52 replies to this topic

[dunkejudas]

Ok.. So I'm a friend of duke's contributing to the project (just to make it clear I'm not some random dude trying to hijack your production!)

That being said, I've started some concept work on the guard. I based it on the notes in the enemies thread (http://forums.revora...showtopic=76680) as well as some pointers from duke.
So this is what I've come up with so far



I've been making a basic 3d model this evening and I hope I'll get to work on it some more in the week.
Fire away!

[Boomerang Python]

That looks absolutely awesome mate, keep it up!

[Gen.Kenobi]

I can't frogive myself from missing this amazing piece of art! AWESOME!

[duke_Qa]

Dunkejudas is pretty damn epic on his concepts, but I can't wait to see the model as well.

[dunkejudas]

Thanks guys

Sorry for the late reply. I've been totally bogged down with work this week, and thus I've made little progress since last time. However, I did manage to set aside a couple of hours to create a base model. I'm making alot of assumptions right now about both technical specs and art style, so correct me if I'm wrong somewhere

First! Here's a quick spin of the model so far


Some proportions have been changed since the concept (as those tiny hands looked a bit wierd in 3d space) and the proportions will probably be refined more as I go. It's about 3800 tris and should not pose a threat to animation flowwise
I unwrapped it last night, so unless there's any objections concerning polycount or flow, I hope to begin working on the highpoly as soon as possible (unless we'll not be utilizing normal maps?). Anyway, I'll probably post some wip's from the highpoly later this weekend..!

[duke_Qa]

Looking good!

Normal maps will be used, although I'd go safe and make sure most details fit in a 1024x1024 map. Right now I'm using a unwrap for my viking's body and a different unwrap for his tools, so if you are running out of space and plan to make all them weapons then consider doing that.

The biggest problem I see right now is the brim around the helmet is a bit too steep/90' on the angle compared to the concept. But everything else looks acceptable, some triangles here and there but I think that won't be a problem.

[dunkejudas]

Thanks.
Good point about the helmet! I fix!
And good to hear about both the normal map and different textures for character and gear That'll fit with my current unwrap.

So I'm about 50% done with the highpoly now, and I thought I'd post some wip's here just to make sure I'm not stepping on some toes with the current art style. From what I've seen (mainly the viking and the serf) the art style is somewhat unrealistic and cartoony proportions with more realistic surface detail.
So this is where I'm now (the grayed out pieces have not been worked on yet)


I've done a few testbakes on the tuniclike cloth, and most details should be preserved in lowres textures. Also the buckle is looking a bit off, but I'll deal with that and the helmet with subd modeling later on.

Back to sculpting!

[duke_Qa]

He is going to be pretty damn awesome. How did you do the armor patterns? I personally would think it to be a sort of stencil, but it seems varied enough that it could have been brushed, BUT then it would be sort of annoying to get them smooth and stuff. eh, I'm braindead atm.

[Phil]

Not that I have any idea, but that looks amazing! I'll be following this project with keen interest.

[duke_Qa]

We certainly have the graphics up at a more than acceptable level, now that Dunkejudas spends a few hours in the weekends for us. Hopefully we will have a rough test of the first characters within the month.

[dunkejudas]

@DarkLord: Thanks alot!

@duke_Qa: You're spot on about the armor patterns! It's a stencil + some brushwork on top to make it seem less likely it's just a stencil Also I hope I'll be available some evenings in the coming week too. Hopefully there won't be that much stress and overtime as last week

So now I'm somewhat finished with the highpoly.
Here it is!


And here's a detail shot for all the fun stuff that will probably never make it to the normal map (and would probably just show up as a couple of pixels in-game anyway):


Just in case there's ever a gallery section or something..

Anyway. Off to sleep! Hope to finish baking out the normal map and getting started on the textures tomorrow

[Bart]

That's an insane model

[Boomerang Python]

Keep it up!

I won't be able to do anything near that kind of insanity on my scenery bits..

[duke_Qa]

That's why you need to buy a Wacom and start sculpting. It's easy once you know how to do it right


I have to start stealing techniques from DJ(åhå, pen forkortning ) when it comes to modelling low-poly for sculpting: That beard and the face as a different mesh so you easily get a very smooth edge between them once you are done is a awesome way of doing it.

[dunkejudas]

@Boomerang: Thanks The details are probably a bit overkill on this one though. I'm not sure wheter or not the smaller details will be percived as plain noise with the in-game resolution. I suppose a more subtle level of detail would be more eye-pleasing

@Duke: That is a nice nickname indeed! Having hair in a seperated mesh when sculpting is the quickest and easiest way of doing it I've seen so far. Plus you can make the rest of the face too (which is awesome)

@Bart: Thanks, man

anyway.. Baking is now done! It went smoother than I rememberd it to be
Here's a spin, realtime from the "awesome" Maya viewport.


The lowpoly now utilizes a 1024x1024 normal map and a color map of the same size (the color map is currently just the occlusion and cavity maps). Polycount got bumped up to 3900 after a few bevels n' fixes. Most of the details are still intact, so maybe I can use a 512x512 instead without any major problems. There's a couple of seams left and the low polycount kinda shines through on the sides and back (which look abit flat), but I think it'll work when it's in proper size.

Hopefully I get to do most of the texturing tonight as I'm probably gonna be stuck at work for at least a couple of days..

[duke_Qa]

Zbrush prolly have updated their export settings. Looking forward for some colors, though you don't have to rush on it

[dunkejudas]

Yeah, the baking process has been totally simplified in the 3.5 release. Displacement maps are now actually possible to export without remembering that 16-digit quick code.

Well, I thought I might as well post a wip so far (even though I'm about 25% finished or something)

Been working mainly with the color of the padded armor part of the tunic (or whatever it is) and the leather. So specular, skin values and metal are all over the place, but I'll probably get there soon enough
Oh, and it would be so awesome if we were to get some shader that supported fresnel/rim light in unity like the one on the screenshot!

[Bart]

Woah, normal maps work really well.
Even if that texture is a WiP, it could pass for final

Might I say though that his hands are weird? Probably intentional though

[duke_Qa]

They'll probably look acceptable when gripping some weapons.

One can program your own shaders in unity3d, and there's plenty standard ones lying around and custom ones on the wikis, so it should be possible to find a battlefield-heroes-like shader for us.

[dunkejudas]

Thanks, Bart
I aimed for somewhat deformed and exaggerated fat hands (what it would look like if pigs or cows had hands or something), but I do agree that they seem a little weird (not counting their non-human proportions)! My guess is the placement and shapes around the thumb, so I'll fix that when I get back home! And as duke said, they'll probably look better when not in bind pose

I'm also glad to hear about the shaders!