Body done. Time to retopologize

Update feet and hands

Legs and Arms

Torso

Somehow I made Will Ferrel...

Completely unintentional.

update

Face with skin. EARS COMING SOON

character update

Interactive Prototype TAKE 2

Here is my latest production schedule and progression shots.

Head Proggression

So workflow has been painstakingly slow. Since I am building the head from the skull to the muscle to the fat to the skin. It's been taking a long time to produce a nice head. However I feel that this process will be a great learning study of Anatomy as well as allow me to produce a more perfected head in the end. Here is where I am now.

Head Progress

New Revised Schedule

Here is my revised schedule for this quarter.

Gesture Sculpt

This is the next phase. The overall look anatomically. Here I was too worried with details and such but instead with the overall silhouette. Now that I have this I can start focusing on the details.

Base Mesh

I made this completely in Maya. No Tris. All Quads. I know he make not look very heroic yet but trust me. Im going to give him something that will transform him into the hero he needs to be.

Model Sheet

Here is the model sheet for Crimson Hammer. I'm going to come back to this in the future to rework it some but for now it's fine. There will be another model sheet in the future for Lisa Rose.

DesignDoc-pg1

Here is my flow chart for the game as well as some awesome character design concepts I was able to find. Really good layouts that will make a great reference.

These concepts were found on Marvel.com The model sheets were for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Done by artist over at Marvel. Unfortunately, I had trouble hunting down the names.

Checkpoint2

Character Biography

        Scott Steiner’s in-game age is 29. He lives in the city a on the east coast. Scott is very smart and works for DNA Corp as a biological engineer. For a while now he has been studying different ways to enhance human performance and muscle growth as well as pushing the limitations of the human body and senses. Scott was born in the suburbs and for the most part lived a relatively normal childhood. Around the age of 16 tragedies struck Scott when he at the bank with his mother and a robbery occurred. The robbers took hostages and when the police refused to meet the demands of the robbers his mother was shot and killed to scare the police into submitting to their demands. Swat along with highly trained snipers were able to infiltrate the bank and the robbers were arrested.  The robber who killed Scott’s mother was killed sometime after in a confrontation between inmates while in prison. It was shortly after that incident that Scott decided that he wanted to fight crime and keep the innocent safe in remembrance of his mother and the morals she instilled in him. It was then that Scott Steiner became the Crimson Hammer. At first however seeing how Crimson didn’t actually have any powers he started small stalking potential muggers and fighting against bullies. Some of those fights didn’t go so well for Crimson and he was defeated at times. So he needed an edge.  He needed something to guarantee his triumph over the forces of evil. Luckily, for Crimson his day job gave him unlimited resources and his knowledge of biological engineering allowed him to create and test things that would enhance himself. After some time Scott was able to create a serum that he felt would enhance both his physical abilities and senses. So he took it and it worked….better than expected. He became stronger, faster, sharper and had heightened senses. To keep his identity a secret and to prevent any misuse of his super serum he destroyed all of his research. A short time after Crimson had reduced crime by more than half and was known throughout the town as a hero. Certain villains wanted revenge against Crimson and that hate spawned enemies. One of those enemies swore his life to destroying Crimsons perfect life and all that hate led to where our in-game story begins.

Character Biography 2

        Lisa Rose’s in-game age is 26.She is a white female with an athletic build and a special agent who spends her time on various secret missions for a secret organization. Most of her life and motives are shrouded in mystery. Lisa was born in a small town in Colorado. Both of her parents were also government agents and spent most of their time away. Lisa was practically raised by her aunt Jenn. Growing up she was made to believe that her parents were just normal business people that had to travel for business. It wasn’t until around the age of 16 that life changed drastically for Lisa.  She was expecting her parents to come back from their lasted trip but they never actually made it home. Shortly after, Aunt Jenn revealed to Lisa her parents true life and that her parents had died on their latest mission. The next day Lisa was contacted by an agent from the corporation her parents worked for and was recruited into the business. Lisa vowed to avenge her parents and find out who was responsible for their deaths. The only thing that is known about the business Lisa works for is that they go by the name C.R.O.S.S but even this has been left to speculation.  While working for C.R.O.S.S Lisa has become a master of espionage and several martial arts. Her latest mission has her working with and following our hero Crimson Hammer in his endeavors to restore peace to his city. Unfortunately, due to her disappearance from the general public after the age of 16 not much is known about Lisa. 10 years have passed since then but she seems to have a personal agenda with the currents events.

Art Style and Considerations

               As for as art style goes I while be making my characters inspired by the ever popular Marvel and DC comic book super heroes. Crimson Hammer will have the typical heroic build.  He will be tall around 6 feet with a muscular physique. He will also have a superhero costume. This will consist of a mask to protect his identity and the typical tight costume with some sort of insignia on his chest that will give a clue to what he is or calls himself.  He will also have some type of utility belt that will hold gun clips or various types of weaponry that aid him in battle. His costume also has gloves that cover his hands. The reasoning for this is that in our current age finger printing is widely used to identify people and it vital that Crimson keep his identity secret. He also will have boots that are very similar to the kind that the military uses. The obvious reason for this is that it protects the feet the best and a boot print on the face of a criminal s is always a plus. As a general overview Crimson’s costume will pretty much cover his entire body only really revealing his nose, eyes, ears and mouth. The reason for this is that Crimson does not want to hinder his superhuman senses by covering them up and it is impossible to get an accurate identification of a person based on these exposed areas. So the only real accessories to Crimson’s costume are his utility belt. That’s about all there is to Crimsons art style and what he will pretty much look like. To really know what he will look like refer to the concepts that have been produced for Crimson Hammer.

Art Style and Considerations part 2

        Agent Rose will have a leaner less muscular build for two reasons. One is that she is not a superhero since she doesn’t have any powers. The second reason is because females typically have less muscular builds then men since they produce far less testosterone. She is a female around 5’10” and a red head. Her outfit will consist of a leather jacket, blue jeans and boots. Her black boots will come almost knee high and strapped to each thigh will be a pistol. The straps that holster these guns will wrap around each leg mid-thigh. She usually will wear her jean jacket zipped up only exposing about 6 inches from the top which means that the zipper will hang mid breast. Her hair is of medium length going past her shoulders by around 4 inches. She will be in great physique which would be expected from an agent that is trained for combat. Her hair is wavy and hangs freely. If I had to pick someone who she most resembles it would be Jean Grey from X-MEN. Her features and even hair color are similar to this popular hero. Agent Rose is a character that I feel should have an outfit that is lightweight and simple. Since she is a martial artist it is best that she doesn’t carry excessive clothing or gear. By keeping her outfit simple it will allow her to be more agile and accurate during combat. The only equipment I feel that would fit her is the two pistols that are strapped to each leg.  I find that the artistic styles from DC and Marvel greatly compliment the realism and heroic style that I wish to achieve with my characters. 

Checkpoint 1

Jose Chavez

Interactive Game Prototyping

Summer 2011

Introduction

            My goal for this project is to have at least two completely clothed next-gen models that I can present to potential employers.  I would like to enter the industry as a character modeler and will be making characters models the central focus of my portfolio. As a designer I feel that I excel in this focus for the reason that I hold a great interest for human anatomy. I am well aware of human proportions as well as muscle groups and how they work. For these reasons I have chosen to make character models my goal for this project. The way I plan to achieve this is using the vast amount of resources I have gathered and using them as guidelines to make the most successful models I possibly can. By the end of this project I plan to have one fully clothes heroic male model as well as a fully clothed female model.  I feel very confident that I will be able to achieve these goals and have even created a production schedule that is both accurate and realistic to achieve. The first quarter will be research, concept and preparation to set a foundation for both characters. By the end of this quarter the goal is to have one character completely finished. The second quarter will be used to create the second character and have her completely finished. Whatever extra time I have left over will be to perfect the details of both characters as well if time permits to create a hard surface model of a gun for the female character. To make these goals even more possible I have decided to work ahead of my schedule so that I can allow time for any hurdles or sections that take longer to complete than expected. This way I can almost guarantee success by planning ahead of time and working ahead of schedule.  It took some time to realize what my niche would be in the industry but I have recently come to a realization that this is where I want to focus and strengthen my talents.

Jose Chavez

Interactive Game Prototyping

Summer 2011

Target Audience Research

            As I plan to create these characters an important question comes to mind and that is, “Who would most enjoy these characters” and “Who should I target as my audience”. Sometimes this question is hard to answer because many different people have different taste when it comes to just about anything. Children for example have been known to like cartoony and cute adventurous characters. As people grow older their taste change and characters such as Spyro the dragon become less appealing as characters such as Ryu from street fighter gain more appeal over time. So knowing these facts I will be targeting an audience roughly between the ages of 17-30 males in particular. These ages are known to have interest in realistic heroic characters such as comic book heroes, Marvel and Capcom characters. These are the types of characters I plan to create so appealing to this age group is only logical. The types of households that would play a game with these types of characters would range greatly since households with varying financial incomes nowadays can afford to buy systems such as an XBOX 360 or a PS3. The only types of households that would not be able to afford such items would be those that are poverty stricken and do not have the financial means to purchase luxuries that range between 50-300 dollars. I do not feel however, financial range will be an issue since a study in 2009 revealed that 60% of households have a video game system and that percentage has only gone up over the years. The characters I plan to create would more than likely be used on consoles such as XBOX 360 and PS3 with some possibility of also being used on a PC games. The reason I target these systems are because they currently have the best hardware specifications to handle next-gen video game characters such as the ones I am going to create. I will also be providing target audience polls to back up what I have said previously. Being an avid gamer myself and over the years observing what games appeal to what ages I am more than confident that I have chosen the correct target audience for the characters I intend to produce.

Jose Chavez

Interactive Game Prototyping

Summer 2011

Over-Arching Game Concept

The story begins at the home of Scott Steiner where he prepares to leave his humble home to go to work. He lives in a prosperous city near the downtown area. He reaches for the door as a large explosion erupts shaking the ground around him. He swings the door open to reveal explosions happening all around him as homes are blown apart and cars flip through the air Scott cannot believe his eyes. A blimp flies over head with speakers that jut from every corner. A loud voice echoes throughout the city. “You have failed to stop me Red Hawk and now all these people will have to pay for your complacency” “ Meet me at the town square if you believe you have the will to stop me before I destroy all you care about”. Scott darts back into his home and rips apart his closet door to reveal a costume. In an instant he is out the door. There is justice to be paid. That is how the game would begin more or less. The game genre would be an adventure game with a mix between titles such as “Infamous” and “Batman Arkham Asylum”. Where the city would be explorable and the hero would encounter traps and enemies along the way to his destination as well as being able to enter facilities that he would have to infiltrate. The goal of the game of course would be to stop the evil villain behind the destruction and chaos that is plaguing the city so that peace can be restored.  At the beginning of the game suspense and disarray will most likely be the emotions that the player will feel. As the game continues the hero will uncover what is behind the chaos which will propel him forward through the story with a greater will to restore peace and deliver justice.  Most states of flow will happen around during various missions that the hero must undergo. There will also be hoards of enemy ai to fight as well as different types of enemies that will force the hero to change up his strategy to survive and defeat his enemies. The hero will also grow throughout the game gaining new abilities and weapons to add to his personal arsenal. As the player starts to delve deeper into the chaos he will become overwhelmed this is where our second character Lisa Rose will make her entrance. She is the second character of the story and a special agent trained in several martial arts. She has been sent to assist our hero as he restores peace. From time to time she will come in to the story

Jose Chavez

Interactive Game Prototyping

Summer 2011

Over-Arching Game Concept cont…..

as she aids our hero. While she is not directly helping our main character she will be helping from behind the scenes by providing Intel to guide our hero along. While Lisa comes in and out of the story there will be some mystery that shrouds has and her agenda at first will be unclear. As time progresses however her true attentions will slowly be revealed to our hero. For parts of the game the player will have suspicions of Lisa and if she is actually a good guy or not. These are the two characters that I will be creating and their involvement in the game they are a part of.

The Pitch

Welcome to my Interactive Game Prototyping blog. In this blog you will get to follow me from start to finish as I journey into creating 2 fully fledged nex-gen characters. Each week I will update the world on my progress and all the accomplishments and hurdles that come with the journey. Below is my pitch for what I plan to do.

1.      Where do you excel as a designer, and how can your game prototyping project to show off your strengths – for your portfolio?

·         As a designer I want to focus on game characters and present that as my main piece for my portfolio.

·         I want to use this class to improve my skills and create fully developed pieces that I can present to a potential employer.

2.      Define your project goal for this class – in terms of your focus.

·         My project goal for this class is to have at least two fully developed and clothed characters with a single hard surfaced weapon to go along with one of the characters. If time permits and I achieve these two characters before the end of this class I would like to create one more character that is more stylized and perhaps more creature like.

3.      Indicate target audience. Who are you designing for?

·         My target audience will be quite broad most likely towards the ages of 17-27. The characters I plan to create will be on the realistic heroic side which is known to appeal to this age group.

4.      How will pursuing this audience uphold your personal focus as a designer?

·         Pursuing this audience will most definitely uphold my personal focus as a designer since I take great interest in realistic heroic characters.

5.      Define the goal of the game – the player’s goal. What is the player playing for?

·         What are they to achieve? The players goal as they would take control of the character that I am going to create is to defeat and bring justice and peace to the world by defeating the forces of evil that plague humanity.

6.      Describe the essential game mechanic – the toy – the makes the game fun. What is the theme or essential metaphor around the gameplay is centered?

·         The essential game mechanic that makes this fun would be the ability to take control of this character as he bashes his foes to a pulp. Ex. Batman Gotham City.

7.      What is the game genre? What are you planning to do that is new, or will add something to this genre?

·         The game genre is an action/adventure. I plan to allow the player to have interactive combat mechanics that are not only fun to use but graphically interesting.

8.      Provide the basic story, the main characters, and their essential function in the game. Does the story power gameplay? How?

·         There are two main characters, Roy Shield and Jennifer Storm. The story is based in present day where the antagonists has destroyed and corrupted the city. Roy and Jennifer team up to restore peace to the city and bring justice. The story is what directs these characters as they attempt to dismantle the antagonists hold on the city.

9.      How does this project idea uphold your personal focus as a designer?

·         This project idea upholds my personal focus as a designer in the sense that this project includes many aspects that I find very interesting and because of this it fuels my desire to create and achieve my project goals.