DWIII - 3D - Stinger88 - The Madabooboo's

#1

LATEST UPDATE:

 [[IMG]http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/2222/newconcept1ax1.jpg[/IMG]](http://imageshack.us)



 

OK...Lets get started.
    
    Heres the character background for my concept so far.
  
  Invoker: Rock/Earth
   
        (Sorry about the length, I’ve tried to keep it small but I get carried away sometimes. A good idea of a characters background helps me with my concept decisions further down the line)
 
 Short version: Little dude drives around in a magic lump of rock
    
    Once upon a time on the Planet Umbongo, lived am evil race known as the Zanadikes. The Zanadikes loved wealth and riches and forced the small race of Madabooboo's to mine for precious metals and gems. For hundreds of years the Madabooboo's dug deeper and deeper into the planets crust to find the ever decreasing riches. Eventually the Madabooboo's lived so far under the planets surface that they never came into contact with light. This eventually leading to them losing their sight.
   
        
   Their lose of sight was replaced with the unique ability to see a strange magical substance that exists through out the entire universe. Using this ability they were able to see in the eternal darkness of the mines. They found that the magic flows and also collects in larger amounts in particular areas. And by following the more abundant areas of magic they were lead to the answer to their prayer for freedom. 
   
        
   They came across a huge geod cavern deep within the planets crust filled with strange rocks and boulders covered with dimly glowing runes and symbols. Some of the larger boulders were hollowed out, and circled with these strange runes. A young Madabooboo called Podgie was the first to climb (or some records say he tipped and fell) inside one of these hollows.
   
        
   As soon as he had done this the runes started to glow brighter and a rumbling noise filled the cavern. The rocks around the boulder he was inside started to build up underneath it and lift it up to form a huge Golem. The onlookers thought Podgie had been eaten alive by some unknown creature and started to panic and flee. But when Podgie shouted down to tell them he was alright his hand passed over one of the runes around the hollow. This made the Golem raise an arm. He found that each rune performed a different movement and within a few hours he had managed to control how it walked and was even running around the cavern. Other Madabooboo’s had jumped into the other Golem boulders and were learning how to control them as well. Soon a whole army was formed and they used the Golems to fight back against their oppressors. The Zanadikes were crushed (literally) out of all existence.
   
        
   The Golems were then past down from generation to generation becoming more of a tool rather than a weapon. And for many years the Madabooboo’s lived in peace and harmony. Harvesting the magic fields and learning how to manipulate it with their thoughts. 
   
        
   Until one day a new enemy arrived on their peaceful planet looking to enslave them once again

Foolish Beings!!

   Notes: Even though the Madabooboo’s are completely blind to normal light they need to protect there eyes with goggles so that they can see the more concentrated areas of the magic substance. The Golems need occasional charging in strong magic areas but they never stop working fully as the magic is everywhere. The Madabooboo’s can become so in tune with their Golems that they no longer need to use the rune controls and can control them with thought alone.
   
      
   
     Anyway. Enough waffle heres some pics...Enjoy and Crit please :)
   
   [u][b]Short version[/b][/u]: Little dude drives around in a magic lump of rock
   
   
   
    The Golem
   
   [[img]http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8135/golem03ky5.jpg[/img]](http://imageshack.us)
   
   Early Madabooboo concept
   
   [[img]http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/7282/minor02yt8.jpg[/img]](http://imageshack.us)
#2

Reference update:

Just looking at rock types to get ideas for the golem. I really like the odd Moeraki boulders at the bottom. The round ones on a beach in New Zealand I believe. The weathering looks great as well. This could well be the look i’ll go for.

#3

Sketches Update:

Thumbnails for the little dudes helmet.

What i’m trying to get:
A converted Alien Mining helmet.
Something that looks robust and a bit battle worn.
Something that has been in a family for generations.
Something that looks like its for an alien head.

Anyway. Let me know if you have a fav. I’m leaning toward number 3 or 1 but not sure yet.

#4

Heya, on to comments :smiley:

The concept of using the golem as a kind of “power armour” instead of a minion is very cool and original.

About the helmet I definetly like nº4, especially if you implement something (breathing holes for example) on the mouth part. However, there’s something about all of them I dont quite like personally, which is they can all be resumed to a sphere in their basic shape (especially from the front). I’d try and give them a more interesting shape (trapezoid, triangular, whatever, but definetly something less symetric on all axis and less “stable” in form).

As for the golem, I didnt grasp the idea correctly (from the description): They serve as a kind of tool to do anything be it for grabing big stuff or do magic, maybve kinds of golems could be specialized in a acertain task. From your concept it seems the lil guy would use the golem to bash at his enemies instead of casting spells (the golem is bulky).
You can try the other direction which would be the golem reflect the invoker feel (less bulky, more caster type form), and then see what you prefer.

Hope that provides food for thought :slight_smile:

#5

Hi, Stinger!
I really like the golem design with the shiny runes. I’ll make a suggestion: if it’s got no head, how about filling the empty with some sort of geode formation? Here, I’ve done a paintover just for proof of concept:

#6

I believe that hole is meant to be the golems “cockpit” so to speak.
But I agree with using geode formations on the golem nevertheless. In fact it would help break not only the silhouete but also the colour monotony the golem is suffering from at the moment :slight_smile:

#7

hey…thanks guys thats great stuff.

Yep the hole is a sort of cock pit. Think of the golem as being like the big yellow loaders in aliens basically. I will be lining the walls of the cockpit with some king of gems though. maybe not the sharp types as it would be very uncomfortable to drive in. The golem will be controlled by mind and movement. so some of the movements the pilot will act out (ie, clenching fists, etc) and other will be thought only (like walking). The golem is an extention of the pilot really. I’ll look at varying the helmet shapes as well, but i do want to keep the helmets rounded to not give an aggresive feel.

Again thanks, and keep the crit coming! :slight_smile:

I have also decided to give the CG Logo a bash. I want to get something quite generic, So that organic, mechanical, ethereal, etc,etc can use it. This is similar to a style I use to design Tattoos. If there is any interest in this I can do a more detailed and better version if need be.

#8

Your logo is interesting in the fact that even if I zoom out I can still see CG clearly, while by zooming in I get extra details :). It’s something I’d even slap to a character in large size.

As what has been said earlier, the geode formation does breakout the shape and color. In addition, it even points towards the pilot and cockpit which is an important highlight point. Even though it’s not inside the cockpit, perhaps it is still possible to have some kind of colored stone formation outside the cockpit in radial fashion just like the geode, instead of just concentric gems. I imagine it would drive the eye faster into the cockpit.

One thing that caught me from the story is about how the golem is passed from generation to generation. This sounds like interesting point, maybe it can be incorporated to the design? Along the generation, the Madabooboo may add stuff here and there to make their job easier or paint something like what fighter pilots did. Farming equipments or such maybe a shortcut to show this was previously used in domestic work.

Just a noob’s comments but hopefully it’ll help :slight_smile:

Anyway, this won’t be categorized as magical golum right? The rules are kinda scary, they can just … change.

#9

More great stuff…thx :slight_smile:

Glad you like the logo as well.

I like the idea of having geode formations outside the cockpit. I was thinking maybe putting it down the ridge of the back as well as dotted around the body. I’ll definately have to mock that up.

Loving the idea about painting them up like fighter planes. Or giving them adding farming tools. The tools could be rivoted onto the stone in some way. I’ll also have to think of a nice way they could absorb or farm the magical energy. They might just simply absorb it through there runes/gems.

Additional note: Every golem looks different and has different stone types, think of the ents in lord of the rings. So each is unique.

As for following the rules. No this isnt a golem as such. I just called it that cause its the closest thing to this. The Golem is actually the Artifact weapon just not a conventional one. It does not act one it own and doesn’t have a brain or drive. It only does what the pilot tells it to do. I know the rules can change but I’ll just adapt the model to fit.

anyway. thx again

#10

Gonna look Awesome!

#11

Geodes are lovely. Good idea throughout. Looking forward to seeing the progress on this. :slight_smile:

#12

ok…heres a mock up of the final concept. Alot of things here are subject to change though in the modelling process. i.e. the madabooboo’s helmet shape and the Mace weapon is just simple at the moment as i’m not sure i’ll be including a large weapon in the final piece

Please forgive the terrible backdrop and horrible shadowing, but i just wanted to focus on the character for now.

C&C as usuall muchly appreciated…

#13

Albeit already a bit different in hue and value, I wonder if it’s possible to separate the golem and helmet+body of the pilot more. In long range it’s rather difficult to perceive the pilot.

#14

I agree.

From what I can see, it’s looking good. But since he’s a golem known for his immense girth/weight and the pilot is small/defenseless, it would be nice to show a little more contrast in size.

#15

Draw wise, I think the problem is it looks too bi-dimensional, which causes the small guy not to pop out. That and the fact that the golem is too textured and the small guy is on a cartoonish style.

As for the design itself, I still think the golem needs a different look in order for me to relate this character to an invoker

#16

All very good points.

I was a bit worried that the little guy was lost in the picture a bit.

So i’ve done a quick fix to see if works a bit better. the little guy is alot smaller and i’ve changed his skin colour a bit to get him to stand out a bit. In the finished model i hope to add tribal tattoos to him, but on this picture i think it would camaflauge him so i left it off for now. I also added a glow coming from within the golem. I forgot to add this in the original…duh…

I don’t really understand what you mean here. The golem isn’t the invoker. The little guy is. He is the one that can see the magic energy and use it. The golem is only a tool/weapon that is powered by magic energy. If you could give more info on what your getting at that would be great.

I still have to finalise my little dude concept yet. This is just a mock up to give a better feel for how this is all going to come together.

Anyhoo…thanks again all.

#17

I mean, the golem is the artifact right? Meaning it is it who grants the magic to the driver. What I mean is that, as it is, the character is looking like the warrior type IMO. Bulky, strong etc. Looks like the driver would use the golem to break things apart, rather than using it to channel his energies to cast spells (that’s what he’ do, being an invoker I guess).

Dont get me wrong, this is for one just my personal opinion. And I really like the initial idea of having a kind of “mech” in a fantasy setting.

All in all, I just think the idea has the potential to be much more than going with the clichéd “walking brute” idea of a golem. :slight_smile:

#18

Ahhh… I get you. Thanks for pointing that out.

I think I might have catagorised the character wrongly for what he is at the moment. He is more of a Warlord class as he doent use magic. What made me think he might be an Invoker is the fact that the little dude can see the magic clouds/areas.

I’ll have to have a think on this and decide if I want to make him a warlord or not. As I type though I’m starting to get ideas on how I can keep him an invoker and also give the golem artifact the ability to fire magic.

hmmmm…I wonder…

Is it possible to have an Invoker that can manipulate Fire, Ice, etc, etc. But the artifact weapon is made of Rock. And the rock is a way of channelling the Fire, Ice, etc…

I think i’m probably going into dodgy ground there and it might be better to stay clear of it. But I’ll have a think. I could have the Rock being able to shot Rock canon balls by why of magic. I could replace one of the arms with a kick ass canon…anyhoo…

Thanks for getting the brain juices flowing on that.

#19

I believe the weapon can be of any material, regardless of the kind of magic it channels. But I might be wrong.

#20

I realise that the weapons can be made of anything. But to have it moving around magically. It might be seen that I have use 2 of the magic catagoties.

eg. rock + fire

lol…I’m confusing myself now. I’ll stay clear of this just to be safe.

I think it’ll be safer if I go with a rock canon/mortar. The projectile will be fired by means of a magical chamber in the base of the weapon which will build up magical pressure in some way. This magic is manipulated by the Madabooboo meaning he is an invoker.

I can even say that the rock gets heated to such a degree that it becomes incredibly hot…even molten lava…

more thought provocing stuff…