Work on the design of space reptiloids: wandering through the maze of possibilities

The usual such reptiloid race arising from the depths of deep space. Bang-bang from laser weapons from all sides! Then rapprochement and boarding, at the end of the attack massacre on board the captured vessel. Reptiloids - people of the word: they said “we will cut everyone”, that means they will be cut everyone who would doubt. And dissolved in frosty blackness, only they were seen.

However, intelligence reported. If you open the game Encyclopedia, it turns out:
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The exact coordinates of the Uchcha-Ta civilization are unknown. It is believed that this is the planet of Drro-Adda (the so-called Mother Planet) of the planetary system in the region of W-Virgo (the star cluster TDD67, the type of “sprawled jellyfish”, the spectral class is unknown).

So, the whereabouts have been established: after the pirate attacks on peaceful ships, the reptilians are hiding on their own Planet Mattery.

And what does this give me as an art director in the sense of hints on character design? And nothing.

But at first glance, a trifling matter. Just think, the next humanoid reptiles, with which the Internet is full! Tons of references if you search.

Fine. Issued the task of the artist, he blinded in a specified time in the ZBrush what was asked. Here is such a friend, if specifically:



Visually smelled of games from the 90s: it was a good time. But - does not pass, however. Unformat.

I made the following attempt personally. I also sculpted in Zbrush, I was very fascinated, I molded every scale. Properlo what is called. After Zbrush, a reamer, a diffuse map in Photoshop, I pulled my eyes from 3d max, and the final build in Keyshot:



Yeah, still rejected, for reasons of the gaming universe. They said: a little like a humanoid.
Okay, I had to sit down to work out the base. What is written in our Encyclopedia?

“Due to the conditions of their pirate existence, Uchcha-Ta seldom live to old age, therefore we can say: reptiloids are a race of young and strong. The weak are killed at birth: the stronger brothers and sisters eat them in the nest. Females, due to exceptional fertility, also die young. Only keepers of early warning stations or employees of abandoned colonies live to old age, maintaining the functionality of the equipment entrusted to them until the last breath. ”

No, it will not help.

Okay, we will give the task to the conceptor, so that it will be wrung out in full and come up with an option that would suit everyone and softly fit into the game.

No sooner said than done. The conceptor was wrung out and invented. At the same time, I used a curious way of sketching: I molded a simple blank of the intended shape in Zbrush, then promptly sketched the main idea in Photoshop.



As a result, based on the fifth option.

When the appearance was determined, I sat down to develop a sketch. He made some changes on the move, for example, he replaced the original tail with a more familiar one. Innovation is not always good, sometimes you should stomp a run-away rut.

The model was molded into Zbrush, the armor was made in 3dmax (textures and sweeps - exclusively for the head and open parts of the carcass). The reptiloid also has a bionic stand, but this is so, an accessory for disengagement from other game races. All in the end, going to Keyshot, armor materials taken from his library. In conclusion, a small study in Photoshop. I forgot to say, we are doing everything Hi Poly, there is no sense in messing around with retopology, etc., the end result is still 2d.

At the moment, the Ucha-Ta space pirates look like this:



The final version, but still have to make the colors of suits, shapes, and of the head.

Now about the logo. In our game, every space race has a logo, even pirates.

Painted artist. She said that she laid in the logo the pirated character of reptiloids. Red and sharp corners symbolize strength and aggression, the cool green color hints at reptile affiliation.



We go further.

Pirates on spaceships fly, and where do they get the ships from? Well, yes, they capture, and where did they get the first one? Without production can not do. It turns out that space pirates are also skilled craftsmen ?!

We turn to the Encyclopedia and find out:
“Uchcha-Ta is particularly interested in gum resources, preferring to capture not low-skilled support personnel and not even highly skilled fighters or pilots with navigators (who, due to the specific structure of their ships, cannot be used anyway) but peaceful specialists: engineers , scientists, technicians. When capturing such humanoids, they are loosened: it is highly likely that they will be eaten last, and if the prisoners are lucky to be sent to Mother Planet - that they will be used there in their original specialty. Uchcha-Ta themselves are not inclined to engage in production, especially if it is not the production of weapons or space technology: they use skilled slaves for such purposes. ”


Clearly, the pirates organized sharashki, which use highly skilled cheap labor. At least, the ships have their original system.

It was decided to make the ships in the form of flying saucers. Yes, trite. But there are a lot of cosmic races, someone has to move on flying saucers as well ?! It’s too late to argue which of the races would fit the form of flying saucers: the decision was made, not one step back.

They began to invent from the largest and smallest, then went to the center. We set the following tasks for the concept artist:

1) the shape of the plate should have an aggressive look,
2) plating should be unique colors, so as not to repeat with other races.



Modifications were painted on top, by adding details to the basic form, which saved time greatly. Time, as you know, is always not enough.

Here are the final concepts of frigates Uch-ta:



On the technical characteristics read in the Encyclopedia:
“Uchcha-Ta ply space on ships with engines on antimatter (Stigma Magnetic Etheric Singularity), with a highly technological system of capturing small shuttles and universal docking sites with enemy ships - and heavy weapons, of course. All ships Uchcha-Ta have excellent flight characteristics, high maneuverability and tremendous vitality. "

Thus, pirate flying saucers use the Magnetic Aether Singularity as a Stigma engine. This is in case anyone asks. Now you know the answer.

Clean 3d-models were made in different ways.

We have several 3d-modelers, each has its own approach. One first makes the ship in Maya, the other - immediately in 3Dmax, someone - in XSI. In any case, the work is accepted in 3dMax: lighting, mats and final rendering are made in it.



In the future, I want to move the final stage to KeyShot, this will be faster.

Of course, every 3d person has his own approach to texturing. Someone does a full scan, someone - in parts. Someone draws details in Photoshop, some hit highpoli, one bakes AO, the other doesn’t, but in the end, the enlarged view of the ship still gets in Photoshop.

You probably have a question, why do you need to work out a 3d model in this way, if the result is still in 2D? The answer is simple. Any model of the ship can be rotated and looked in a circle from different sides, in an acceptable size and detail, for this we made 60 renderings in a circle and dazzled into the sprite, that's why.

Another selection of ships Uchch-ta:



The space stations of the pirates did not make the plates, did not want to overdo it. Therefore, added diversity, but stood in style.

The concept - the same as the characters did - came up with a 3dMax blank, then outlined the details of the concept in Photoshop. The applicability of the methods was confirmed by the work with space stations. Finished in the form of an approved sketch, the disc immediately went to the 3d modeler for revision. Very convenient, speeds up the process.



Something like this.

The post ends, and work on the image of the cosmic reptiloids continues.

So I think it would be nice to add a bit of intelligence to pirates. Judging by the Encyclopedia, they are not alien to her.

“Primary knowledge of Uchcha-Ta is obtained in free schools. The Pirates of the Blood Sign continue to study at the expensive faculties of the Military Engineering, Military Space and Military Medical Academies, and the pirates of the Sign of the Earth at the free Technological, Medical and Racological departments of the Academy of the College. Knowledge acquired in the Academy of the College allows graduates to be specialists in technologies of all races, thoroughly know the anatomy of all races, speak fluently in all ROAR languages ​​and understand the nuances of the inner life of each of the races inhabiting the Galaxy. This allows not only to maintain the equipment on the Mother Planet and all the colonies, but also to understand the technical innovations produced by other civilizations.
With such a magnificent scientific training, the Teacha-Ta can easily copy any unit or hardware node for its use in its transport systems, even if it was encountered for the first time. Often it is possible to achieve a greater effect by correcting the mistakes of others, which saves a lot of money on long-term research and experiments. Thus, any technology found by the Pirates automatically becomes the property of the race and is successfully used in the war. ”

I think, is it possible to attach a pince-nez to their faces, can the lizards be naturally weak-sighted? However, vanity.

So many hours, the soul in this toy in the form. I want to share experiences.

Yes, I almost forgot. If someone wants to know more about Uchchy-Ta reptiloids, here, the Encyclopedia recommends books:

• Cho-Pachong. Pirate civilizations: the danger posed by them and methods of protection. Pochupong, 4129th chronoparser.
• Reptiloid civilization Uchcha-Ta. All-Galaxy reference book "All about everything." Murlandia, 891.71E + 28.

True, not sure that they have already been published. I can not master the chronology adopted in the toy.