versions of whatever you're looking for, all slightly wrong in various ways :)

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Haha, I'll see what I can knock up at work over the next week.

Ok, I finally got off my butt and got a Usb A to Usb B cable for my scanner/printer. Here it is, in all it's minimalistic glory.

thats really good

Next, some hints on:


- how close-up players will see it
- how you might want to texture it: would it be ok to mirror it L/R or do you want unique patterns on each side, for example
- how it moves (more like a lizard or an ant? Fast and nimble, slow and sluggish?)
- what it'll do: if it's wildlife, you don't have too many options (standing, walking, running, eating etc). If it's a player model you might want to think about attacks and that

Oh, and just one eye, right?
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- how close-up players will see it

My intention was that this creature is the larval state of another monster. (Lol, Universal Pokemans!) I have the min zoom settings on Atrophaxia set to 15, but the default is 30. I'm not sure if this is a question, but if so, I'm not entirely sure how to answer it.

- how you might want to texture it: would it be ok to mirror it L/R or do you want unique patterns on each side, for example

The most symmetrical creatures in nature often mate the most,... hence symmetry relates somehow to our attraction to any object. I would prefer a mirrored texture.

- how it moves (more like a lizard or an ant? Fast and nimble, slow and sluggish?)

Six legs and prehensile tail, I would say that this creature would move pretty muchly exactly like a scorpion.

- what it'll do: if it's wildlife, you don't have too many options (standing, walking, running, eating etc). If it's a player model you might want to think about attacks and that

Aside from the general wildlife or player actions, I don't think that there is anything special I'd like it to do. Just all the standard actions with the creature randomly raising it's tail and clacking it's pincers.

Oh, and just one eye, right?

Yeah, just one eye. I figured eventually I would try to texture it to appear as a compound eye or something.

Very rough half-an-hour work in progress shot. Does this thing need a mouth?
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Wow you work fast Fooli! As far as a mouth goes I'm sure we can do it with the texture. Kinda like a grasshopper's mouth parts, but after all your the one doing the modeling.

You make that in half an hour?!

Well, it's not that hard when you've been doing it for years. Start with a primitive shape closest to what you're trying to make - in this case a cylinder; experience and a bit of trial and error tells you how many segments it needs, then it's just a case of scaling bits in and out to create the body; taper one end to create the tail; feck about at the other end to create a head shape. After that, pick a couple of spots for the legs, chamfer a vertex or two to make some appropriate starting points; extrude them as their own little cylinders, and then scale those points to create the leg shapes...

What takes the time is the final tweaks: because this is going to move, the mesh has to be designed to deform properly on animation (something I'm still not particularly good at). And then it needs mapping and texturing. And then some sort of skeleton needs to be created so it can be animated. And then it needs animating. Oh, and the LoDs will need doing. But yeh, the initial "concept" stage is usually pretty quick :)

Bit more detail added this morning, plus a crappy pose:



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Ooh, and another question for jaye: did you want this segmented, with an insectoid sort of carapace, or is that for the later adult stage, sorta thing? It's looking a bit smooth and featureless on top at the moment. Which is fine if it's to be soft and squidgy :)

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heh, the great lime jell-o scorpion.

I believe I envisioned this critter to be kinda soft and leathery, without much of an exo-skeleton. Kinda think of him as a larval termite. I'm just gunna tell you to go with what you feel is right. By the way, your skills are supreme! Just thought of something though. Would it be better to just remove the eye from the model so that alternate skins could be able to make the creature a little bit more varied? I'm just a novice I don't really know what works best yet. :-p

That would fall into the "how close will it be to players" sort of question I asked above. Yes, you could do without modelling the eye and just do it in the texture, giving you much more flexibility. But close-up it'll look rubbish - flat and, well, flat :) Up to you though. Here's a slight tweak or two, with the mesh prepped for vaguely compound eyes...




And here's the same with the poly outlines showing, for anyone who's interested in such things:


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Here is where I'm at on texturing this beast.

cool looking beast it cool i swear

Nice :) Could you chuck me a copy of the texture, even if it's work in progress - I'll need it to make sure the animation doesn't overly stretch it etc.

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