Dominance War V -3D - God of Pillage and Plunder - Crispy4004

[Crispy4004]

Latest Update:
http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/9125/cortes.jpg


Vikings, Conquistedors, and the Hun are all known for their ruthless paths of destruction and intimidating stature. I want to break this down to the core and re-imagine what such a solider would look like with a tech upgrade. Sure, he'll have a few weapons, but he doesn't need to hide behind them.

[paulius-st]

sounds interesting. good luck on this one.

[xxxcubanxxx]

lets see what you got Crispy

[washka]

Gl man! Pillage, YEAAAHHHHH !!!!

[Cordero]

good luck!

[Crispy4004]

Drew up a few concepts, but the concept sculpting is going much smoother so I think I'll continue with it.

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/2671/dwir.jpg

We'll see if I can fit in another update this weekend. I have more stuff to prepare for Dreamcrits now that I was selected to present. That and a test on Monday :wall:.

[miclepickle]

nice, concept sculpts are a great way to design :D... looking pretty good, I like the face.

not sure about the bill of his hat though.

[frostsnake]

looking sweet, nice concept sculpting.

[xxxcubanxxx]

Nice start :D

[Darchand]

Nice concept sculpt. I will stay tuned and look forward to seeing more concepts

[chris_solo]

facial expression is great! nice start Crispy! your work will still be good this year yet, already I like the concept though, not common...
good luck ;)

signed: the traitor of hell :)

[paulius-st]

great concept sculpt. i like how you gave it a spanish concitador and viking atributies. that would be a great pilage god

[Crispy4004]

Thanks for the encouraging words everyone!

Continuing to block in the major shapes and etch in potential details. Proportions are bugging me a bit, always happens to me when I throw legs in the mix. I don't think them bending like that either really matches the rest of the pose. Any sort of crits, paintovers, or whatever is more than welcome.

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/9425/pillage1.jpg
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/261/pillage2.jpg

Anyways I'm thinking two possibilities for weapons.

1. A Battering Ram, Cannon hybrid that he carries around like a TF2 Heavy's machine gun.

2. 2 cannons that stick out of a device in his back that he holds under his arms, with sort of magical tech feel.

[Cordero]

hey! looking good!

about the legs: I somehow have the same problem, its all good above the waist, nothing seems terribly of, and bang, when I add the legs, everything looks off and bad... what I would suggest, and what I do, is truest ur eye, and scale move stuff around for a while, and eventually u'll move in to a direction what will work.
Anyway, I think the leg is thick, and the feet is big. Or the leg is fine, and the upper body is too thick... hard to tell :D

I know its a concept sculpt, but I would suggest to make it either in T pose, or half pose, which I think is better.

for weapon: first one sounds cool, I don't understand the second.. can u sketch it up?

Keep it up, and nice render :D did u 3dsmax + vray for it?

[Crispy4004]

Yeah, things are definitely out of proportion. You are right, it's just something I have to play around with, scaling and adjusting the forms.

Thanks for the suggestions. I definitely won't be moving to a T-pose though. It wrecks havoc on the shoulder and flattens out the natural curves of the body. I start all my models in an A-frame, but change the gesture up a little each time because I think it is crucial to building character. In this case I want his natural stance leaning slightly forward, chest out, chin up and arms back. I haven't nailed it yet with this model, but if I keep trying new things and pushing it further, I'll get there eventually.

[mix_mash]

The bust was good but his full body stance just looks like an old man in armour.

Paul
(mix_mash)

[Crispy4004]

Yup, he does, I'll definitely be fixing that.

[washka]

Legs work, and think about how this armor think work, and the fixing elements.
Keep up da good work!

[ServantOfTheNoise]

nice work as always, subscribed to your thread I'm sure this is going to be an awesome entry.

[Warlock 279]

"Pillage and Plunder"...and not a pirate to be found...I am saddened. That said...

...the conquistador thing is pretty cool. Some interesting stuff going on with the armor so far. I definitely look forward to seeing where you take it from here.

[Crispy4004]

haha, I may be modifying the concept a little. I had a critique today where everyone generally agreed while the conquistador was cool, it doesn't really fit with the God theme. That is aside from Aztecs believing Cortez was in fact the return of their god Quetzalcoatl. Maybe there's something to that, but in all likelihood I'll have to look to other mythology.

[mix_mash]

Yup, he does, I'll definitely be fixing that.

Maybe give him a walker. Not an ordinary one, though, but a god-like one. ;P

Paul
(mix_mash)

[Crispy4004]

Plus that walker can double as a weapon!

[redonix76]

Very nice start. You work fast!! conquistador-like features is definitely interesting and fits well. Would like to see more please!

[Crispy4004]

Yeah, still conceptualizing, it's been a very busy week for me. Trying a couple different things to make him look more God-like and intimidating:
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/3685/conceptp.jpg

[washka]

Aztecs believing Cortez was in fact the return of their god Quetzalcoatl.

Quite true, he was also one of the biggest butcher of the humanity, participating to the destruction of one of the biggest civilization that was culturally as greater as the ancient egypt. (I'm speaking about different civilizations that developed during thousands years here, I could even say ten thousand)

I had found some nice references into books from the nearest library about those, was for a school project I tried to synchro with last war, was really a bad idea...
Here is the link, it could give you some interesting inspiration (look until the end):
http://forums.3dtotal.com/showthread.php?t=66232

[Puckducker]

Yeah, I really like your sculpt Crispy but I'd agree his just 1 solid visual element from really being a punchy design. Something that will give him more weight as a character, maybe try to bring in some of the Cortez story....don't know what exactly that could be, maybe he could be shouldering a giant load of gold, or maybe he's a colossal size and is carrying a Spanish galleon in hand.

Don't know what, but I think doing something bold and you'll go from a good looking character to a great one.

[Crispy4004]

Couldn't agree more, thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I'll definitely be working that out over the next few days.

[Crispy4004]

Going to start doing some drawing. Did a little already, but there's a lot more I want to sketch out.

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/9125/cortes.jpg

I'm beginning to get a better feel for the character though. Right now I'm going with the idea that yes, this is infarct Cortés. In my mythology Cortés fully embraces the idea that he is the Aztec god, Quetzalcoatl and strives for imortality. With his ruthless acts of brutality and assimilation with the Aztec culture, Cortés is able to shed his humanity and transcend to a deity.

This gives me the opportunity to mix some Aztec and Spanish culture as well as play around with the whole Serpent god idea.

[Warlock 279]

That last image reminds me a lot a relief sculpture or an engraving you might find in an old stone.

Regarding your story I like it, its quite a unique take on things, but you may want to check with one of the people in the know. I believe the rules said not to use any "real" gods, and while you're not really doing that per say, you're poking around in that grey area. I'd hate to see you get dq'd or find out much later on that you need to revise the story, better to get it ok'd now. You could always re-write the Cortes story to be a generic conquistador and a generic indigenous people and make the story work all the same if push comes to shove.

[Crispy4004]

I'm not too worried about all that. There's nothing in the rules that says you can't references a little history or fantasy for the backstory. Plus I'm not really copying an existing God, I'm making him into a different diety entirely. I could probably re-word it so there is absolutely no confusion.

It's no different from someone creating say Alexander the Great, Qin Shi Huang Di, or the Pharaoh Namer, as real Gods, not just self proclaimed living Gods. It's still an imaginative idea that is more interesting to me than picking an element or virtue already characteristic of some other God and pretending like it came out of thin air. Everything comes from something after all, I'm just being upfront about it because I think it adds to the concept.

And like you said, if someone complains, I can always mix it up. Or if they're really adamant about tearing mine down, I could always point out how their concept borrows things as well.

[washka]

You've got a big mix on your background story, maybe you could think about one of those caracteristic you want to push out the most?
I don't know if it's a good comment but, care not to disperse too much.

-God
-Cortez
-Pillage
-Aztec
-Snake
-Quetzalcoatl
-Brutality
-Cultural assimilation

But I like the idea, and the themes, have fun!

[Crispy4004]

Add Riches, Greed, Fame, and self-entitlement in there as well. Been watching some documentaries on Cortés all mourning to try and see what more I could learn. Going to stick with Pillage as the main theme, because it basicly encompasses everything.

He has to look like the omnipotent resurrection of Cortes exemplifying all the traits that drove him to his brutality conquest. That means I'm dropping the Quetzalcoatl serpent God link, aside from maybe mentioning the locals planted the "God" idea in his head. Also, no religious tie in. Though in his mind it was a holy crusade, he clearly was acting like a monster on his own accord.

Even though the Aztecs hid a lot of the riches from Cortés, I think if he is reborn as a God, it's only proper that he be consumed by it. I just don't know though if the gold will be enough though to sell it. Should add some sort of magical element, and if so any ideas?

[Warlock 279]

Fair enough. I do thinking dropping the Quetzalcoatl is a good idea, that'll dispel a lot of potential confusion. I do think its quite a unique idea, and look forward to seeing how you develop it.

Magical element could be cool if you can find the right thing that fits, but I wouldn't force it. Maybe he found a cursed or powerful artifact on his quest, etc.

[Crispy4004]

That's definitely a possibility. After all, Pirates of the Caribbean came up with the idea that the hidden gold in the "Chest of Cortés" was cursed. I'm assuming it was the chest that was intended for the King of Spain that is forever lost.

I'll be avoiding the undead route though.

[Crispy4004]

So before I sketch anything out...

Galleon Cannon, completely retarded, or so ridiculous it just might work?

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/8305/galleoncannon.jpg

I'm also thinking of maybe just taking the back end of a galleon, maybe a single sail, and then working it into the cannon.

[gestis]

Somehow I have missed this thread... Very nice development, really. I do really like the cannon - better than minigun, but don't like those strips, that hold it. Maybe you could keep the cannon, but use minguns handles and triggers? I'm not sure about that entire ship, so can not give my opinion. But I would not worry about the cannon, it could fire nuclear blows or simiral...

P.S. And do not forge to create your entry here: http://wwww.gameartisans.org/contests/domwar/5/entries_3dtotal_3d.html

[washka]

Or some kind of ship like thing integrated to its arms with medium sized cannons.

For some mood inspiration, not completly zombie like, but more in a ghost/cursed one like.
(Pirates and ghost are often linked), there was vnmribaya's tomb raider entry.
His final was really interesting.
http://forums.3dtotal.com/showthread.php?t=75143
Hope it can help.

[Crispy4004]

Spent the entire day building some much needed Re-topology tools in Maya. Some if it is from other scripts, but the big one, "Retopo Tool" I built from scratch:

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/5194/retopo.jpg

Maya's got notoriously bad support for Re-topology tools. I like NEX a lot, but it also tries to hijack the interface making Maya unstable. It also gets in the way when you need to swap to standard tools. Topogun and 3Dcoat are good alternatives, but I want support in Maya so I have immediate access to all the other modeling tools.

So I came up with sort of a hybrid between NEX and Topogun inside of Maya. It will take a little adjusting, but it's just as easy to use and almost as quick. Definitely much faster than any other free solution for Maya. Don't know if I'll be releasing this to the public, but I specifically built it to help with this project so I thought I'd mention it.

[RHedendahl]

SO do you have a download link :P. I can be beta tester...

[Crispy4004]

Another Update:

http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/5194/retopo.jpg
__http://i.picasion.com/pic40/d560149ae72a0dc3e6405dec7c4b1eb6.gif__

I've got it working now so there is no overlapping when placing points like the append polyon tool. That always drove me crazy. Also added some selection settings so you don't have to be 100% precise with your clicking. Think I've got this is workable enough order now to put it to heavy use in this competition :).


About a beta or any sort of public release, I haven't decided yet. Part of me wants to hold onto this one. I figure it gives me a little edge now that I can Retopo quickly without asking the employer to provide Topogun or a NEX license.

[Crispy4004]

Yeah, I'm still messing around with the script, this time playing around with it on my base. I just keep fixing little things to make it faster and easier and adding more features:

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/5194/retopo.jpg

The Retopo tool is completely Context Sensitive. This means you can do a whole laundry list of different tasks that are helpful to Re-topology in just one key stroke. Thinking about calling the script Retopolo'G' for that very reason.

Still have a couple non-essential things I would like to add, but for the most part it is stable and fast :dance:.

[NeoGeo]

That's all kinds of awesome. Hopefully you'll share it someday... :)

[Crispy4004]

That's all kinds of awesome. Hopefully you'll share it someday... :)
We'll see :)

Made even more progress on it today:
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5194/retopo.jpg

- Removed the need for an extra keystroke when building polys out of edges
- Added Context Sensitive Edge loops tools
- Added Append edges that are not touching (bridge gaps).

Now almost everything you'd ever need to do can be done with a single button, minimal clicking, and minimal component switching. Couple that with with the higher click box sensitivity that makes it easier to select and you've got even higher productivity.

Feels very natural now. The only thing missing is an optimized 'live object' setup and make that object use shrink wrap, but that can come another day.

[Crispy4004]

Check Out RetopoloG in Action (http://vimeo.com/22252977)

It can do more than just this, but I just wanted to demonstrate the context sensitive Retopo tool I built from scratch.

[RHedendahl]

Don't like that you must press on edges to do new squares. NEX is a little bit faster on that part. Looks quite nice though.

[Crispy4004]

Don't like that you must press on edges to do new squares. NEX is a little bit faster on that part. Looks quite nice though.

I couldn't agree more, I just can't think of any other way to do it. It would be super easy to do if the Multi selection in Maya respected the click box distance. That way I could just write the code so you could pull out a quad from the vertex. Right now, it's either I make edges easier to select, or you get the vertex quad pull out. I chose the former.

By all means, if anyone figures out a way to do adjust the click box distance with Multi select, let me know. I just might give you the script if you promise to keep it to yourself :). The click box value is located under preferences -> selection.

[Crispy4004]

After a lot of coding, I found a solution! After you pull out the tri, all you have to to is hit "g" again and it will check if there is an edge to append to.

In addition I did a whole lot more optimization, bug fixing, and made a couple things like edge loop creation easier to execute. Got a few minor things to fix, and a few more things to add:
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/5194/retopo.jpg
Edit:

Just got the "Shrink Wrap" working with the live object. Used in coordination with "Relax Selected" it can work wonders to even out the mesh.

[Crispy4004]

I know, I'm sidetracked, but with how awesome this tool is turning out, it's hard for me to stop. Sorry everyone this has been my top priority... but for good reason:
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8953/toposcm.jpg
:dance:

[RHedendahl]

Oh, it have colors, give me now!! :D
But seriusly, I would like to try it :P

[newhere]

can't wait to see how this turns out.

[Crispy4004]

A New Video Demonstration:

http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/1543/vimeotopog.jpg (http://www.cgsanctuary.com/scripts/)

[Crispy4004]

Not throwing in the towel yet, but unfortunately I'm considering dropping out of the competition. :(

Over the past 3 days I've received an almost overwhelming response to my tool, Retopo G. As much as I love Dominance War, this is getting me better exposure and I have a new responsibility to deliver on the tool and get some protection for it. That is in addition to few unique ideas I want to try out. I'm also currently assisting the lighting on a school short film, and handling all the lighting and Rendering on another. You could say it was bad planning on my part, but I was expecting the DWV deadline to be a lot sooner before all the delays.

We will see. Any thoughts?

[washka]

Like the relax algorithm integration into your retopo tool, quite a good idea imo, except for lill' areas where you don't want those to move, hope you've been thinking or already integrated some "freeze those" option.
Keep on your way.

[Crispy4004]

Like the relax algorithm integration into your retopo tool, quite a good idea imo, except for lill' areas where you don't want those to move, hope you've been thinking or already integrated some "freeze those" option.
Keep on your way.
Well the relax tool is not exactly mine, it's from this script AORelaxVerts (http://www.creativecrash.com/users/topsoilarts). Hopefully I can get ahold of the author, maybe offer him my tool for free if he'll let me include it. I could always remove it, but it is way too useful of a feature to cut.

About freezing, right now I have it setup so you can quickly paint in and out regions, and have included to an option to drop the edges so they hold. It's better to use the surface in a local region, not globally, it's just faster. So I don't really think there is a need to freeze certain vets. I would instead suggest relaxing them, shrink wrapping them, and finally tweaking the results slightly with another option I've added since the demonstration video ;).