Sumea Modeller Challenge #4 RESULTS

Judges are: Everyone at Irrational Games including Ben Lee (Art Director) and Andrew James (Lead Artist), Rod Green - Atari Melbourne House, Jason Dalton - Senior Artist at Creative Assembly, Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue, Steve Stamatiadis - Creative Director at Krome Studios, Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios. Thanks to all these judges for devoting time in their busy schedules to help out in the Sumea Challenge voting. Also thanks to all the challengers for taking part in it as well!!
And of course, *special* huge thanks must go to Bullant Studios for the first prize award - a full pass to the AGDC 2003! (worth $900!!).

Concept Rankings
[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/simagesmisc/sumeachallenge/SC4_RConcept.gif[/img]
Mesh Rankings
[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/simagesmisc/sumeachallenge/SC4_RMesh.gif[/img]
Texture Rankings
[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/simagesmisc/sumeachallenge/SC4_RTexture.gif[/img]

1st - Ironikart - 22,14,20 = 56 points
2nd - DavidCoen - 13,27,25 = 65 points
3rd - Ninja - 33,12,22 = 67 points
4th - JIStyles - 34,23,13 = 70 points
5th - smeg - 27,38,31 = 96 points
6th - Mark - 40,27,60 = 127 points
7th - Jacobt - 56,49,27 = 132 points
8th - Pantmonger - 46,56,38 = 140 points
9th - Animal - 45,46,57 = 148 points
10th - Goodgod - 58,56,65 = 179 points
11th - SorcerorBob - 58,78,51 = 187 points
12th - Adamant - 66,66,74 = 206 points
13th - nealb4me - 65,80,78 = 223 points
14th - Azmodai - 72,75,79 = 226 points
15th - Idaho - 82,73,80 = 235 points

Challenger #1 - Adamant

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Not evident. Nice idea however it didn't really fit the requested topic - From the final result the character seems to look more like a soldier then a "demonic dark lord".
____3D Mesh____
Looks clean but lacks shape and definition.
__Texturing__
Looks a little airbrushed (blurry) tones don't look very realistic. Highlights are a little rushed. Bit flat in places. UV layout is very basic and has a lot of wasted space. Definition given to the wrong areas (i.e. more space should be given to more important features like faces etc)

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
Concept wise I felt this guy was a little on the ordinary side and had a bit of a Quake feel. The giant blades on both arms didn't appeal to me either; I felt he should have had at least one hand, or claw, tentacle or something.
The mesh is perfectly symmetrical which I think works against it, a little asymmetry, especially on the arms in this case would've really helped.
Overall the poly count looks low and this really shows in the armor, which comes across as being quite thin and ineffectual in some places. The texture doesn't really help in covering up the low poly count on this model.
Decorations, dints and scratches would help hide the poly count and also give the character a bit of history. Soul Caliber II has some awesome armor textures that are well worth checking out.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Not a bad overlord, could do with some more polys in the torso to loose that boxy feel.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Nice big solid character, I think he could have turned out really well with alot more attention paid to the texture work.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
The mesh is a little on the boxy side, mainly the chest area. You need to take a good look at some more reference for the body to see how muscles and stuff actually work and move against each other and bone. Texturing could use a bit more detail. You seem to be painting lighting in on some parts but not others.
Rating: Grunt

Challenger #2 - JacobT

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Looks OK, but is a little too normal. Character's wings are an interesting feature but could
maybe a little more 'demonic'?
____3D Mesh____
The mesh seems clean but needs some work to give more definition. Biceps are a little long.
Geometry detail could be used a little more efficiently.
__Texturing__
On a whole the texture is quite solid. Little too photoshop layered feel though, needs better
integration of sub areas i.e. feathers to skin, lining of clothing etc.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
The concept for this guy isn't as out there as some of the others but I still think it's quite a good, subtle take on a demonic overlord. This is a pretty neat model; my only gripes are the wings and the shoulder/upper body area. The wings don't quite seem like they'd be able to unfold and the area where his arms join his body seems a little fudged and lacking definition.
The texture is awesome and suits the model perfectly.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Really nice texturing, keeping the colours rich and vibrant.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Nice and clean textures. The wings texture is fantastic.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
I like the hair and wings better in the concept. Mesh and Textures are solidbut the final thing comes off a little bland for some reason. I do like thewing textures but they show up the lack on any really interesting detail in the rest of the model.
Rating: Right hand man

Challenger #3 - Smeg

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Nice original concept. Good work! Final mesh matches concept well.
____3D Mesh____
Well constructed and good polygon distribution.
__Texturing__
Nice skin tones and detail. Clothing and objects could use the same amount of attention.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
I really like the concept for this guy although he doesn't really feel like an overlord. Maybe it's the lantern but to me he comes across more like a gate keeper. He doesn't look inherently evil either so I'm assuming he's been possessed. I like the model for this guy but I think the texture is fighting the forms of the model instead of bringing them out. The texture is quite nicely painted in it's own right but combined with the mesh neither seems to work quite as well.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Odd...odd...character, but cool! Nice to see someone taking a different path with the painterly look to the character.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Very nice transition from concept to finish. Love the style of the character.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
Different and unexpected = good. Solid Model which looks like the concept come to life. Clean mesh and tectures. I like it.

Challenger #4 - Animal

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Nice concept. Fits the requested topic well. However not extremely original but still good.
____3D Mesh____
Legs are a little odd - proportion off. Distribution is good but a little messy - hard to tell
from images (bright light on mesh shot).
__Texturing__
UV layout has a lot of wasted space. Texture detail needs some work. Highlights should not just
be done with a white brush tones should vary.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
I'm glad this was the only red horned demon with wings :) I felt this
concept was the most obvious of the lot and doesn't really offer anything new as far as red demons are concerned. The model though is quite good and I like that the wings will allow for a full range of movement. I think this character is most let down by a texture that is under developed and could do with a few more passes.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Great idea, model is pretty good although the legs come across as weak and clumsy, the texture turned out a little washed out too, but a good effort.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Nice concept art. The models legs are a little unbalanced, use photo reference from a goats back legs. Having a few problems with the alpha. Try modelling the hair as a separate strands losing the blanket look.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
Kind of what I expected to see but pretty solid none the less. The mesh is good but the texturing could stand some more detail.

Challenger #5 - Pantmonger

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Not submitted but the idea is nice and very original but I'm not sure if it fits the requested topic well. Looks a little frail.
____3D Mesh____
Looks good but shape are a little simple.
__Texturing__
Looks a little too burnt. The detail is there though.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
This design makes no sense to me but in some ways I kind of like that fact.
Although I find the concept rigid and nonsensical it is quite frightening.
Perhaps, being a demonic lord, the methods and logic of its construction aren't for my puny mortal frame to understand. The model is of a good standard and all the forms are well defined but over all it is perhaps a little stiff. I quite like the pincer arms and I wonder what it would look like with a few more of differing sizes. Texture wise I like the iron work best of all. The contrast on the skin areas is a little too high and I suspect the colour dodge/burn feature was used a little too heavily in these
regions. The floating symbols would also look pretty groovy in a game engine if rendered using an additive effect.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Good to see a very different approach to the character, very unique design and good texturing.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Love the concept, big hellraiser fan. Next time include the guts in the mesh. Fantastic textures.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
Another different entry. The model looks a little too stiff although I guess a lot of this is due the concept. The texturing is good but I think the "alien-ness" of the concept makes it hard to read what it actually is. In the end I really think it loses a lot of its potential impact.

Challenger #6 - Goodgod

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Nice original concept but again doesn't seem match the requested topic.
__3D Mesh__
In general it looks nice however it's hard to tell from that one shot.
__Texturing__
Looks a little simple from the screen shots.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
This was one of my favorite concepts, I like the idea of demons possessing ordinary beings and I thought this was a pretty good take on the idea. I also like the method of possession this demon uses, while not quite as nasty as the South American "pee hole" fish, it's still pretty brutal:) I don't feel the model and texture quite do the concept justice though. The method of possession looks like it would leave the host in an extremely broken state; the host here looks a little too intact. I'm not a big fan of gore so
I'm not suggesting bones and internal organs bursting through the skin but the skeletal structure of the host would be radically altered by the presence of the demon. The texture I felt needed a bit more work; it's a little flat and uninteresting overall. The background colour makes it a little difficult to see the model as well.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Cool character, very bizzare, probably could have stylized it a bit more on the proportional side of things to really bring out the character a bit more.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Original concept, next time included the parasite as a whole otherwise the concept remains unclear.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
Interesting idea but again this one is a litle hard to read. The fish thing comes across as a tail sticking out the side of him.

Challenger #7 - Nealb4me

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Good concept but maybe the claws could have been integrated as part of the actual character rather
then strap on.Little simple.
__3D Mesh__
Mesh looks simple. How many polygons are used in that little ring on the back of the character?
Wouldn't deform well.
__Texturing__
Again it looks a little simple. No real detail on the texture.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
I didn't like this one much. Although I like the concept of possessed
demonic animals I think this one fell a bit short of the mark. The model is quite weak and boxy in places and lacks the power and majesty of a regular polar bear let alone one with horns and extended claws strapped to it's arms. I thought he looked a bit silly.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Design was a little weak, probably would have been better to make him more beast like, at the moment he just looks like an animal with "stuff" strapped to him. There are also alot of wasted poly's there, especially in those metal claws, also the modelled in claws on the feat are probably not needed, just wasted polygons.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Cute concept, the mesh still desires a lot more polys to bring out the character. Keep yourself surrounded with photo reference.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
This was another cool idea but the mesh comes across as a little low poly looking. I'd be speding more polys on the character and less on areas like the claws where they won't be noticed.

Challenger #8 - DavidCoen

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Nice concept very original and scary!
__3D Mesh__
Well constructed - triangulation on the drapes might need to be done by hand so that faces don't
clip though each other.
__Texturing__
Drapes and skin look really good. Adequate detail given to areas that need it.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
This little dude nearly gave me nightmares, he's so damn creepy! I like the concept of a baby like demon lord. I definitely wouldn't want to be around if this kid threw a tantrum. The sword feels a little out of place but that's a minor gripe. The model is a little boxy in places and I like the proportions in the 1st concept a little more than those of the model. The texture is really creepy and works well on the model. I think the fleshy flag works quite well.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Lots and lots of character, mesh and texturing both really well done, although the texture does suffer a bit from over contrast.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Love the ugly little dude. Can just imagine him barking orders at huge hellspawn armies. Were can I get some of those underwear?

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
I prefer the initial sketch with the skinny arms and legs. The final model is pretty solid looking but it's all a bit hard to read. The textures tend to blend in together and its just hard to work out what's what. Still it's a cool little demonic baby thing.

Challenger #9 - Idaho

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Basic concept maybe could be more original.
__3D Mesh__
Seems clean but distribution of detail might need a little work.
__Texturing__
UV layout needs work. Lots of space is wasted. Texture is very simple.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
There isn't really that much to this concept, it comes across as being a pretty standard, if a little emaciated, centaur. The modeling on this character is not bad but let down by an odd choice of proportion. He doesn't quite look strong enough to wield the hammer he's toting. The rear legs look a little sausage like from the side and I'm not a fan of the painted on mouth. I felt the texture looked unfinished. There only appears to be about two levels of shading and it looks like it could use several more passes.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Good effort, no major flaws, just need to give it a more individual look, at the moment it suffers from feeling very generic.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Not a bad concept, make sure you use photo reference for the horse body. Must add some fingers.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
Model wise it wouldn't hurt to look at a lot more reference to get the shapes right. You'll find a little knowledge goes a long way to making things look better. The bad thing is you've wasted a lot of space on the texture.

Challenger #10 - J.I.Styles

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Great concept. Nice idea!
__3D Mesh__
Hard to tell from wireframe shots however it looks good. Can't really tell how good it is in the
face though.
__Texturing__
Well laid out and great work on the skin details. On the whole this texture is very good.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
Whilst it isn't super original the concept is tight, has a subtle sense of humour and has been executed flawlessly. The model is great, there's a lot of nice detail and the polys have been spread out nicely to accommodate it all with out leaving any areas boxy.
This texture was my fave. Well rendered with great attention to detail. Love the deep colours and the rim lighting on the skin.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Good overall effort, nice strong texturing and uv layout. Mesh is solid with good polygon distribution.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Great concept art. The attention to detail in the textures is outstanding.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
Nasty looking - good use of polys and textures.

Challenger #11 - Mark

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Good but doesn't seem to match the requested topic.
__3D Mesh__
Clean and good distribution of polygons - could do with a little more shape definition.
__Texturing__
Layout seems a little wasteful and texture needs a little more polishing to be called finish game
art.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
This entry has great character but isn't as unique as some of the other entrys. I can't see how he'd be able to use those embedded blades but they still look pretty scary. The concept has been carried through perfectly and the model rocks, he'd animate and pose up quite nicely. The texture is sketchy in places but I think this works quite well. The cloth work is also quite nice.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Very cool stylized proportions, the character has alot of personality.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Nice 2d work. It transfers well into a mesh. The textures need more attention, especially the teeth. Try making the hair into separate clumps from the tie back, might look nice when animated.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
The model is a good representation of the concept. You may be better served by mirroring most of the UV mapping and get a higher texel detail.

Challenger #12 - Ironikart

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Great concept but I can't see the 'demon lord' in it.
__3D Mesh__
Well constructed but could be cleaned up in a couple of areas.
__Texturing__
Texturing looks good but could be organised a little better.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
This entry really jumped out at me, I think it's great. It's not the most demonic but I still think it's one of the coolest. The model and texture are striking and work really well together. I love the spots of orange on the arms and legs and the detail work is just right. Top stuff, my favorite entry.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Really good design, the bow weapon really suits the character well, probably didn't need to slap the sword on there, looks like it just gets in the way.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
I really like the creature. Great work with the textures especially the metal etching on the bow.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
This one is my favorite - not really much to say except good job all around.

Challenger #13 - SorcererBob

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
It's original however doesn't really seem to sell to work maybe one too many torsos on the tail?
__3D Mesh__
Very hard to tell from image however looks clean and with good distribution.
__Texturing__
Space is wasted a little and details could do with work (rear of arm is nice).

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
I like the concept behind this one and it's quite repulsive but I think it failed to hit its mark. It may look a lot scarier in the right lighting conditions but here it looks a little goofy. The skin texture is rather well done though and my only gripe with it is its uniformity. I'd expect to see blackened or extremely rough, hardened skin on surfaces that have a lot of contract with the ground. Currently his body surface looks, oddly, very soft.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Pretty cool idea but doesn't seem to work, character seems a little unbalanced and lacking the feeling of mass, some decent texturing showing alot of potential in the artist.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
This is the strangest creature design in the comp. Very original. I'm not sure how animation will go on the main body of the creature. Great textures.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
Interesting idea that's not easy to model and you've done a pretty good job of it. I think the textureing lets in down mainly for being plain flesh coloured. It could really do with a more varied texture quality - smooth and rough skin variations etc.

Challenger #14 - Ninja

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Great concept but doesn't look at all evil. To me this character looks like a good guy i.e. soulreaver.
__3D Mesh__
Very clean and well constructed. Very good distribution of polygons.
__Texturing__
Layout is a little simple and texturing could do with more detail.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
The original concept for this guy makes him look like one of the good guys and isn't quite as daring as some of the other entries. Although the model changed a fair bit from the concept the style carried through 100%. The model is ass kickingly good with a good sense of weight and proportion and really jumps off the screen. The texture is a little soft in spots and looks a bit dark on the multi angle image but still works well on the model.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Really cool design, good mesh, overall a very unique and interesting character.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
Awesome. Very tidy work. Nice 2d work, great colour code. Very professional. Would love to see him animated.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
My second favorite. While the mesh matches the art almost perfectly apart from the wings I think you could have gone a little lighter on the texture to match the drawing. Very cool though.

Challenger #15 - Azmodai

Rod Green / Atari Melbourne House:
__Concept__
Looks a little frail. Doesn't look scary enough.
__3D Mesh__
Hard to tell from images but looks ok. Work could be done on distribution of polygons.
__Texturing__
UV layout is a little wasteful and texture needs much more detail.

Stefan Kamoda - Blue Tongue
Overall this entry felt unfinished. Although the model shows promise it feels undefined and lacks any strong features. The form of the figure is also a little hard to define against the dark red of the cape. The colour scheme is okay but I'd make the inside of the cape a much brighter red. The texture needs a lot more work, as currently the model looks almost completely untextured.

Jason Dalton - Creative Assembly
Nice design, the silhouette works very well.

Richard Lyons - Bullant Studios
It's great to see a female character. When making the cloth think of how it will animate. The textures could still do with a lot of attention.

Steve Stamatiadis - Krome Studios
Textures are a little bland but the mesh seems solid enough. You really should have spent sime time to pose it for a money shot.Something to show off the thinness of the arms and such.

Oops.. I forgot Stefan's closing comments..:

Final Thoughts.
Boy, this one was tough. The number and range of the finalists made it quite hard to place the entries in numerical order. There were many times I wished I was giving scores out of 5 as I felt many of the entries were of equal merit. I didn?t get to spend as much time as I?d have liked to on some of the comments so if you have any questions/comments just shoot me an email.
Anyways, congrats to everyone who finished, ignore the stupid numbers and get crackin on your next entry, it?s a lot more fun than judging that's for sure :)