Sumea Challenge #7 - Puck

cool!! i like it,
maby make the character controlling it look more like a soilder. aswell make the robot have a bit of cammo, just an idea.
but looks cool has potential.

The concept looks really cool!
I wonder if it's possible to make this into a vehicle...
would it be possible to make the mech so that a inner human model and outer robot model have two seperate skeletons that are running exactly the same animation?

Cool, thanks for the replies!

Good idea Shath. I painted on some quick camo and it looks better imho. (who would pilot a bright yellow robot into battle anyway? hehe). I was just trying to bring in some sort of non red-vs-blue team colour, but maybe the colour can come out in a more subtle way, like painted-on markings, glowy bits or coloured smoke?

[img]http://users.tpg.com.au/edwarddv/concept-heavy2.jpg[/img]

Kezza, that would be cool if there was a way to make the robots skeleton react/align to the human's, you can do it in max with reactions...maybe unrealscripting?

For this challenge, I think i'll have to rig and animate it as one big character, but it would be alot more useful if it could be used like a vehicle . Maybe playing the characters movement animations at the same time as the mechs (or only the top half of the player like in a normal vehicle?). Are there already any good mech mods for ut2k4? I'd love to play a good mech mod...with missiles and jetpacks! :) hehe

[img]http://users.tpg.com.au/edwarddv/modelscreen.jpg[/img]

Here is a screenie of my current modelling progress. The tri count is already up to 1500 and thats just the blocking in without any arms, or details, or the main human character, so i might have to simplify some things.

Thanks for the feedback!

I'm off to cook some dinner.

To my knowledge there is one mech mod for UT, never tried it though.

Sweet concept man. These are the two tutes I used to get my guy into UT:

http://www.neomagination.com/tutorials/

http://www.planetunreal.com/identitycrisis/cabins/intertwined/htm/Tutor…

Nice idea Puck, like the concept.

You'll be fine with the 3.5K limit.

you could afford at least 1500 for the human and the other 2K for the mecha since its the focus.
In fact, you'll probably find you have some left from the mecha to go onto the guy if he needs it, since hes not really clothed hes not going to be too expensive.

a awesome concept man, if that thing can actually get in game itll be brilliant. A thought on texture though, the basis behind the mod was urban jungle wasnt it? so jungle camo wouldnt really serve a purpose amognst concrete.

Still, dark green camo is better than bright yellow :)
One option is to use a material combiner class in unrealed or unrealscript to apply camo/colour on a level by level or user selection basis at realtime. However this (like the vehicle idea) is outside what's asked for in the compo and so it's probably better to focus on other things.

Looking pretty cool, I like the idea.

Thanks for the tutorial links Damien, very helpful! I've always been a bit intimidated by 'game' 3d because of all the restrictions, but it's not that bad once you learn all the 'rules'.

Malus, that seems to be the ratio I'm going for at the moment, I've trimmed the mech down to 2k and am only up to about 500 for the human (no face, hands or feet yet though!). To keep the Mech under 2k ive had to trim so many things though; like the pistons and the 'eyes' above the pilots visor, but at least it retains the silhouette. I think, if anything, the human will weigh in a bit less that 1.5k so i might be able to go back to the Mech and "decorate" him. Low-poly modelling is a great challenge, it's like a puzzle, seeing where you can remove excess detail while retaining the shape. :)

[img]http://users.tpg.com.au/edwarddv/modelscreen2.jpg[/img]

re: texturing, I think the cammo will look cool, but like you say Moonunit, it doesn't really fit into the setting, although perhaps like Kezza suggests i could eventually make several textures on a level by level basis (urban cammo, hi-tech metal, decorated for 'tournaments' etc). Now that I've started I'm getting really excited about eventually making into a drivable vehicle, but thats for another time.

Thanks for all the support guys, It's really great to get all this feedback and suggestions, I wish i had discovered internet forums earlier :)

If anybody has any ideas on changes/improvements, please voice them and ill give it a test run, it's alot easier to make changes now then when its almost finished.

Hey puck

I really like the overall shape and feel. Purely from a conceptual point of view though can I suggest a little heavier armour on the human?

Being a heavy guy you expect it to take on bullets, torpedos, explosions and what not and you may think it's being anal, but people actually pick that up the fact that a human should die in that scenario and it loses the fantasy abit.

Case in point is the scene in the third Matrix movie where those squid robots take on those humanoid mechs. It looked cool, but you sorta realised that running around bare chested against some heavy ammo isn't such a great idea. Those humans deserved to be shot!

Anyway that's my view. Keep going though, it's coming along well.

That's a very good point IronhideNT. hehe, it is pretty silly, i mean, this giant gun toting machine stomping towards you and all it takes to put it out of action is to shoot the pilot, one bullet, the end.

It's something which I've been thinking about from the beginning but can't think of a good workaround for. Because it would make much more sense to have an armoured chest, but then you wouldn't be able to see the pilot...

[img]http://users.tpg.com.au/edwarddv/018.jpg [/img]

In Shirows Mech's, the front is completely covered and the pilots' arms have their own little tube-like armour as well, which still looks pretty cool (and Shirow is pretty anal about believability, which i think makes his work so cool. In the above pic you can see the front of the machine opening up to reveal the pilot). I just don't want the 'heavy' to go too far towards the machine end of the scale and lose the human aspect.

If i put an armoured chest on, it would save polygons because then only the pilots head would be visible. And maybe i can have more clear glass-like panels so you can still see the pilot a bit... I'll give it a try now and see how it looks.

Thanks for the input!

Ps: heres another pic with a different treatment of the 'enhanced' human/mech. I think the art direction of Tribes Vengeance was awsome, very proud of Aussie Irrational for that game.

[img]http://users.tpg.com.au/edwarddv/phoenix-heavy-logo.jpg [/img]

i don't think u should change it, it looks cool and for this mod thats all that matters, if u did wanna add some sort of protection u could have a transperant sheild around the human in tha shape of the mech's body, also that could be used for the team colour. if that make's sence, although that will add poly's

i don't think u should change it, it looks cool and for this mod thats all that matters, if u did wanna add some sort of protection u could have a transperant sheild around the human in tha shape of the mech's body, also that could be used for the team colour. if that make's sence, although that will add poly's

The main problem with any shielding is the arms, it's pretty easy to cover up the body, but because the arms need to move (to control the robot's arms) they either have to be armoured seperately or left uncovered.

Shath, i agree it has to look good first and foremost, because, realistically, most of these ideas arn't possible or practical anyway (I mean, if you really think about most sci-fi concepts, its easy to pick apart alot of their premises, but who cares if it's cool! -> Although, while im ranting, it really bothered me that the space marines in DOOM3 didn't wear armour on their arms, I mean, you're walking around on the surface of mars with bare arms! talk about getting a healthy raditation tan).... but, now that im playing around with the idea of armour, I'm starting to like it.

Infact, after looking at Shirow's work again, Im contemplating regressing into my teenage years and making the pilot a scantily clad woman... With curved peices of armour covering up all the rude bits...after all, to conceal is to reveal [:0]. Do you think that's a bad idea?

Heres a screenie of unfinished body armour (am i posting too many pics for dialup users?).

[img]http://users.tpg.com.au/edwarddv/modelscreen3.jpg [/img]

Looking very good, keep it up, awesome concept. I prefer the yellow colour, has a good feel to it for some reason, not sure though. By the way, easy to load the pics with 56k.

since were talking sci fi perhaps one of those good ole invisible sheild type things that only shows up when the player gets hit (think MC in halo) or you could even just have it visibile and concentrated on the pilot and mostly transparent. I dunno im sure you could play around with that idea im sure

Yeah Codyalday, I'm missing the yellow a bit as well, but I haven't really thought about the texture that much yet, so anything goes! Hot pink maybe?

That's a great idea MoonUnit, because I'm still not sure about the armour, and even in the version i have now, there are plenty of spots where bullets could get through. Do you know a way to implement that "visible on impact" shield? Like the super shield... (maybe that can just be implemented in the mod? like the heavy starts with a slow-regenerating super shield).

Here's some modelling update pics... I've been moving away from realism (and the initial concept sketch) at the moment and am just having a bit of fun, possibly at the expense of the character? [?][?][?]

[img]http://users.tpg.com.au/edwarddv/modelscreen4.jpg [/img] [img]http://users.tpg.com.au/edwarddv/modelscreen5.jpg [/img]

I'm not sure if I'm going down the right path with the "sexy girl in big robot" cliche, so any opinions on this would be great. Should i try to make it more realistic? or stylise it up? Go back to serious male soldier or continue with seksi anime chick? [?]

I may be biased on this, but for me it's seksi anime chicks any day of the week.
Not too sure about the headplugs though...

As for the shield, that's something that the mod can handle easily. It will probably need a surface mesh for collision and graphical purposes though. As for the effect on it, there's alot of flexiblity given to materials and emmiter effects in unreal. Even limited use of render to texture is allowed.

personally i liked the look of the more flexible combat proportions/version of the original sketches. As for the pilot i dont think it matters too much but im not a huge animie fan

will she be naked? this is just a personal oppinion, but i find shamless sex appeal in games tacky, unless it's meant to be funny. i'm not saying that this is about sex apeal, it could have some deeper meaning than that.

also, can you post some wireframes.

In all honesty, personally I think the "sexy chick in mecha suit" thing is a lazy design option.

I prefered the guy with the wires.

There are more than enough people out there who use that ridiculous female stereo type as a crutch for bad design skills, don't join them. [:(]

Thanks for the great feedback, it's really easy to get side-tracked without it.

I've really been enjoying modelling some feminine curves for a change (after learning to use max by modelling muscular men[:p])... but I think the girly-girl has to go (sorry Kezza!, i love em too).

Having a girl pilot just skewes the idea too much towards fantasy/anime and kinda ruins the futuristic soldier type theme. And in the game, it could make the model too specific/unique, making every heavy seem like the same woman rather than many different soldiers. (plus, the textures could be changed alot easier for variety). So, im going to start again on the pilot, this time going for a more realistic generic soldier type.

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Kezza, that's good to hear about the over-shield, so maybe if i modeled a transparent 'shielded area' around the front for collisions and effects? I'd like to make the most out of the capabilities of the engine, like in the programming sticky you mention having particle-emmiting bones for smoke etc? Do you know of any tutorials or guides outlining what's possible with the engine?
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I agree with you MoonUnit about the original design, especially the legs. In the concept the legs kind of folded back a bit so they could 'spring' up with each step, ill try to rework that area on the model. I also had to scale-up the middle section of the mech so the human could fit in, (in the concept, the pilot looks kind of curshed or leaning over, something which i had trouble translating to 3d).
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Deeper meaning Livewire?!!?? What could have a deeper meaning than shameless sex appeal! [:D] hehe. (she was going to wear a skin tight suit with straps to hold her in and an electronic pattern across the surface as in the initial sketch [seen on the legs]) But it's going to be a man now, so no id regression for me [B)]. Wireframes are below (although they're not very easy to read), the mech weighs in at 2212 tris, and the woman was up to 744(unoptimised), although i think I'm going to make the new pilot part of the same mesh as the torso section of the mech to possibly save on tris. Also, i think I'm going to keep the pilot pretty low poly so i can use the extra detail for the pistons and other widgets on the mech.
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Malus; agreed, it is a bit lazy and unorignal, the woman is about to take a serious dose of male hormones to break free of that sexist stereotype (although i have to admit that i do occasionaly enjoy a few sexual stereotypes [:0])
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Thanks again for all the feedback, it's really appreciated.

[img]http://users.tpg.com.au/edwarddv/wireframe1.jpg [/img]
[img]http://users.tpg.com.au/edwarddv/wireframe2.jpg [/img]

Hello y'all

I'm sorry about the lack of updates... I've just started working again (i was on a break before) and i just can't seem to find the time to finish this character. I will try though, seeing as we still have almost a month to finish it, but i can really only work on it on the weekends now (don't get home until 8pm :( ). I don't want to let this entry fall by the wayside like i did with my CGtalk challenge...

That's all, thanks for all your previous support.

-Ed

Ps: I've modelled in a bit more (hands, feet etc),but the pilot is still a woman, and if i want to finish it, i might just have leave her like that.