HAWKEN servers are up and our latest minor update is live!
Forgot Password_ SUPPORT REDEEM CODE

Jump to content


Latest Creative Challenges!

Fanart Art Contest

  • Please log in to reply
23 replies to this topic

#21 DESMO

DESMO

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 129 posts

Posted July 09 2013 - 06:04 PM

Bump for this awesome thread.
The deadline for "Mech Something Awesome" is right around the corner in August (16th):
http://www.3dartisto...ething-awesome/

Deadline for "Combat Mech Challenge" is November 5th, so a little more time for that one:
http://www.cgfeedbac...hp_t=4847#posts

I know there's a lot of talented folks in this community with lots of ideas for Hawken, so hope to see your ideas soon!

What I'm working on for "Mech Something Awesome":
B-Class "Ninja Mech"
Torso is a mash up of the front cowl of 2012 Kawasaki ZX10R (which was stolen from me last year, damn bike thieves...) and a Hyundai engine block.  Still need to work on arms, legs, and weapons.  I image the special ability to be something like "Fleet" which provides increased agility in the form of short term boosts in run speed and jump height or acceleration without the cost of thruster energy.
Spoiler
And this is what I'm working on for the "Combat Mech Challenge"
C-Class "Behemoth" Mortar mech.
Indirect fire ideally used in conjunction with spotter (optional item_) for wildly overpowered damage from across the map.  Special ability is "Direct Fire":  fixed position for 0 arc blasts.
Spoiler

Edited by DESMO, July 10 2013 - 07:34 PM.


#22 DESMO

DESMO

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 129 posts

Posted July 10 2013 - 11:07 PM

"HEIKE" class Spec Ops mech.
Derived from Hi-altitude loaders equipped with ram-air intakes and superchargers.
Primary: "Blackout"  Assault rifle with largest caliber shell used in single-strut automatic cannons.  Great short to middle range stopping power.  Short barrel for clearing corners in tight spaces.  Alternative firing mode uses hi-powder rounds for extra penetration/distance at the cost of rate of fire.
Secondary: "Gremlin" Door buster penetrating grenade for breaching gates.  Warhead can be temporarily disabled to deploy with prongs and winch as a grappling hook for scaling walls or prevent enemy assets from escaping.
Special Ability: "Fleet" Ram-air intakes and superchargers kick in to provide enhanced run speed and jump acceleration without burning thrusters.  
Summary: Favored by special forces for its low energy signature, proven balance between payload and combat endurance as well as its uncanny ability to show up where the enemy least expects it.
Posted Image

Edited by DESMO, July 10 2013 - 11:09 PM.


#23 Modius

Modius

    Advanced Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 143 posts
  • LocationU.K.

Posted August 08 2013 - 01:36 PM

View PostDinre, on June 20 2013 - 08:40 AM, said:

I've never had much interest in learning 3D computer modeling, since I personally find the art form to be restricting.  I would love to participate in some of this stuff, but as an artist, I prefer 2-dimensional mediums and designs.  It's too bad we don't have a "director" mode in Hawken that would allow us to arrange the existing 3D assets to use as reference pieces in sketches.

I also think it's a little bit disappointing that the Hawken mechs' movements appear to be so inflexible, since it robs us of the ability to imply motion rather than demonstrating it.  For instance, with a car's shocks, you can imply a sudden acceleration by showing the frame sitting at an angle away from the direction of acceleration.  The mechs in Hawken don't seem to have any such opportunity, and I find it difficult to make the mechs themselves express movement without being explicit.  It's a minor gripe, I know...

I'll just have to settle for playing the game, which is a more than adequate consolation prize.

A Hawken mech has more moving parts and pneumatics than any car...you can show movement by position of weapons, orientation of cockpit in relation to direction of legs and in terms of 2d design, working with motion blur or using movement lines with traditional mediums always helps. Not to mention the dust generated when boosting, jumping, dashing, muzzle flare from weapons, twisting of articulation points when turning... your only limitation is your imagination. Only inanimate objects under no influence of force look motionless. A mech without a pilot is motionless though, so it stays true true to the context.

You can create "movement" using graphic representation, for example decals on the mech that imply movement, working closely with the silhouette to infer the agility/speed/motion of the mech. Its all about perception

The reason I commented on this is because I found it difficult to create movement without placing the mech in action scene. I ended up relying on environmental elements such as wind, rain, dust/particles and visual foley to represent movement. Its a difficult topic i guess
Posted Image

#24 Dinre

Dinre

    Advanced Member

  • Full Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 453 posts

Posted August 09 2013 - 05:59 AM

View PostModius, on August 08 2013 - 01:36 PM, said:

The reason I commented on this is because I found it difficult to create movement without placing the mech in action scene. I ended up relying on environmental elements such as wind, rain, dust/particles and visual foley to represent movement. Its a difficult topic i guess

Yeah, I agree with your post, Modius, and it highlights my point about the mechs in Hawken.  The mechs themselves do not react to momentum.  They are much more like cosmetic bricks than actual machines.  Now, I know this is fine for a shooter, but when it comes to artwork, an implied movement is far more visually engaging (and difficult to pull off).  A boxer throwing a punch is eye-catching, but the way a boxer shifts his weight and tenses just before throwing a heavy punch is captivating.  In order to pull that off, there needs to be a combination of center-of-gravity, momentum, and elasticity that people recognize in the subject's movements.

With Hawken right now, the mechs are just animated hit-boxes that fly, land, and twist their torsos a little.  Dashing changes the posture of the mech, but the mech is otherwise unaffected by such a gigantic acceleration.  Center-of-gravity, momentum, and elasticity are all absent from the mechs' movements in the game, so we don't have a common movement pattern to draw on that someone else would recognize as being a movement that preceeds a pattern.

A good example of this is falling.  Picture a Hawken mech standing.  Now, what would that mech look like as it falls from a side-impact_  From a rear-impact_  We have no reference points for this, because Hawken mechs do not carry the momentum of an impact.  Different people will picture this differently, so if we draw the mech staggering from a side-impact, any given person may interpret the drawing differently.  What happened_  Did it get hit_  Is it performing the death animation_  Is it standing up_  Is it leaping_  Is this a badly-drawn dash_

From a visual perspective, this means you have to demonstrate the movement rather than imply it.  I'm not saying that Hawken should completely change the visual style and model animations just to satisfy my personal inclincations, but I am saying that Hawken mechs are pretty static subjects.  Motion-blurring and mid-step poses are both pretty explicit approaches that I would prefer to avoid.

Posted Image






Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: Fanart, Art, Contest

1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users