Sept/Oct - Norm - t1ck135
 

I'm in :)
I've been looking at this for ages now... and am going to stick with games I've played in the distant past.

1st choice was the 'Spy vs Spy' series but thats been done in 3D in the not too distant past :(
2nd choice was 'The Last Ninja' but that was cancelled (found some 3D screenshots of the remake)

Edit: I'm not doing speedball 2 anymore, changing it to my other option:
First Samurai (or second as they are almost identical)

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...samurai_01.gif

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...samurai_02.gif

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...samurai_04.gif

Oh yeah and a couple of really good games indexes for C64 and Amiga games (including graphics)

Amiga games

C64 games

I played this game younger. A great one. ;)
Thanks for these links. Useful for those in lack of inspiration.
I am in a hurry to see what that will give !
Good Luck

I didnt play it too much but it was good fun.

Hope you find something useful from the links :)

Been looking at loads of samurai related information the last day or two and learned loads already! (not 3D yet)

I'm going for the mass market cutesy approach with a mix of manga thrown in.
Here's a rough sketch (photoshop on a bouncy train so apologies if its a bit all over):

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_1a.gif

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_1b.gif

depending on polycounts and time I might throw in a horse too and spend ages on textures to make it look more detailed...we'll see :)

(very) early start on the body, still got a few unresolved areas to block in.
This will probably come in way below the 3k mark (I'm guessing here) but I'll try and add as much detail as possible ;)

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_2a.gif

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_2b.gif

Just a bit more concept information to fill in what I intend:

The main character will be lightly dressed (as the first sketch).
He'll start with no weapons, just the usual kick/punch combinations.
As he progresses then he'll be able to pick up various armour parts (helmet, breastplate (and flappy bits) and gauntlets.
For weapons he'll be able to pick upto 3 different length swords (with varying special abilities) that he can store on his body.
Additionally he'll have a cutesy dragon or horse to ride.

I've been reading about the setting and its a little like the last ninja 2 where he has had to go forward into the future (2353ish here) so it leaves scope to have some cool technological weapons as well as maybe a robotic dragon or steed to ride.
I think I'll finish blocking the basic character out and then go to the drawing board and put all these words into pictures.
Exciting :)
oh and it might be called 'third samurai' to be original (not) ;)

not much progress tonight, just a slight addition to the torso and added a basic foot and arm. Need to slim his waist down too.
also been working on the head a little tonight but it still has lots of work to be done...

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_3a.jpg

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_3b.jpg

Update on the head, I tried modelling it from a sphere and then cutting back into it and it was interesting doing it that way. It only has a basic unstyled nose and mouth filled in at the moment.
560 tris so far without eyes (with temporary eyes its about 740). Body needs more detail and some hands adding and is currently about 800 tris.

At the minute its looking like a little alien (lol) but it'll change with the ears, hair and topknot blocked in (I hope!) and then textures applied. If I can get it around 1800 tris then I might use the rest to make the steed. Got a few concept sketches for that but it depends on the polycount.

P.s, Off to see jamiroquai tonight (woohoo) so no more updates till next week ;)

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_4a.gif

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_4b.gif

This is looking really good. Nice and simple :)

Have fun at the concert tonight :D

tick

Looks a fun one to do, like what you've done so far. As Blomkaal says its nice and simple, simple sometimes being the best way.

Jay

hey buddy,
this is sort of out of line, but do you know some site where i can serch for old nintendo 8 bit games? there was this game called dead fox, which i liked a hell lot, but haven't been able to find anything on it in my searches

You're not out of line. Its a relevant question in a way connected with this challenge.

Have you tried a google search? That would be my first place to visit.

Jay

blomkaal - thanks :) I was trying to keep it simple and rely on the texture to do the hard work. The concert was great, boogied down and listened to some fab music :D

Jay - cheers :) the body was fun but my inexperience on heads meant that I had to restart it (hence the try at a spherical head). I'm back to enjoying it now though.

utpal - might not have many screenshots but this site lists most of the NES releases:
http://www.nescentral.com/games/

One noobie question I have is - can you use bump maps in game characters? If so would it be good to bump up his hair area instead of modelling it all? (not including the ponytail/topknot as that will need modeliing).

Just a quick update on the head. Added an ear, added the topknot (ponytail) and extruded a hairline (dont know whether its worth doing the hairline this way? is it better bump mapped?).
Quick basic colours added in just to see what it'll start looking like :)

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_5a.gif

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_5b.jpg

nice work. but, somehow i like your model better in low-res than in smooth...i think the face looks a bit too curvy in smooth. angles in the low-res give him a bit of edge..

oh, and thanks for the tip jay and t1ck... i found the game i was looking for. in japanese version it was called dead fox. but, elsewhere i suppose it was called "Code name Viper" on NES

Tick
Very cool, its the sort of thing Id have sitting on my PC at work if it were a toy!! The hair is looking good.

Jay

I don't think that extruding the hairline will push you past the 3k mark, and it shouldn't be more than roughly 100 tris extra, but you might wanna consider making the transition from forehead to hair less sharp, as his hair is (is assume) pulled back into the ponytail, and then that edge you've got shouldn't be there as I see it... Considering this, it can be debated whether or not extruding, or bump-mapping for that matter, the hair is actually necessary :)
I'd suggest moving the edges from the extrution more into the hair so that it looks raised from the scalp, but with a smoother transition... Hope this makes sense :)

Also, you might wanna consider making him go see a doctor, that skintone looks kinda ill :)

utpal - I know what you mean with the smoothing. I like the unsmoothed views better, it has a crisper look :) glad you found that game, hope you can use it for your character.

Jay - hehe, maybe a squeaky one that went 'ah' when you squeezed it and 'saw' when you released it ;) and just one rogue tri left in the hair...

blomkaal - good points on the hair, I'd extruded it as a test and quite liked the result but forgot about the slick look as in the screenshot. To keep low polys I've removed the extrusion along it all except for the sideburns as they are quite fun :)
:lmao: at the doctor bit, excellent. Its just a block in at the mo till I get round to UV'ing but it really should be a bit better coloured now.

Around 758 tris for the head now (minus eyes). Signing off tonight so see you all tomorrow!

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_5c.gif

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_5d.gif

Looking good!

I liked your wild entry from the last comp.

Can't wait to see where you take this one.

Dave

swankymonkey - thanks man, much appreciated :) I'm aiming to model a basic (robotic?) dragon steed but it'd be fun to see him riding on your groovy model ;)

whoa
 

looks awesome so far dude. Im totally glad your in the norm catagory. I like how you did the hair. I think ill use extrusion for my head after seeing how yours looks. Keep it up.

badtertle - cheers for the encouragement, its much appreciated :) Doesnt look half as complicated as your idea though - good luck! :)

his topknot hairdo will have to be detachable tho as I need to be able to give him a removable helmet.

didnt get much done tonight but here's a few screenshots raw and smoothed with simple colours blocking in the main areas to be textured. Might mess with the shape a bit more and then start on UV'ing the body (the eyes were just quick test UV's).
Just under 2k tris at the moment so a bit heavier than I wanted.


http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_6a.gif

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_6b.gif

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_6c.jpg

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_6d.jpg

nice model
 

Looks nice, good work. :)

looks fantastic. Cant wait to see you start to map the body. Please let me know how you do it when you start, for i suck at it.
Keep up the good work.

mayafreak - cheers man, your's is definately coming on well :)

antiant - I can try but I'm relatively new to mapping and texturing (only 1 before this) so it might come out a bit all over ;)

Just been playing with maps tonight and got confused with selecting the right uv maps etc... my head nearly popped off! Grab yourself the texture map from Rae's knight WIP in the WIP section - it makes it a lot easier to reduce stretching! (cheers again Rae :) )

Finally (kind of) figured out how to UV map the head.

Here's a UV shot and a current WIP on the head texture. I'm really only aiming to get the main areas blocked in with a little detail at the mo as I have some more work to do on the body.

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...face_uvmap.jpg

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...ace_uvmap2.jpg

and an example on the smoothed head

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...ace_uvmap3.jpg

small update on accessories

created some simple swords, a helmet and breastplate. going to add some other bits as well.
thing is when he's armoured up the topknot will have to be removed and his bottoms will have to be modified for the leg armour.....plenty to go at but its a good learning experience :)

Oh also did some cutting out of unnecessary polys and am down to 1600 tris for the current head, body and eyes.

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_7a.gif

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/sa...concept_7b.gif

Nice work.
Do you know about smooth and hard normals? You can probably play around with them if you do not want to smooth the entire model. I like the added helmet and sword.

cheers joed8349 :)

I know about soften/hard normals but am keeping it all hard till its finished (the face doesnt look too hot when softened for some reason).
Adding the armour means he needs a different body and legs (ankle and wrist armour would pullth clothing in) so I might end up with two models with interchangable bits.

comming along nicely.
Are you planning to rig him and animate after the comp

hello there...
i kinda have a problem viewing your images, it just doesnt show up =(
is it me? i looked it up on where you're hosting them but i cant even view the site...
really would like to see you work =)
cheers!

antiant - cheers :)
Hopefully I can learn how to rig and animate him. I've only glanced at the basics in those areas and it looks quite complicated :eek: - still its a good learning experience

spekkio - sometimes my host goes up and down a bit. Naturally they say to tell them when it does but I'm often fast asleep then. Try again today and (hopefully) you'll see the pics :)

I've got two models now, one as the basic samurai and an armoured version (just needs remapping)

Not really much to show as I'm still learning UV mapping. Here's the two basic maps without any detail (just blocked in so I know what goes where).

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/samurai/samurai_1.jpg

http://www.flash-fx.net/images/3D/samurai/samurai_2.jpg

you only have to put a texture on half?!!!! Thats brilliant. Then just duplicate. I guess unless its asymetrical. You just saved me a doody load of time by displaying this. Looking good even if its just basic so far.

badtertle - yeah I saw it in Mr Mckinley's uv mapping video (on his website) and tried to duplicate it. I'm going to use the same head map on my other model and then choose whichever is the best. I'm glad it's gonna save you some time, its saved me loads too :)

p.s, Is there any tips on laying the uv's out in a certain way on the images above? I'm guessing that you just decide the importance of how detailed certain areas should be and then resize everything accordingly? I've got a sword and sheath to add to use some space up.

p.p.s, Is there any way of unsewing an edge once its been done? Thats why the blue leg texture is a little all over... ;)

nice uvs.
Show us the model with texture.
You know what.
Your model could make a good character for warcraft 3 (one of the game I`m deeply into at the time).

nice model :) finally, the pics are loaded hehe :D yea i agree with stormgetto, you could make him for warcraft 3 =D it'd be cool...can't wait to see him textured