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Highfive

06-17-2003, 06:43 PM

Half of my character’s body was already modeled before I discovered there was a game character challenge going here at CGTalk, so in order to make her a game icon, I’ve been basing the game around the character, rather than vise versa. Not a great idea, but here goes anyway.

This is the concept I originally started modeling from:

http://members.ii.net/~jonb/images/railgirl.jpg

And this is the “slight” modification I’ve made to that concept to make her a game icon:

http://members.ii.net/~jonb/images/final_concept.jpg

Another smaller concept showing more of how the gun will look.

http://members.ii.net/~jonb/images/2ndconcept.jpg

This will be a platformer-style which plays similar to Jedi Knight, where the view changes between first and third person depending on the action the player is performing. The game is set 50 years into the future in Washington DC and the campaign puts the player in the shoes of Calista Gibson, a Federal Sniper Recruit fresh out of the Academy and facing her first assignment.

The player’s goal in each mission is to help solve the crisis arising in the centre of the game level by using Calista’s skills as a professional sniper. It could be a hostage situation, terrorist blockade, surveillance, recon or assassination.

Calista’s sharp-shooting ability can be improved throughout the game using promotion points, but also through upgrading her hardware. The first rifle in her career is a later model of the bolt-action Steyr Scout, useful for dropping unarmoured assailants quickly and accurately, but through completing missions, she can gain accessing to deadlier bolt-action rifles and automatic rifles.

The terrorists she’ll be spying on also get some serious hardware, like full-body exo-suits which can deflect almost all rifle shots. This is where she gets her ultimate weapon – the Uranium Slug-Charged Railgun (pictured above).

Getting to the best vantage point is just crucial as making the shot to a sniper, so speed is of the essence for Calista. The player will need to study floor plans of the surrounding area to find the best ones, but in later levels, the Lower-Section Exo-Skeleton (pictured above) gives her incredible speed, greatly-increased ammo storage as well as far longer jumping and falling distances.

Progess so far:
http://members.ii.net/~jonb/images/WIP_01.jpg
http://members.ii.net/~jonb/images/WIP_02.jpg

Please let me know what you think of these concepts so far. Do you prefer the original concept over the modified one?

Good luck to all the challengers! :beer:

Highfive

06-19-2003, 06:08 PM

I've refined her costume further with a concept paintover. This is an attempt to give her a better silhoutte, give her armour more familar materials and provide buckles and straps to show how she'd put such an outfit on. Any better?
http://members.ii.net/~jonb/images/texture_test.jpg

Hexodam

06-20-2003, 11:49 AM

hmmm when did you start modeling?

Ionized

06-22-2003, 07:45 AM

I have to say, I prefer your earlier concepts to the more recent ones. I guess the exosuit thing look more intimidating and original. Thats not to say that you can't do cool things with the more recent one... it's just my thoughts on it.

Anyway, cool start. I very much like the look of the gun :)

KolbyJukes

06-22-2003, 09:09 PM

reminds me of a futuristic cop....in a thong.

Cool beans!

-Kol.

Highfive

06-23-2003, 10:48 AM

Hexodam - I started modelling her on the 2nd of June and I've been working on her almost full-time ever since.

Ionized - Thanks for offering your thoughts, I was wondering if anyone found the original more effective. Too bad there won't be enough time to model this exoskeleton, it's just going to be the character and the gun for the challenge itself.

KWAK - Groovy, thanks!

The outfits modelled now, but this new light setup I've used really brought out the flaws in her face. Time to work on those...
http://www.high5art.com/images/WIP_04.jpg

Highfive

06-23-2003, 05:52 PM

I think I'm happy with her head now that she's got more feminine eyes, lips and jawline...

http://www.high5art.com/images/4th_rend05.jpg

The FreakyOne

06-23-2003, 06:09 PM

im digging teh concept art, her face ont eh model isnt owrking for me, its not femenine enough for my taste :p but everything else is rocking :)

Johnlittle

06-23-2003, 09:38 PM

Nice concept art.But where is the gameplay ideas,etc.The modeling is OK,but just not comparable to the concept,at least yet,I understand it's wip.Her face has a very unattractive look and expression. It's not bad mind you,but still needs more work.
I hope you can get the model up to the concept standards.:beer:

Highfive

06-25-2003, 07:38 AM

I think I could spend weeks on her face and still not get it right. I've followed my references with all the care I possibly can so I really don't know what else there is to fix without exaggerating the features considered female.

Made a start on some very quick texturing. I need to have something to show by the end of this week:
http://www.high5art.com/images/WIP_05.jpg

Highfive

06-25-2003, 07:47 PM

http://www.high5art.com/images/WIP_06A.jpg

http://www.high5art.com/images/WIP_06B.jpg

Highfive

06-27-2003, 07:13 AM

Here's the railgun. If I get any time, I'll work more on it's texture:
http://www.high5art.com/images/WIP_07.jpg
http://www.high5art.com/images/WIP_07B.jpg

Ionized

06-30-2003, 04:46 AM

WoW! the gun looks awesome. It looks like it would really hurt if it hit you.

I just noticed on the face a couple of things which don't sit quite right. Her chin seems a little thin, even for a womans and her bottom lip seems a bit too tucked in. You could try pulling it out a bit.

Highfive

07-03-2003, 07:27 PM

Thanks, Ionized! I've made some fixes to her face including the changes you've suggested - here's the result:
http://www.high5art.com/images/WIP_08A.jpg
http://www.high5art.com/images/WIP_08B.jpg

davemcd

07-10-2003, 09:55 AM

ok Highfive, because i know you i'm going to be a bit brutal here so i apologise in advance. The head is really letting down the model. I've attached an overdraw pic.

http://blinkworks.com.au/images/cgtalk/corrections.jpg

The first thing thats wrong with the pic is the eyes are too high and too wide. Its making her look crosseyed really badly and totally killing the sense of scale on her face... from the side they can alos be bough backwards a little (although the pic i've show i think this is exaggerated by the model not being completley square to the camera so my overdraw is probably too much

The bottom lip is usally fairly flat along the top. In a relaxed pose you normally dont see peoples bottom teeth.... its making her look scary and giving her skinny lips.... pulling the sides down level with the bottom will also give her more shape to the top lip (but then you'll have to re-fatten the bottom lip).

next although the pic i've used has a fairly square faced woman in it i still think that your jawline in a bit too skinny and slopes inwards too sharply... its making her chin look really weak, and from the side view you can see that it could probably come forward a bit more.

Also exacerbating this i think you've got her head too far back in relation to her body so it makes her look like she's arching her neck backwards.. again it makes her chin look weak and makes her look surprised.... most people necks kind of tilt forward quite sharply from the top vertebra at shoulder height and then curve back towards the base of the skull, but the overall impression is of slightly forwardness.

Lastly i really pre-fer your original concept.... its my current desktop pattern and i dont think the remake is a patch on the original....they first one had a really classical sci-fi style to it that is really cool.... the second one makes me think it would be a game for pre-pubescent boys... I think the g-string totally cheapens the classy feel of the original concept too. Instead of stylish and deadly she looks cheap. Plus if she were sniping the sun might reflect of her butt which you wouldnt want :)
.... I say give her some clothes and take it back to the original

The gun model looks fanstastic, but i like the original with the cylinders coming sideways out of the barrel.....

i'm sorry :(

DaveMcD

Highfive

07-10-2003, 07:55 PM

That's a bitter, bitter pill to swallow, Dave, but I really appreciate you offering it. One more day to go and this crits will be really helpful. Here's an update after the skinning nightmare:
http://www.high5art.com/images/WIP_09.jpg

Highfive

07-11-2003, 09:48 PM

http://www.high5art.com/images/highfive_entry.jpg

Here's the completed entry! I picked this pose after skimming through a small collection of sniper DVD's for ideas and found a few good ones in "Metro" with Eddie Murphy. Loads of rifle-toting swat-teams running along the rooves of buildings in that film.

I'll still work on this more later on, but sleep is the new priority now.

swag

07-12-2003, 02:15 AM

what a weapon :) work on the texture on the left corner and kill the shadow on the wall the light comes from the other side

Ionized

07-14-2003, 08:33 AM

Although davemcd is right in his comments, thats not to say it hasn't turned out well. Good crits by the way are hard to get sometimes especially in these challenges.. so lap it up, it's the best way to learn!

The pose is cool, and that gun really is awesome. I think adding the stockings to her legs was a good idea also as it makes her look more military and less stripclub.

I'd suggest some slight tonal variations in her costume. It seems a bit too blue. Maybe some subtle greens or greys. Also look at the lighting in the scene. If she's on top of a roof, imagine the lights coming from street level aswell as moonlight from above. A background wouldn't hurt either and I'd get rid of that brick in the foreground as, the texture looks pretty stretched.

I think it's a good entry you should be proud of. It's come long way since it's initial conception.:applause:

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