Awesome Abaddon mount! Personally, I like the head and chest of the first one, and the saddle of the third one. The skinny horns make it look more elegant, and the hip-bone structure on the saddle is just an amazing detail!
Current item set I'm working on - a Balinese Juggernaut set. Finding the balance between the intricate ornaments and readability is HARD. Not to mention having to retain the majestic and traditional feel to it. These are just some dirty early concepts.
Ok. That is pretty much the most awesome and original Jugg set I've ever seen. Love the Garuda motif. I really like the head of 1, the wings of 2 and the waist of 3. Would be interested to see the weapon concept
@Sukotto For the weapon I'm thinking it will probably be a kris, but when I think of how viable it is for slashing, I keep leaning more towards designing a golok instead..
I'm not personally a fan of juggernaut with wings, I think something like that significantly alters the hero a little too much for me to feel comfortable. On one hand, it's masterfully concepted, and if this were a game like League, where that sort of creativity is accepted, encouraged, and endorsed, I would be all for it. On the other, if I came back to the game after a couple of months of inactivity, I might pause and wonder what winged character has a sword.... at least until he started spinning.
the muscley abaddon mount is FANTASTIC. It looks great! It's a creative interesting way of displaying what is basically an undead horse. :>
Thanks for the feedback and kind comments fox! I can totally see where you're coming from, but on the other hand I also want to keep pushing my designs. Even if the set doesn't get accepted I don't really mind at all because I've been wanting to make a set inspired by my country's culture, so if I like the end result then I'll be quite content personally We'll see what the community reaction is when it's in the workshop.
Heyo kendmd! I love love love the concept work you did for juggz. The style is really killing it, and it's super interesting visually, however i'm worried it doesnt scream "Chinese New Year."
Looking at it, I could easily get confused with aztec/maya/incan themes. I think some of this might come from coloring, but it also might be too "dense" visually. Maybe extract "the best ideas" that really sell what the concept is about (I.e Chinese iconography) and push those to the limit.
Either way, that concept is proof of concept of ridiculous awesome things to come, so keep at it man!! Make it rad!
Heyo kendmd! I love love love the concept work you did for juggz. The style is really killing it, and it's super interesting visually, however i'm worried it doesnt scream "Chinese New Year."
Looking at it, I could easily get confused with aztec/maya/incan themes. I think some of this might come from coloring, but it also might be too "dense" visually. Maybe extract "the best ideas" that really sell what the concept is about (I.e Chinese iconography) and push those to the limit.
Either way, that concept is proof of concept of ridiculous awesome things to come, so keep at it man!! Make it rad!
Hey heboltz, thank you very much! Good news, this set isn't for the Chinese New Year event I have another stuff planned for the event, but that's still a secret.
Here's where I am at right now:
You mentioned a really good point about it being too busy visually. I'm still going to try and use even bigger shapes on several areas. The difficult part is making sure the end result still look Balinese, because they use very intricate and detailed ornaments in their crafts and accessories (look up Bali statue, you'll understand how crazy the details are). Hopefully the poleng-motif sarong helps make its culture recognizable.
I like the hat design for 1, 3, and 4. What do you guys think?
As your neighbour from Malaysia, I'm finding your Garuda warrior Jugg really interesting and well done!
I think you should give it a try. After all the Jugg set Gwimyeon (ghost-face) is very much a Korean thing. Maybe Valve gave it leeway because it's a winning entry in Nexon Workshop Contest, or maybe banking on the fact most people don't mind mixing up far-eastern elements.
So yeah, go for it!
EDIT: I'm a fan of the organic head curl in #5. Jugg masks are usually a fully carved piece of wood, and that also helps with the big shapes.
i like hats 1,4,6 ... this is what you get for making such awesome hats. We, the polycount collective can't agree on shit. XP
And on the wings, I getcha. It was more of a warning than anything else, but... I'm excited to see this set in the workshop! ^^ At the very least, it's going to look amazing. Imo, don't worry too much about being too busy .... I always associated that culture with lots of detail. I think you already did an admirable job making it look detailed enough for it to capture the essence of Balinese artwork without completely overwhelming it. It looks great, really.
Going to finalize colors, design a fitting sword and then do clean ups soon. Hopefully I can finish everything before Sunday, then the concept should be up for grab.
Also seems like it's okay to post the Chinese set I designed for (again!) Juggernaut. This one is already taken though.
I'd say you should remove the hat and you're golden. The hat is giving me a very emberspiri-ish wibe, and the heroes have a very similiar theme. But without the had it will be way more Juggernaut oriented. Awesome concept!
hehe that hat was designed way before ember spirit was public... you might be right but i fealtr like it needed the bigger bright shape for the game distance - colorwise he is still pretty different and recognizable. looking at ember ingame, nah i don't think it will be much of a problem.
Hey Frump, thanks for the feedback! Can you be more specific? Did you mean barely recognizable as Juggernaut or are the items too noisy they're barely recognizable or something else?
I meant barely recognizable as Juggernaut. The wings are a pretty big departure from his typical silhouette. In general the style of the set is quite a bit different from every other juggernaut set. It seems too much like forcing in a completely different style and almost like an original hero design.
Very true Frump, foxclover did mention it too. However, this is more of a personal and experimental project for me Thank you so much for your concern though!
This is the finished concept. Not to keen on the rendering technique I used, it looks too cartoony for my taste. Anyway, it's up for grab.
Hi! That's a great Bali set! A bid suggestion though, a Keris is usually crafted with it's sheath, rarely I found a Keris without sheath, it maybe nice if you can include that in his belt or such.
Welp, I'm drunk so it's time to be honest: I think the concept is a bit overly detailed and focuses more on details on a per-item level than overall silhouette, which in my mind is a negative. Of course you have some striking silhouette work going in the shoulders/back piece but it feels like the overall design focuses more on the single items than the set as a whole. For example, on our Spectre set, most of what you focused on was the silhouette which was what attracted me to the piece, but here you seem to have gone the opposite route. Basically, a set like this doesn't allow an uninitiated player to immediately recognize Juggernaut as Juggernaut, which all in all is to be avoided. More than lore, I think, Valve puts value on players being able to immediately identify heroes which with this set seems to be hard. I think your way forward should be to just simplify a lot a lot of the design elements (I know, it hurts) but go for easy readability in-game.
Spud is really making me think about how I should critique now, even if he's inebriated, haha. I posted in waywo about doing more posts and quality posts as well, so here's my first go at it, excuse any growing pains.
I think I was getting too absorbed by a really cool piece of art and forgetting what target goal is for it. The concept is absolutely stellar, but like Spudnik was saying the readability should be with the silhouette in almost a 1/1 fashion, in order to help players identify.
That being said, I think that the biggest confusing visual tell would be the wings, as that's seemed to always have been a pressing issue. Visually the wings are gorgeous, but they lead the silhouette to become misread as a different hero. I think the wings would be a much better fit on the mask, being that Juggs has some pretty insane mask details from time to time.
Secondarily, the wrist guards should be a little over exaggerated. It seems that from the side/front views, Juggs has these huge protrusions from his wrists that really catch the eye when is running around. Huge resting places for the eye.
Lastly, I think for silhouettes sake, the sword should be thicker. The sword is always the thing that catches my eye about juggs, mainly because of its emissive, but because its also abnormally wide. By making that sword design a bit thicker you can achieve that same look and create another resting place for the eye of the player.
I did a real quick paint over kind of showing off some of the stuff i'm mentioning.
Since I know this dude is in the middle of the modeling process, I just really tried moving stuff you have around to show how he could be more Juggs. Also I cant say no to those wings haha.
Sorry for going on for a bit, I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to try to really examine a character and a unique concept and give some crit. Take as much as you'd like haha, just my 2 cents. Keep up the baller work Ken!
Wow, awesome! Thanks a bunch for the feedback, guys!
@Spud This is so hard because Bali accessories has a lot of details. I think the most I can do is replace the wings with something else that isn't as silhouette breaking, and also remove the golden belt. Maybe simplifying the mask will help too. Other than that, I think it might ruin the Balinese theme.
@Harry Enlarging the bracers seems like a good idea, but I have a different opinion about the sword I prefer sleeker sword as most of Jugg's weapons are based on katanas. Also I am not modeling this, still waiting for an interested modeler
Replies
@mcteapot @hopgood lol
Anyway, decided to get my hands on some modeling again.
Started blocking in the shapes, haven't really cleaned up most of the geometry. Currently sitting at 584 tris.
Here's a hammer katzeimsack and I worked on for his omniknight set:
And then here are some concepts for Warlock's golem for the October competition. I'm up for a collab.
@Sukotto Thank you
@Oroboros Thanks!
And this is how it might look in-game
Updates!
Here's the final version of the Abaddon mount.
Current item set I'm working on - a Balinese Juggernaut set. Finding the balance between the intricate ornaments and readability is HARD. Not to mention having to retain the majestic and traditional feel to it. These are just some dirty early concepts.
@Sukotto For the weapon I'm thinking it will probably be a kris, but when I think of how viable it is for slashing, I keep leaning more towards designing a golok instead..
Getting the shapes down.. Starting to refine and detail.
the muscley abaddon mount is FANTASTIC. It looks great! It's a creative interesting way of displaying what is basically an undead horse. :>
Looking at it, I could easily get confused with aztec/maya/incan themes. I think some of this might come from coloring, but it also might be too "dense" visually. Maybe extract "the best ideas" that really sell what the concept is about (I.e Chinese iconography) and push those to the limit.
Either way, that concept is proof of concept of ridiculous awesome things to come, so keep at it man!! Make it rad!
Hey heboltz, thank you very much! Good news, this set isn't for the Chinese New Year event
Here's where I am at right now:
You mentioned a really good point about it being too busy visually. I'm still going to try and use even bigger shapes on several areas. The difficult part is making sure the end result still look Balinese, because they use very intricate and detailed ornaments in their crafts and accessories (look up Bali statue, you'll understand how crazy the details are). Hopefully the poleng-motif sarong helps make its culture recognizable.
I like the hat design for 1, 3, and 4. What do you guys think?
I think you should give it a try. After all the Jugg set Gwimyeon (ghost-face) is very much a Korean thing. Maybe Valve gave it leeway because it's a winning entry in Nexon Workshop Contest, or maybe banking on the fact most people don't mind mixing up far-eastern elements.
So yeah, go for it!
EDIT: I'm a fan of the organic head curl in #5. Jugg masks are usually a fully carved piece of wood, and that also helps with the big shapes.
I definitely like 1,2, and 6 the most. 6 just feels like a super 3, so I had to roll deep haha.
And on the wings, I getcha. It was more of a warning than anything else, but... I'm excited to see this set in the workshop! ^^ At the very least, it's going to look amazing. Imo, don't worry too much about being too busy .... I always associated that culture with lots of detail. I think you already did an admirable job making it look detailed enough for it to capture the essence of Balinese artwork without completely overwhelming it. It looks great, really.
Here's where I am at with the Bali set:
Going to finalize colors, design a fitting sword and then do clean ups soon. Hopefully I can finish everything before Sunday, then the concept should be up for grab.
Also seems like it's okay to post the Chinese set I designed for (again!) Juggernaut. This one is already taken though.
The Bali one though, is barely recognizable in the in-game view you posted.
This is the finished concept. Not to keen on the rendering technique I used, it looks too cartoony for my taste. Anyway, it's up for grab.
I think I'm gonna try my hands on some ward or courier concepts next. Never tried doing those before.
I think I was getting too absorbed by a really cool piece of art and forgetting what target goal is for it. The concept is absolutely stellar, but like Spudnik was saying the readability should be with the silhouette in almost a 1/1 fashion, in order to help players identify.
That being said, I think that the biggest confusing visual tell would be the wings, as that's seemed to always have been a pressing issue. Visually the wings are gorgeous, but they lead the silhouette to become misread as a different hero. I think the wings would be a much better fit on the mask, being that Juggs has some pretty insane mask details from time to time.
Secondarily, the wrist guards should be a little over exaggerated. It seems that from the side/front views, Juggs has these huge protrusions from his wrists that really catch the eye when is running around. Huge resting places for the eye.
Lastly, I think for silhouettes sake, the sword should be thicker. The sword is always the thing that catches my eye about juggs, mainly because of its emissive, but because its also abnormally wide. By making that sword design a bit thicker you can achieve that same look and create another resting place for the eye of the player.
I did a real quick paint over kind of showing off some of the stuff i'm mentioning.
Since I know this dude is in the middle of the modeling process, I just really tried moving stuff you have around to show how he could be more Juggs. Also I cant say no to those wings haha.
Sorry for going on for a bit, I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to try to really examine a character and a unique concept and give some crit. Take as much as you'd like haha, just my 2 cents. Keep up the baller work Ken!
@Spud This is so hard because Bali accessories has a lot of details. I think the most I can do is replace the wings with something else that isn't as silhouette breaking, and also remove the golden belt. Maybe simplifying the mask will help too. Other than that, I think it might ruin the Balinese theme.
@Harry Enlarging the bracers seems like a good idea, but I have a different opinion about the sword
All taken.
EDIT: A headdress for DP plus a low violence version.
I call it.. Spitfire.
edit: Here's a version without the shining flames.
damn! this is nice!