As @haze has correctly remarked, the blisters are missing. I have intentionally done this, because I plan to do a second sculpting phase once I have a decent low-poly model. This second sculpting phase should then result in a more detailed normal map (including blisters). The current sculpture basically serves to make a first low-poly approximation with retopo, but it is detailed enough to see the facial features. The low-poly model will probably oversimplify some things, like the ear for example.
Hi @mifth. I have some preliminary results for the retopo that I would like to already share. So far, I have built a low-poly approximation for the head (see images below). The ear still looks relatively good with few polygons, and I have given him three head-stubs instead of four to reduce the polycount.
@matomma said:
Hi @mifth. I have some preliminary results for the retopo that I would like to already share. So far, I have built a low-poly approximation for the head (see images below). The ear still looks relatively good with few polygons, and I have given him three head-stubs instead of four to reduce the polycount.
Hello man! As far as I understand you want to sculpt him again. The head looks very good for the second phase. Well done!
Hi @mifth. Thanks! So, the idea is that the above mesh is going to be the in-game resolution. But indeed, to make a nice normal map, I will do a second sculpting phase once I have the full in-game mesh (and then I bake the normals of the sculpt onto the in-game mesh).
@matomma said:
Hi @mifth. Thanks! So, the idea is that the above mesh is going to be the in-game resolution. But indeed, to make a nice normal map, I will do a second sculpting phase once I have the full in-game mesh (and then I bake the normals of the sculpt onto the in-game mesh).
As my game is a very small project - you can experiment as you like. Just try getting fun from this.
Try to get 10000 triangles maximum for the ingame mesh (including everything).
And if you want to make good texture you will certainly need Photoshop/Krita/Gimp (2d painting) and 3DCoat/Mudbox (3d painting).
Krita and Gimp are free. Cool programs.
3DCoat is 350$ but there is a free copy for testing during one month. I would suggest to use 3DCoat as some guys from Blizzard use it for the WarCraft game (like this guy).
I’m working on a project which is aimed at helping people with disabilities and I have quite a lot of support for it.
Would you be interested in helping out with some of the assets at all :)? I’ll fully credit you/any one who contributes when it’s released.
The main stuff I need is things for a house, and interactions/perhaps animations for them. Like opening and closing a fridge, maybe an animation of someone cooking…anything that goes in a house environment since this is what the first edition will be centered around.
I’ll be making the project open source afterwards, and i’m going to build it in such a way it’s easily extendable.
Hi @mifth! Thanks for these suggestions. I will try to keep the triangles as low as possible. This seems a good exercise to express detail with as few polygons as possible.
For painting the textures, I will have to experiment a bit. I think I am first going to explore “projection painting” in blender, because that seems quite powerful
@avpeacock: It seems you have a nice project! When my mutant model has some more progress, I could model some props for you (like a chair, a teapot, etc). This could allow me to practice more mechanical items.
@matomma said:
Hi @mifth! Thanks for these suggestions. I will try to keep the triangles as low as possible. This seems a good exercise to express detail with as few polygons as possible.
For painting the textures, I will have to experiment a bit. I think I am first going to explore "projection painting" in blender, because that seems quite powerful :)
@avpeacock: It seems you have a nice project! When my mutant model has some more progress, I could model some props for you (like a chair, a teapot, etc). This could allow me to practice more mechanical items.
That would be awesome :).
When you’re ready I could show you what I have thus far? I showcased it to a group recently who all seemed very impressed by it :).
Hi @mifth! Some quick updates: I have finished retopo on the anatomy of the upper body (see images below). I am quite happy with the result :). Currently the number of triangles is just 1956, so I am confident I can stay within the budget of 10000 triangles. Some changes with respect to the sculpt: I have given him three fingers instead of four for simplicity (he is a mutant after all :)) and I have given the shoulders a more flexible look. Next, I will sculpt the armor and then retopo this too.
@matomma said:
Hi @mifth! Some quick updates: I have finished retopo on the anatomy of the upper body (see images below). I am quite happy with the result :). Currently the number of triangles is just 1956, so I am confident I can stay within the budget of 10000 triangles. Some changes with respect to the sculpt: I have given him three fingers instead of four for simplicity (he is a mutant after all :)) and I have given the shoulders a more flexible look. Next, I will sculpt the armor and then retopo this too.
Hi @mifth. Thanks! Meanwhile I have discovered that the number “1956” was only for one half of the model, so it is actually 3912 triangles in total. That is still not too bad. I will try to make the armor a bit more spiky, to reflect more aggressiveness of this character, and to decrease the polycount at the same time
Really cool model @matomma, good job !
Triangles count is pretty good, especially with this level of details on the face, don’t worry ;).
Can’t wait to see it textured :).
@matomma said:
Hi @mifth. Thanks! Meanwhile I have discovered that the number "1956" was only for one half of the model, so it is actually 3912 triangles in total. That is still not too bad. I will try to make the armor a bit more spiky, to reflect more aggressiveness of this character, and to decrease the polycount at the same time :)
You can certainly decrease edge loops on the neck, fingers, hands. I play Killing Floor game. It has cool monsters. They are pretty low poly. You can check it too for a reference…
That’s very nice work. The edge flow is really great, and the face topology is perfect.
I would add a couple of edge loops on the upper arms and around the elbow. As it is now you may have some stretches around the elbows when animating.
10k triangles is great for a poly budget don’t be shy
Hi @mifth! I have been working on the armor (see images below). I have simplified the armor a bit when compared to the sketch, and I have omitted the helmet to better see his face. Current number of triangles: 6736 :). I still need to rig him to see if there is enough geometry for nice deformations. Tell me if you have some additional advice about the geometry.
Also, I can start texturing. I will paint some leather straps on his torso to visually connect his shoulder pads to his pants. Which colors should we use? Perhaps some pale blue for the skin, very similar to the original sketch? And some darker color for the armor?
@matomma said:
Hi @mifth! I have been working on the armor (see images below). I have simplified the armor a bit when compared to the sketch, and I have omitted the helmet to better see his face. Current number of triangles: 6736 :). I still need to rig him to see if there is enough geometry for nice deformations. Tell me if you have some additional advice about the geometry.
Also, I can start texturing. I will paint some leather straps on his torso to visually connect his shoulder pads to his pants. Which colors should we use? Perhaps some pale blue for the skin, very similar to the original sketch? And some darker color for the armor?
Hello! The geometry looks ok. No need to rig it. Geometry is really ok.
Try to texture it as this is the most complex work.
Yeah, colors which you mentioned are ok.
Hi @mifth! Sorry for the delay, but I had to figure out how to approach texturing. But now I have textured the torso :). See the images below. I have used a normal map and a diffuse map, rendered in real time using Blender GLSL mode (with two lights in the environment). Next, I will similarly texture the pants.
Perhaps it’s simpler if I remove the shoulder pads, to have less different parts. But I am not yet sure how to combine the torso and pants for animation later, because I would like to texture them separately (and keep their textures separated). One possible solution is to rig them both to the same skeleton, and then export them separately (in Ogre format). In Java we can then say they have to share the same skeleton (this is possible). What do you think?
