Game Art Challenge #10: Tokyo Rubble Robot

[Konstruct]

around 2000 on the count, shoulders look retarded, and i have done nothing on the back- (legs arent attached, ) and no optimizing still tons to do, but a small update:
crits PLEASE. (dont know what to do about the close proximity of the arms and legs...)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/TRR01.jpg

[Wayne Adams]

Pretty good so far. Keep at it.

Lemme edit and give you more than just that.
Overall: It's a little Metal Gear Rexish, don't know if thats what you're going for.

The Shoulders: I would take out the pads and develop something more a long the lines of a ball/socket mechanism

The Arms: If they are going to be long and skinny, you need to build some sort of assisted structure (They could be damaged easily without it) Also you might wanna add more weight to the shoulders to support the arms

The waist and knees: To me, they seem a little small compared to the weight they have to support. I don't think you have to take it back to the drawing board, but develop another build type for both parts.

The feet: Make em just a tad bigger. Robots are of a clumsy sort. ;)

It does look good, and I'm a huge Metal Gear fan so you get kewlness marks in my book. Anyways these are my crits. I'm no expert, but those are just some things I would change.

Take care, good luck

[Konstruct]

thanx for all the helpful commants wayne.
i actually thought about every robot out there except the MGS and zone of enders robots.
the result is a cross between an heavy gear bot and a steel battalion bot.

k so i spent a great deal of time making it look a lot less whimpy. beefed up everything, finished the back, low poly is almost done, cept for the driver. (have 1000 polies left before optimization).

crits please (also, does anyone know y my tread never gets bummped when i put new images in it>?)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/TRR02.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/TRR03.jpg
on a side note, does anyone remeber a thread with a nomal mapper armored car? it had beveled edges on the normal map and looked really slick- drop me the link if you know what i talking about.

[Wayne Adams]

Konstruct,

I never played Steel Battlion but heard it was good. I was wondering if you could post a wireframe as well.

My thread doesn't get bumped wthier I don't think anyone's does actually, and I don't remember the normal map thread you speak of.

Later

[Ghostscape]

For some reason someone thought it would be a good idea to have this form sort by creation date, not latest post. You have to click "latest post" each time you entere the form to sort by that. It makes it very frustrating for those of us 3 pages deep ;)

The thread you were talking about was in the WIP games art forum, I don't have a link, unfortunately.

Your mech looks pretty good, but its looking less post-apocalyptic than I'd like, personally. A lot can be done with texture and adding some asymetry.

[Konstruct]

yeah i cant fint the post either, even if i did the image links would probably be dead though cause it was an old ass post.

NORMAL MAPS QUESTION.
anone know if its possible to do beveled edges? i suppose i could run tests but it would save me time if the awnser was "yes but they look like poop":)

as for the mech being stylisticaly un-post-apocalyptic I think theres different styles of the genre. but yeah im def, gonna cover making it look used with the texture, and maybe a little asymetry here n there. Im hoping that i have some polies left over for a mini gun turret on top of the chassis

[AdamAtomic]

well this post was all about how some dude did an armored car with beveled edges using normal maps, but then i read the last bit of your first post. so now this post isn't about that, because that's useless. go me!

anyways.

I like your mech - i like the small size, the sort of dune buggy vibe it's got going. definite post-apocalyptic potential. Could you maybe clamp some headlamps onto the roll bar? The robot has a good weighty look to it - stylish but restrained enough to evoke realism. nice work!

[AndyH]

I like this a lot - it has elements of metal gear rex, the aliens powerloaders and the APU's from matrix. It looks very articulate and would look cool when stomping around. The only comment i can really make is that it looks too symmetrical at the mo - it would be nice if there was a different weapon on each arm. Also, what kind of cannons are they? if theyre ballistic weapons, having some ammo belts or a storage area would look cool.

[Konstruct]

k so i finally finished the pilot. I had soooo many problems conceptually, that i litterally sat there night after night just staring at this naked guy in the cockpit.. I had a break yesterday and have only stopped moddeling for school until i got it right.
anywayz-:

on a side note its totally rediculious how good max makes stuff look in the render

he sort of a post apocolyptic freedom fighter guy, for the texture he`ll be wearing one of those black face masks with the eye holes:
cockpit interior and pilot are roughly 1000 polies.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/pilot1.jpg
side view
http://neotokyo.radi-8.com/team/konstruct/RRP1.jpghttp://neotokyo.radi-8.com/team/konstruct/RRP3.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/pilot2.jpg)

andy H:
def. gonna have a diff gun for the other arm, and if i have some extra polies i wanna have a gun mount on the back too, but i currently have 100-200 left.

adam atomic:
the head lamp idea is bad ass and im def gonna do that

thanx for the comments and keep em comin:thumbsup:

[Konstruct]

btw, does anyone know how to make my sig have a link to this thread? it wont let me go over 50 characters.

[PKD]

The pilot & cockpit looks great. I love the mask and how the headphone are place. Keep it the good work.

[Konstruct]

k so i think i got the low poly done, but i need a lil help deciding.-
i got 3 diff gun variations:

original:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/TRR04.jpg


minigun:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/TRR05.jpg


lance cannon thingy:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/TRR06.jpg

im over by a 100 triangles... >_< sooo pissed. gonna have to get really knit picky...

[AndyH]

I like the lance cannon most. The minigun looks good, but is very cliched and miniguns arent realy practical on such a compact machine. Theres the ammo barrel, mechanisms etc...
Plus, the lance cannon would be good as a high velocity sniper gun or something. All id say is maybe shorten the longest part of the barrel - it looks a bit flimsy.
Also, maybe have the muzzle more 'snipery' like these guns:
http://www.geocities.com/landofsnipers/Assets/Weapons/aw50c.jpg

http://www.walther.ru/Pictures/Rifles/M82A1b.jpg

[Ghostscape]

Definitely the Lance Cannon. The minigun is really cheesy, plus the left hand looks like a rapid fire cannon to me (since you've got the vertical, pistol-esque case) so having a right handed minigun with nearly the same bore seems weird. Definitely needs asymetry, and the lance cannon looks cool. Adding the hammerhead cap on the end of the barrel like the Barrett M-82 would be really cool. (Those guns use .50 cal rounds designed for taking out engine blocks).

As far as cutting your poly count, I'd start with those bevelled blocks behind the shoulders of the pilot. If you make them simple blocks instead of having that bevel, that'll save you 32 tris. Then, I'd make the shade that comes out of the pilots control console not be beveled inwards, but instead come directly out of the console. Then I'd take that visor thing he's got on his head and get rid of the thickness, and get rid of the inward bevel thing on his shoulders. That should get you down quite a bit, and you can get most of that detail back with the texture.

Looks really great!

[PKD]

I love the lance too. You are shaping up very well. looking forward to see the textured version.

[Konstruct]

does anyone know how to get normal maps working in 3ds max 7??? ive generated a highpoly model and a good normal map, but now i want to see it in action.

ive tried doing several tutorials and none of them seem to support max 7. the viewport manager isnt showing up in the material editor... so i cant flip it to CG. so im thinking that the viewport manager is something that resulted from an installed plugin for and older version of max- that isnt needed for 7 anymore. am i wrong? all i need is a clean walk thru for max 7 that tells how to view the and render the normal maps.--

[Por@szek]

If my remember is good, on the diskreet web page was tutorial about new things in r7.
http://www4.discreet.com/3dsmax/3dsmax.php?id=870
I think the second avi - it will be right.
Best

[Konstruct]

yeah ive found that but its sort of vauge, ive done the whole thing verbatim, and I still cant see the normal map in the viewport... just in the render-

well here is what ive been pounding away at, really low res., and pretty crappy- i am NOT digging on normal maps at all.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/YUCK.jpg


im def. gonna go with the lance cannon,- my gf likes mini guns and wanted to see me make one :D- i personally am not a fan, and same goes for the gas mask-

gas masks and miniguns seem to be the rolling theme for this competition.:shrug:
anywayz- kinda depressed at how much im sucking at this normal map thing, but i shal push on!-

[PKD]

Good to see you got this normal map thingy going. Its looking very good, but you will get better as you do more. Just remember that 90 deg protrusions & fine lines work bad with normal maps, and so are of a multiple meshes hi poly model.

I do agree with the gas mask and miniGun being used too much, and so are artillery guns.

[Ingurum]

wow looks sooo awsome, keep on with that normal mapping!

[Konstruct]

lack of updates due to school and work getting hectic... - i should have freetime till the end of the competition.-

K, so i finished the pilot. kind of a rush job. The lower arms and hands are really retarded cause i figure they wont be that visable, and im at a point where i need to start rationing out my time if i want to finish in time.
http://neotokyo.radi-8.com/team/konstruct/Pilotdone.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/Pilotdone.jpg
normal mapping it definately a bitch. i think everyone has this notion that you just plug high and low poly models into something and a normal map just magically pops out. THIS IS NOT THE CASE!! hehe, anywayz- Ive figured out normal mapoping, but if im going to finish this in time, I dont think I will be able to normal map the whole thing.

[PKD]

The normal map and texture of the pilot are very well done. you better hurry to do the vehicle. Time is running short!!!

[Konstruct]

k, so i finished the uV`s. its reduculious how much faster you can uv in max compoared to maya.-

anywayz:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/mechUV2.jpg
flat-
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/MechUV.jpg)
looks like its gonna be a close finish,- i REEEEEEALY hope they push the deadline back, -

[Konstruct]

finished the first texture pass, and theres just a placeholder dirt texture on it., i still have to go through and do a paint job, decal, and i just realized i missed the cokpit seat with the first pass, hope i can hit the deadline.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/TRR07.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/TRR07_1.jpg

[XP-58]

Woow! Lookin damn nice! Awesome man :thumbsup: Can't wait to see more updates!!

It's a bit too dark for my taste, maybe it's just because of the lighting.

[PKD]

:thumbsup: . Konstruct, you got some neat texturing skills. Simply lovely. (Right click on pic, save pic as...) I do agree with Xp-58 that its too dark. Maybe you can try having alittle contrast in the color, or have a lighter overall color. You don't wanna all the details you work so hard to lose in the darkness, do you.

[Konstruct]

yeah i have issues with brightness when it comes to textures. my monitor is ancient so it doesnt display brightness correctly. the odd part is when my stuff goes in the unreal engine, all the light tones get all blown out and super bright. i dont really understand it.

but usually what i do- is paint the whole texture with black and white first, then i go over that with color, THEN i put dirt tones down. - this allows me to tweak the contrast of the whole thing on the black and whitle layer which comes in really handy sometimes- such as what i have going on here. and usually i paint it so the under sides of stuff is darker than the upper side, but i skipped that because it takes FOREVER.

but i hear that "baking" does that for you.

XP-58:
i noticed in the list of stuff you have left to do that baking is one of your steps, what is it exactly? do you use max? and is it basically rendering the lighting data to texture sorta like a normal map?

would be cool, to know-
thanx-

[XP-58]

Yup, it's the <Rendering --> Render To Texture> (default shortcut : 0) :) Now they do it for you automatically. Just don't forget to turn off the "Automatic Unwrap Mapping" or else Max will start making a new, super messy one :shrug:

For me, I want to further control the amount of darkness on it, so I baked mine using a totally white map, and then use the darken in Photoshop to combine it with the rest. So I can later lighten my front cockpit a bit (it's very very dark).

[Konstruct]

baking textures would be sweet if i didnt mirror almost 75% of the stuff on the model... damn- oh well moving on.

finished the colors (unless anyone can think of some cooler color scheme). Im really bummed though because I wasnt able to do any teched out asian writing decals because of the mirrored texturing. should have thought about that when i was UVing...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/TRR08.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/TRR08_1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/TRR08_2.jpg
I removed the roll bars for the shot of the pilot.

I think im done with the texture, and im gonna move onto the beauty shot, but i REALLY want to hear about anything that irks you, (atm the roll bars are too light and un-dirty for my tastes).

so tell me your thoughts please. i tried to lighten things up a bit but i think i might need to love it a little more in that area.

[XP-58]

The texture is lovely! :thumbsup: Damn nice amount of details on it, plus I also like the white and brown strips. You got some l33t skills down here!! I can see the thing pretty clear now, though maybe just brightening the green a bit will do.

I just thought of something to write in mirroring case :D I thought about it too before. Some funky words like "A.W.A", "I.A.M.A.I", "T.Y.T" will look the same if mirrored (for specific fonts though). Yeah "08" works too :). Everytime I saw "08" here I just remember the 08th MS Team (Andy's minitank also got "08").

Anyway how come mirroring prevent you from baking? Sounds strange, mind explaining?

[crimson13]

wow, this one is really starting to look very cool
a very nice design, great modelling, ...
be sure to enter it :)
one slight problem though: if it's 08, then why does the mech say 80, LOL, a side effect of a mirrored texture?

[Konstruct]

XP-58: the issue with baking is i have lots of pieces that use up the same UV coordinates that both on the top and the bottom of the model, I had to share and overlap lots of uv space because of all detail. it probably would look ok if it was just for the competition and not ever intended for use (which it isnt)- but the integrity would drop a trad -no other reason:shrug:
-about the mirrored lettering. i though about that, but basically i wanted to have a shoulder pad that had something on it, and the other with nothing on it, - kinda want to get at some a-symetry, I have an idea so i still might be able.

crimson13: yeah thats one of those things i was just hoping people wouldnt have noticed... (did i say something about integrity?:D) maybe i should chane it to 88 instead,

[Konstruct]

i totally missed the deadline by 3 hours.:sad::sad::sad:....
I think i worked maybe a little too long on the render:D

much props goes out to pushbak (http://www.pushbak.org/) for most of all of the content in the background.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/konstruct/render4.jpg

[PKD]

:banghead:
Thats sad. This is one of my favorite entry. Your mech is totally badasss.
The beauty render is really nice & I believe everyone can see the amount of effort you put in creating it. You are already a winner, whats important is that you have beaten the most important person, yourself. I know I did outdo myself....so we are all winners!!! :applause: :applause:

Anyway, what I feel is most important about the competition is to learn and improve. I am sure you would feel the same way as I do. I look forward to see your future work.

[XP-58]

Yeah, although you couldn't make it on time, but you've already shown us quite some skill here. We can learn a lot from you! :) And just like what PKD said, the competition is about learning and improvement.

And, that's one hell of a badass mech you got here!! :thumbsup: The beauty render really fit it with all the props!

[Konstruct]

WHoo- didnt get booted from the comptition :thumbsup:

more importantly I wanted to thank everyone at CGtalk for thier support. the forum is so vibrant and full of life and talent that I look forward to working with you all on future challenges with you people.

thanks all for the helpfull posts-
untill next time:) ---

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