Sumea Challenge #7 - Conundrum - Challenger #19

ive decided to go for a "human explorers lost on mars" theme (probably in support or possibly heavy). i was inspired by the frazetta i posted in the ref section. this is very quick and ill do most of my concept work through testing once i have my basic model completed. i'm going for a 60's look and feel to it. i'll post the model sometime soon.

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/200541153657_Spaceman-…]

well, there wasn't much of a response on the last idea and i wasn't sold on it either so i've changed my mind. i'm going to just do conceptual work as i model and see what i come up with, this is the start of the torso so far, i think the stomach is a bit too narrow though. any c&c is much appreciated

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/2005413105711_Wip-01.j…]

No other people have posted here apart from you so I will. I think the main problem with your old concept was that it was still a bit too modern. Just my 2 cents, or 5 cents since we don't work in 1 and 2 cent increments anymore, if you get what I mean.

thanks for the reply fire, yeah, i know what you mean about it being too modern. At this stage i think i'll do a stealth based character. i'm at 1700 tris for this, but thats including polys under the suit which i will either use if i change my mind or cull later on, plus i need to clean up the shoulders a bit.

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/20054147344_Wip-02.jpg…]

Cool, I like that design. That helmet is quite the retro sci-fi look. Good stuff. Looks like he has thick techy gloves on too. Have you done the lower section yet? I imagine his feet will need some serious space boots also!

thanks,
this is the base of the model completed though its only 2074 tris so i'm going to model a head. i'll then decide whether i'll keep the helmet with a slit or remove it altogether.

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/2005415222745_Wip-03.j…]

thats looking great, what kind of head were you thinking about putting in there?

thanks, not sure just yet, but seeing as he's stealth i'll try and go for that look. another update, just more experimentation, i'm beginning to like it. 2035 tris

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/20054177222_Wip-04.jpg…]

something holstered on his upper thigh perhaps? slung around his torso? hes lacking any sort of "accesories" check your metal gears and splinter cells and see the kind of straps and things that they have.

yeah i think accesories are the way to go, especially as i have only used a bit more than half the available poly count.

just a pretty render with a little bit of progress
[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/2005417112825_Wip-Rend…]

Looking good, I like the shape. will be good to see where you go with it. Nice work [:)]

going well :)

in terms of design, it reminded me of The Fury from metal gear solid 3 and the Tesla Trooper from Red Alert 2; here's some pic links for ideas:

http://www.cnc-source.com/gallery/data/media/35/SovietTeslaTrooper_2.jpg
http://www.cnc-source.com/gallery/data/media/35/tesla.jpg
http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/mgs3/english/pic/chara_fury_pic.gif

enjoy [:D]

thanks for the replies, those links should be handy as a reference.

just a bit more progress, i was looking through some of curtins designs and was inspired to do something weird with a helmet and this is the result. i actually quite like it and it means i only have to model the lower part of his face[:)]. its sitting at 2165 tris

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/200541943228_Wip-Rende…]

getting better but u need to make the lower legs fatter like cammo pants or somthign just looks strange like that

thanks, the reason ive left the thin legs (and the rest of the body) is because i'm going for a skin tight body suit beneath the armour, ala snake from mgs. although i may add a bit more muscular definition to the sillouhette because it does look a bit odd.

I really like the braces like detail on the torso.

Love the helmet. Looking forward to seeing this model continue to completion.

c.

thanks, i really like your heavy soldier concept so if i can finish this in time i'm going to have a shot at that. this is the head completed, i'm going to start the texturing now and add in accesories as i think they're needed. its sitting at 2471 tris

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/2005419224238_Wip-Rend…]

He's cool, I like him, wouldn't really associate him with a 'future' theme though, in fact I'm not too sure what sort of genre/theme he fits into, guess that's what makes him cool. I think the most pressing question is, which part of him will glow?

The brief says:
3500 polygon (tris)....

You have 1029 tris left, why wouldn't you use them?

You'd need a hell of alot of accessories to warrant that amount of tris left solely for them.

thanks for the replies

wizend: i guess it'll be up to the texture to make him a bit more futuristic unless i can come come up with some decent fodder for my polycount. his helmet will definately have glowy bits

malus: yeah, you are right, i just need to work out what i'm going to use them for. probably developing the legs and torso a bit further with muscle definition and some more loops for deformation.

One suggestion for some of the remaining poly?s is that you could make the large poly?s in front of his face transparent (like a visor), and model the head underneath in detail. You defiantly should try and use all the poly?s available though.

Maybe it's just the angle of the shot but it looks like the proportions are a little off. His arms are a little short and the head (under the helmet) is a bit big. Otherwise I like it. I'm curious to see what you're doing with the texture.

thanks for the replies.
palantir: thanks for the suggestion, but i think i'll keep his head hidden because i like the hooded look

bunny: i've altered the proportions so they should be better now, thanks for the tip

this is my latest progress, i pretty much just added junk and put some armour around the the thighs because i was beginning to dislike the skinniness (and what was mentioned above). its at 2992 tris so ive still got 500, ill probably use them to smooth some stuff out.

(edit) after looking at it i'll definately need to fleshout the upper thigh region, especially at the back.
[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/200542211484_5Comp7.jp…]

Looking pretty good there conundrum, be good to see it textured.

very cool - the fin extrusions on the back work really well. Adds a sense of forward momentum to the character.

nice.

thanks for the replies,
after reading kezza's post and thinking about my model i came up with an idea. seeing as its a stealth, light character i thought that a good addition for speed would be a horizontal rocket pack, so its not for flying, just moving quickly along the ground. considering how i'd already designed him it fitted well. so i've mocked a pose and comped in some smoke (from kezza's weapon post). basically he crouches and the little vent in his back gives him thrust. he can control the steering flaps using the two joysticks i mounted to his jetpack.

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/conundrum/200542491541_Burn.jpg[…]

ha, very cool.

That's really cool!
All you need to do for that kind of effect (and nearly any other kind of effect) is have an extra named bone at the centre of the vent that faces outward in the direction of the vent, and to know the radius of the vent in wordspace units.

Tres cool, neat idea.

Jetpack=future!

see! i said early on that a jetpack equiped character would be cool!

wouldn't want to get in his way though - that helmet looks nasty!