Weapons

This week we moved away from drawing characters to drawing weapons. For this assignment it is required that a set of weapons and armour are drawn. A heavy weapon (like a bazooka), a standard weapon (like an assault rifle), a light weapon (like a pistol) and a concealed weapon (like a hidden blade) must all be drawn.

My design idea is cat based, to fit in with the universe created in the Heroes and Villains assignment. The helmet has cat ears to enhance hearing and has a universal translator (Cat to human/ cat to cat).

The heavy weapon is actually a robot the user can release, which will help the user in combat, but only for a short amount of time. The robot is charged by solar panels on the backpack it is stored in.

The standard weapon uses electro-magnets to direct high voltage current toward a targeted enemy. The barrel of the gun doesn't actually release the voltage from the inside, that is used to launch tiny metal claws which grip onto the target. Then, the metal claws can be used to direct the lightning beam where to strike from the gun.

For a concealed weapon, I was thinking of a cat claw grenade. The grenade is covered in spikes which stick to an object when thrown. Then after a short amount of time the grenade explodes, showering the area in very sharp claws.

I'll have more information by next week, I'll also have a better idea for the functionality of the robot and the light weapon.

Finished Demon Texture

I've finished the rough version of the texture for the Demon model, provided by jharrison. As I said in the earlier post, It's very blue. Shading is limited and is used to make the lighting on the demon look odd, as if from a strange place. This strange shading also gives what I feel to be a kind of cartoony look to the model. I'm not sure why I prefer this style, maybe realistic models detract from creativity where the artist has the freedom to shade the character in strange ways, as if they are making up their own universe with it's own physics. I'm not really making much sense anymore am I?

Here is the A3 sheet I'll print out and hand in tomorrow, followed by the texture:

Here is the link to the olycount Texturing SDK Masterthread: 

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70908

Here is the link to the Demon model and wire texture by jharrison:

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1389600&postcount=54

Demon Texture

I tried to add a skeleton to the demon model made by jharrison which I am using for the texture practice assignment. It didn't work too well. I'll get more practice on that later. Anyway, for the texture I decided on making the demon dark blue, opposing to the usual red perceived as the evil colour. The claws and nails are a yellowish colour to show that they aren't very looked after. There is a lot of blood on the demon, around his mouth and on the soles of his feet. It's best not to say how it got there. 

One thing I don't like is shading the model. It's strange to think that shading would be required seeing as the lighting in a game environment should produce shadows on the model. However, the shading adds depth to the texture. The model should be textured by Monday  I'll post the finished work then.

Sea of Ghosts: Maskelyne redesign

Progress on the Maskelyne redesign is going well. I'm trying to make him look thin with a tired aggressive look to make him look villainous. He has pale skin as I feel being rich and a unmer researcher he spends a lot of time inside doing research.

He wears fancy clothes as he is rich which are bright in colour. They are dark red and peachy coloured. He has long, boney arms and is holding a unmer artifact. I have yet to draw this, but due to the way I decided to shade, it looks like the light comes from the artifact. The art should be finished next friday. I'll post an image of it then. The picture will contain a front view a nd back view of Maskelyne, both at a 3/4 angle view.

Here is the finished work:

I'm glad I got to draw Maskelyne as I feel he is ine of the most interesting characters from a Sea of Ghosts. He can be funny but also has a cruel side. But he sees the logic in everything, even his own bad actions. This makes for an interesting character.

Anyway, I still have the same problem of drawing characters but I think there has been a slight improvement. I still need to work on arms and legs and try to make them look more realisitc (in terms of proportions.

Mega Man X

The Mega Man X series is a continuation of the Mega Man series of games in the 22nd century. Being set 100 years after the classic Mega Man games allows a new stories and characters to emerge. One such character is Mega Man X. He is actually Dr Light's (mentioned in the last post) last robot. Mega Man X (X from now on) is discovered by an archaeologist named Dr. Cain who uses him to create Reploids, which are generally robots based off of X with complete free will. Unfortunately, some of these robots become hostile and X must do something about it.



The new design of Mega Man, Dr Light's last robot

The first game was Mega Man X on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1993. here is a list of the Mega Man X games in chronological order within the story (the years are when they were first released):

• Mega Man X (1993)
• Mega Man Maverick Hunter X (Mega Man X Remake) (2005-2006)
• Mega Man X2 (1994)
• Mega Man Extreme
• Mega Man X3 (1995)
• Mega Man Extreme 2
• Mega Man X4 (1997)
• Mega Man X5
• Mega Man X6
• Mega Man X7
• Mega Man X8 (2004)
• Mega Man X:Command Mission (Side story set later in the series)

Being on more powerful consoles than the classic Mega Man games, much better graphics were possible for the series and technical feats such as faster gameplay (the screen would now scroll instead of having to wait for the next screen to load each time you leave the edge of the screen) and new abilities and characters.


Zero - A new character added in Mega Man X, originally intended to be the new design for Mega Man, but was too different to be used.

Here is a video by Egoraptor describing the differences between the two series of Games and how generally Mega Man X is an overall improvement and challenges the player.

References:

General information (http://megaman.wikia.com/wiki/Mega_Man_X_(series))

Game features of Mega Man X (http://www.megamanxcorrupted.com/game-features/)

Information on Mega Man Maverick Hunter X  (http://megaman.wikia.com/wiki/Mega_Man_Maverick_Hunter_X)

Sequelitis:Mega Man Classic Vs Mega Man X(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM)

Some interesting facts about the Mega Man series (http://didyouknowgaming.com/search/mega+man)

Mega Man: Classic Games

The Mega Man series celebrated its 25th anniversary late last year on 17th December 2012. This anniversary is from the date the first Mega Man game was released on the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and Famicom (as 'Rock Man') in Japan.


The Mega Man games are usually 2D platform games which allow the player to use weapons to defeat enemies instead of the traditional jumping on them as seen in another 2D platforming series; Super Mario Bros. Oddly enough, according to Shigeru Miyamoto, the man who helped create most of Nintendo's most iconic series'such as Super Mario and The Ledgend of Zelda, said in a recent interview with Famitsu Magazine that Super Mario Bros/ would have originally had guns, similar to Mega Man. 
Fortunately, the development team realised that with Super Mario Bros. relatively slow moving enemies, using guns would make Mario way to over powered and would take the fun from the game. Because of this change in decision, two great series were able to form.
The games are based heavily around the idea of futuristic robots where almost everything in the games are robots. Each stage in the classic games are named after the boss at the end of them which grant Mega Man a power if he defeats them. To get through the levels the player must run, jump and fire weapons upon the enemies while avoiding projectiles all at the same time. For this reason, Mega Man games have often been said to have been difficult. This also could be also because at the time games were quite short, so to make them last longer developers would make them difficult to make them last longer. Notable examples of this are Battletoads (I know this from personal experience) and Ninja Gaiden.

Here is a timeline of the classic Mega Man games on NES:

• Mega Man (Rock became Mega Man in May 25, 2XXX.^[1])

• Mega Man 2 (200X, as shown in the opening. Starts in June 9,^[1] one year (and 2 months) after the first game.^[2])

• Mega Man 3 (200X, as shown in the Virtual Console manual. Gamma is stolen in August 28.^[1])

• Mega Man 4 (One year after Mega Man 3, as shown in the NES and Virtual Console manuals.^[3])

• Mega Man 5 (20XX, as shown in the opening. About two months after Mega Man 4.^[3])

• Mega Man 6 (One year after Mega Man 5.^[3])

• Mega Man 7 (Six months after Mega Man 6, as shown in the opening)

• Mega Man 8

• Mega Man & Bass^[4]

• Mega Man 9

• Mega Man 10

Mega Man games were also set in a futuristic setting, in the early 21st century. A few of the games reference this by saying either that the year is 200X or 20XX. The basic story for these games is that Dr Light and his robots (Mega Man and a girl named Roll) are constantly fighting with an evil Dr Named Dr Wily.


References:
Information on the interview with Miyamoto (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-10-20-miyamoto-mario-originally-had-a-gun)


Mega Man Timeline and general information (http://megaman.wikia.com/wiki/Mega_Man_(series))

Futurism essay references liat and information

Here is the same list of references on my second draft of my essay entitled "Futurism: The Art Movement that Looked to the Future and Never Looked Back". I'll add some information to each and other types of information that can be found in that source.

The Futurist Manifesto (http://masi.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~crshalizi/T4PM/futurist-manifesto.html) - This is one of the most important sources of the essay as it reveals, by the words of the founder of Futurism, Marinetti, what the goals and plans for Futurism were. Here are the main 11 points the manifesto referenced on. They all relate to Futurisms relation to admiration of speed, dynamic movement, machinery and violence:

 

"MANIFESTO OF FUTURISM

1. We want to sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and rashness.
2. The essential elements of our poetry will be courage, audacity and revolt.
3. Literature has up to now magnified pensive immobility, ecstasy and slumber. We want to exalt movements of aggression, feverish sleeplessness, the double march, the perilous leap, the slap and the blow with the fist.
4. We declare that the splendor of the world has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing automobile with its bonnet adorned with great tubes like serpents with explosive breath ... a roaring motor car which seems to run on machine-gun fire, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.
5. We want to sing the man at the wheel, the ideal axis of which crosses the earth, itself hurled along its orbit.
6. The poet must spend himself with warmth, glamour and prodigality to increase the enthusiastic fervor of the primordial elements.
7. Beauty exists only in struggle. There is no masterpiece that has not an aggressive character. Poetry must be a violent assault on the forces of the unknown, to force them to bow before man.
8. We are on the extreme promontory of the centuries! What is the use of looking behind at the moment when we must open the mysterious shutters of the impossible? Time and Space died yesterday. We are already living in the absolute, since we have already created eternal, omnipresent speed.
9. We want to glorify war — the only cure for the world — militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of the anarchists, the beautiful ideas which kill, and contempt for woman.
10. We want to demolish museums and libraries, fight morality, feminism and all opportunist and utilitarian cowardice.
11. We will sing of the great crowds agitated by work, pleasure and revolt; the multi-colored and polyphonic surf of revolutions in modern capitals: the nocturnal vibration of the arsenals and the workshops beneath their violent electric moons: the gluttonous railway stations devouring smoking serpents; factories suspended from the clouds by the thread of their smoke; bridges with the leap of gymnasts flung across the diabolic cutlery of sunny rivers: adventurous steamers sniffing the horizon; great-breasted locomotives, puffing on the rails like enormous steel horses with long tubes for bridle, and the gliding flight of aeroplanes whose propeller sounds like the flapping of a flag and the applause of enthusiastic crowds. "

Image of Manchester Civil Justice Centre used within the essay (http://transitionculture.org/wp-content/uploads/1manchester-civil-justice-centre-dcm3.jpg) - This building is an example of Futurist architechture. I chose it as it is actually very close to where I study Games Design, Futureworks. As soon as you leave the building you can see it and it is a very striking building and shows a lot of Futurisms ideas.

Information on Umberto Boccioni (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/70885/Umberto-Boccioni) - Boccioni was a famous artist who joined Futurism after meating its creator, Marinetti.