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Cape Chronicles stuff goes here!

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almighty_gir ngon master
Hey guys!

Makkon and his team have been awesome and contracted me to make a bunch of assets for their game, Cape Chronicles!

so here's my first WIP, one of the many Chumps. i even wrote the shader being used to render him (super pumped about that).

C4wSMa.jpg

will post more as i get more done!

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  • uncle
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    I probably cannot describe how I love designs from Cape Chronicles, there is something very pure in them. I have a feeling you are a right man to do them justice Mr. Gir.

    Looks really solid, so I'll just shut up and wait for more.
  • Nizza_waaarg
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    Nizza_waaarg polycounter lvl 15
    Here's a really rough paintover. Mostly just round out the forms/shapes, the torso mainly. Fingers are coming off too spiky and a bit long as well.
    Also more geo to define the silhouette on some larger folds, and possibly ditching some of the smaller noisier folds on there.
    The green emmisive fresnel is a bit too harsh atm. If you want to make him pop from the environment more you might wanna use some stronger, flatter areas of colour possibly, but whatevs matches the rest of the game.

    (Camera perspective depth is p harsh on those shots tho)

    ahhblejabblepeeps.jpg
  • Dan!
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    Dan! polycounter lvl 6
    yeah you are definitely doing makkons designs much justice. MOAR!
  • Makkon
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    Makkon polycounter
    Subscribed!
    I'm super hyped to have Lee on the team, and this is coming along great! Like he said, he's writing the shaders for the game too, and he's going to give the game a very good unifying feel, environments and characters alike. Nizza, your crits are spot on too, thank you. I get developer syndrome and sometimes can't give Lee the feedback he needs. The time difference makes it tough here too

    I don't know what it is about Polycount, but it's so much easier to give you good feedback here! I know the textures are currently WIP, but if you can give the different parts of clothing more contrast from in color and shade, I think it'll sell him better.
    For example, the characters in TF2 I feel work, not only because of their unique silhouettes, but also because of how they emphasize the character's dimensions and shape with material definition and contrast.

    I think with this shader, you might have to push the contrast just a bit more. We can experiment and see what works. if you need me to draw up anything for you that needs more clarity, or variation, just let me know and I'll make it happen.
    Also, is it possible to round out the tips of his shoes a bit more at this point?

    [full concept for reference]
    chumps_collage01_color.jpg
  • Makkon
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    Makkon polycounter
    Hey Lee, I'm hijacking your thread. Hope you don't mind! Resistance is futile.

    We're fleshing out the Electric Castle. Here's some concepts that I just finished up for it. We wanted to have a sort of eerie gothic catherdral meet mad scientist, complete with a huge graveyard.
    electric%20castle1.jpg

    Some earlier thumbs, just to nail the mood and flesh out some of the types of areas.
    electric%20castle%20thumbs.jpg
  • FractaL
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    Wow great work guys! Love the character and environmental concepts. Inspiring stuff.
  • Zwebbie
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    Zwebbie polycounter lvl 18
    Makkon wrote: »
    We're fleshing out the Electric Castle. Here's some concepts that I just finished up for it.
    The first thing that jumped out at me was the big green passageway. Then the windows. Only when I clicked for full size and took a good look did I see the chump.

    I think that's a bit of a problem.

    You've got a lot of value and hue contrast going on in your background, drawing attention away from everything that matters.
  • Makkon
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    Makkon polycounter
    Fixed.

    It's not really a problem, since the concept is for the environment and not the characters. The chump is secondary to the mood, and the lighting. But thanks for your feedback, it does look better now.
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    <insert fangirl squee reaction>

    will have an update soon, unfortunately our oven decided to break down last night, so i'm repairing it today.
  • Makkon
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    Makkon polycounter
    No worries man, it's the holiday weekend so it's going to be a little nuts for everyone.

    Updated/final concepts for the knights are up! Which one is your favorite?

    knight_final_red_finished.jpg
    knight_final_blue_finished.jpg
    knight_final_green_finished.jpg
    knight_final_purple.jpg
  • Slaught
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    Slaught polycounter lvl 18
  • kaptainkernals
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    kaptainkernals polycounter lvl 12
    Really loving this, and love the design of the red caped knight!
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    can't wait to make them :D
  • Ged
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    Ged interpolator
    those are sweeeet!
  • Onnimra
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    Onnimra polycounter lvl 10
    Really love the concepts! Can't wait to see more!
  • TrevorJ
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    TrevorJ polycounter lvl 9
    These looks great, the base body is really well done, and all the helmets just add to it in there own way. Probably 1 or 2 are my fav. Great Job!
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    Yes, why not make all 4? After all, they are just different helmets and a color swap.

    That said, 2 and 4 would work the best because of the slightly larger details. Which would make them read better at small on-screen sizes. On the other hand, the silhouette is rather plain, while 1 and 3 have a sort of centerline indicator that's visible from the rear.

    I think 2 could look really cool if it had something like a mohawk or ponytail like thing on the back.

    3 looks the worst, because his visor is at mouth-height.

    Color scheme wise I think the green and red should be swapped to create something like 2 teams, a warm colored one and a cooler one.

    If you really want to have just one model, 1 and 4 should be combined. The shape of 1, but with a wider, T-shaped opening in the front. (still having the concave shape of 1) 1 has the most regal looks, and it fits with the armor shapes the best. The gold trimmings are also a nice added detail for larger renders, while not cluttering shapes up at small sizes.

    TL;DR - 1 with a few tweaks would look best.
  • kaptainkernals
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    kaptainkernals polycounter lvl 12
    I think all four knights will be created.
  • MisterSande
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    MisterSande polycounter lvl 8
    great concepts ! I think knight number 1 looks the best followed by number 2&3.
  • Makkon
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    Makkon polycounter
    Yeah, it's all 4 knights that will be made. Thanks for your feedback, Snader! The green knight might look a little misleading, his visor is at eye height, but his ventilation slits (breathing holes) are at mouth level.

    Thanks for your feedback, guys! We really want each character to have a fun personality, and it'll show through their animations as you play (different run cycles and idle animations). Red is the stalwart leader, Blue is the wimp, Green is the lovable rogue, and Purple is the overconfident ham.

    Gir, I got your email! Sorry for not responding, I'll get back to you on that now :)
  • Psyk0
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    Psyk0 polycounter lvl 18
    Shweet, these guys have a ton of flavor! :)
  • Makkon
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    Makkon polycounter
    Making assets for the fire castle!

    [edit]
    Assets have been completely redone as per policy for the game jam we're participating in. Nearly killed us, but it's worth it.
  • Torch
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    Torch interpolator
    This looks so good XO
  • Pedro Jatob
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    Pedro Jatob polycounter lvl 8
    Digging those Knights concepts ! Great stuff man...
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    Looks good, but I suggest you get some variation in to the bricks (be it vertpainting, or just making different 'tiles') because right now the tiling is very noticable even at only 2x2 tiles.

    Good use of detail strips, though.
  • Makkon
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    Makkon polycounter
    Aye, that is a problem. I think we may be able to hide a lot of it with enough detail strips and lighting variation, if that doesn't do the trick, I'll give vert painting a try. I have an alternate version of that texture already painted, it's certainly possible.

    Here's a look at the flats, I think the bricks in the lower left (with the transparency) are wasteful, it should either be a different color to stand (I use it to hide corner seams), or I should just have solid blocks and do the same thing with actual geometry. Polycount isn't a terrible worry with a sidescroller, we have a lot more control over what the cameras sees.
    Also trying to develop my own style at hand painted textures, painted in Paint Tool SAI with a paper texture.

    [edit] redone... all of it. Updates later.
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    Looking at it, I'm not seeing much hue variation, if any. You could try using the RGBA channels as 4 separate greyscale maps and multiplying that over a base color? On the other hand, adding in a couple extra 512²s isn't too expensive, given that it will form 50%+ of the level visuals.

    Not sure if throwing detail strips at it is the best idea. You need to have some calm areas on the screen and not have too much clutter. On the same note, I'm kind of worried about visual discerning of gameplay areas and platforms and such. All too often I see platformers where it's hard to see which bits are 'playable' and which are just decor. Trimmings like you already have could be used to lay a border on top of navigable platforms, or maybe something like a long carpet through the hallways. I dunno. Just keep visual clarity in mind. =P
  • Makkon
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    Makkon polycounter
    Hey guys, we're participating in the OUYA Game Jam Create, and the grand prize is $20,000, with additional prizes of $5,000 in other categories. Views and likes we get on youtube, likes on facebook, and follows on twitter all factor in to the judging process of this contest.

    Check out our current build here:

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnCqbwGjFBY&quot;]Cape Chronicles Gameplay V2 - Fire Castle - YouTube[/ame]

    Due to contest rules, we had to recreate all of our assets again from scratch. The video showcases our alpha knights, but I created some new temporary knights for the sake of the competition.

    Follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook!
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