glovvorn
02-02-2012, 10:12 PM
Well hello! I have been an un-announced forum troll on this site for YEARS (seriously, I remember when you weren't on 3DT staff CG, or before Freespace was either). I have watched and wished that I could do the amazing stuff I have seen you all do on these forums for too long now... it's time for me to join in!
I have dabbled in 3d for a few years, but never did anything serious with it until the last few weeks. I saw this challenge go up, and I couldn't stay away... I don't know that I've ever really finished a model that well (need more work on texturing / lighting / rendering), but I do tend to work better with a deadline, so I figured why not throw in with this challenge?
My concept for this challenge is a little bit different from what I've seen so far here... the scene I'm going to try and build is: a Post-Apocalyptic Elven City!
Now, I know a few of you are saying, "But, can elves really even have an apocalypse? They don't even have nuclear technology!"
Well, I understand where you're coming from. But, thinking through most worlds that contain elves, they all tend to have one other fantasy creature in common that I believe could cause an apocalypse: Dragons!
"But wait wait wait, dragons may be big and giant and powerful creatures and all, but can one REALLY cause an apocalypse?"
In my opinion, yes one could! However, if that doesn't work for you, there is another thing most elf worlds have in common that I believe could cause an apocalypse as well: Magic!
"Ok, MAYBE magic, but magic tends to be only as strong as the person using it... You would need a big, giant, powerful creature to use magic to cause an apocalypse!"
Well, once again, in my opinion, magic itself COULD cause an apocalypse if used wrong, by a less powerful creature (maybe that's a long shot, but go with it).
Maybe you can see where I'm going with this... Maybe you can't yet... but, well, I came up with a little backstory to go along with this (I was bored with my kids at the park the other day, they didn't want to play with me, so I wrote this in an email to myself. If you don't want to read it, by all means, don't feel you have to, especially if you already see where this is going)
Come, my children, and listen to the telling of a tale that has shaped our world more than any other tale that has been told in this age.
Thousands of years ago, there lived dragons among the land. Some of these creatures were huge beings of immense power; some were the size of us. Most of them were peaceful creatures, not the dreadful, terrible creatures of legend. For most of their existence, peace was found throughout most of the land.
But, legends are written for a reason...
The most powerful dragon of all, Cain, the Dragon Lord as he was referred to, started his adulthood as a peace-keeper. He, like so many of his brethren, fought against those of his kind that lusted after power for their own destructive means. In fact, during his young adulthood, Cain was heralded as one of the most noble of all dragons who had ever existed; had he continued on this path, he would have become a symbol of nobility, peace and prosperity, rather than the fear his name still invokes.
No one knows exactly when Cain's change took place, and it happened so subtly at first, it may have gone unnoticed for centuries. The heart of a dragon desires power and fealty above all else, and once it has been set upon obtaining these at all costs, cannot be swayed. This is what happened to Cain; his lust for power became an all-consuming reason for his existence.
Since he had worked so closely with the other dragons in fighting against the types of monster he had become, he managed to defeat anyone who got in his path. Before long, none were left who could come close to challenging him.
In this time, it was feared that Cain would be the end of all existence unless there was any way that he could be stopped. Most of the peoples of this world came together to try and slay the Dragon Lord. Humans, elves, and dragons all came together, to try and stay a coming apocalypse.
The fight against the Dragon Lord's armies was going well, until the Dragon Lord himself entered the fray. He tore through lines of men, elves, and even dragons as though they weren't there. Before he had been in the battle for ten minutes, all seemed lost, and the united army started to flee.
Had it not been for the corrupted heart of a dragon, though, all would have been lost that day, and history would have told a different tale. Cain's own lieutenant turned on him, in an attempt to steal the Heart of the World from him. No one alive, save Cain himself, and probably his lieutenant, had seen or even really knew what the Heart of the World was. However, it was rumored that all of the magic of the world originated from it, and to look upon it was enough to corrupt even the most upright of hearts.
The united army fought with renewed vigor at the betrayal of the Dragon Lord's lieutenant. The Dragon Lord was eventually overpowered, and fell at the claws of his own lieutenant. However, it was not the joyous moment that everyone had thought it would be.
The Dragon Lord had become so entwined in the Heart of the World that at the moment of his death, the Heart of the World shattered. The results were cataclysmic. All magic throughout the world disappeared in an instant; many of the things in this world were built and supported through magic, and they all crumbled. The forests withered and died within minutes. The mountain where the Dragon Lord made his lair split, and has been spewing black smoke and ash ever since, blocking out almost all the sunlight.
The world would never be the same, and without the magic we were used to using, it has taken centuries to rebuild. The soil of this world has remained dead, and unable to sustain life in most places.
It has been a millennium since the Dragon Lord's demise, and only now is the world showing signs of recovery...
- Mo'ano Leaa, High Elf Seer
That *******! That magic-using dragon did this!
Alright then, now that I have that out of the way (I'm sorry, that's just how my mind works sometimes...), I'll have some pictures up as soon as I can. I have already started working on this, and have a few models ready, but I need to go feed my kids... :haha:
I have dabbled in 3d for a few years, but never did anything serious with it until the last few weeks. I saw this challenge go up, and I couldn't stay away... I don't know that I've ever really finished a model that well (need more work on texturing / lighting / rendering), but I do tend to work better with a deadline, so I figured why not throw in with this challenge?
My concept for this challenge is a little bit different from what I've seen so far here... the scene I'm going to try and build is: a Post-Apocalyptic Elven City!
Now, I know a few of you are saying, "But, can elves really even have an apocalypse? They don't even have nuclear technology!"
Well, I understand where you're coming from. But, thinking through most worlds that contain elves, they all tend to have one other fantasy creature in common that I believe could cause an apocalypse: Dragons!
"But wait wait wait, dragons may be big and giant and powerful creatures and all, but can one REALLY cause an apocalypse?"
In my opinion, yes one could! However, if that doesn't work for you, there is another thing most elf worlds have in common that I believe could cause an apocalypse as well: Magic!
"Ok, MAYBE magic, but magic tends to be only as strong as the person using it... You would need a big, giant, powerful creature to use magic to cause an apocalypse!"
Well, once again, in my opinion, magic itself COULD cause an apocalypse if used wrong, by a less powerful creature (maybe that's a long shot, but go with it).
Maybe you can see where I'm going with this... Maybe you can't yet... but, well, I came up with a little backstory to go along with this (I was bored with my kids at the park the other day, they didn't want to play with me, so I wrote this in an email to myself. If you don't want to read it, by all means, don't feel you have to, especially if you already see where this is going)
Come, my children, and listen to the telling of a tale that has shaped our world more than any other tale that has been told in this age.
Thousands of years ago, there lived dragons among the land. Some of these creatures were huge beings of immense power; some were the size of us. Most of them were peaceful creatures, not the dreadful, terrible creatures of legend. For most of their existence, peace was found throughout most of the land.
But, legends are written for a reason...
The most powerful dragon of all, Cain, the Dragon Lord as he was referred to, started his adulthood as a peace-keeper. He, like so many of his brethren, fought against those of his kind that lusted after power for their own destructive means. In fact, during his young adulthood, Cain was heralded as one of the most noble of all dragons who had ever existed; had he continued on this path, he would have become a symbol of nobility, peace and prosperity, rather than the fear his name still invokes.
No one knows exactly when Cain's change took place, and it happened so subtly at first, it may have gone unnoticed for centuries. The heart of a dragon desires power and fealty above all else, and once it has been set upon obtaining these at all costs, cannot be swayed. This is what happened to Cain; his lust for power became an all-consuming reason for his existence.
Since he had worked so closely with the other dragons in fighting against the types of monster he had become, he managed to defeat anyone who got in his path. Before long, none were left who could come close to challenging him.
In this time, it was feared that Cain would be the end of all existence unless there was any way that he could be stopped. Most of the peoples of this world came together to try and slay the Dragon Lord. Humans, elves, and dragons all came together, to try and stay a coming apocalypse.
The fight against the Dragon Lord's armies was going well, until the Dragon Lord himself entered the fray. He tore through lines of men, elves, and even dragons as though they weren't there. Before he had been in the battle for ten minutes, all seemed lost, and the united army started to flee.
Had it not been for the corrupted heart of a dragon, though, all would have been lost that day, and history would have told a different tale. Cain's own lieutenant turned on him, in an attempt to steal the Heart of the World from him. No one alive, save Cain himself, and probably his lieutenant, had seen or even really knew what the Heart of the World was. However, it was rumored that all of the magic of the world originated from it, and to look upon it was enough to corrupt even the most upright of hearts.
The united army fought with renewed vigor at the betrayal of the Dragon Lord's lieutenant. The Dragon Lord was eventually overpowered, and fell at the claws of his own lieutenant. However, it was not the joyous moment that everyone had thought it would be.
The Dragon Lord had become so entwined in the Heart of the World that at the moment of his death, the Heart of the World shattered. The results were cataclysmic. All magic throughout the world disappeared in an instant; many of the things in this world were built and supported through magic, and they all crumbled. The forests withered and died within minutes. The mountain where the Dragon Lord made his lair split, and has been spewing black smoke and ash ever since, blocking out almost all the sunlight.
The world would never be the same, and without the magic we were used to using, it has taken centuries to rebuild. The soil of this world has remained dead, and unable to sustain life in most places.
It has been a millennium since the Dragon Lord's demise, and only now is the world showing signs of recovery...
- Mo'ano Leaa, High Elf Seer
That *******! That magic-using dragon did this!
Alright then, now that I have that out of the way (I'm sorry, that's just how my mind works sometimes...), I'll have some pictures up as soon as I can. I have already started working on this, and have a few models ready, but I need to go feed my kids... :haha: