All the Crates!
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Medieval When it comes to the classic crate there is not much difference between the medial and contemporary shipping crate. The importance of distinction on the props in a game should never be understated, the barrels and containers from the Dwemer ruins of Vvardenfell in Morrowind is something I will never forget, the regular crates in the game though are just so regular. But the dwemer are not medieval, they are more advanced and therefore store things in steel kegs and giant chests made completely out of metal. The whole game plays on the familiar vs the strange and unknown. It is so hard doing a “normal” crate that’s still different enough, look at Skyrim and the Witcher 2. Both games try to be photorealistic and both have pretty but bland crates. The Witcher 2 gets points for more original chests though.
Skyrim though has the containers and props found in the Barrows and Once again the Dwemer ruins. The dwemer crates here are not to futuristic to be called medieval, just really distinct.
I wanted to do a heavy looking crate with a distinct look and I believe that this one will come in to its own with some big hand-forged black iron nails, interestingly after finishing this I felt that this could almost have been a sci-fi crate as well, with only a change of texture.
Post-apocalyptic So I am going to list the first couple of franchises that I think of when I think of when I hear about a post-apocalyptic setting; Fallout, Mad Max: the road warrior, Fist of the North Star, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Metro 2033 Fallout is made up of alternating, serious and wacky stories set in a future that looks like it was designed more than half a century ago. Everything has a wonderful anachronistic feeling about it, this retro-future mixed with people just trying to survive with whatever they have at their disposal. It has so much Art Deco and old robot design and some pretty funky looking plasma weaponry and docile zombies with trees growing out of their heads. Fallout loves what it is and what it is, is entertainment and fun in the horrors after civilization.
Most mainstream post-apocalyptic media goes a little bit beyond what one would deem the feeling and stalker feels like big step towards realism when put against Fallout or Rage. Everything looks rundown and old soviet, it takes itself very serious in a more adult way than most others. It has all the gas masks, nuclear warning signs and mutated animals in ruined cities that the others got, but it has lush forests and a true feeling of dread over it, much thanks to the more realistic take on the design and make of the aesthetics. For instance It feels way more like the end of the world walking through the tall green grass on a still day towards a ruined farmhouse to avoid the upcoming emission than it does to wander the desert wasteland of any of its major opponents fighting mad cannibals with spiked shoulder pads and one sleeved leather jackets.
Finally the king of realistic post-apocalyptic feeling in media according to me. Metro 2033. It’s just great, everything is thought through and the aesthetics are more distinct than most things in the stalker games. It feels like a Russian metro, it feels like people could live like they do in the cities, it even feels like people would live like they do, they build over the existing stations and use everything they can find. Most importantly, you feel like the world has died, humanity just hasn’t really caught up yet.
As for the crate I made something that I thought was a bit unique. The world is broken and your crate also just broke. So what do you do? You take a broken door cut it into approximate size and then just hammer it in there. Though I must admit I am a little uncertain fi I made the right decision to put the wide plank side beside the door side. I think so because it would feel as if I was trying to give it some sort of symmetry witch would be wrong for this piece I think.
Cartoony I really like Ratchet and Clank, that series has had a big impact on me everything is vibrant and fun and I haven’t really played a lot of cartoony games lately except for Ratchet and Clank, Conker’s bad fur day and maybe Team Fortress 2 … and Borderlands, Maybe? Not counting borderlands, Ratchet and Clank Is just beautiful, everything feels just right I even knew the crates from Ratchet and Clank 3 instantly on sight. Everything fits in it is cartoony and simplistic and the guns are crazy and the big guy in green spandex is not quite a hero. Conker uses the cute cartoony graphics to mess with you because the game is far from cuddly.
Personally I would almost put Warcraft 3 here too but that is debatable. This is the hardest one to pinpoint. I wanted to do something that was pointy and was built in two very different “layers”. I am still not quite certain as to how I am going to do the colors for this one but I quite like the shape. It stands out it is quite well and I am happy, but sadly it just kind of happened without me really thinking about it and without me having any sort of guide to follow, I just had an idea and the I reiterated it and here it is.
Not many words left for the summary here do let’s be quick. I like this assignment, we create something simple that exists in just about every game and we need to at least try to be a bit different from all the regular crates, and we do it in three different way to make sure we try out different genres. |
Burial urn Skyrim
