Sumea Challenge #5 -3D- Doyle - Challenger #2

any comments ??????? things i should change b4 i start to model ??
thanks

It is a cool idea, but I think it could use a little work first. The second stage feels like it needs a little more to it, so that it is more distinguished from the original.

When it hits it's third form, it loses it's little arms. It sems a little odd to gain something in an evolution, and then lose it straight away. Perhaps retain the arms for the later evolution.

The feet for the final form are a little odd as well. It looks like the mech would be a walking unit, yet it has catapillar tracks on it for driving. How would it actually move? Does it have the ability to move using both forms like the Gears from Heavy Gear? You may want to thicken the legs up at the base though, to support the machinery that would be needed for the treads.

I do like the egg idea, but what about trying it without using the mech craddle. Just try to evolve an egg into three different forms. Just my opinion.

thanks aven yah i was thinking about that second evolution being a bit off mite go back and re think it a bit, i mite come up with something with out using the mech style legs etc.
but the ideas i had for the egg moving in its final stage as it is now would be: the tank sytled treads would be its main way of moving and the legs would only move very slowly and really only be used to get over large cracks in landscape or to step up a level etc if that makes any sence.

anyways ill work a bit more on this before going into modeling !!

thanks again !

I think that you should make the first stage more then just an egg, not much of a modeling challenge there, and as this is the Sumea modeling challenge?

Pantmonger

I agree with aven. In the 2nd stage he just gets arms then he becomes a full cyborg. The 2nd stage definately needs work.

yah ill rework the second level sometime soon
as with changing it from a egg ill think ill leave it, may be a easy model but i like it 4 some reason, more from a animation side of things with lots of stretch and squash and with all the projects i got going on atm something simple to model will be re freshing.

agreed with the above (specially avens in depth), needs to have more fluidity in the evolution.

I'm all for simplicity, but maybe you could add more robotic features to the evolutions. Much like a Mr. Potato Head.

If you wish it would probably be more fun to animate with your bouncing egg.

just my thoughts:
I agree, - it would be fun to animate it if the second evolution had long springy arms or something. Something like a half way between stages 1 and 3.

thanks for all you comments ppl they are a help !
been having a busy week, developing a simple game demo with a group of friends here in perth and we only have two weekends left to finish it.
So hopefully ill have time to finish this challenge aswell.
right now im having a bit of a sketch with the second evo. ill post something up soon

thanks again
Colm

here is the update concept very rushed dont have much time atm hopefully helps with the evo process a little better then before
[img]http://home.iprimus.com.au/colmdoyle/concept2.jpg[/img]

thanks
Colm

That is a lot better but i think you should have kept the arms in the 2nd Evo and given the third one more muscular or cyborg arms.

nice work, its a much better transition now

hey all
thanks for the comments !!! keep them comming ! they help heeps

just started some modeling of the third evo here are some pics its pritty basic !

[img]http://home.iprimus.com.au/colmdoyle/egg1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://home.iprimus.com.au/colmdoyle/egg2.jpg[/img]

atm the tank type treads take up to much of the poly count so ill change them some time soon
thanks
Colm

got sidetracked into some animation with the evo 1 egg
really quick little jump sequance not really happy with it at all
anyways please tell me what you think
[url]http://home.iprimus.com.au/colmdoyle/eggtest1.mov[/url] (272k)

thanks

did a little work today not much
here is the 3 eggs roughly modelled

[img]http://home.iprimus.com.au/colmdoyle/wire2.jpg[/img]

as you can see the tank treads will go in place of something less high poly

thanks Colm

hehe, I like him - simple yet elegant design [:)]

oh one thing I can't stop thinking is how he takes the pills to evolve! Maybe you could just say "magic" [:D]

Cool - I like the evolved versions. I do wonder if more thought could have gone into the first vers tho' -- it's very much a ball with eyes. A rugby ball with eyes.

It's got a certain charm, this design.

Rugby, rugby, rugby is that all u kiwi's think about :P

It looks great great transfer from concept to model

Nice. Like J.I. said, simple but elegant concept that works well.
What?s the poly count on these? I bet they would be very low and therefore would run very well in a game engine...

nice work, the bold colours and thick outlines create a very good theme for your type of character.

For your little animation, to me it seems whats wrong is that the egg physically moves into the air, then lands, then _stays on the spot for a few seconds_ doing the squishy animation before taking off again. So my theory being your problem is that it sort of sails through the air then wobbles on the spot, it should be more smooth.

thanks for all the replies guys !!

yes the first evo. looks like a rugby ball ( i would say a football ) but you cant do alot with a egg really !!!
anyone got any ideas, the idea was to keep it really simple and just rely on character.
I started to think of a owner / keeper character, some kind of mad cook but i dont think ill get him done.

palantir: about 1500 polys for all three characters atm

and as for taking the pill we mite have to leave it to magic !!!!

and also can anyone tell me if toon shading can be used ( i know its been used a bit in game engines theses days but i dont really know the process they use)

doyle, the brief doesn't accommodate cel shaders or renderers, but you can of course use the old pushed-&-inverted normals trick to fake it while still fitting in with the brief. Personally, I think this kludge is kinda cheesey, but hey, if you're interested, just ask

i have seen the toon shading technique using the push modifier and flipping the normals but cant really remember now it was done, can you go threw the process if you know it

thanks
Colm

There's a tute at 3dtotal.com, just go to the tutrorials section and then 3ds max section ( which it should be in by default) then just find it. Hey wut do ya know it's done by JI

thanks !! ill go check it out

cheers
Colm

hehe, yeah, that's the tut I did quite some time ago now, I think 3 years now -- here's the direct link: http://www.3dtotal.com/ffa/tutorials/max/cel_shade_tut/cel_shading_tut_…
quite easily adapted for standard real-time application, so if you put your mind to it, you should be able to get something good that fits within the competition brief. Good luck! [:)]

Good to see that you are so far along with these character.

I think you will have a hard time doing toon shading, with out the use of shaders which seem the case for this comp. There a few ideas I was looking into and everyone has been answered NO as for shaders go or I have got no reply, look maybe able to fake it so how but the character should be able to go into half-life (one) and look the same. I think HL was the last big game engine without any shaders for characters.

shath has done a good job of this.

There's a few cheap and easy ways to get a cel shaded look working with garden variety engine specs if you just apply a little brain power to it -- here's the cheapest, quickest, and dirtiest two methods I knocked up:

[img]http://server6.uploadit.org/files/jistyles-cel.jpg[/img]

(*edit: and yes, these are at half life 1 tech specs)

other methods are using a heavy weighted env map with an alpha component to mask out black lining object outlines, and an sub alpha/ref component with cross hatch patterns on "darkened" areas to simulate a dynamic lit "sketched" look (very similar to the last few examples of the hand in that old tutorial of mine above).

Hey doyle

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Everyone seems a little distracted by the whole toon shading thing... but the focus of this thread should be doyle's entry (cell shaded or otherwise).

You've made a good start with you character, but i feel that more work needs to be put into the design of this character. Currently, its just an egg in a walker.

Now, i'm not trying to shoot you down, but if you ignore the walker, nothing has actually changed (the egg remains the same).

I suggest you do 2 things.

1 - Try to work the egg into the evolution.
- Eggs crack
- Eggs hatch.
- Things comes out of eggs? (chickens, crocodies, dinosaurs etc)
- Mess with the idea of evolving the egg. You have some fertile ground there, as the egg can hatch into ANYTHING! And, unlike many other things, we naturally assume an egg will change into something else (either an animal or breakfast).
2 - Reconsider the walker
- Once you have worked out what you want to do with the egg, reconsider the walker. You may find that you want to have a mechanical chicken grown from an egg (with half an egg-shell on it's head), or you may decide to ditch the think for a good ol' pair of tank tracks. Who knows.
The only other thing i'd suggest, is that you try to emphasise evolution on the walker as well. 1 leg -> 2 legs is a refit. 2 short legs -> 2 long legs is more of an evolution.

Once again, take these suggestions any way you see fit. I really feel that a superior design is just a few scribbles away (you've come this far..). But it's up to you.

[yoda]An excellent entry, a cell shader makes not.[/yoda]

cheers