Hey guys… some nice entries this time around… Congrats to those that finished.
Unfortunate for me, it is 1:45 in the morning right now and I am still at work animating my little fingers raw. I apologize that due to the crunch I am in, and will be in for the following 2 months, I cannot devote the time I wanted to to post my judgement. Please do not hold up the next contest waiting for my judging.
Again, congratulations…and I am looking forward to the next challenge…
Okay, here we go… Once again, I’ll give everyone a few comments.
[u]Crimson13[/u] - I think you need to brush up on your anatomy. The figure is a little stiff, and disproportioned. You might try modeling over the orthographic reference images. Also, since you had the actor as reference, I would have used the photos as a base for the texture. The long hair and trenchcoat make this a really challenging character to attempt, but you came through, and finished.
[u]ElysiumGX[/u] - Great update on oldskool. The anatomy was good, and you used polies well. I think you could have used the rest of you poly budget to make the eyes look better, sunken in more, but it worked out ok. There’s a texture seam issue on the chest, which is a bad place to mess up, but the overall feel of the character was great. And no short shorts. Short shorts are bad.
[u]Jo|{er[/u] - You came a long way in this comp. A few things, though - His chest is a little wider in the ref, and the plates of the helmet are angled a little more, giving it more dramatic edges. Just little details, though. The feeling of the character came across pretty well. The texture seems a bit noisy, and needs a little more contrast in the seperate peices, I think. Every piece being so similar makes him less distinct - more like a thug, than a supervillain. I also would have liked to see a suggestion of his face in the texture. I loved what you did with your beauty render. The blister pack was inspired!
[u]pluckylump[/u] - You scare me. This was such a cool idea. This guy just creeps me out. The texture bothered me, though - It would have been cool if you had worn candy cane paint on some of the peices. Also, the arm and leg joints don’t seem appropriate. Overall, it seems to be a conglomeration of three elements: candy-striped, aluminum/plastic, and iron. It needs to be tied together more. Still, it’s so creepy.
[u]Strider3030[/u] - The first thing I noticed was the color of the texture. The purple seems a bit too red, compared to the reference. Also, the muscles don’t look long enough, such as in the thighs. He looks fairly close to the reference, but he seems too smooth - The anime character has a lot of angles.
[u]Hanzo[/u] - I thought this was modeed very well. The lower wings seem to be missing the lighter half, though. The texture seems very plastic, and the face seems a bit squatty. I would have liked to see orthographic views of the character, but the back of the jacket looks a bit low. It’s hard to tell, since the refs seem to have varying changes here and there, but, what can you do?
[u]War Destroyer[/u] - I thought the model was very close to the reference, though I think he needed thicker muscles at the base of the neck (trapezius), and the head should probably be alittle smaller (as in the left reference.) He does look a bit short, instead of massive - that may be because the references are using worm’s eye views, and you did not. On the texture, the muscles seem too defined, as if he has very thin skin. It gives him a knobby look, and there seem to be too many serratus muscles. Lastly, the Texture is really saturated, and it’s a little distracted. I loved the posed wireframes!
[u]Isabelle[/u] - The upper body looks very good, but the thighs seem very tubular. Overall, I think you need to use more anatomical reference, since the comic reference was not very detailed, especially in the face. Maybe if you thought of an actress/model that would resemble the character, then modeled her? The texture was a bit muddy, and the face and hair weren’t very convincing, for me. I guess you were running low on polies, but the ankle bracelets actually add some cool flair to the costume, Overall, I think you followed the reference well, but it wasn’t a very good drawing to begin with. I suggest adding realistic anatomy to your reference set.
[left][b][u]1st place:[/b][/u] ElysiumGX, Shocker - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 pts.[/left]
[left][b][u]2nd place:[/u][/b] Hanzo, Jedah - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 pts.[/left]
[left][b][u]3rd place:[/u][/b] Strider3030, Monev the Gale - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 pt.[/left]I really appreciate all the crits. Thank you to all the judges that took time out to help out. Competitions like this can only make us better.
Thanks again
shoot I wish I would have had more time to work on the textures, well it’s all cool. I love all the C&C this is what make CGtalk worth while, so that we all may improve our skillz, I just wanted to give thanks to the top community 
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congrats to all those who finished - awesome work guys!
(my pc is still not fixed 
)
More time would have done wonders. Many of the crits I’ve received from the judges were already pointed out to me by my girlfriend during the process of designing it…hehe. So now I’m being reminded that I should have listened. But, time was a factor. I’m just proud of myself for doing this quality of work in only a weeks time.
I hope those final judges post soon. The suspense is killing me. Plus, I’m ready for the next contest to begin.
Sorry for the late judging, but ive only just come back from holiday and ive had very little sleep due to a 3am flight - so forgive my ruthlesness :twisted:
Crimson 13 - matrix twin
Nice character - a challenge due to his coat and the fact that he is white all over. The model is good, with good use of polys, but i think that the texture work is poor - it lacks detail and definition, and looks kinda blurry.
Elsuim GX - Matress man / Shocker
Dubious concept pic, but you managed to improve on it by bulking him up and making him a little bit more menacing. Excellent mesh - possibly the best in the competition, but i think the texture is a little dull - it lacks detail and ‘plausibility’ - like i cant tell what the criss cross fabric is made of and wether the black lines are beveled or painted on. Also, the metal texture is a bit basic. Love the beauty render - very funny!
Joker - Shredder
Great use of polys and good modeling. However, there are things that i think let it down. The space between his wrist and his knuckles is still waaaay too long, and his feet look huge. Another thing is that the textures are kinda muddy and confusing - it lacks definition, clarity and contrast - especially on the head / face. I think that you relied too much on photos of metal, and not painting them carefully by hand. He also doesnt look as ‘dynamic’ as the reference.
Pluckylump - Mr mint
Nice concept - the only original one to make the deadline - i love your description of the characters origins! Looking nice, but the legs and arms lack the detail that is present elsewhere, and the metal textures look kinda dark and brown - not much detail or definition, while other bits (joints, saws & face) look too simple and light. Congrats on posing it - it helps a lot with ‘seeing’ the character.
Strider 3030 - Monev the gale
Its looking a lot better than the early pics i saw now that hes looking more realistic and less cartoony. Nice textures, with good muscle definition, but the model is not quite up to par - the topology could be optimised and constructed in a better way that would also help deformation and muscle definition (take a look at elsiumGX’s entry for an example). Nice presentation, wity good references and generous texture images.
Hanzo - Jedah
Superb character design, and great execution. Excellent poly distribution, though im not sure if he needs so many around his wrists or on his buttons. Great, stylised textures that are suited to the character. The only faults i can see is that his face doesnt look evil enough - he looks too smooth and rounded, and the other downside is that the final render is a bit weak - its hard to see the details when seen from so far. - More renders!
War destroyer - thanos
Egh - i hate these american chunky comic book style meat monkeys, so ill try to forget my predjudice for now… Best thing about this is the likeness - he looks very much like the reference - especially the proportions. Nice clean geometry with good use of polys and nice textures. I think the overall result is good, but it looks kinda dull and plainative - i think the maps need more contrast and detail for this to be fixed.
Isabelle - lady selene
Nice geometry, if a little wasteful on certain areas (legs, arms). She looks evil, and a lot like the reference, but that is part of the problem - the textures look kind of unfinished, like you cant decide between cartoony or realistic, but saying that, the creases in the cloth are painted superbly on your maps. I would have liked to have seen her rigged up, instead of based accurately on that one ref pic.
1st place ----- Hanzo - Jedah - 3 points
2nd place ----- ElysiumGX - shocker - 2 points
3rd place ----- War destroyer - thanos - 1 point
Im shocked that so many could not make the deadline, as i had several favourites i would’ve loved to see finished. Lady deathstrike, Kroenen, GoGo Yubari, Vicious officer, skeletor - and most of all i really wanted to see Gamoron’s excellent molegomon original character! That stood a strong chance of winning!
Judging was tough, but i think that hanzo’s character was by far the best - i hope he wins!
Congrats to all those who entered and booooo to all those who teased us with reference images and didnt lay down a single poly!
So, it’s down to CGMonkey to vote, but I think if he hasn’t by the end of today, we should move on, and declare a winner based on tallies so far. Whaddayou guys think?
Based on the tallies so far, I believe Hanzo and I are tied with 13 points. CGMonkeys decision would be helpful, unless we want to collaborate on the next challenge.
Well… What can I say? I’m not qualified to make such a decision. A collaboration I vote!
I think that would be cool, hmm actually since we’re tide I’m just going to give you the responsibiltiy to pic the next challenge and lets leave it at a tie. We all worked hard and came out great, that’s all I ever want…
so everybodies cool:beer:
ElysiumGX man it’s all up to you, go for it buddy!
If only you knew I spent the whole day planning to tell you the same thing. Crap! Ok, a tie it is…and if it’s alright with Lekku, pass the torch to me and I’ll start the next contest this weekend. Does this mean I’m disqualified from winning the next challenge? Because I plan on it!
To the judges, and everyone who contributed to this contest…great job, and feel free to PM me and discuss ideas for the next challenge. I want something that will keep everyone excited while still raising the bar of quality game design. I start school in two days, so any help is appreciated.
Also…check out hanzo’s MachineFlesh entry. It’s awesome!
Godspeed, son. As far as two in a row, You can make an entry, but that brings up issues when you are also a judge, and it seems customary to not run two in a row, but, it’s no longer in my hands, so you pretty much just make the decision based on the community’s responses.
So, ElyisumGX and Hanzo get to share the award for Game Art Comp 8. The coveted “Baby Bling-Bling” award! Enjoy.
Nice award! It makes me weep in sorrow that i neglected to enter, and thus, scupper my chances of winning such a prestigious award!
By the way - did the submissions thread ever get plugged? and how long did it stay on front page? I was away all last week.
No plug as far as I remember. But it isn’t too late. Let give these winners some credit on the front page!
Yes, please give this thread a good rating, and contact the moderators to recomend it for the front page!
Should we wait? I have the next contest written out already, just need to work on it a bit. I’ll be posting it Friday night. You can plug #9 then. Up to you…post both perhaps.
OK, I couldn’t keep you waiting much longer.
Game Art Competition #9 has begun. I hope it’s suitable for everyone to enjoy, so get an early start over the weekend. Moderators please make the necessary changes to thread stickyness and front page plugs at your convenience.
Thanks go to CGMonkey, Hanzo, and Lekku.