Update on this:

Re-worked the pommel and section above the handle, also done the blade in zbrush now. I've also added some more suitably styled runes to the blade, but not glowing.

Which handle material? I'm in favor of the charred bone tbh.

Nice, loving the oranges. Be careful not to put too much range in there though.

forgot to post the sculpt render :P that paint over loses some of the detail

Looking at the glow, i'm definitely not going that bright, i'll probably make it some sort of crystaline blade with a slight inner glow of some sort, allowing the details to show through alot more. atm that glow destroys them lol.

Ok last update before i get some sleep. Revised the colour and especially brightness of the axe here, using the matcap for some of the nicer tones and highlights to get an overall more organic feel. Also made a new test with the character using the new blade.




The colours i think are pretty much how i want them now, will see if i can get the textures looking as close to this as possible fingers crossed.

Looks awesome man. Get started on those textures :]

Lordy that is sexy. Might just be my favorite axe so far!

Sod it, i'm giving this an eye. give it more pressence and links in more with the demonic style. plus there's a perfect place to put it, and it'll helpt bring the whole thing together i think. (i know i said i wouldn't but now i can't resist.)

I'm also going to add some wrapping round the handle and give the skill carving at the top of the handle the same colour treatment as the skull in the pommel. Oh and add those runes.

ok this is pretty much the last update to the sculpt before i start the low poly and bake process. If there's anything that needs adding, changing drastically, nows the time to mention it!

Looking really good, the only thing that kinda bothers me and something I would want to rework, or at least try is grouping some of the vein structures into bigger more jagged shapes. The big vein in the mid section of the axe reads really well and I think reads better from a distance. in this pic you can see they avoid tiny veins and keep them well defined, I imagine it will be easier to texture as well.

Cheers Churro, yeah the veins definitely needed beefing up more. I don't want to get rid of lots of them so i've merged a few and general beefed the rest up. Some have also been flattened slightly. Also added a few more scrapes and cuts to the blade.

Hey all. Been busy on this, got the textures going now. Probably going to look at changing a few things up but i've managed to get them pretty much identical to the paint overs i did. I'm going to try and get more out of the spec if i can also.

Also need to reduce the tri's too. 2k atm



It's in UDK atm.

Honestly you're probably fine with 2k. The 1500 is just a number that isn't set. Looking good by the way.

Wow man, that turned out awesome! The more you can optimize it, the better.

Awesome. Simply awesome.

Thanks guys. I'm still thinking about the colour scheme on it too. I'm going to try removing the green and having a more generic metal blade, but mix in more blues with the red/purple, and do some more with the blue glow.

Also removed the straps on the handle, really doesn't work. Will post up progress tonight.

So I came up with a new colour scheme. It appears heavily influenced by Ghost Rider, although i only noticed it after I'd made it O.o

Wasn't actually intending for the skin bits to apear as molten rock, but what the heck, it works
There are a few issues still, although they've been sorted since i took the shots, one is a small normals artifact that only seems to show in UDK and not max (base of the large blade) and some visible seams that i'm working on hiding, likely going to use the viewport canvas tool in max or something like that.

I really like the colors of you final design!

I like the sharp transition into the burning souls!

Cheers i'm not totally sure it'll be the final but it's definitely looking like it atm. Will see what other scheme i can do, but it'll be hard pressed to beat it at least for theme anyway.

Like the new version. Burning hot!

dude, this turned out really awesome. nice work

I'm sooo happy you got ride of the green. this looks great. Don't forget to light the runes.

Small update, desaturated the texture a bit and given the tendrils a small outline to give them more presence (might still remove a bit of it, make it more transparent or something)

This shot is without udk post processing.
Also changed the spec a touch in places, was getting hardly any spec lighting on the skin areas.

@Skyerzz yeah, the green had no focus, it was really a mismatch of colour attempting to be something, really happy with the way this second attempt has turned out.

I also did try seeing what it looking like with the runes lit, but they're a bit too small for the resolution to be any good when putting more colour inside them, especially if i still want a bit of a black outline there too. Tbh it gives it a nice contrast and feel with them black, as if they were destroyed by the possessing demon when it corrupted the weapon.

In regards to UDK normal artifacts did you import the normal set to "UI" which maxmizes the quality? It's a classic trick.

all i can say is wow, great work man