UGAC - II - SPACE WESTERN - SUBMISSIONS

[Ramseus]

Charles The Alien

My entry is one very confused alien who wakes up one day to find himself naked and floating through space on asteroid, and to make things worse he has completely lost all of his memory. With nothing better to do he fills his time by hopping from asteroid to asteroid. After a short while he comes across a time capsule from earth which contains cowboy memorabilia - including clothes, some D cell batteries, and a Blarg and Marklar .44 Laser Magnum which somehow slipped into the capsule. Our alien friend is led to believe that he is a human named Charles, and sets off to stir up some trouble in the wild western edge of the galaxy.

character specs:
-5898 triangles
-2048x2048 color, normal, and specular maps
-removable hat
-big boogly eyes

weapon specs:
-first and third person models
-2633/956 triangles
-1024x1024 color, normal, specular, and glow/self illumination maps
-a battery meter (located directly behind the battery) which would be a dynamic ammo gauge in game
-easy and conveniant D cell batteries

http://tyler.brenot.ca/beautyresize.jpg
http://tyler.brenot.ca/beautycloseup.jpg

http://tyler.brenot.ca/final01.jpg
http://tyler.brenot.ca/final02.jpg
http://tyler.brenot.ca/final03.jpg
http://tyler.brenot.ca/final04.jpg
http://tyler.brenot.ca/final05.jpg

http://tyler.brenot.ca/final06t.jpg (http://tyler.brenot.ca/final06.jpg)http://tyler.brenot.ca/final07t.jpg (http://tyler.brenot.ca/final07.jpg)

[rJAMc]

Name of Game:
Shooting Star

Character:
Deputy-Bot "DOUBLE RICOCHET"
In this game you are the sherrif assigned to a small solar system on the outter rim of controlled space on a planet called Gaxis. You traveling around keeping the peace, with several small "Deputy Bots" that you can control. There are several versions of Deputy bots each with different abilities.

This Deputy-Bot is called "DOUBLE RICOCHET". Its special ability is it can ricochet his lazer bullets off solid objects.

Character specs:
RIS = 3632 (bot only)
TEXTURES = Diffused Color/Specular Color/Specular Level

Setting:
Set on a small 360 Turn Table With rock, cactus, and plants with an orangish skyline to depict what the Bot would look like Desert-ish Western Landscape.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/eqoaseveredamage/Beautyshot.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/eqoaseveredamage/VeiwportFRONT.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/eqoaseveredamage/VeiwportBACK.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/eqoaseveredamage/wireframe.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/eqoaseveredamage/DiffuseSpecColor.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/eqoaseveredamage/SpecLevel.jpg

(Compressed low rez) 360 Turn Table Render (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/eqoaseveredamage/?action=view&current=renderbot1.flv)
(compressed low rez) 360 of Double Ricochet - No Texture (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y266/eqoaseveredamage/?action=view&current=greyrbot2.flv)

[Benopotomus]

Deputy Shane

Bio: Shane was an ex-pilot and a lucrative bartender before a notorious galaxy desperado swept into Shane's deep space colony and overturned law and order. Shane was secretly elected deputy by his fellow colonists to reclaim the territory, which he soon accomplished with remarkable ease. The title "Deputy" has stuck ever since. Eager for more and fueled with purpose, Deputy Shane has left his colony behind to restore order in more shaded corners of the galaxy.

Character Specs-
9171 tris
2048 Diffuse x2
2048 Normal x2
2048 Specular Color x2

Weapon Specs-
458 tris
1024 Diffuse
1024 Normal
1024 Specular Color

Beauty Renders

http://benjaminrodgers.com/gunslinger45.jpg

http://benjaminrodgers.com/gunslinger46.jpg

http://benjaminrodgers.com/gunslinger47.jpg

Wireframe/Screencaps

http://benjaminrodgers.com/gunslingerwire1.jpg

http://benjaminrodgers.com/gunslingerwire2.jpg

Texture Sheets

http://benjaminrodgers.com/texture1.jpg
http://benjaminrodgers.com/texture2.jpg
http://benjaminrodgers.com/texture3.jpg

Thanks again for all the support and I look forward to the next UGAC.

[RO]

STORY

Father Ignatius has been assigned to Ciudad Juarez to take care of the on going attacks against the Church and its people. He will purify them by flame. His weapons are gloves which can burn anything flammable within 2 yards.

The enemy that has been attacking the church are contaminated humans that have gain great strength and live a long life if not destroyed. The church regards them as Vampires. The cartel has ruled Mexico for a long time and now see the new virus as a means to keep control.

SPECS

Charecter

- 10,604 tris
- 2 256x256
- 4 1024x1024
- 3 2048x2048
- Color, Spec, Glow, Normal, Alpha

Enviornment

-33,362 tris
- 12 2048x2048
- 12 1024x1024
- Color, Normal, Alpha



http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/Padre/finalrender1-5.jpg

http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/Padre/finalrender1-4.jpg

http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/Padre/finalrender1-1.jpg

http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/Padre/finalrender1-2.jpg

http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/Padre/finalrender1-3.jpg

http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/Padre/finalrender1-6.jpg

http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/Padre/finaltexturelow.jpg

HIGH RES

Church
http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/Padre/finalrender1-3high.jpg
Charecter
http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/Padre/finalrender1-6High.jpg
Color Textures for Church
http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/Padre/finaltexturehighcolor.jpg
Normal Textures for Church
http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/Padre/finaltexturehighnormal.jpg
Gameplay type render
http://onlinewarriors.beyondunreal.com/RandomStuff/fenvio1-21.jpg

[RedRepublik]

story:
the first ones in when new planets are discovered and deemed desirable for settlement.

character specs:
-11036 triangles
-2 2048x2048 +1 1024x1024 (for the hat added later) color, normal, and specular maps
weapon specs:
-1112 triangles
-1 1024x1024 color, normal, and specular maps


http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/3892/jmbeautysmallqc7.jpg

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/6909/jmscreenshotsmallux4.jpg

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/1308/jmtexturesheetsmallya0.jpg

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/8727/jmwireframedo6.jpg

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/991/jmconceptsb0.jpg

hi rez (http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/376/jmfinallargeiw8.jpg)

thanks to everyone who commented.

red

[susia]

Story

Dr. Grübens who was exposed to some seriously potent space radiation because of a lab test gone wrong. Fortunately the poor professor didn't die - although the radiation changed his physical appearance to hideous monkey like creature the radiation also awakened an ancient human genus and gave him superhuman powers!... Now the former professor of chemistry is an intergalactic superhero!

5316 Tris

Beauty

http://i12.tinypic.com/5ys9hy0.jpg

Construction

http://i17.tinypic.com/6c7fmyr.jpg

Viewport

http://i12.tinypic.com/6c4xoxh.jpg

Texture sheets

http://i11.tinypic.com/61jxvec.jpg

http://i15.tinypic.com/4ujvzo9.jpg

http://i14.tinypic.com/4op5ymo.jpg

http://i18.tinypic.com/62rlmoo.jpg


Concept

http://i16.tinypic.com/6gbzv42.jpg

http://i19.tinypic.com/5z4e3ig.jpg

http://i14.tinypic.com/61k589g.jpg

edit. forgot the texture sheets, erm. can't post anymore images :(

[Aries326]

Story
Malbulba is a ruthless intergalactic gangsta who only cares about money and power. He lives to plot and scheme and is ready to shot it out at the drop of a hat. He can usually be found hanging out in the foulest of saloons with murderers and space hookers. Not much is known about his origin but its advised to walk the other way if you see him coming.

Specs

Character 3338 verts 1024 color, normal, and specular maps

removable hat 265 verts
removable gun 207 verts(x4)
removable belt 160 verts
removable mask 120 verts
1024 color, normal, and specular maps


http://forums.cgsociety.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=117043&stc=1
http://forums.cgsociety.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=117044&stc=1
http://forums.cgsociety.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=117045&stc=1

[heavyness]

Nice job everyone! Submissions have been locked in, judging will start soon. Also, look for the UGAC III Theme Voting thread and help decide the next challenge.

[heavyness]

while waiting for the judging, head over to the UGAC CREATE-A-THEME thread and add some future theme ideas...

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=39&t=530155

...once we get enough, i will post them in a poll thread and let everyone vote.

[urgaffel]

*edit*

I'm not the only judge so wait for the others to post before congratulating anyone :P

*/edit*

Right then, the time has come to pick three entries and award some points! First of all, let me say that it was REALLY tricky to nail down the top three and then which of those three would get which spot. Some very high quality work in the submissions and I have to admit I'm impressed. With that out of the way...


3rd place - 1 point

Third place goes to Benoptomus/Bens Deputy Shane. It's a good piece of work and you could build a game around his background with a bit of imagination. There are however a few problems with the model. One is the proportions: the lower arms and wrists look really thin in the wire frame shot from the rear but this could be because of the skinning. The shape of the upper arms is a bit too boxy as well which also might be due to skinning distorting them a bit. I'd like to see a few more polys spent to make the silhouette flow more with the muscles and such since silhouette is always important. I like that you added thickness to the "skirt", it's a nice touch.

The texturing is well done but I feel that it's lacking a certain something. It's really hard to put my finger on it but I think it's partly due to the renders not showing off the specular enough so the whole thing looks a bit matte as well asa teh slightly generic feel to the wear and tear. With the risk of sounding pretentious, it doesn't look as if the armor has been worn, it doesn't tell a story if you know what I mean. Something you could do to change that is to add some sort of insignia on one side, maybe a number of skulls to show how many bad guys he's bagged or a big dent on one side that he got from that time when he was almost blown up by El Gringo Grande (or something along those lines). Looking at the specular textures, it's clear that there's a lot of detail in there and that you put time into making them look good but they aren't shown off very well I'm afraid. A few other thing is the pixel density of the boots and mirroring. If you had re-arranged your uvs a bit, you might have been able to give the boots a bit more uv space to bring up the pixel density of it since now it's actually quite small and suffers from it by looking a bit blurry. The yellow/brown stain also gives the mirroring away. If you're going to mirror stuff, try to make them a bit more non descriptive. This also goes for the chest armor and the skirt where you can see the mirroring. It's not immediately obvious, but after looking at him for a while it shows. When you have 2 x 2048, you can afford to add a bit more individuality to the sides by mirroring most of it but leaving some uvs un-mirrored. It's a bit of an old skool trick but it is very useful if you just want to add bits and bobs of detail to break up the more noticeable mirroring.

I'm sorry if I sound harsh, I really like the design of the character and both your modeling and texturing is very well done. It's just those last few percent left to make this incredibly awesome :) I LOVE the action pose btw (the second one, crouched down), it fits his character so well and I can totally see him doing that in a cutscene during an intense firefight, a bit of El Mariachi style gunplay going on. Excellent job on that.


2nd place - 2 points


Second place goes to Susia/Hannu with Dr. Grübens! This entry isn't the most next-gen of them all, in fact it's back to the old skool more than anything. The reason I picked it however is that the texture work is excellent. It shows that you don't need no stinkin normal maps and specular maps to produce a very cool piece. The design, while not the most unique, is still pretty dang cool. The mesh is clean and shows a good usage of the poly budget with enough polys where needed.

I have a few things that bug me about it though and those are the proportions of the character, especially in the side view. The funny thing it's only bugging me in the side view so I guess it's the ortho shot that does it. The other thing is the shoulders and knee topology, they look like they could be a bit tricky but apart from that it's good solid work and these are all minor niggles anyway. It's a great piece of work and shows how far you can take a model with just the diffuse if you know what you are doing. I can't really think of much else to say about this really. It's a very well executed piece that matches the concept. I really like the guns and the detailing on them, the etching is a very neat detail.


1st place - 3 points

And the winner is... RedRepulik/Jeffs Planetary Calvary. I almost feel guilty giving this full marks since Jeff works as a character artist but it is the most polished of the entries. The presentation is good although the pose looks a bit odd. The texturing is really well done, the modeling is top notch and overall design is very well thought out and cohesive, not to mention that it matches the concept art closely. There aren't many things to crit on this but I find the pants to be a bit overly fold-y as if someone was having a bit too much fun in Mudbox/Zbrush. It's a bit over the top but apart from that they look good.

The leather jacket is a very nice piece of work and the use of selective mirroring goes a long way to make it look good. The shoulder pads are a good example of what I mentioned earlier about taking a piece of a mirrored uv set and making it unique. Thanks to all the bits and bobs he's wearing, that little detail makes a big impact in my opinion. It also helps that the bits and bobs are asymetrical which also adds to the silhouette.

I really like how the folds on the boots are fairly subtle (except for the side but that kind of works too) as well as how both the boots and the jacket feel and look like proper leather. The device on his back seems to have recieved slightly less love than the rest of the character but it still looks good. Lastly, I wish there was a close up of the gun and the face. The gun in particular is a great piece of design and modeling but you can't really tell when it's so small. The only reason I know is because I took a look at the wip thread :)


So, congrats to all of the winners and good job on all of you for completing your submissions! I tried to be fair and give constructive criticism, hopefully I succeeded :)



Lastly, a special award goes to RO/Rogelio for Most insane texture budget. 24 textures, half at 2k and the other half at 1k? My God man, are you insane? You do realize that with some decals and clever re-usage, you could have used a lot fewer textures right? ;)

[rJAMc]

edited...waits for other judges for final results.

~RJ

[heavyness]

I assume the thread is open now to comments right?

actually, we have some more judges that will be posting their comments soon. so please hold off just a bit longer on general comments.

[Ghostscape]

Ramseus, 3rd place, 1 point:

I like this design a lot. I think the specs are much more realistic than some of the other entries, and I especially enjoy the revolver design - replacing the cylinder with a battery and the hammer with a hose evokes the same shapes as an old revolver but modernizes it. I think you managed to come up with a concept that matched the theme very closely and carefully walked the boundary between realism and camp. The one thing I would probably do is change the battery from a Durasmell to something else campy/cheesy but not directly playing off of an existing brand.

The modeling is mostly strong - I think you could probably have optimzed the bullets on his bandolier a bit more, and possibly adjusted the model to follow the anatomy a bit more closely, but it looks solid.

The texturing is mostly strong as well. I would have liked to see some of the colors a bit more saturated and pushed out a bit more. The blood on the jeans is too red to be dried, but isn't slick and fresh looking either (which wouldn't look right on the character). The dirt seems well placed and fits with the usuage of the materials (dirt around cuffs, the end of the coat, etc.) I would have liked to see more subtle color variations in the skin tones, some blues and reds to bring it some more life.

Susia, 2nd place, 2 points:

I am a sucker for well-painted diffuse maps and this guy has as well painted diffuse map. He is dripping with character. Again, another piece that fits the theme very strongly. I like the design of the pistol here again, it evokes the shapes of an old revolver with a spacey twist. The rifle is a bit too classic - I would've liked to see something subtle on it that makes it read more spacey - perhaps replacing the flintlock with something else, like how your pistol's "hammer" is replaced with the glowing green cylinder. The rifle seems a bit small, too, compared to his pistol.

The modeling is pretty strong. I would have liked to see the calf geometry fit the anatomy a bit better, and the hat has several horizontal cuts and a inner ring on the bring that don't seem to be doing anything.

The texturing is fantastic, material definition is really spot-on, he's got warmth and vibrance without being too cartoony. I like how saturated he is ad the overall style. The concept art didn't capture any of the details you put into this guy that really make him stand out.

RedRepublik, 1st place, 3 points:

I love the hell out of this design. Your design evokes the shapes and materials of the west without directly using them, with the exception of the hat, which sells the idea as a "realistic" space western like Firefly much more strongly. I love how you've got the belts and straps and pistols and everything evoking the same shapes but "spaced up" and new looking. My only complaints are that his left eyebrow is raised up higher than the right and it doesn't look as nice as it should - it makes his face in the first image look a little goofy. Also I'd love to work on the game you're working on, as those texture sizes are a bit steep. But you put them to very good use.

The modeling is very strong. Without more closely examining the wireframe I can't find much I'd optimize - the boots look like they might be a little heavy. More importantly I'd have liked to see the tops of the boots sinching in a bit more, or the pants not being quite so skinny - the belts you have at the top of the boots look pulled tight, but the boot isn't conforming to his legs as much as it appears they should be.

The texturing is fantastic, the materials sell very well, without an overabundance of specular lighting or anything else that is a common hallmark of "next-gen" materials.



Overall, I felt we had a number of strong entries.

RO, your work is very technically strong, but I did not feel that it fit the theme as strongly as the other entries. In particular I think the environment steered it further away rather than closer - Father Ignatius looks like he could fit into a more western desert town, but the environment doesn't evoke the sort of old west feel that it should have. The church design doesn't match any of the ones I've seen in Arizona or New Mexico, and lacks the western decorative styles.

Benoptomus, I like your guy's design and he seems rather technically strong, but I will echo Heavy's critique that the wear feels too even and makes the items not seem properly used. The design evokes strong Samurai designs with the shouldpad, breastplate, and thighpads, and doesn't feel as westerny as it could. Something as simple as giving him a neckerchief and changing the guns to something more revolver-looking would push him much further into the western side and would move him significantly more into the western feel. The angled pipes on his backpack seem like they're too steeply angled, they look to be making about a 45 degree angle when the hole in the pack looks like it's designed more for a 20 degree angle or so.

rJAMc, you need to work on improving your modeling skills. The hat is incredibly wasteful, and the mesh density differences between the gun arms and the rest of him break the model's cohesion and separates the parts visually. I think you would benefit from reading more on diffuse and specular maps and how to better sell materials - he's very cartoony looking but still lacks material definition - the metal doesn't read as metal but just as grey, etc.

Aries, your guy also could be imrpoved from a technical standpoint. His textures are very weak and seem rushed - the materials aren't really being conveyed well. The skin is almost there, but it could use more color variations and a colored spec map. You should focus on adding more details and definition to your textures - it looks like you have bullets on his belt but they're brown just like the belt leather, etc. There is also a very visible seam on his boots.

I think that's everyone. It takes surprisingly large amounts of time to judge this stuff :)

All in all you guys did great and I'm sure that your next entries will be much improved, too.

[itsallgoode9]

Hey all, alot of cool stuff being shown in here!!

3rd Place Benopotomus:
Very interesting interpertation of the them in your character. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but there's a very strong sense of asian influence in th style of the the character's clothes. Regardless, I find it interesting and I really like it.

The texture work on your character is great, although, it feels a bit handpainted right now (which it looks like it all was) and I think it wouldn't looked a bit better if there were a bit more of a photo base...at lest in all that yellow garb.

In youre beauty renders, i'm not getting a real feel for what the materials are made out of. I'm 100% sure what all the yellow and orange pieces are supposed to be made out of. A stronger spec map could've helped this out. Not a huge deal, but definitly coulda pushed it a bit farther.

2nd Place: susia-Dr. Gruebens
The design of this piece is so nice, I just love looking at it! The textures on you entry really make it a wonderful piece of art...it's nice to see such a well done stylized, illustrative piece of 3d work.

The color pallete is very nice with all the browns and blues complementing each other. I think blue texture on the clothing my have worked a little better if it had a bit of desaturation going on in some areas...just to show a little distresed wear without having actual clothes. Right now the entire piece is extremely saturated which goes well with the more illustrative style, but i think it could been varied up a bit still.

The hat kinda bugs me, it just lacks the detail shown throughout the rest of the model and the blue color feels a tad bit too unif+orm. When I picture a hat for your character, i see it being dusty, sunfaded and destressed, right now it's just bright blue all over. might have tried incorporatingsome of that brown leather into your hat also.

1st Place: RedRepublik-Planetary Calvary

as the other two hadve said, the modeling and texturing on this character are first rate, i dunno why, but i really dig those boots. They just have a really cool style to 'em. Not sure about the thickness at the top of them though. Some mentioned about it boethering them, and in your image I can't really tell if they're supposed to be so thick or if it's just an error.

The color selection of your character is really great, i especially like that orange patch on the shoulder. it pops out yet blends in perfectly with the res of the character.

The design of the character is great, it really get the feeling of "western" in there without taking it too litearlly. One of the things that bugs me though is the hat. Although it's a cool hat, it just looks too literal as an actual civil war hat, i think it woulda looked better with something similar but not something that the viewer recognizes as an actual civial war hat

great work done by everbody! hopefully my comments made sense :)

[heavyness]

Judging is now closed. Congrats to all the entries and a big thank you goes out to the judges for taking time out and commenting on the entries.


CONGRATS TO REDREPUBLIK [9 points, First place]

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/3892/jmbeautysmallqc7.jpg
WIP thread - http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=39&t=522283


This thread is now open for discussion. Also, remember to contribute to " the UGAC create-a-theme thread!" (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=39&t=530155) for ideas/themes for UGAC III!


Front page plug and entry into the UGAC portfolio coming right up!

[heavyness]

Front page plug and entry into the UGAC portfolio coming right up!




introducing the UGAC Portfolio!
http://forums.cgsociety.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=4599043

each winner will be put into this portfolio so we can keep track of all the UGACs. i'm going back and finding some of the older UGAC winners and will be adding them over time. go ahead and add UGAC as a friend and i will accept all invites.

front page plug is up!

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.