Mini Challenge #4 - Armored Core

[FredH]

http://www.gameartisans.org/forums/extras/mini/4.jpg

Theme:
Armored Core

Brief:
Ok Guys, it's time to put away your character thoughts and start thinking vehicles; fully armored, densely plated, and battle ready Vehicles!! For the next week and a half (minus one day), for 3d, we are looking for anything armored, within any time period. The only restriction, NO Mechs! For concept art, we are looking for the same, but in 2d:) Whether it's funny, bloody, big, small, stylish, threatening or basic, we expect to see some very cool and interesting designs. As always, Backgrounds are optional. Pedestals are optional. Texturing/coloring is optional. Basically... everything is optional. This challenge is here for those desiring to practice their art and receive friendly advice from fellow artisans. So as mentioned in mini comp #1-3, keep it easy, keep it quick, and keep it real. Good Luck!:thumb:

Please do not make a new thread for your entry. Keep all w.i.p shots in this specific thread.

The Specs:
- 650 triangles maximum
- 1x512 diffuse
- Optional bonus maps: 1x512 spec, 1x512 normal, 1x512 transparency, 1x512 glow, 1x512 reflection


Final Submission:
You can submit your finals here:
http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/mini/character.html


Prizes:
1st place:
- 1 book from Amazon.com (up to $30 value)
- 1 new forum and gallery award icon for mini challenges
- 1 point towards raising your overal game, elite, and/or master rating on gameartisans

2nd place:
- 1 book from Amazon.com (up to $20 value)
- 1 new forum and gallery award icon for mini challenges
- 1/2 point towards raising your overal game, elite, and/or master rating on gameartisans

3rd place:
- 1 new forum and gallery award icon for mini challenges


Public Voting:
All Winners are chosen through a public voting system. Only GA.org members may vote.


Deadline:
October 15th 11:59 p.m Eastern Time



~

[kremrhi]

I would liked to do it
But I have to manage a travel to Hong Kong for really soon

I'm off for this one :doh:

good luck to everyone

[cookepuss]

Sweet. Working up my concept right now.

[EVIL]

Ooooh! fun challenge, I might even get into this one :D

edit: yeah I will get into this one. quick question, can I join both 3d and 2d?

[Deto]

Great challenge! :) Too bad I was thinking of speedbike first and got some good ideas, dang... :D

[FredH]

amored speed bikes are fine, as long as it's not a mech:)

Evil, yeah, you can enter both. I think you would be the first one on gameartisans to do both, so we will see what damage you do to the system after you submit your entries:D

[Deto]

Whoo! That's great :D Thanks :)

[Inpw]

I'm in. Working on concept.

BTW. Today the first artificial Earth satellite was launched stright 50 years ago. Gongrats for everyone! :)

[EVIL]

haha yeah, happy sputnik day :D

[cookepuss]

I usually find it easier, for vehicles and archvis, to do a quickie vector "blueprint". Helps me get my bearings.

http://www.robertsanta.com/wipsforboards/vector_01.jpg

I'll give it some rough colors/textures in Adobe to get more of a 3D feel out of it. To get a meaty feel, I looked at some power tools. I basically ripped the rough shapes from a circular saw & a belt sander. Took the wheel/tread layout from a "Big Wheel". :p Ladder to the back. Armored compartment with hatch up top. Might add in another weapon. The gigantic Gatling guns don't seem like enough.

Anyway. Just fleshing out my idea.

[brickwallfish]

:D SWEET!! I'm so in on this!

[toma_li]

do you think a spider tank would count as a mech? it is after all a tank but ....MECH LEGS! dang?

[Gunnahan]

hehe finally the next challenge.. got a few sketches already and will be a more serious competitor on this one.. BTW since the themes dont differ so much on this challenge i will probably do both categories too .. hehe good subject there .. have fun all!

[blankslatejoe]

nice cooke..I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out!

[rocky77]

ill give it a try....

[Deto]

Cookepus: Haha, that's brilliant :D It looks pretty 'top heavy' though, maybe making the body 'fatter'? The miniguns are good in my opinion, very fitting for such a deathroller :D

[iceblazer17]

Well, I may try my hand at the 2d concept comp. I am swamped with school work. We have to design a vehicle for our final project so maybee this comp can help me get started with pen and paper

[cookepuss]

Just a quick blocking out and thinking out loud. I like to do my doodling in 3D space. :)

Need to see how it "feels" in 3D space, before I actually commit myself to fleshing out and detailing the design.

http://www.robertsanta.com/wipsforboards/tank_cycle.jpg

With some alterations, I think it should more or less feel okay in 3D. (Looks a bit like a killer tape dispenser right now.:p)

(Obviously, everything is in symmetry at this point. Lots of room to add detail and such. Just wanted to do this before I mucked with the design any more. )

[goffskullz]

ok, well i haven't completely thought out my concept yet, but i know that this will defiantly be my wheel setup, especially since i am not too fond of tracks, except on hydraulic machinery....

anyway just a quick pic of the tires with some really quick diffuse/normal maps. obviously the maps are not completely done yet...and i may need to shave some polys off depending on the body, we will have to see.

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/7360/tiresetupfw1.png

im thinking of going in a direction sort of like the bat mobile from batman begins, that sort of armor style that is. ill be back with more.



Edit: i dont like double posting it makes me feel weird, so im just going to add an edit update, it makes me feel less weird.

here is what i guess is going to be the final game model, just under 600, so if i feel like adding a weapon i should be able to without much trouble. sorry bout the pink/purple, i am in a hurry and figured that the random color was as good as any.

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/4577/compositionnv9.png

[dudidam]

i'm exciting for this one... but i'm not sure i can make it on time this time.... :(
hope can still catch up for this one too.... :D

[FredH]

toma_li --> A tank with legs... is a mech, so nope, no legs allowed. Wheels or hovering would be better:thumb:

cookepuss --> Nice start there. You really jumped in on this one:p Just one thing.. how does it turn? Could be cool if you cut the front so that it can rotate. Besides this, you definitely have an armored feel to it, so this is great:cool:

goffskullz --> It's shaping up nicely, but at the moment, it doesn't look that armored. I think it's the thin joints that are giving this slim feeling, but, perhaps if you continue down this route, the textures can fix this.. perhaps:D Keep up the good momentum.

[cookepuss]

EDIT>>> Tweaked the cockpit. Looks a bit more like my vector doodle. Without detailing/texturing, it still looks like a tape dispenser, but at least it looks a tape dispenser that can defend itself. :p Was tempted to want to mess with the mass, but I thought I'd lose that bulky armored feel.


cookepuss --> Nice start there. You really jumped in on this one Just one thing.. how does it turn?
I died laughing when you mentioned that. Took me a second, but I figured it out.... Independent tread operation. Like a tank. Did a little reading. Saw some funky treaded vehicles that manage to turn with no hinge and only one tread. (via front tilt, angling)

http://www.robertsanta.com/wipsforboards/tank_cycle3.jpg

Exactly 650 tris. Still going to optimize a bit more - tweaking some of the more oddball topological slips and refining the silhouette.It's been a LOOOONG while since I've done anything low poly. Definitely out of practice. :)

I'll move onto UVing & doing the detail sculpt for my normal map after that. Let's see how much data I can cram in then. (mwahahahaha)

[YdoUwant2know]

Wow, same due date as the Naruto Comp... time to practice time management. This is going to be a blast!

[Deto]

Cookepus : That's going to be a kickass vehicle :) The body don't actually need to be any 'fatter, its looking grand as it is, cheers! The whole machine is sort of elephant like, now that I think of it :D

[vied]

o my gosh.. u guys r so fast.. :doh:

[Deto]

Base frame. I'll add somesort of 'shielding' to the sides of the driver which will also 'act as' airflaps for quicker breakings and so on. But supposingly the vehicle is armoured but the driver is only protected by the vehicle against front and side fire and of course his own powerarmor. Sort of halo/UT/such style "easy to get in easy to get out" type vehicle for armoured drivers :)

http://i22.tinypic.com/241wo6d.jpg

[Inpw]

Deto Very nice concept. I think that side shields are neccessary. After all whole form would be more interesting.
Also here're some suggestions:

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/3/detopaintoverab3.gif

[Deto]

About the top heavy design :) The rear thrusters are seperate from the compartment in front. The thrusters are the actual 'forward' engine of the vehicle, where as the front is infact the anti-grav/hover engine which keeps the vehicle in the air. Its more of a 'bike' than a flyer, as in the vehicle stands few feets up the air when the engine is on but can't pass large caps nor fly (or even save itself from high altitude drop)

That last concept idea you made is hilarious :D

[Frozan]

ahh cool idea!

[Deto]

Progress on the model itself. The polycount isn't a problem, 50 to go and I haven't even optimized yet, should be plenty... :) Though I have to replace the 'back pipes' of the engines, too many polygons to 4-8 pipes grrr... Dunno yet what to do with them :(

No side plating yet, but its probably easy to guess where they go ;)

http://i24.tinypic.com/34didjt.jpg

[Sordid23]

You could go for a square exhaust with some jet flames, and if that does not work check Starwars ore trek what ever you like best :)

Going good on the model by the way, though im not seeing enough armour!

[Sordid23]

Here is my little guy weighing in at 517 tris. So i still have some tris to play with.
Im just hopeing i can normal map the track holders properly :)

[Japhir]

that tank is awesome! love it!
i'm not much of a tank/vehicle (or anything that isn't organic :P) guy, so i won't be entering this one. (also buisy with school) good luck everyone!

[LowRez]

Ok Im in heres my first go, 644 tris so far.

The tank is from the future it's hover based but human, It is a slow moving support tank that is unbelievably heavily armed and quite heavily armored, it is vulnerable to tanks who get up close to it, best supported with light vehicles or used to siege enemy bases from afar.

Its weapons

Main Turret,

3 hydraulic rail cannons they fire in about 10 seconds intervals needing about 30 second cool down per barrel, These are siege weapons and for fighting slow moving enemy tanks.

Sandstorm missiles launchers, these are either armed with anti air missiles or long distance barrage missiles that include incindary or chemical weapons the later is highly inaccurate but carpet bombs an entire area, a very slow load time and can only be fired in one salvo at a time.

Undercarrige

2 Dual anti tank Cannons fast fire rate but only fires forward with tank, with tanks slow speed this is a weak weapon designed for last resort or when entranched in a position only assailable from the front.


http://www.gamingart.co.uk/GA/tank.jpg

[Beroc]

Well... this is actually something that I have had an idea for, since forever. A long time ago I played a really awesome game called Total Annihilation, and though 650 polys sounds pretty high for that old game... Well either way, since I am more akin to drawing in Max rather then on paper, I will just submit a pic of something I drew in about 10 mins. Of course it will probably get revamped from anything, but currently it has 399 polygons. plenty of room for fluff...
http://lcftp.theleafchronicle.com/lod/upload/tank1.jpg
AVI (http://lcftp.theleafchronicle.com/lod/upload/tank1.avi)

[ianlennonford]

Hey all. Newcomer and I am definitely interested in this one. If I can find the time I'll have some stuff up soon. Peace.

[Spacey]

Looking good so far guys.


Got a nice base done tonight. Currently sitting at 612 tri's.
Now I just need to figure out how to get it battle-ready :s....

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/wootmonkey/Art/bike_wip01.jpg

[Antimagic]

:lol: :lol: I think to make it more battle ready, you diffinately need to add a bell on one of the handles:p then she is good to go!

[Kickflipkid687]

I've decided to not do this comp, going to do another one.

[zann]

Good jobs everybody :thumb:
I likes the "bicycle" armored core so much :D

[Vailias]

I'm going for this unused matrix hovership concept by George Hull
(http://www.ghull.com/art/reloaded/reloaded_15.php)
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e28/vailias/Gunship_WIp.jpg

If its not acceptable I'll do something else, but its just too awesome looking to not try and model. Tricount currently at 648

[ThatDon]

Had a few hours tonight to mess around.

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/1173/wip1ca6.jpg

So he's a little sentry pea shooter. I might give him a camo texture :)

[Antimagic]

Hate to be a party pooper, but I believe Fred said anything with legs is considered a mech and is hence not allowed (page 2, first post).

[rocky77]

well, that's my try...:o have changed the concept a bit already - as you see... any input would be appreciated.:confused:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c365/rocky77/armor-1.jpg

[Scjohnson5551]

Thought I might go with this Armored Chopper.I got a lot to finish in the main comp hope i finish them both.

[goffskullz]

quick question, does this have to be a design that we created, or can we make an existing thing, like a real life tank or a warhammer model, something like that?

[conman44]

@Spacey I found this while looking for refs lol - > http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9955/gbarmoredpoweredquadracba6.jpg

maybe that will help you make it battle ready :D :thumb:

[blankslatejoe]

cool stuff going on in here, guys!

[Beroc]

well, that's my try...:o have changed the concept a bit already - as you see... any input would be appreciated.:confused:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c365/rocky77/armor-1.jpg

Rocky, I like the idea, The only thing I can see is that the big cockpit looking thing should be glass and you should see the guy, head almost pushed to the glass holding two steering sticks with an evil, almost fanatical look on his face... I know it would push your poly count throught the roof, but I emplore you to do iit on the side, that would be WAAYYY cool.. (Yeah, I can see Snidley Whiplash there... http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/snidely-whiplash.jpg

[rocky77]

Beroc, man- fUUUUNYYY! havent thought of it this way.... and actually it sounds nice.... the glass is not that armored plated as the comp sugests....but i will think it through... cool idea :)

[serum]

Hi guys, quick question. Are team entries allowed?

[ianlennonford]

Here is my concept and beginning model. It is a cargo ship. I decided to make it a lot "fatter/cute like" than it is in the concept. Only 290 tris so I have a ways to go. :)

[shadowbreeze]

ok so here's Gonzo Mobile war trike :eek: still have to do the weapons pltform on the back and a few other things then i'll optimize it.



http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/shadowbreeze99/Gonzo.jpg

[Deto]

Sordid23: Thanks for the good idea :) Kotor gave me some answers, its two big 'short' tubes-kind of exhaust. Won't steer too far from the original plan and shouldn't look too shabby either. The armor... the armor.. I'm still designing the 'sides' :paper:

Good looking anti-airish vehicle you have there. Very nice modelling. I presume the barrels are one long piece? You could get some nice modelling assets by making the 'holes' directly to the wide front part in the guns and not with 'outwarding barrels', then deleting the top. It would give.. hmm... 32 triangles more for you, if I'm not counting wrong. And then you could make the tracks more detailed BEFORE normal maps.. Now if you normal the tracks, they'll still be 'semi-flat' even if having way higher details, so unless you have bigger plans for the tracks, maybe you could make the 'track part' thick and the area where you have the wheels to stand 'deeper' inside track piece.. Hope it makes sense.. if not, lemme know and I'll demonstrate :D


LowRez: That's pretty interesting looking design, reminds me of some RTS or FPS I can't remember though.. Not the same thing, but somewhat similiar. There's one thing I'm not too big fan of it in it, though you don't have to agree :lucky: .. And its the high above turret. I mean practical sense its a bit dangerous, fire at it, and you hit the turret and its goner soon. I myself would make it way lower, both in height and how far its from the hull.

The second thing isn't near as much a 'design' feature as something else.. The antennaes could be made with two flat planes and then just mapped with opacity. It would give you some more polygons to use and the 'detail' would be as good as it is now, or better. But keep up the good work!


Beroc: I'll not go in to the wireframe as you've already said its a concept on max. But the design looks good, and really gives you a feeling its a freaking huge thing! Which is good, of course. Reminds me slightly of railroad guns, though more 'freely' operated and thus more effective. Could definately fit to Total Annihilation/Supreme Commander themes, nice.


Spacey: Haha! That's going to be one hella bike! How about making its tires wide? Similiar to monstertrucks etc. Good work in the last comp, planning to do it again? ;)


Vailias: Quite solid mesh you got there. Not really anythign to critique on, keep going!


ThatDon: Too bad its a mech... love the design. Hmm... Maybe you could make him 'low tracks' which are up a pole so he would stand same height, but sort of run with shopping cart style frame?


rocky77: Nice looking vehicle you have there! I've got two things poking in my eye... The 'guns' in front. I think it would look nicer with them being 'inside' frame barrels instead of outer ones (if they hare barrels to begin with...). And then you could, should, would be good, to have the 'wings' be triangles, as in have 'thickness' from all directions. While plane is good for small flat details, I think the wings should have thickness. I definately like the smooth cockpit more than the blocky one in concept!


Scjohnson5551: Pretty cool design. GDI Orca meets Nod? Its cool one! I would probably give the turbines some more thickness or move them 'below' the craft similiar to the one man speeder in Unreal Tournament. Else very good. I like the cockpit area, its damn sweet!


ianlennonford: Nice one! Hehe! Very lovely, like a dangerous shopping cart. There's one thing I'd like to comment on... How about... Instead of 80feet.. It would only be something like 8feet? One man ice cream truck! No really it would look great, imagine one man cramped inside, trying to at least sit up straight!


Shadowbreeze: Hmmm... Trikes rock. Not a bad start at all. Its a good design and not bad modelling either. The front looks a bit 'wobbly' if I look at the loops, design feature? Other than that you can do some optimizing after you've done rest of the features :)


conman44: Whoa! Now that's a bike!

gooskullz: I presume you can use existing design, or add and alter it to make a new one related to the old one. At least nowhere is said you can't do it, and I don't think you wouldn't be allowed either. I was at first thinking of making Chaos Predator myself, hehe

serum: Can't speak for -FreD-, but... Rules don't say you can't team entry, but I don't see much reason to do one either. After all this is a small quickie fun contest, not a big one requires much work and so on

[rocky77]

Deto-m8, could you refrase what you ment about those guns... i was really trying to understand but i could not... guess my poor english (?)....
the idea about those wings is good... i will do it cos i have got some tris to spare now, actually thought about giving them some "meat", and may be a bit more shape.

[Deto]

Sorry, I'm not very good in english either and I often give odd descriptions of things :D This is what I mean... The two small 'pods' at the sides of the cockpit which have 'pyramid' as barrel (if they are guns, if not, ignore this :) ). I meant removing the pyramid (barrel) and when making a texture, having it 'descripe' a barrel which is 'inside' a gun :D

http://i21.tinypic.com/2uszu4p.jpg

Similiarly to this (quickie). Couldn't find a real life example on a quicknotice.. But simply put, the barrel is inside the frame and not really visible outside :) Many handguns have almost the same system, I think Colt 1944 pretty close to it, but it still has somewhat visible barrel tip

[rocky77]

got it! i'll think about doin it this way.... 10x m8! apretiate it a hell of a lot! :)

[Deto]

Glad to hear its of use :) Keep it up, I wanna see some updates ;)

[diffa]

here's my little flying thing...
http://www.alphapolygon.com/pics/works/ArmoredCore001.jpg

[blankslatejoe]

diffa, that's gonna rock!

[Deto]

Haha that's one cute chopper, Diffa :D I love the look of the chopper's body, its dang nice :D

The chopper blades could use little more defining though, right now they seem like two planks.

Click here for image (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/fig/1270790207056.png) <-- I dare not display the image, as its a little bit too big :)

[Sordid23]

A update nope precisely on 650 tri's.
Onward we go!

[Deto]

That's looking definately heavier now, and the design has improved as well :) One minor tweak I'd do is pull the front of the track inside a bit, right now it looksl ike the 'trackwheel's axis would go over the actual 'engine'/track area

[Kuba]

Hello Game Artisans, I would like to join this mini comp :D

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/7894/clipboard01vu7.jpg

[rocky77]

my update :o
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c365/rocky77/armorupdate.jpg

[cookepuss]

Obviously, I've fallen behind. :p Got caught up in family stuff. Ended getting dragged to see Resident Evil. Oh... Evil it was. Very, very evil. I started detailing, but still need to do some work tonight before I show my next stage.

[vat1]

Hi, I found few hours to start this armored truck bank. I hope I'm not too off topic (it's not really made for battle)

[brickwallfish]

it says "armored vehicle" so your truck should fit in just fine ;)

[Deto]

hehe, that's sweet :D Reminds me of angry lemming :D

[Deto]

Probably not the world's most ergonomic position to drive a bike :D I might have to stretch the middle body (where the seat is) to give more space to driver, especially if you're supposed to fit there with armor on... and without armor... well hitting a wall with it would be RATHER dangerous ;)

http://i24.tinypic.com/s4c56b.jpg

[Inpw]

Small wip from me. Hi-poly cannon of my tank and top of barrel in ZBrush:
http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/5507/cannonwipdb8.jpg

[blankslatejoe]

sordid--simple and cool--I could see it being textured almost 'cartoony', like something out of Advance Wars

here's my addition to the thread...just a little bit of playing with the poly-plane instead of a more continous mesh. It's not very 'armored' though, now I look at it, so I might come up with something else later

http://www.30lives.com/wips/sketchbook/10_06_07a.gif

[shadowbreeze]

still working on the front mimi guns not happy with them yet.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/shadowbreeze99/Gonzo2.jpg

[FredH]

serum --> You may only team up with a concept artist, and this concept artist may not touch your 3d entry (can't make textures or lighting). Like Deto said, yup, these comps are meant as quickies:thumb:

[shadowbreeze]

playing around with a few idea's,i am also working on tank and armored boat.


http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q287/shadowbreeze99/Gonzo3.jpg

[Japhir]

the new design is waaay better shadowbreeze! love it! now i would extend the wheels a bit forward so they look like caterpilla tires (front part smaller then the rear part) just a suggestion though!
like this: http://www.pclaeys.be/Weblog/Caterpillar%20D6K.jpg but reversed
keep it up everybody!

[brickwallfish]

Well, I've started on my heavy armored warship :D it just has a nice ring to it, "Warship" :P Anyway, it needs some big-ass guns in the front gun-casing, and I'll need to figure out how to get a lowpoly around it.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/brickwallfish/Progress_02.jpg

[serum]

serum --> You may only team up with a concept artist, and this concept artist may not touch your 3d entry (can't make textures or lighting). Like Deto said, yup, these comps are meant as quickies:thumb:

Got it.:thumb: Thanks for the quick reply, Fred.

[Sordid23]

Nice one Brickwallfish, going to have to sabotage you a bit :P

[Yung]

Joining in the fun! 2 hours work for now. My friend gave me an idea of a spaceship with a sword as the tip to ram into other spaceship. Even better, its a chain-sword :D

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/Velsthinez/armoredcore_ship.jpg

[Deto]

Welcome to the arena, Yung! :D

Sweet starship, hehe :D There's one downside through, once he rams and the sword penetrates the enemy spaceship... guess what? next his engines smash in to the enemy starship side, probably causing pretty nice damage to its self ;)

[Yung]

Ahha! I actually have one more version with the wings at the side for a slash and run action :D kekeke

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y94/Velsthinez/armoredcore_ship2.jpg

[Deto]

I like that one better. More sporty feel in it :)

Btw you've got some quite a bit of optimizing to do, considering the polycount is taken from 'tris' not 'polys' ;)

[Klash120]

Some pretty neat stuff brewing here~ Am interested in how your treads will turn out Beroc. Am doing something similar w/ 2 track sets.... and all my polies are goign there @. @ May end up doing a single par liek Sordid23 & with small skis or something in front :3 we'll see~ Lookign forward to your stuffs~

[Yung]

The first version is for speed, while this form is for ramming head on :D.

Ah don worry, I guess Max took account of the duplicates I send aside for uv unwrapping. The actual model is down to 649 :D

[SomeRhino]

Here's a start, hopefully I'll have time to get it textured before the deadline.

[Chippy82]

Hello All, this will be my first mini challenge since I've only been a member for a short while and have been busy with school.

This is my entry so far. I'm going for more of the quick strike extremely mobile armored vehicle, hence basing the entire concept off of a wheel. I still can optimize it farther down (i.e. the center line along the tire). I still want to add a shield in front and back for the extra "armored" protection.


http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff141/Chippy82/Mini_AmoredCoreWIPScreenshot.jpg

[Chippy82]

Here's my reworked A.C. unit. I did some optimizing and got the shield in the front and back added in. I'm at 640 tris right now, I'm satisfied with that. I think I'll start on the texture now.


http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff141/Chippy82/Mini_AmoredCoreWIPScreenshot2.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff141/Chippy82/Mini_AmoredCoreWIPScreenshot3.jpg

[Deto]

SomeRhino & Chippy82: Welcome to the GArtisans! :)

SomeRhino: Reminds me soewhat of the Mammoth tank from C&C, in a positive way :) Though this one has a bit smaller barrel, hehe. I like the model, its solid modelling, but you've got couple of places where you could still optimize, the front lights and 'light' (white box) in the turret. Could free up some polygons if needed :)

Chippy82: That's very interesting looking machine! :D I like the drive wheel, somewhat similiar as in starwars, but yours look alot heavier to me, which is a positive thing. Your wheelkiller don't look like it'll break at the first hump :) Though there's some practical downsides in your shield (sorry, I have to nag about this kind of things, hehe)... The shield protects the front, which is important as the fire usually comes from that direction, however your sides aren't protected, now... the vehicle will much more likely show its side to foe if it's turning THAN its back, cause you could always drive sideway's and circle back to safety, but you can't reach safety by travelling directly against your foe... So I'd suggest you either use the remaining polys to give him sideshielding, or switch the rear to the sides :)

//

On the other front... I'm baking normals and texturing at the sametime, keeps my mind fresh on both fronts. Working on reds at the moment :)

http://i22.tinypic.com/5d9b2e.jpg

[MaxH]

very nice models coming along so far
here's what i have to date...gonna finalize it tomorrow and get going on texturing:cool:
critics welcome!!!

[blankslatejoe]

That looks great chippy, whatever it is.. :)

deto--nice base on the texturing, I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

maxh -cool--looks like a cross between a stationary turrent and a speederbike..is it meant to be stationary?

heres another quickie model for me...just playing with ideas still
http://www.30lives.com/wips/sketchbook/10_09_07a.gif

[coupes.]

Here's my progress so far, I'm planning on adding a couple of long canons on the side as well as some more details all around. Right now it's still pretty early.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/coupes/pics/wheel/wheel_01.jpg

[confracto]

wow, everyone's stuff is looking really good.

unfortunatly, I don't have any webspace right now, so I'm having to do the old attatchment thingy :P

I think I'm very close to final model at this point, but I'd love to hear suggestions!
1155

[FredH]

Confracto --> Looks very cool, but careful, if you run large shapes into and through eachother, you will loose a lot of texture space on hidden areas that are never even seen. So the middle base and even back base that runs under your vehicle, will consume a lot of uv space. It's up to you if you would like to go this route. Otherwise, the shape looks promising thus far. Reminds me of the batmobile:p

coupes --> Looks good, but it might be cooler if you made the wheel x3 thicker. Everything looks too thin right now. Even with textures, I am not really sure if this will be enough to portray a heavy armored feeling. Regardless, the shape looks good. Once the guns are in, I think it's going to be really cool!

MaxH --> I'll use the phone....:D

Deto --> Very nice! No real comment aside from keep up the good work. It's shaping up very nicely:)

Blankslatejoe --> Another cool one there. Mini canons are always cool!

[Deto]

Question: How would you go around doing chrome texture for a lowpolygon model? Been thinking me headtrough and I can't figure out any good way :(

[coupes.]

Good comments Fred, I think you're right about the wheel. The idea behind the thin wheel was to allow the pilot to see where he was going and give the vehicle a sleek look. I didn't really want the cockpit to extend too much on either side, so I made the wheel pretty thin. But I think in the end, a wider wheel makes more sense if the vehicle is going to be more bulky and all, plus it's going to add some stability.

There's pretty cool stuff all around, good job everyone.

[Sorenson]

coupes, I think a vehicle like that would come standard with a 20inch lcd screen for a view screen about what's in front:) Nice work otherwise:)

[EVIL]

coupes, you could make a single cockpit but with 2 camera things like the apache helicopter on both sides of the wheel providing visibility for the pilot as well as heat detection etc.

[Sordid23]

After spending some time unwraping i noticed that i waisted alot of texture space on stuf that you don't see of see like a tiny tiny bit from. So i did a restart with in the back of my mind "texture space"! Thats one of the resons i went with 4 tracks (besides from looking cool :D)

So i hope you like it crit and coment welcome!

[Klash120]

Sweet stuff Sordid23~
Confracto. Kinda looks liek a space train or something :D

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2149/1535797000_077c7b5d77_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2340/1535796904_1a686ce59f_o.jpg

Weee! Some hires stuff for my AC. Currenlty has 2 pairs of track things, a pair of vertical missle pods, and external fuel tanks :D Composite lights to come! ~

-Cisco

[iceblazer17]

you guys are creating some awsome vehicles! Keep up the good work!

Deto, you model looks awsome. The texture still needs some work but im sure you know that, good luck

Klash, your normal maps are looking very good. The treads look nice too!

[Inpw]

I'm a bit slow in this contest :(

Here some details:
http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/2312/inpwwip2vr4.jpg

Still working on separate parts

[blankslatejoe]

wow..thats a bizarre idea. I'm curious how it'll turn out!

[Klash120]

That's look'n awesoem Inpw, seems you're the only one goign a different route :D

Just updated my AC w/ a cockpit area now~

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2287/1536478711_f414f8c31b_o.jpg

[Deto]

MaxH: Interesting looking vehicle. Reminds me of mix between ship and a howitzer, in its own way :) Nice design really! :) I would have probably removed the rocketpacks (?) and spent the polys giving more love to the gun or hull of the vehicle, the rocketpacks seem to be... well... in odd spot considering firing forward would cause some damage to itself :D

blankslatejoe: Hey hey, more classical hovertank... or tracked.. Would look brilliant though if the 'tracks' would be hovercoverthing :D The big round gun is brilliant :)

coupes.: Well, like FredH said, is very thin.. The design is interesting though :)

confracto: That's very good design, really gives out impression of huge vehicle. I could even work as a space ship ;) What if you moved the turrects from the tracks to the top of the hull? For practical reasons I wouldn't place turrects on other areas 'designated' as very important pieces to destroy, now.. If you blew up both tracks from one side of the vehicle, you would also practically disarm the tank :)

Sordid23: Haha, I love that tank, its really cool... and cute :D What would it look like if the turret was 25-35% larger than it is now? :)

Inpw: Ssssstrange, organic form metals? Keep it up, gotta see more :D

iceblazer17: Yeah, some work needed still... Where is your WIP? ;)

edit Klash120: Holy cow! Here I was writing message and hitting post and the big freaking huge cannon tank shows up :D Impressive, most impressive! :D Looks like some sort of very very very heavy fortress assault tank, that cannon won't fire far, but will hit pretty damn hard...

[Chippy82]

Klash: I really like what you have going on so far, I can't wait to see a texture on that bad boy!!

I actually reworked my model due to some unclear designs I had done on my first attempt. I went in a little different route with this one.

I'm at 550 tris right now, but can optimize much more and use that extra geometry to add more firepower.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff141/Chippy82/Mini_ArmoredCoreWIPScreenshot4.jpg

[confracto]

Deto: yeah, I'd realized that it's kinda vulnerable having the turrets on the hover things, but they have the largest feild of fire that way, and they're meant to simply be AA guns. the back cylinder is mecha/jet fighter bay and radar, and the majority of the hull top is the rail gun that launches them ;)
the 2 large pods on the top sides of the middle of the hull are gonna be covered in missle hatches anyway :D

Fred: yeah, I've been carefull to minimize lost texture space, and I'll continue to try and save it through some good uv work, but I know I will lose some. It'll be worth it for a good model tho. also, I found out I did something silly and actually have 20-30 more tris, will see what that can save me. (and yes, a friend of mine also commented that it looked like the batmobile just before I posted it here)

...guess I should do black/dark blue/dark gray as my colours, huh?

[yoyomon]

Some pretty cool stuff here.

SomeRhino: I think the turret on the tank is too small. The chassis looks like a heavy tank but the cannon looks like a 20 mm.

Confracto: Looks kinda like a starship. Any plans on a larger cannon besides the point defenses?

Inpw: Interesting theme, I’d like to see how this turns out.

Here's a little something I whipped up a while ago, hopefully, I'll have enough time over the weekend for texturing.

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2745/meshwip01nj3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[cookepuss]

I haven't totally abandoned this challenge. I'm just struggling for a new concept. Like I said before, I really haven't been happy with my design. Actually, I hated it. :p

Provided I can come up with a replacement design, I'm not too worried about making deadline. I tend to work very quickly. For me, the real challenge is the design part. THAT is where I'm stumped.

I'll do some brainstorming before bed.

[MaxH]

alright...here it is...final base model
now to add some cool little hi-res details for the normal mapping:lucky:

Deto: thanks...fixed the rockets problem!!! I'm going for the hover howitzer troop transport!!!

[ThatDon]

sweet design MaxH

[sogeking]

whoa, just read it, and it's 4 days left.glegh!

[SomeRhino]

Thanks for the comments, I fixed the disproportional gun and made some other changes to the geometry to clean it up and stylize.

Started on the diffuse, specular, and normal maps. Here's what I'm going for, I've only got the side of the track guard done. I want a darker feel than a standard military tank.

Man, 4 days...Hope I can get this finished.

[Sordid23]

At what resolustion are you working SomeRhino? Looks to me like ites bigger than 512...

[Deto]

My guess is he's working on 1024x and then scaling it down when done, one method of doing textures :)

[Fikry]

Here's my stuff so far..646Tris..

[Sordid23]

Nice one Fikry, you should test if you can change the spheres to cilinders saves you alot of polys since sphers tanke up SO mutch :)

[Klash120]

SomeRhino~ Look'n sweet. May I ask how you went on & did those treads? Is that alpha in between for the road wheels? ~

[Deto]

Hey, question, again:


edit: The reflection map you can use in your model... Is it the map that defines where your reflections will be, sort of black and white map like specular OR is it the map you can use for reflections/if so, how can I get the map work on the model without getting applied everywhere?

Thank you :)

[SomeRhino]

Yeah, I was working at 1024x and was going to scale it down, but now I've already scaled it and I'm going to be working a 512x to save time. Klash 120, no transparency maps have been used yet, the wheels are just painted on there.

[Sorenson]

Fikry, that is a really cool design!

[Inpw]

Thnaks a lot guys for replays. I'll do my best! :)

Another part wip - here is turret. Crew for Banshee-tnak consist of two men. The eyeholes are serve to enter.

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/5806/inpwwip3ez1.jpg

Klash120 - Amazing details. And design is cool. Big guns is good and huge guns even better! :)

Chippy82 - This one looks better. Front shield looks nice and heavy.

SomeRhino - I'm like your texture. Keep it on!

Fikry - Design is very nice and balanced. I'm especial like those ciliner-like things at sides.

[rocky77]

i am so sorry but ill have to bale out....:( :cry: :doh: :cry:

[ianlennonford]

Alright I was not liking my cargo ship so I changed and did a space fighter thing.

http://i23.tinypic.com/ei4cis.jpg

http://i21.tinypic.com/xpqwkg.jpg

http://i24.tinypic.com/2qtzu68.jpg

I wanted to redesign this cause everything here is looking so good gr8 stuff from everyone else... thanks for inspiring me to redo this. On to the unwrapping baring any crits or comments. Peace

[blankslatejoe]

nice, ianlennonford, i love it.

[brickwallfish]

ianlennonford, that's looking cool, being able to expand/unfold like that! Hope it all works out for everyone, I probably wont be making the deadline :(

[carlosf]

OK, im in. i don't have a concept.

Im not sure if ill do normalmaps. Im beginning to texture it.

Nice concepts everybody :thumb:

Plz, C&C:

[carlosf]

oh, i forgot this :) :

[vat1]

Wow,There is a lot of good works.
I found time to work today, here the progress of the day.

[Deto]

Hey hey Vat1. That's very cute vechile :D I love the texturing job so far. Its brilliant :)

[blankslatejoe]

sweet vat1, the texturing is nice and crisp so far

[vinny]

hiii everyone, i'm new here and new to 3d modeling as well. i found this mini challenge thread 2 days ago and i know that the deadline is very soon but i still wanted to take a stab at this because i really like the idea!

i've been working this model for the past 2 days (not for 48 hours though :p) and now i just need to texture it.

any tips on how i can improve would be nice as well! :)

edit

i figured out how to create a texture map, the documentation that comes with maya is amazingly helpful! :D

[cookepuss]

Got distracted with writing the character tutorial in my sig. Even with a day plus left, I know I'm not gonna make the deadline. Figured I might as well pimp out my original concept in high poly instead. At least I'm not fighting with a comp deadline and my other non-board commitments.

Here's what I've started so far.

http://gameartisans.org/forums/showthread.php?p=12272

Gonna do my best to work away from the "killer tape dispenser" feel.

[YdoUwant2know]

Well I finally had some free time to sit and model. I have been ruffing out concepts all week, but I finally have something i am happy with.

I'm at 650 tri even right now but not sure if i am going to keep the top turret the way it is. Will start high poly of the rest of it in the morning.

let me know what you think...

[Deto]

Gah. The upload is showing errors...

"The requested URL /contests/mini/4/finals.php was not found on this server."

:(

[diffa]

.... tiny update
http://www.alphapolygon.com/pics/works/ArmoredCore005.jpg

[FredH]

Deto --> Upload has been fixed:)

vinny --> I am glad you figured out how to texture your model. Finding tutorials online, or in your program docs is always the best way to start. When you need small tips and tricks, then we will be here to help:)

Nice work everyone:thumb: ... 1 day left:D

[vat1]

>Deto, blankslatejoe: Thanks! ;)
Here the final diffuse texture. Tommorow, If I have the time, I will add a specular.

[Antimagic]

vat1, that is just wickedly cool! Your van looks incredibly armored, and mean to boot. Can't wait to see what you have planned for a final presentation. Hope you will include a small step by step process as the bottom of your image.. if you space of course:D

diffa, It's looking more and more promising. However, I don't think the front needs that much scratches and dents. That area is really hard to read.

YdoUwant2know, I think it looks really good so far. reminds me of the tank in indiana jones 3, when indy got his bag cought on the turret. Very nice. Hopefully, you will have time to texture that beast!

[sogeking]

i modelled this at friday, unluckily i'm getting sick at sat n sunday, and today is deadline, hope can finish it

[Amethyst]

sogeking, you still have 24 hours till 11.59 pm eastern time. Really cool shape for an armored vehicle. Looking forward to some textures.

[sogeking]

thank you amethyst, i'm doing the UV and texture now, maybe some normals.

[ianlennonford]

Hey good luck to everyone. I know I won't get any time tomorrow so I put up my final tonight. Here is a little pic.

http://i22.tinypic.com/1y0mrn.jpg

Diffa the Chopper is sweet. carlosf I dig the tank the wide cannon is kinda Tronish (if that is a word) very cool. Awesome work all the way around, you all made me want to work harder on this to try and compete so thanks; I learned a whole lot just with this mini-comp.

[sogeking]

unwrapped it (pacing with the time) lol :lol:

[SomeRhino]

This is about finalized, still trying to work out a few kinks though.

Vat1- That looks pretty sweet. Nice work!

Diffa- Very cool mini chopper. I like the texture.

[diffa]

thanx for the comments... here's a tiny update.
http://www.alphapolygon.com/pics/works/armoredcore_008.jpg

[Deto]

14 more hours, keep it up boys and girls! :D

SomeRhino: Nice looking tank, not a bad texture at all ^^ Suggestion though, add some more variation to the color, ie different shades of reds, maybe some browns too. Also, preferably render in medium or dark greys. As black background kills the dark shades of your picture and 'hides' form in shadows... While white kills yours eyes ;) Grey is pretty good, or some other color, but don't use extremies even if MAX offers black as generic background :)

SogeKing: Keep it up! The unwrap looks good, don't see any bad stretchings and your machine looks interesting! :)

Diffa: Very good! I love the chopper, its very cool :) One suggestion, give more 'brightness' to the backrotor, right now its hard to make out what's really there... :)

[blankslatejoe]

diffa-gorgeous! I love the metallic window look.Thetexture looks a little low res in places though--like it could use some smaller details in a few spots.

somerhino -very cool, reminds me of something from the earlier command and conquer games.

ianlennon-i dig the color scheme!

vat1 - man..nice job on creating a soft, rich texture. SOLID work!

[Evan Smith]

Created this model last night based on the Arctic Scout Tank concept I had posted in the concept comp forum. Don't think I'll have the time to finish a texture for it though before tonight.

I modified the design a bit based on some feedback I had recieved for the concept.

The model is at 649 triangles

[Evan Smith]

Diffa - love the mini chopper. The blades look as if they might cut off the tip of the tail section though currently.

SomeRhino - good job on the faded paint look to your texture, I like it

Vat1 - cool armored car, I like the stylized proportions, good job on the textures

[SomeRhino]

Does this look any better, or does it now look too much like plastic?

[Deto]

Its a bit too extreme now I think... Oh yeah, Do you have bump there? If no, I think you should :) And another one is baked shadows, helps give out form :)

[SomeRhino]

Yeah, have bump (normal), spec, diffuse, trans, and emissive.

[Deto]

Hmm, you definately have to strenghtern your normals, especially on the 'painted' areas.. Its not very visible at the moment and also define your specular a bit more so that it really hits only 'specular areas' instead of most of the model :)

If you still have enough time, here's a pretty good guide on how to make normal more effective: http://www.cgtextures.com/content.php?action=tut_normalmap

Also if you're using MAX, remember that max offers bump value of 30 as 'basic number', but your normal is baked at 100, so if you have 30 there as value, its only less than 30% of the strenght you baked it at :)

Good luck! :)

[FredH]

Tank looks really cool, but it could be interesting if you scratched up the blackpainted decors a bit and reveal the red paint underneath. The black decor lines look to sharp and clean-edged.

diffa --> Yup, it's looking much better now without the scratch marks in front, however, why did you make the top propellers a box? I think single planes would do nicely for something so thin. They actually look unaturally thick right now. Maybe you can use these extra polies to round out the missile launcher a bit. Otherwise, nice stuff:)

[Fikry]

Guys,.think that I have no more time to make Bump,glow,transparency,etc

Thanks for ur support,.ur all doing great:thumb:

Well this is my final shot,..:inocent:

[Deto]

Fikry: Welcome to the GameArtisans! That's nice looking fighter!

Remember to upload it in http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/mini/4/finals_90.html

[brickwallfish]

ah man... textures look nicely done Fikry! Sigh... I prolly wont be topping any of that >.<

[Evan Smith]

SomeRhino - I think the texture looks overly saturated now, compared to your earlier render. I agree with Deto about baking a few AO shadows into the corners of the model.

[SomeRhino]

Thank you all for your feedback, I'm glad that this place has people who want to help me improve. Because I won't have anymore time to work on this today, I just submitted my final.

Fikry- Nice work. Even without the other maps, it still looks good, though a Normal would have definately helped define the details.

[vat1]

Thanks for the good crits, I hope to improve my english to say another think that a simple "thanks" :D
Here there is my final entry: http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/mini/4/finals_99.html

[Deto]

That's brilliant looking, vat1 :D Cheers, see you in the voting booth ;)

[brickwallfish]

I tried uploading to the final entries page, but I kept getting an error. I'm hopefully not too late?

I tried to go with a different angle, so instead of the normal garden variety tanks and ships, I went for a sort of biological/tech/hybrid.

Maybe next time I'll get things done on time :P

[Chippy82]

Here is my final entry, I only had time to get a Diffuse texture done, what with school and homework and all.

http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/mini/4/finals_103.html

[FredH]

brickwallfish --> You got an error? That's strange, it worked fine for me. Regardless, you are in:) Nice stuff by the way. The alien-like approach was a very cool idea

Chippy --> you made it, and just in time. Congrats man on finishing:)

[sogeking]

:cry: sigh...have some jobs to d, cant finish the texture, fikry u made it bro, congrats

[YdoUwant2know]

Well got it done just in time :D

http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/mini/4/finals_106.html

[vinny]

ah bummer, couldn't finish my entry because i had to attend a lecture. ah well, this is what i have so far.