|
So for Assignment III we are supposed to model one of the other students’ character concepts, and the one I received was the character Sam from Jonna (http://moonphanter.wordpress.com/).
Some of the instructions that I got for the task was that Sam would be able to open his mouth and perhaps try and make the pants a bit more asymmetrical and worn.
Otherwise the turnaround and action pose showed the character rather well, so I think there shouldn’t be much of a problem.
She had even included separate sketches for details like the hands and mouth. Together with this was also a good character sheet describing Sam and the world.
Character Background Sheet:
The character’s name is Sam, and he is a young adult male of a humanoid cat race.
Sam is usually happy, curious and inquisitive, though a slow learner.
He is rather emotional and can have a short fuse which makes him easily aggravated. This usually just makes him a bit foul-mothed, but not violent. He avoids real fights, but if forced he can become very aggressive, which he dislikes about himself.
Despite not being the very brightest, and a bit of a slow learner, he is still curious and determined to learn. He still often relies more on instincts rather than his intellect though.
Action pose of Sam – by Jonna
Sam is a bit shorter than average. He’s got large eyes and ears, pads on his hands and fingers and retractable claws, like you might expect from a humanoid cat. Similarly he walks upright on two legs.
Except for his whiskers he is entirely hairless, and rather wrinkly. This means that he is more exposed to weather and sun. Because of this he always wear some kind of clothes, preferably rather worn denim. Another notable attribute is the tattoo on his right shoulder that aids with his mastery of magic.
Although being slow and wiry, he has very good balance.
He cares about his hygiene. This doesn’t mean he minds getting dirty, just that he likes to keep clean.
One of the more special things about Sam is that he is able to control magic, although he is afraid of it. This in turn inhibits his mastery, except when he becomes aggravated.
Magic is created through various chants, signs and movements.
His tattoo, a courtesy of his old master, also helps with the mastery of magic. It makes Sam feel a lot safer, since he worries about his magic hurting others.
Sam comes from a shattered family and was forced to move around a lot between relatives with his sister while growing up. They accepted her more since she had fur though. And finally as he discovered his magic potential he was cast out, as the family feared even greater misery.
This is when he was found by his master Mundu, another mage. Sam consequently became part of his apprentices.
Mundu later died under uncertain circumstances. Liana, an acquaintance, took over in his stead. Sam never trusted her though, so Sam and his friend Melinda started searching for the truth.
The game’s world is rather similar to ours as it is relatively modern, but inhabited by humanoid cats. Many of these wear clothes in a similar manner to us, but this is still rather optional since most of them have fur, which both protects and is considered something beautiful.
In this world exists a power called the Great Spirit. This can be described as the essence of life, and is closely linked to the workings of magic.
Only certain people can use magic though, and these are generally feared. The practice is even seen by some as a violation against the Great Spirit, but by others as a gift from it instead.
Regardless it is often feared or even forbidden since it can cause great harm.
The Visual Style is supposed to be cartoonish and a bit similar to the Competitor Games below. These games use heavy textures rather sparingly on characters and tend to go more for clear, bright coloration where shading defines form. Texture is then added as a supplement to this.
Competitor Games:
Dark Chronicles (A lovely surprise to see on the list. Although old that game is awesome!)
Kingdom Hearts
Jak and Daxter
Personal notes:
I’m pretty determined to try and alter the concept as little as possible during this assignment, although I may inquire about details later.
One thing that occurred to me was that the tail is in a bit of an odd spot. There is an explanation for why that is, but I’m still a bit afraid that it will look awkward in motion.
The ears I wondered how to make as well, if they could be a bent plane with a triangular or rectangular cross-section at the ends to give it some form beyond a thin plane.
There are some things that I will have to look into when it comes to the software for this character.
First off I will have to start out by learning how to Mirror, to make it a bit faster and easier to model the character.
And then I have to learn how to apply a mask for an alfa-channel, since this will be used for the teeth, and perhaps even for some details on the pants.
I could even try to do this with the thin ears, but I really think that would look a bit shoddy.
And speaking of the ears, I have to look into if a plane can have different textures on both sides or if this would cause a problem with clipping textures or something.
One risk I see immediately is that I tend to use rather limited amounts of geometry when I model. I am a little bit too much for optimization and may therefore make a model that is a bit “blockier” than it has to be. So I really have to make an effort not to skimp on the polygons on this one. At least to start with.
 
|
