Work in progress

Hey! VERY cool work there [:)].. I'm a sucker for futuristic concepts, and I love the concepts you've come up with. You got the perspective thing going on very well, and the interior designs are mucho fantastic. [:)]..

I really like the sense of scale in the outdoor pictures.. When I walk around a level, I like to be able to look up (or down) and see huge architecture. (rather than a skybox 10 meters off the ground :P)

Your interior stuff.. It's a little cliche, but theres really not much you can do with futuristic interiors, you've managed to put a huge level of detail in them though, which makes them look much cooler than normal.

I like them, nice work, and good luck with the job.

realy good understanding of 3rd person perspective.
get into them with some pantone markers it will extend the 3d element.
if you dont know of feng zhu have a look at this site, he is right up your alley

http://www.artbyfeng.com/

thanks for the comments and praise people, keeping my fingers crossed :)

As for Feng Zhu, yeah I know his stuff, he's a big influence for me, I still want to refine my colouring and texturing alot but thats something I got to work on in the future (after I get my tablet!, these were very tedious and restricted 'cos I had to use a mouse)

-----------
Lee Smith - gun for hire
http://www.shawawa.com
lee@shawawa.com

Updated screenies
- hes now 2346 polies.. still would like to add some stuff.. so if you get any ideas, post them up.
[img]http://www.boomspeed.com/sorcerorbob/alien.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.boomspeed.com/sorcerorbob/alien3.jpg[/img]

nice work bob :)
cant think of anything major you could add to him. he seems good as he is.
hes shoes look like clogs :) but im sure when you texture theyll be right :p
keep the updates coming'

Nice stuff.
I agree with inglis, the shoes need work, maybe jazz up his torso armour if youve got more polys to work with, inlet valves, hoses etc.
Also his belt looks kinda boring, maybe doe something with that.
Nice idea though.

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

cheers, i really hate the shoes as well:) thanks for helping me get a bit more motivated about them :P
I'll see what i can do about the other stuff too.. thanks

Hey, cool model!.. is he humanoid? He has three fingers! [:)] His elbow looks smaller than his wrists, but it kinda looks stylised that way.. can't wait to see ya texture him!

update!!
[img]http://www.boomspeed.com/sorcerorbob/1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.boomspeed.com/sorcerorbob/2.jpg[/img]

Heres the finished mesh, still open for crits.

Hes gonna be heading into ut2k3.. Got a fair bit of work to do on him, but if anyone would like to make a skin for him, let me know and I'll email the sdk to you.

2982 polies. Some areas I could definately optimise, but I'm not gonna do it. I wanted him to be 3k, and 3k he'll be.. Hes got enough accesories to sink a battleship, so i dont need to be too concerned about cleaning one area to push to another.

comments and crits welcome!

The last post of it starting to look very nice. I think some of the polys could be moved around. Eg. from the chest armor to the groin area. Also don't forget to add areas for the weapons and item. I couldn't look at the .3DS because my computer is in Canberra. And the 2D art I have done for this looks very different, but this version is starting to look very nice. I counldn't send you the art because the scanner has stop working. But there is no need for it now.

Anyway good work.

I'm thinking his thighs should be a little bigger. He's got a hulking frame but his thighs (where a lot of leg power is) seem very normal.

I think it's a good idea you got rid of those 'spikes' that are in your 2nd-to-last post. If this is a hi-tech alien soldier, then spikes wouldn't need to be on it. Spikes and barbs are something a primitive, undeveloped culture would use.

I actually prefer the body-armour with the tubes coming out the front over the one in the final post. It makes it look like a respiratory device - and is a striking feature. I think you should put that back in ;). Perhaps you could integrate this feature into the face as well. IMO - the face design (while technically proficient) reminds me very much of an orc or a caricature of a human - the thick lips, jutting brow and sunken eyes give it a brutish look. This is not to say that alien races can't be brutish but I just think it's a little too human... Having said that - if this is not an alien soldier, then you should disregard my comments.

I like the skull cap design helmet. It's a lot more original that the generic 'big visor covering facial features' type thing. Good stuff.

JonathanKerr: I think your right about the thighs but saying the spikes shouldn't be there because only primitive tribes have spikes is a little short sighted, he seems like a warrior race and spikes are something used for defense, decoration, to induce fear or it could just be a cultural thing, a sign of authority/rank etc.

quote:Originally posted by Malus

JonathanKerr: I think your right about the thighs but saying the spikes shouldn't be there because only primitive tribes have spikes is a little short sighted, he seems like a warrior race and spikes are something used for defense, decoration, to induce fear or it could just be a cultural thing, a sign of authority/rank etc.

I just consider spikes a convention of 'fantasy' style art. Futuristic technology tends to be very streamlined and utopian in style. Which is not to say an unadvanced race wouldn't be capable of having powerful technology...

quote:Futuristic technology tends to be very streamlined and utopian in style.

Been to the future recently have you lol. I find it strange that people can say as a fact that the future is like this.... his view of futuristic is just as valid, it more personal opinion that you don't like spikes isn't it?
Not having a dig the comment just suprised me.

quote:

Been to the future recently have you lol.

Yes, I have. In fact, I'm there now. Hold on, now it's the present. Well technically (if you believe Hawking) the future doesn't exist, there is only the 'now' or something like that. I do see your point though. I have tried to think of futuristic stuff that has spikes - the only example I could come up with was Mad Max post-apocalyptic stuff. Lots of spikes there, I suppose (but I'd only call that futuristic in a time/space sense as opposed to technological sense).

quote:it more personal opinion that you don't like spikes isn't it?

On technological things, yes ;). Heh heh. That's what this is all about - I gave my opinion. You don't mind spikes on tech thingees, so you gave yours. Hurrah for free speech. Some people don't like clog-like shoes on techno-soldiers but that's not to say that in the future solders can't have clog-like shoes.

I don't normally add 'IMO' when I give opinions because 1.) I don't really like the term and 2.) It goes without saying - this is an internet board after all which means opinions are not in short supply. People can disregard my thoughts at will - I don't consider them to have more weight than anyone elses. Don't think I'm jumping down your throat or anything coz I'm not but it seems funny to me to knock (for want of a better word)my opinion about 'spikes' in a post that defends the right to an opinion.

Videogames are a funny one. You have to design within the accepted conventions but not too far inside otherwise designs appear cliched and not too far outside, otherwise the users won't be able to suspend their belief.

Sorry man wasn't meaning to knock your opinion, my bad, guess I was just having a bad day, my apologies. Back to the post, its looking cool, hopefully if you release an SDK I'll have time to skin the little bugger.

Cool model. will that radio antennae or whatever is in the back have transparencies? Texturing is very cool... the wheels look a little bit cartoony though.. maybe it's just me though [:)] I would've made them dark (almost black) with small glossy areas, but that's a personal thing too.. Good stuff..

overall another nice model. but i think it would be wise to conserve polys on the axels (take out the axels, use a texture map instead) and use the polys to detail something else up.

yet it is interesting the way u currently have it > :>-

i agree with tomcat i cant see how you would notice the axels unless it was flying over the top of you.
if you cant see it you dont need it.
i think the tyres are bit chunky personaly.
the texturing is great, i find it hard to get that worn look.
nice job

nannoo nannoo

The axle is visable from the front and rear if you are level with it, that is why it is there and it is only 14/16 poly per axle so...

Thanks for the texture comment, I'm lax with adding weathering but people have been on me about doing it so I have started doing it.

Pantmonger

yeah that fair enough Pantmonger. yet, just another thought; in real life the axes wouldn,t be visible outside the base of the vehicle - i mean they are very unatural in the way that they just sit on on the bottom of the vehicle. whats holding them? sticky tape? ;)

quote:Originally posted by tomcat

yeah that fair enough Pantmonger. yet, just another thought; in real life the axes wouldn,t be visible outside the base of the vehicle

On the model they are half sunk into the housing and there is nothing specificly visable holding them in. In real life on a Hum Vee the axle is visable, I think its a wish bone shape (Thats my guess I know zip about cars, Im just looking at a pic as I write this)

Pantmonger

I think that considering the ploycount, the axles are fine. You would only just see them and it helps add to the illusion that it has a full chassis, without them it wouldn't be as believable I think.
Nice job btw Pants, I like the texture.

Very nice. I will have to say that the polycount sounds a little high could we see some wires??

Nice, I don?t know the character, but nice.

Nitpics coming.

Her face appears a little flat, and the her bum deforms a bit on the pointy side as she crouches. The Texture could use a little more detail.

But all that aside, nice.

Pantmonger

[img]http://home.iprimus.com.au/evilbunny/Jagged/GamaPantsWeb.gif[/img]

its one of feng zhu's designs, he did it for a ps2 game I believe.
Looks pretty good, a wireframe shot would help us critique though.
The face does seem to lack detail in the mesh and with so many polies I can't really see where they have all gone, also the shot of her lying down, her legs look a little strange, almost broken.
Like I said though, its harder to critique on a mesh when we can't actually see the form of it.
How big is the texture?

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

It's the character off BloodRayne, an adventure fighting game, I think. It's available on all three consoles.

We like a man who comes right out and says what he thinks - when he agrees with us.

Funky :-)

Lookin cool, but why the seprate thread?
Can't wait to see the big guy moving.

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

The reason for the new thread...is because I'm still new at this stuff, with posting on the net and wasn't too sure how things were done...I am now!
Will hopefully have a textured Hippo to show you soon.

Warwick Hays
Ideas Man...looking to give them to someone!

Very nice.

We like a man who comes right out and says what he thinks - when he agrees with us.

i really like this caracter.

I would realy enjoy animating it too and making a few scenes for its habitat.

heaps of potential man!

It looks awesome. Texture? Just make it pink and you're done. ;P

Scott.

Very cool model.. I love stylistic stuff - it's a nice change from seeing realistic-ish models all the time.. I think that would be an awesome model to animate too - with slightly exaggerated kind of movements...

Yup. Very sweet, fairly simple character that simply oozes personality in my opinion.
He'll be great for animation tests due to the amount of possibilities open for him.

Only thing I don't like is the lack of feet.. Which I'm guessing will be on there very soon.

Nice job

Thanks guys....and yes, lol, the feet are still to come!
Thanks again for the comments.

Warwick Hays
Ideas Man...looking to give them to someone!

Nice character design, reminds me of older french cartoons and comics that I saw in paris, tin tin etc.
I prefer the composition and shape of the 2D more than the 3d, especially the head.
Whats the colour scheme, environment?

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

Cute, not really my type of thing, but cute non the less.

Pantmonger

[img]http://home.iprimus.com.au/evilbunny/Jagged/GamaPantsWeb.gif[/img]

have you got feet yet?

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

its an interesting design, but im confused as to why when you have jets at the back and then have wheels at the front? Even if the alien race took inspiration, I would be guessing they would still only use the best tech they had?

Nicely built though. Should texture it, gives us more of an idea as to what you where after with it.

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

No real reason.. I just wanted to make something that hasn't been done before. Texture could take a while, I've got alot of other things that need to be made first :P

Most people are lazy and will not take the time to get and open a zip file to see if your pic are any good. You need to have the images instantly viewable, as you are using Geocities you will not be able to direct link your images (short of the .txt trick) so you need to upload then with a HTML to hold them and than post the URL of the HTML. That way to view your pictures people will only have to click the link which is much easier.

Pantmonger

hey doord-
what game are you making the mod for?
model looks good- those 3 objects on his back remind me of fengzus characters.
are you going to put up the animation when its done?

good luck with the job at irrational.

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

I couldnt actually download the zip file got an error from geocities, maybe thats why most people didnt respond.

Do you have a polycount for this guy?
Only real crit is that his waist seems pretty low, either that or his pants are sitting lower.
Good though man, good luck also with the job.

Is anyone else getting errors trying to view Doords website? I keep getting runtime errors.

Dean Ferguson - 3D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

i can access it.

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

Doord: I think you've linked to your harddrive for your site as the url I get is F:WebCharacters.htm for your 3d Models, might want to fix that. :P

Dean Ferguson - 3D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

i just opened your source....youve linked to your hard drive..

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

I know that the site is having problems and I know that it is try to get back to my hard drive. I'm in the middle of getting new web space and a site change. But I have been working hard on aniamtion for Irrational. And then I may not need it.

Yes I will post the animation later this week.

The polycount is 2996. The torso is a little long then most game models. I thing I will put his pants up a little.

Oh, the MOD is using the Unreal Warfair engine.

Doord wrote "Or for a quick look
http://www.geocities.com/doord/FuckThis.htm"

I was trying to help you out, the FuckThis comment is out of place. This is a public forum, we do not come here to see just your work, If you want advice or help you are the one who must make the effort, not others on this forum.

So I think this guy is new to forums I'll help him out, and FuckThis is your responce, well sorry but fuck that, its all become too much effort for me to give a shit about what you post.

Good day to you.

Pantmonger

Yeah I kinda thougth that was directed at Pantmonger too. Nice way to say hi when your new and someones just helping you out.

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

Sorry man wasn't directed at you Pantmonger. It was to do with the problem I was having with my computer and front page, and most of all geocities (for anyone which has used geocities would know the problems it has.) Sorry if you took it that way.

And yes i know this a public forum, and as you can see there are many places in these forum I have added my own advice or help to someone eles.

Cool, it just seemed a little rude, but if it was not directed at me then all is good in the land of pants once again.

Pantmonger

Thanks for the link, that site is very useful.

As to
cmon peeps,can ya give sumthink to me? im gettin very worn out over spreading myslef soo thin, music is natural, 3d is trained and is sumthink i want to make sum money from...but i need sum encouragement...sum affirmation from the ppl in the know...and i know you know what i mean
Yeah there is not a lot of commentry traffic on this site even with the increase in the ammount of posts of late, I sugesst that in addition to this place you find a forum with a good comment turn around and go there as well. There are places like CG talk (very good) Polycount (not so good, troll city)
Other then that, while there are links being thrown around, did this tute a little while ago, dont know overall how usful it is (feedback good) It deals with how to use multiple layers and line art to create decent images, its more about the process then how to create the art. Have a look if you feel so inclined

http://home.iprimus.com.au/evilbunny/Jagged/Tute01_ColourInk.htm

Pantmonger

yeah cool site thanks dude i dont know why u think i need it but thanks anyway :)

nice work malus :)

see you have steve there in your references, he used to be my lecturer back at hervey bay, although we pretty much just played quake3. hehe took me half the year but i finally whooped his ass :p

good luck getting a job.

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

Steves a great guy, always ready to help you out. Haven't seen him much since I left QANTM.
Thanks for wishing me luck with looking for work man, just hope someone hires me soon, doing work experience is a great way of staying active but I want to eat solids again lol.

I'm guessing the lack of comments is a good thing?!
Man its like pulling teeth around here lol

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/Portfolio/index.html

You know I like your stuff, but I tell you that in real life, thats why I don't comment.

Pantmonger

yeah i agree with the other guys_ very nice! I think ive already said so before eh?

Thanks tomcat, its always good to hear nice comments. :P

Very Nice, got to get into some of that high poly stuff myself one of these days.

Going for a very Warcraft look, the only crits I have is that the thumb looks a little too much like an extra finger and not opposable enough, but that could just be its current position, and the hair on his head looks a little on the thin side, but other then that great stuff

thank pantmonger, i agree with you on the hair.
here is a concept of the hair style ill roughly give him:
[img]http://effectism.com/sumea/hairstyle.jpg[/img]

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

i didn't start him thinking of making a blizzard orc...he just ended up looking similar to Hellscream out of Warcraft :) (then i opened my Art of Warcraft book and thought his hair style was cool) but i dont want to go and make another orc with huge armour covering everything.

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

Nice job Inglis, I think Pantmonger has a point with the fingers. Nice detail in him though, look forward to seeing the textured version. Good luck with your demo reel.

update on the hair:
[img]http://effectism.com/sumea/hair2.jpg[/img]

i think it may just be the position of the thumb..ive modelled it in a relaxed position but ill play around with it.

somethings im going to do now before david letterman comes on :):
- make the toes look a little less cloned
- define ankle/lowerleg a bit more...

keep the suggestions rolling :)

**edit: bloody cricket is on! no letterman. [V]

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

I would suggest having something else than 5 fingers, since that's kinda *real*, have it like 3 or 4 fingers (which include an opposable thumb in them)...

Then it'll be more fictiony...

Still its a damn good model tho, and I'm very impressed with what indies can accomplish these days.

thats fantastic, you are goona go far [:)] and like you and others have said, fingers and toes need sumthink... maybe not so much fingers to me , but the spaces between the toes seem too far apart but i guess it hasnt been bound yet....so... im sure you might squish em together then .I love the lil hairs on the legs and armpits.. i presume thats a plugin... duh! Great muscle structure/shape! [;)] great great great.. oh yeah, ther eonly seems to be toe nails on the big toes... i dunno, does the forearm look a lil short? perhaps its just the sylee . it looks wicked either way....
it looks f***n good!!!

he Looks wicked man !!! what did u model him in??? and how did you do the lighting??? i know its just quick lighting job but it looks so real

3dsmax5.
lighting is lighttracer then some adjustment in photoshop.

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

Very nice, I could see that it was hellscram look alike. I was going to said something about the hair but you have fix it and it's looking good.

Pantmonger: to right about the hands

stupid hair! deleted itself.. anyone know why it does that?

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

Sorry not a clue, I think plug in hair is for whimps (or people with money) you should model the hair strand by strand like we did in the old country, and its not like we had computers, had to use cardbard boxes, and ....

Pantmonger

im a whimp without a cardboard box.

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

Crap it that in max. Very very nice then, I have been think about trying my hand at high poly in max. (I have only done the one high poly model in it.)

Sorry can't help you with the hair, I can't get my copy to even start up. Talking about hair a little chest hair could be cool.

i had chest+forearm hair on him right before it all deleted itself.

mapping...few areas to clean up..but theyll be covered :)
[img]http://effectism.com/sumea/char_orc_maping_01.jpg[/img]

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

Looking good and tight, couple of bits on the feet look a little stretchy but thats life.

Man your one of those people who map with a huge stack, that givs me the fear.

Go go go....
Pantmonger

[img]http://home.iprimus.com.au/evilbunny/Jagged/GamaPantsWeb.gif[/img]

Damn you pants now I have to finish my godzilla one!! :P

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

yeah the feet haven't received much attention yet :)
ill clean it up as i get down to them- just started painting the textures for the upperbody.

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

just to keep the thread puttering along here is some very very early texture work :) (and yes im aware he isn't green [:p])

[img]http://effectism.com/sumea/char_wip_02.jpg[/img]

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

Excellent start inglis, cool that your not going for the typical green skinned orc.
Did you find the references you were after?
This model is going to be pretty darn excellent when youve finshed I think. :D

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

thanks malus :)
i found some small pieces..not really that helpful. doesn't matter.

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

hehehee very huge stack there but gotta tell ya you are damn good at your work dude !!!!

nice models man =) i wish i have time to even texture me damn models :(

keep up the good work !!!

=)

thanks chris.
yeah the stack has some size to it :)
i could cut it down but hey, it works well :)

update soon...

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

well, i had fun time at midnight last night.
blackout, no warning. lost all texture psds. well, all bump/spec etc..only have color but its an old one. still have the flatten bmps though....its not a complete loss :)

*in the monty python theme 'always look on the bright side of the life'*

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

My sympathys to you, Have lost volumes of stuff in the past myself, that?s why everything gets interations when I work on it now. I iterate my psd?s, everything. It?s a good habit to get into you just clean it all up when the finished product has be burnt and stored.

Pantmonger

[img]http://home.iprimus.com.au/evilbunny/Jagged/GamaPantsWeb.gif[/img]

yeah i do that as well, a lot with max files. just hadn't saved these psds yet :) it happends..wasnt too far into them anyway. thank god.

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

fantastic. if ya wanta rig for him i cld do ya one in an hour or 2 or maybe 3 depending on what controls you wanted..which i guess would be all you could set your hearts desire upon... and except for phonemes (obviously)unless you give me all the models with the phonemes. I dont got max 5 tho, so it wld have to be a maya rig .... theres an offer if ya want it.

Nice work :)
Tho I think the waist is a bit too small compared to the size of the shoulders...
I would be afraid to date a guy that had a smaller wasit then I did :)
But maybe you ment it that way? *shrugs*

*goes off to write a program*

- If you don't have anything nice to say say it so everyone can hear!

damn inglis why dont you have a job dude?
the talent on these forums is scary!
whats wrong with our industry when we have so many talented people sitting on our hands?

nannoo nannoo

thanks :)
im currently creating my first folio/showreel- hopefully get a job from that.

That is comming along nicely, It does need tweaking as you said, the main ne I can see in under the nose, looks like the pip of the nose has an overhang.

But Im sure you ill get to the little fixes and it will look great.

Pantmonger

I agree with Pants, its looking pretty good so far, you might want to try looking at making creases and edges for areas such as the eyes, lips and corners of the nose, does a world of difference, not sure how you do it in maya though. And yeah fix the nose.
Keep it up man.

thanks guys, i wanna keep it up, i just cant find the time at the moment. cheers for the comments...its all very ruff

if only there were more hours in a day, if only there were more days in a week , if only there were more weeks in a year , if only there were more years in a lifetime!

malus, polys in maya are the same as max, only better as in easier to add polys as you dont have to divide and turn etc, you just add em, in multiple ways (you choose )...at the end if you want to convert to tri, you hit the majic button, convert to tri, or again if you want to go back...convert to quad and bobs your uncle (lame) once you convert to tri you can flip/turn them edges as much as you want :)

Beasta: I know that polygons are the same inmax and maya they just manipulate them differently, you do realise a tri is a polygon right? a quad is 2 polygons. Is it just me or in recent months have people started getting confused about tris and quads?! lol
I was just saying that you might want to add creases etc to the smoothing groups, easy enough in Max, never done it in Maya.

looking good so far ... but the bridg of the nose looks a bit skiny and the mouth is just a bit too low this makes the uper lip look too long .The mouth shape looks great though ..and remeber that the nose is nearly ass wide as the mouth(nostrils not the bridg)..And is it going to be a woman or man?? becaus at the moment its looks(too me) like a woman or young boy because the jaw and cheeks are very full and round..these are just some handy hints

malus: i have no confusion over polygons my freind, two tiangles make a square, duh!, basic trigonometry! actually maybe trigonemtry might be the wrong word. I reckon this much tho, and that is, that its more effecient and takes less time to model in quads and then convert to tris (it might be personal preference, depending on how you taught yourself and it also makes a huge difference if you know what poly count you want or have to work with, or maybe just the quality of software) but when it say comes to doing a low,mid, and hi poly model, i would think that to use quads in the first instance would be the best. For mid and high poly models, to get the best surface, you only want four sided faces ( a few 3 and 5 sided arent going to hurt, depending on where you put them) but quads wld be the best as they will also make the cleanest triangles..... and of course a smoother mesh...which is what we all want :)

adie, huh? " the nose nearly being as wide as a mouth " not on my face, and i hope not on yours :) i think i was taught that the mouth should be at least 2 widths of the nose (as in entire nose) thanks for the tips tho, i was thinkin it was lookin a bit effeminate as well :) i will post the reference images soon when i get a chance to work on him... but i think with more definition to the lips, nose, and eyes it might look differently ( and yeah, the nose is wack) i havn't spent much time on this model, it was the first high ploy head i got into afta doin the joan of arc tute...
as i was studying how the pros where spending thier polys and creating there edge loops, but since then have decided that afta all the study of others theory, you are better off , either reusing your assests ( i havnt tried this) or just modelling from scratch...

once you get the asic shapes with the minimum amount of detail, its much easier to then add the detail... if that makes sense..
what im pondering over at the moment is whether or not to use dodge, burn, and blurr (or smudge/sponge) or shades of colour or greyscale and tints and overlays etc.... oh the joys of having a graphics tablet again and oh the woe of havin f**k all time.... [;)]

the nose and mouth arae need a lot of fixing. Try useing some ref art or something. But it is a nice start and you have the base there, just need to play with it a bit.

""adie, huh? " the nose nearly being as wide as a mouth " not on my face, and i hope not on yours :) i think i was taught that the mouth should be at least 2 widths of the nose (as in entire nose) thanks for the tips ""

the mouth is as wide as the nose is long, if it were 2 it would be way 2 long but the nose is hardly ever properly in proportion so is easyer to say is almost as wide as the mouth unless they have a small looking nose[http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~pigsnogl/images/stefan_rademakers_front2…] ..and u can use the color of the eye for a guide for were the mouth gose too..[http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~pigsnogl/images/stefan_rademakers_front.j…]

hope this clears it up for u [B)]

Beasta: Your telling me stuff I already now man. I use quads alot when modelling in max, and then convert to tris also, but if you want smooth more effiecient use of triangles for modelling organic things, geodesic modelling is by far better, less uv stretching and smoother for muscle definition.
Don't know how you got to this when I was originally just saying that you might want to add creases to define ares using smoothing groups etc.
People need to read these posts more before getting all defensive.
I wasn't flaming you just your original post after mine read like you didn't understand what I was on about.

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

Adie: Beastas right about the nose thing. your nose is the width of an eye and your mouth is around twice that, the corners of your mouth usually line up with the centre of each eye, but you said that i guess.
the distance between the nose and upper lip is actaully around the same height as the eye.
It does look boyish though because it is fuller and has little muscular definition.

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

Is cool u dont need to tell me about proportions I lernt all that from my master [http://www.users.bigpond.com/schip/][http://www.users.bigpond.com/schip…] was Peters apprentice for 3 years.. imade the "Alexander the Great" and he just signed it.i help make heap of other ones most of the time i just blocked in the the shape and he finished it off.

Nice sculptures, Adie. I was recently in europe, and sculpting has to be one of the most demanding and beautiful of artforms, I got to see Michelangelo's David and some of his unfinished works, amazing stuff. Wasn't directing the proportions directly as an attack on your ability by the way, just backing up what I said.

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

Is cool wasnt taking it as an attack just letting u know my skills
Man i would love to go u Europe one day and see all the crazy sculptures and buildings and carve some Carrara marble..but thats just a pipe dreem till I get me a good job :(

I wanted to go to europe before I got into the games industry, that way I got it out of my system and can concentrate on a career.
Europes great though, you only need the plane ticket and about 1500 bucks, I got a job in like 30 minutes over there, bar/waiting work is so easy lol.

Dean Ferguson - 3D/2D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

come on guys :P Someones gotta have something to say about this.

shite malus, that is wicked!!! i love the way you have segmented it's legs, the arms and body would look cool segmented like the legs.The segments are like the joints on crustaceans.... i love crustaceans altho they are creepy, they are amazin creatures...

textures seem a little dark on certain parts of the body and arms/hands, maybe its just me tho.Myabe you like them dark.

It looks fun to animate [:)] animating a quadped would be fun [:)]

Excellant model, and love the texture work! Very nice..

I don't know what to think about this. I have seen a few things around the place which have the same kind of design behind them. And I havn't been a big fan. But as far as modeling and texturing goes very nice work, like to see more of your work some time.

Thanks Beasta, Souri :P

Doord: Can't please everyone I guess. Just check out my website if you want to see more, or my sumea profile.

*looks under bed before she goes to sleep*

Mkay :) Thats cool... just dont let me find one of those in my house!

*goes off to look for some extra strength bug spray*

-I spent my Valentines Day getting drunk with 40 guys!

nice work again malus. good modelling/texturing.
i actually like the texturing more on the lowerbody,
it looks like you just wanted to finish him as you got higher up :) it looks like u have used a
photoshop filter on his main body, think its plastic wrap?

any animation on him yet?

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

Jacana: One of them did get out of thier cage eep!! lol
Inglis: Actually did the lower body area last, guess I got the style I was after a bit more down by then.
Its actually not plastic wrap but it was done like that when one of the guys at Halfbrick showed me the filter, I normally hate filters because its a bit cheaty but I liked the effect so I emulated it by hand, bit to closely I guess. lol
Good frikken eye though man!

No animations yet, although I need to do some to fill that area of my portfolio, thinking of doing my dragon first.

Dean Ferguson - 3D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

Hey inglis, dumb question time, how did you get the line seperating your sig from your posts?

Dean Ferguson - 3D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

"["hr"]" - take away the "'s :)

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

cheers buddy :)

Dean Ferguson - 3D Artist

http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/portfolio/index.html

no worries.

quote:Good frikken eye though man!

ahh, i have my moments [8D]

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

hmmmm....where is it?

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

i just saw them under your Sumea profile.
nice work.

so do you want us to vote on the winner? :)

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

Im such a noob when it comes to image hosting :P

If anyone knows of any decent free places, I'll give ya a cookie. [8)]

the pic of the dragon is a bit dark can't see it all that well, apart from that very nice[B)]

good stuff!.. the female looks right in proportion, and the dragon looks very cool. A few things about the texturing in the female model, the cheeckbone shadowing is way too dark, and you have to remember where your light source is and make shadows consistent.. You have dark patches on the sides of her nose for example.. and I like how the shadows are more subtle on the rest of her body - the ones on her face are too contrasting, I reckon..

pantmonger, yr models and textures are really lookin well up there. you trully are becoming ( i hope becoming isnt seen as a negative as i dont know your history, only what i have read in yr profile) a proffessional 3d artist :) and its obvious in the feedback that you have gotten thru cgtalk and of course thru the works that you are doing.

sorry malus, i havnt had the chance to check your works out...the dragon is wicked, altho a little dark.
My last monitor went bust, altho i had it for 5 years and the one i have now is even older and smaller and just recently its display went really dark and i had to up the contrast and brightness manually (which i know isnt going to be a good thing), i wld imagine this might have sum considerale effect on any final output.. as to what others will view thru theirs..

i wonder malus, what your hsv or rgb or cmyk values are? that you used for the background shade of grey in your dragon pick, im thinkin i might need a benchmark as my monitor is not set at the default... or any1 that can give me a benchmark colur value? and example please.?

where is the best place to imagine your light source when you are painting textures? and you have no info on your engine?....i feel this might be a stupid question as i guess the best way would be to paint your highlights and shadows as if it was globally illuminated....and in which case everything would be have to be very subtle... no sharp highlights or contrasts, which wld take much thinkin and skill ( i also guess there are no stupid questions, only the ppl that treat them as such)...

ps if this is rply is messin with yr post, let me know and i will delete it [:)]

Some time in the next few days (hopefully) Ill be able to add my entry to this comp, the reason for my lateness (well one of them) is due to my c: going to hell and back and having to be cleared and have everything reinstalled so, some missing work later and Im behind for everything, but it will get done.

Pantmonger

Beasta: not sure if Im just confused by your post but you do realise both the queen and the dragon are my work not pantmongers right? Just reading your post it seemed like you thought the girl might be pantmongers.[?] If not , then my bad.

Lighting: its just the max default lights.
Engine: its not for an actual game, (we wish hey Pants). Both Pantmonger and I live in Brisvegas and are looking for work, this is just to help challenge ourselves to complete only the best models/ textures we can.
The colour for that background isnt grey, its actually a smokey red.
Not sure if my monitor setup is what you want to go by man, I have no idea if its pantone correct or anything [:p] but heres the colour for that background for the dragon:
R:91
G:77
B:77

Nice job Pants,

She looks excellent, now I have to finish mine today eep!
I really like the leather folds and the armour on the spider eaters. Nice touch with the shadow on the clouds too buddy. [:D]

Can't wait to se the full sized original.

And I've go to finsh the 3D stuff, holycrap I have too much to do.

Pantmonger

quote:one project that spans for roughly eleven months

that better be one **damn** good map.

lachlan inglis
Showreel WIP: http://effectism.com/sample/

I hope so too, but it's still a lot of work. I'm not, of course, trying to provide an excuse in the case that my map turns out mediocre at best, but year 11 and 12 aren't easy. A lot of pressure that they forgot to ease us into during years 7-10.

Anyhow, this project also conflicts with my other subjects, so don't expect a full-blown WOW thang (although that's what I'm aiming for [;)]). Also, this is only my second map, my first being a pathetically textured and lightly decaled pile of dog shit (much like what you would find in Gunman Chronicles, in fact). Finally, I believe this is the first attempt at level design in the history of the course, the closest being work on CAD and 3DMax.

Vivian: You go too far, Marlowe.
Marlowe: Those are some harsh words to say to a man, especially when he's walking out of your bedroom.

where do you go to school man? i wish i could do something like that...though i did get a good boost into 3D from my school.[8D]

random fact #1
you can never have too many [:D]'s
[:D][:D][:D][8D][:I][;)][}:)][:o)][8)][:(][8][B)][:(!][xx(][|)][?]
see?

I go to Muirfield Technology High School in North Rocks, Sydney.

We like a man who comes right out and says what he thinks - when he agrees with us.

I would advise against making something for school that you also use for your entertainment / hobby, I tired and failed miserably at it. I might be fun looking at HL levels all day, but in the end you have to have the work done, and the markers have to know how to get around.

Although I suppose for that single level you coulh have it being showed off via a demo, and perhaps free view too.

quote: I would advise against making something for school that you also use for your entertainment / hobby, I tired and failed miserably at it. I might be fun looking at HL levels all day, but in the end you have to have the work done, and the markers have to know how to get around.

Although I suppose for that single level you coulh have it being showed off via a demo, and perhaps free view too.

I think I need to explain a few things.

The markers visit the schools when marking a project. Hence, I could arrange, say, a four-player LAN at my school and have the marker watch for ten minutes. Also, my DT teacher said that the project can have a personal purpose as well. Mine was that I want to expand my career folio, and entertainment was an aside. He was all for it (being a marker himself).

The Free View thingy is a great idea! Thanks! That'll help a lot, because then the marker can check whether I meet the criteria (that I established in my folio). Anyway, thanks again. [:D][:D][:D]

We like a man who comes right out and says what he thinks - when he agrees with us.

nice models and textures [:)] lookin good [:)]

got a dead link..[:(]

got a pic of the original concept that inspired you so we can compare? That Lit wireframe is real hard to see too.

unfortuantely not malus,
i might be able to painstakingly plug in an old hardrive that is screwed and the images might be on that, but it will take forever to retrieve them. Originaly i grabed a concept off the krome website, but that wasnt enuff for me, so i went and downloaded the demo from one of those shareware websites and then took screen grabs...the only modification i made was to make the torso and legs one object as the original has separate legs and arms, i kept the arms seperate tho...hes a cool little character... if i can get the pics off the hdd, i will post

i think it looks lame, the arms are too skinny and the head looks too big...and the...looks....and.........the .....

keep on doin, what you been doin!
And one day, you will be free!

I reckon it's a coolio comic style model, and would like to see how this progresses

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

thanks for the comment, think i might do sum phonemes for him using blendshapes in maya (morphing)
and maybe sum softbody dynamics on a cap or a bit of hair, i dunno, i want to sorta animate a story or sumthink with it.so it will prolly sit there for a bit while i think of what might be cool.

i will post up the first low poly model i made, i was going to animate him breakdancin but never got round to it....i spent so long on learning how to uv map with this1 ( i smirk) look at those amazin textures, teeheehee.

http://andrewbertram.freeservers.com/foogmodelsheet.htm

and i will post the first thing i made in max that i was happy with...(besides web page stuff) i used version 2.5 and it was prolly in 98, i think....

http://andrewbertram.freeservers.com/diverclock.htm

oh yeh, i hope ppl can see this stuff without it lookin awfull,sum stuff i got compress to be under 256k :(

whatch out now coz here is the post for the first model/animation that i did in maya that i was happy with...it was prolly using version 2 , i dont know i cant remember if version1 had cloth or not, i think it didnt till version 2. but anywayz i used polly and nurbs modelling fot this 1 ( did i mention im pretty good with nurbs modelling, altho its not my preference..) and i used soft and rigid body dynamics and ik and fk and raytracing on textures and shadows, and cloth for the jumpsuit,blahh blahh, and i used after effects for effects and composite...blah blah blah
I will put lots of picks on this link......... i used blendshapes, lots of custom attributes for the skeleton, i tried to use everything, but i dont think fur was in the version of the software i had.

have a look at these and abuse me if you want, maybe after this (in a few days) i will post sum of the stuff i have done to try and get jobs with the local industry.
here is the link for the aforementioned images:

http://andrewbertram.freeservers.com/mayafirst.htm

if i havnt put it anywhere.. I am Looking for 3d work..

Heh heh, it's baby Ernie! @:-D

"Hey Bert!"

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

Phwoah... sif ya can't get enough 40k. And that's pure unadulterated spooge. Great job!!

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

Yep, great job on the model! [:)] Texture wise, that's probably the look you were going for, but personally, I would have done some real worn down gritty silver/brown metal there.. definately a lot of potential for some awesome skins with that model [:)]

Hey every one,

Stupid me forgot t opost 'my' side of the battle. lol
So here it is, finished like 3.5 weeks ago btw.
My Warhammer 40K inspired Ork that I made for a battle with my friend Pantmonger.

The object of the battle was:
<2500 polygon Warhammer 40k model
1 x 1024 x 1024 map
1 week deadline

They turned out pretty good me thinks but tell us what you think about them both, all crits/comments are welcomed.

Ork: 2495 polygons

[img]http://www.inkmancomic.com/dean/Portfolio/Images/ork.jpg[/img]

Guess I posted this a little late but comments still welcomed.

Regarding the first model:

I like it_ except if i could make a suggestion i would have two shoulder armour gaurds_ symetry like objects tend to look and feel more stable (in my opinion anyway)

oh yeah_ the boots look a little exaggerated_ thin them out a little so that he can walk properly. They look a little too cartoonish_ mario style if u know what I mean.

Regarding the second model:

i like it heaps.

looks dangerous it does!

tomcat: Karn the Betrayer is modelled off a special character from WH40K and has been modelled faithfully to the original concept.

My vote goes to the orc though, it has so much personality and some cool texturing.

Good work. :)

I was unaware of that. thanks rezn0r and I apologise to u Pantmonger.

Thanks guys, I can't believe this post is still active. [:P]

oohhh, pretty. gewd damn it i wish i had money to hire programmers and just have them make cool stuff, sigh

I've seen some of those done in flash, although are somewhat slower.. very cool effects [:)]

thats probably right, i'm using a lot of line art here - and thats something that flash excels at

try this one on for size then:

http://www.gaffer.org/interactive/flower.html

[8D]

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

Oh, I wasn't saying yours was slower.. I've seen some of the shaded line effects in Flash, and they seemed slower than your java ones.. and they used much less lines or iterations (sorry, I am SO not a programmer [:)]).. I've seen a lot of those 'magnetic' rubber band line things too in Flash.. they had much less points though as well.
You should get some textured 3d stuff going in some Java! [;)]

yeah i knew thats what you meant, my point is line-art in flash is pretty common these days, probably silly for me to compete with lines in java then, its just that its pretty damn hard to get the fillrate in java required to get even flatshaded stuff running at a decent clip, and texture mapping, dont even bother, its all in software so it would be jaggy as hell, no filtering... UGLEEEEEE!

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

Damnit those rule man !

Now if only you could make some decent winamp visualisations with those effects that would rock :-)

I would love to help you on that tho...

thanks daemin, i just wish i had more spare time to play around with this stuff, game dev work doesnt leave you with much...

here's some more 2D stuff:

www.gaffer.org/interactive/kaleidascope.html
www.gaffer.org/interactive/fire.html (oldskool!)

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

Yeah, I could imagine that it wouldn't, I tried to fit in full time university around game development (stilll hobby based but I was heavily devoted) and that didn't turn out too well.

I guess the time that you're not at work you spend partying or with your family (if you have one that is). ?

Well I guess it might be time to show off a little "artistic" demo that I did *gasp* over a year ago for a job application.

It might not work 100% on all people's computers because there were some bugs in the code that long ago, but its something cool none-the-less. Some of you game industry people might recognise it since I sent it out to many places in hopes of getting a job.

Download it from my website: [url]http://members.austarmetro.com.au/~sdgrab/Teapot-Demo.zip[/url] oh yeah, and read the readme file for more info.

Actually, i'm doing honours math part time at ANU while working at irrational - i only do one subject a semester, but its terribly hard to find the time to study, let alone attend lectures, most of my spare time is spent sitting at home in a zombie like state feeling bad about being behind in my studies ;)

i'll check your demo out daemin, cheers

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

What are you currently working on now at Irrational, Gaffer? The Lost?
That reminds me, I've had a set of interview questions for Jonathon Chey for aaages.. I should really send it off to him.

The Lost is being done by the team in Boston, i cant really say what the Australian team is working on yet, as the publisher hasnt announced it yet we are all under NDA etc ;)

you should send those questions off to jon, i'm sure he'd be happy to respond, feels nice when somebody wants to interview you ;)

cheers

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

quote:Originally posted by Gaffer

The Lost is being done by the team in Boston, i cant really say what the Australian team is working on yet, as the publisher hasnt announced it yet we are all under NDA etc ;)

PHWOOAR!! I KNEW IT!! SYSTEM SHOCK 3 !!@@!!@ [;)]

kidding.. sorry, it just reminded me of that rumour a while back of System shock 3 in production due to that Boston programming job advertisement. It's funny how rumours can just spring out of nowhere [:)]

rumours h0h0h0! [8D]

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

Gaffer! I see in your forum profile that you worked at Auran as well.. what did you work on over there?!

Awesome :)

quote:Originally posted by Gaffer

Who needs flash when you can code java? [8D]

www.gaffer.org/java/rose.html
www.gaffer.org/java/sparkle.html
www.gaffer.org/java/string.html
www.gaffer.org/java/meshy.html

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

do you have a site with your stuff on it roo?

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

quote:Originally posted by Souri
PHWOOAR!! I KNEW IT!! SYSTEM SHOCK 3 !!@@!!@ [;)]

argh!

You almost gave me a heart attack![:0]

--redwyre

Did have but I've taken to Souri's site here and have been uploading a little bit of my stuff here on sumea :) hehe and I have to pay some overdue host fees *hides* but i will have to do that very soon [:)]

quote:Originally posted by Gaffer

do you have a site with your stuff on it roo?

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

if your host is expensive, try switching to tierra.net, nice and cheap, and really fast

Glenn "Gaffer" Fiedler | Senior Programmer | Irrational Games

any critz? questions?

Hi, um all I'm getting is the 'whoops somethings wrong' little red x so no crits from me till it is visable.

The big problem is you currently are trying to direct link the image from your hard drive, which means it will work fine when you come to look at it, but no one else can see it.

You must upload the image to a web site that allows direct image linking (ie not a free site) that way all can see it.

Pantmonger

i thought it would upload automatically like other posts....where can i upload my image too? sorry i dont do internet crap so i have no idea

Nice model. One thing I notice is that he looks a bit stunted in height. Make his legs (below the knee) slightly longer, I reckon. For anatomy references, you HAVE to check out http://www.fineart.sk/body.htm .. there's six pages of anatomy references. it's brilliant [:)] texturing is quite cool, I like how you mixed in some browns with the green for the metal on his shoulders. Mixing colours like that makes the results more interesting. Texture work on the pants and shirt is VERY cool, and perhaps the chest/groin armour could be a little more interesting though.

Yeh he has confusing proportions, i dont know if hes stunted so much or just the armor makes him look wider than he is tall. and yeh im thinking of redesigning the whole chest section coz it looks a bit static compared to the rest.

Nice work Idaho. I really like your colorful skin. Is it destined for a game?
Crits: Besides the leg thing that Souri mentioned I also think that his shoulders look too broad and his neck a tiny bit too short, but these are my personal preferences, stick to what makes you happy :)

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

thanx, no not destined for a game just something i did one morning when i was bored

Hey, just had a look at your project.. Looks very interesting, and seems to have quite a lot of work/effort put into it! Some of the models look very, very cool.. Turn base strategy? So you're competing against Strategic Studies Group (SSG) then ? [;)]
And yeh, you're right about starting small. Unless you have the extreme talent of the id software guys, a small team can't really compete with large developers.. there's just too much content required for games these days. I'm wondering if the only way to break it into the games industry independantly may be through middleware, or gameboy advance/nokia games... I'm sure 3-man game teams of the C64/Amiga days are soon to be a thing of the past. [:)]

Hey you can always try.
All you need is a good idea and you'll be able to compete with the larger companies.
I thinks it's best to aim high even if you know you can't get there it will result generally in a higher quality project.

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

Metatron, I've been thinking of starting my own independant game as well, got any advice on getting started?
I think what your doing is really good, getting into the industry in your own way, being your own boss.
nice work on your game, I really like the vehicles and the large mechs, good luck with it.

Souri: Extreme talent of ID? are you drunk?

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Thanks for the responses.

GBA and mobile phones are the way to go for a 3 man team. A team that knows what there doing could put out a very good game in 6 months. Also if you complete a game for the GBA it could look good in your CV/resume as well.

The current team I am working with are locals. So we can have meetings at someones house. That's a huge plus in my books. I have worked with online teams and the pace is a lot slower and communiction is difficult (getting your idea's across etc...)
We are also a 4 man team one artist, two programers, one marketing person.

I would really like to work at SSG (Warloard 3 was awesome). That's part of the reason I am making the game. I like strategy games so if I complete 3 strategy games and if I go for a job at a company I can show them 3 completed projects (I want to complete 2 more games in 2003). The games I am making are about the same quality as master of orion 1/2. A good employer can see past the quality of the games graphics and see the capablities of the team members (maybe). Or the option I like the most is going independent and selling the games myself. Most of the games I enjoy playing are the old classic's (Civ 2, Moo, Moo 2, Masters of magic, warcraft 2, warlords 3). I play the new games by I find myself going back to play the classics a lot.

Some advice on game making.
If your the lead designer have a clear picture of what the final game is going to be before you start. Write the core game's features down and stick to them. A design document plus ruff concepts for the screen layout and art should be done so as to communicate a clear picture to the rest of the team. I done my first 40 page design document and 20 concept picture's in a week (modifications to the document were added later). Also durring the process of the game feature's were droped (250 research options got canned :)) Also don't aim for lots of content plus extreme quality (say warcratf 3 level which is very high). I say strike a balance of maybe low content and very high quality (which means maybe one race 10 missions, one terrain type done very well) Compared to warcarfts 50 missions 4 races and multiple terrains(all done very well).

quote:Originally posted by Fluffy CatFood
Souri: Extreme talent of ID? are you drunk?

Well, let me know why you don't think they're talented [:)]

Kenneth Scott is definately one of the most talented skinners around in the industry. If you had a peek through all the Quake 3 skins, you can see they were leagues above anyone else's work at the time.. more stuff on Kenneth Scott here: http://www.planetquake.com/polycount/skins/gbu/kenneth-scott/interview… and http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.5/uc/ and http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.32/feat/

John Carmack. I don't think I have to say anything there..

Paul Steed (well, he isn't in ID anymore, but we're talking about what ID has done in the past) - he's a renowned low polygon modeller and animator, it's amazing how much form and shape he can capture with the lowest amount of polygons.. he's released some books on modelling and animating too - he definately knows his craft, and has some really fast/great ideas on how to build.. great knowledge of human anatomy too.. really shows in his work.

Those three guys are at the top of their field, I reckon.. and then you have other extremely talented guys too, like Kevin Cloud, Paul Jaquays, Tim Willits..

A bit off topic, but I had to say, even though no one will notice this.
Michael Abrash is ex-iD staff, and he works on DirectX nowadays for microsoft and I'd have to say he's a bloody smart coder as well.

On topic though.
There seems to be some good work in the artistry area and hopefully there's the game behind it all to back it up and I can get a closer look! I'm interested as to how detailed the design of the game is at this early stage...

I have to say the big problem with being an independent, is it's hard to attract like minded people that want to work for nothing. Especially when you start talking about them bringing along their own equipment, and communication over the net isn't all it's cracked up to be considering time zone differences. The best way to get something done is to get people in your area to help you out, even if it lowers the quality of the product.

The ability to attract good people to work with will grow as you get a reputation.

Usually being an independent also means you have very strong ideals of your own game design methodology, which can create conflict (I know it has for me in the past).

Yes it is difficult to find a good team to work with.
The team I am working with is local. You have to learn to work with other people and not get too attached to your game design. The team is not getting paid and everyone is like the boss. So by having a lot of bosses bossing people around doesn't work. You have to explain your ideas, talk and listen to your members. When the programmer goes what the hell is this feature, you have to sit down explain the feature and how best to implement it. At the factory I worked at the boss would give orders and you would follow them. In a independent team you don't have to follow orders for who is the boss. But the team has to be united in a common goal and a lead designer is needed. The designer has the clear picture of what the game should look like when completed. The designer then needs to communicate the ideas clearly too all the other members of the team. When the team has a good idea of what there making and are happy with the workload it might involve then you can proceed.

The goal is to complete a game and not the game. If we don't get the game perfect the first time we can always do a better one next game. "The game" means you want to make it the perfect the best. But at the end of the day that would take ages to make the perfect game (like duke forever, team fortress 2). Make a fun simple game.

I am doing some alpha testing at the moment. The next stage is the beta testing with my brothers playing the game. They will give the game a good test out. When I started to test the game I came up with even more features to put in. Then I realized we would be working on the game for another 6 months. So at the moment I am just smoothing out the bumps and balancing the game mechanics (and hopefully make it fun to play).

If you want to know what level my game is at then check out this site. http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/
My brothers are playing Avernum 3 at the moment and they are addicted. I want to play but I am to busy working on my own games. My game is about the same quality as Avernum.

Here is a list of independent game makers/review sites as well.

http://www.dexterity.com/articles/
http://www.garagegames.com/
http://www.simusoft.com/

http://diygames.com/news/
http://www.madmonkey.net/page.cgi/index

wow, you managed to impress me. great work and best of luck. ~ never looked at this section of the sire before...

You should put the image of it in your post to save them the trouble of finding it. [;)]

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/simages2/36_VeteranColourL.jpg[/img]