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August - MMC (Castle) WIP - timewarped castles
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August - MMC (Castle) WIP - timewarped castles // Work in Progress
Post by theuns // Aug 3, 2008, 9:08pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Going to start something different here... did a nice little castle in the past but i thought i'd try something very different, basically a mixture of ancient medieval and futuristic ideas into one, hence "timewarped castles"
:)
Will start with some concept sketches soon and post them here asap... |
Post by kena // Aug 12, 2008, 6:34am
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kena
Total Posts: 2321
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any update on this one? your entry this month is a bit sparse yet... :D |
Post by theuns // Aug 12, 2008, 9:59pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Here ya go :)
Was pondering how to implement the concept idea I wanted to do, started last night before I saw you post :)
This is just the basic start, the "timewarp" aspects will come later on...
Added a foot soldier sentry in front of gate to give a sense of scale and perspective... see the little red object at the foot of the gate? ;) |
Post by kena // Aug 13, 2008, 5:25am
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kena
Total Posts: 2321
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good start... looks a bit like "The Hobbit" style of building. Lots of tall openings! |
Post by theuns // Aug 13, 2008, 11:08pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Hobbit? They live in flat underground house... You mean the castle/city against the mountain in Gondor? Minas Tirith? ... I have seen it a lot of other places too and the tall walls is the best way to convey size... but this will be a castle with a 'twist' ;) more to come later ...
good start... looks a bit like "The Hobbit" style of building. Lots of tall openings! |
Post by Nez // Aug 13, 2008, 11:52pm
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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I like the style of this - could imagine some very dramatic/moody camera angles.... intrigued as to your twist... you've proven very imagintive and thorough before so I'm sure it will be interesting! |
Post by theuns // Aug 14, 2008, 12:08am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Thanks Nez, was actually fooling around with a camera from the soldier at the gate looking up but it needed to much tweaking to get the right effect and feel of the size [fog and DOF object sizes] and scale so I left it for now to focus on modelling...
Regarding the twist, as I contemplated the design idea and started the modeling, I already started formulating a background story to accompany the design idea, the culture and society of the people living there and how they are impacted by the 'twisted' technologies, even the thought of a way to include my SMC boat idea into this world to dock with the castle somehow... more on that later ;) don't want to get caught up in details and not finish the scene for the competition deadline... :D
I like the style of this - could imagine some very dramatic/moody camera angles.... intrigued as to your twist... you've proven very imagintive and thorough before so I'm sure it will be interesting! |
Post by Nez // Aug 14, 2008, 12:51am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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I already started formulating a background story to accompany the design idea, the culture and society of the people living there and how they are impacted by the 'twisted' technologies
Really?! You surprise me...;):D Not...!
was actually fooling around with a camera from the soldier at the gate looking up but it needed to much tweaking to get the right effect and feel of the size [fog and DOF object sizes] and scale so I left it for now to focus on modelling... yep, that's the sort of thing I was thinking of - means you wouldn't need to model much more than that section of wall! |
Post by theuns // Aug 14, 2008, 1:10am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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;)
I'll have to see if that perspective will illustrated the 'twisted' technologies the best though, since that will be the pivotal point of the scene design... we'll see :) |
Post by kena // Aug 14, 2008, 5:04am
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kena
Total Posts: 2321
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yes, I was thinking more along the lines of Minas Tirith when I saw your first image. Can't wait to see your twist. |
Post by theuns // Aug 14, 2008, 9:32pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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here is an update...
...wasn't too happy with the spires on the parapet towers so i changed them...
...added landings for boats and yeah, that is a boat floating in the air over there ;) the one I made for SMC33 ...
Background idea:
the twisted tech idea i had in mind is that everything is built in old middle ages style but they use "magic stones" which is actually futuristic anti-gravity tech, so you have this ancient people and construction techniques in wood, stone and metals but with 'floating' concepts...
additionally, other types of "magic stones" can create a force field but it power/mana hungry so they are only used on large structures, like ... castles :) ... this allows a castle to float to different places, including underwater and even SPACE, which is where I originally envisioned this castle to be so i will be enhancing the basics that I have so far this weekend when I have a lot more time so that the geometry will make sense in zero-G environments... |
Post by Steinie // Aug 15, 2008, 2:31am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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Background idea:
... this allows a castle to float to different places, including underwater and even SPACE,
Those towers do look like rockets so...
Your modeling really looks cool and this piece is sure to be "different":) |
Post by theuns // Aug 15, 2008, 2:57am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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thanks steinie...
not to happy with the towers so i'll work on them some more...
gonna add the castle foundation and the top section...
want to add a cliff face that the castle floats next to to allow access to the main gates and more detail to the walls and battlements etc...
ps. are you gonna add some more stuff to you castle? the inside looks very good so far... |
Post by Nez // Aug 15, 2008, 3:15am
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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I like the twist so far - I wondered if someone might do a flying/floating castle, or somethingon the moon/an asteroid, something like that... Hope you have time to keep working it up.
With the turrets, perhaps you could set the 'cone' in slightly and include a castellated parapet around the bottom edge of each for a moderately traditional look? |
Post by Breech Block // Aug 16, 2008, 12:09pm
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Breech Block
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Great work theuns. Personally, I love those towers, the detailing is fantastic. I will certainly enjoy watching where you take this very interesting project. |
Post by W!ZARD // Aug 17, 2008, 2:37am
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W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
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Sweet! I love the sense of scale from those converging lines in the walls.
One minor point - the barrel on the high platform looks really big compared to the character standing there. |
Post by jayr // Aug 17, 2008, 8:24am
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jayr
Total Posts: 1074
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Sweet! I love the sense of scale from those converging lines in the walls.
One minor point - the barrel on the high platform looks really big compared to the character standing there.
Maybe he hid inside it to sneak into the castle but jumped out to early! :D |
Post by theuns // Aug 17, 2008, 10:48pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Thanks for all the comments guys...
Nez, didn't get time this weekend as I planned to :( was going more for the later centuries with the fairy tale like castles with their cone-like towers but I'll try the older castellated parapets to see what looks better...
Breech Block, thanks :) hope to get all the detail in that I planned to before Thurday...
W!ZARD, tnx :D ... will fix the scales, just a place holder soldier for now, want to use something very different if time permits...
jayr, hehehe, good one, a stealth spie ;) |
Post by theuns // Aug 18, 2008, 9:58pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Alrighty, found an hour or two to work on the scene...
Image 1. Added a corner "anchor tower" which still needs some HUGE chains to anchor the castle to where ever it docks which will come out of the wooden beam assembly... and from the door and gang plank below it I will have an 'interesting' character that will ride a special 'wooden horse' to tow the chain/anchor to the docking area...
Image 2. Replaced the parapet towers with these ones, looks nicer... the top texture was chosen on purpose since this is one of those "magic materials" the natives use as armor which is like very light weight composite metals and extremely strong... they also serve an extra purpose as the "magic bubble nodes" or shield generators that protects the castle from projectile attacks [to a point] and from the environment like underwater and space...
Image 3. This is an overview of what the castle major shape will look like, purposefully block/square shaped and you can see the base rock foundation sticking out underneath... might add a large dome structure on top to represent the 'keep' as well as central distribution node for the "magic power" energy shield... not sure if the walls should be metal, would or stone, since it will be a very light and thin structure reinforced by "magic" force field that give the structure strength and protection...
Image 4. Just a zoomed out frontal view of the castle, another addition I want to make is the ballista platforms that cling to the sides and top of the floating castle to protect against areal attacks... these will fire "magic floater" projectiles that are not pulled down by gravity but still packs a punch due to the momentum of the heavy mass metal tips... they are special and valuable since "magic floater objects" or anti-gravity pellets are in limited supply so each projectile has an elastic rope attached to pull it back after being fired for re-use... have an idea for a super acceleration mechanism for high speed but will see if i have time to design it...
Not going to focus on the surroundings much, perhaps just some cloud background [tS or Vue] and a cliff docking area... |
Post by theuns // Aug 19, 2008, 9:21pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Did a marathon session last night with the Olympics in the background [how about that Natali from RSA in the 10k swimming???;) ] ...
Here are some objects I modeled to use in the castle scene...
Image 1. The "air bike" ... small one man balloons to transport one or two 'pot-a-pan' warriors around... bicycle powered fan with handle bar steering ;) The balloon is not the right proportion since it is more for rider-peace-of-mind than helping it float... the balloon contains "magic floater" materials ;)
Image 2: The "pot-a-pan" warrior... went for a cartooney feel with all its armor in the shapes of pots and pans. Might model the actual occupant later on :)
Image 3: The "ballista platform" that are mounted on battlements to defend against air attacks...
Ps. What time exactly does the competition end tomorrow? Need to work out the local time at GMT +2 because I want to do some extra work tonight and post the final image this time in two days... how do I translate 10pm EST to GMT +2 anybody? |
Post by Nez // Aug 19, 2008, 10:04pm
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Nez
Total Posts: 1102
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Like all your extras, look great - and I like the new towers too. As a note of warning - with the 'extras' like the ballista platform, watch out for your poly count! Based on personal experience, I've noted that it's very easy to build these things in quite a bit of detail and then show them at minute size in the image! My flying cars were something ridiculous like 18000 polys and ended up about 20pixels across in the render! when you start multiplying things like this it can be a killer - but I guess you know that from your cliff colony scene... |
Post by theuns // Aug 19, 2008, 10:19pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Yeah... plan to use these in close ups but if i have time, will make low poly ones for distant usage...
thanks Nez ;) |
Post by theuns // Aug 19, 2008, 11:39pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Image1: overview of how it looks from fat away... still want to work on the overall texturing and perhaps change the walls to have some large buttresses to break the flat surface...
Image2: anchor balloon towing the anchor cable... mainly used to anchor other castles or MASSIVE sailing boats together so they don't float away, to an lesser extent for anchoring to the country side... |
Post by theuns // Aug 20, 2008, 1:09am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Image1: The "landing dock" is where floating ships can more to deliver or collect cargo or passengers... all gates/doors as small for better protection and access control. Huge objects to be delivered can be deposited with a lowered rope-pulley system into hatch on the roof. These hatches can slam shut instantly or sealed by "magic shield" should enemies try to gain access that way...
Image2: The "Ballista battlement" is used for air defense, as stated before, it has "magic floater" material imbedded in it so it can virtually travel at launch speed indefinitely until the "magic power" or energy charge is used up, which takes days... |
Post by theuns // Aug 20, 2008, 4:03am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Image1: Main gate in the day... added some banners and lantern with the two pot-a-pan warriors guarding the landing to the main gates...
Image2: Main gate at night... wanted to light up the wall with the lantern to give a nice effect...
Not sure which of these view should be the image I enter for the competition though :( |
Post by kena // Aug 20, 2008, 5:00am
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kena
Total Posts: 2321
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VERY nice! you have some good detail there. |
Post by theuns // Aug 20, 2008, 11:06pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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thanks Kena... trying not to get caught up in unnecessary details and focus on the castle...
wasn't too happy about the texturing and the architecture seemed to clean cut and linear and symmetric...
so I added some battlement buttresses on the corners and centers with new serrated battlements [nice low poly and more traditional] as well as cut the tapered lower sections of the battlement towers to make it look more rugged and functionally practical instead of esthetically pleasant on the eye with smooth flowing edges...
broke the bland uniform color by painting the support columns between walls and the towers with some tiles on the tall spire towers...
still have some tweaking to do on some textures and want to add some more architecture geometry to some to the walls, like view port blisters halfway up with a nice vantage point to shoot from... the pot-a-pan warriors might use "magic objects", they are still reliant on old age sword-shield-spear-axe weapons...
Image1. Overview image to show how the castle looks like from a distance... most notably is the new architecture, battlement buttresses on the corners and center walls as well as new textures to break the monotony...
Image2. Main gate with new buttress support column texture and since it is on the center wall extrusion battlement, you can see one of the landings higher up in the back ground... also added a tiger rug/carpet...
Image3. Ballista platform with the new serrated battlements and cut platform tower as well as new tower wall soil-like and roof tile-like textures...
Anybody has some suggestions for the architecture or texturing? |
Post by W!ZARD // Aug 21, 2008, 6:41pm
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W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
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We're seeing some damn fine castles in this MMC but yours has got airships! That gives it a huge bonus point from me!
Excellent work and imagination here Theuns. |
Post by theuns // Aug 21, 2008, 9:29pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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hehehe, tnx W!zard :) have a look, there is another one in the new images, not much detail yet since I focus on the castle, but snice it is a floating castle, I felt there had to be other floating things like balloons and airships and the sand boat ;)
Added the last three new objects; windmills on the roof, mobile attack platforms to drop iron spike balls or rocks or boiling oil or shoot bows at closer range and a big airship/balloon but not sure if I should leave the wndmills in, they make the scene too busy and distract from the castle view...
Comments? Should I leave the windmills in or maybe just put one in or none??? |
Post by Jack Edwards // Aug 22, 2008, 2:32am
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Wow! Epic scale! :jumpy:
It's going to be really hard deciding which entry to vote for! :banana: |
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