New Proguard_02 (still WIP)

[ascottk]

Getting closer . . .

 

[jdude]

That's looking much better! But I think exchanging some of the green for grey would be a good idea. Just my 2 cents

 

Also maybe have his ear fallen off

[Dram]

The red eyes don't do it for me. IMO white, with yelowish tinge and bits of evident rotting should do the trick. Getting there though

[Fidcal]

Try desaturate the green.

 

I also agree the proguard is looking great except the eyes look artificial.

[Springheel]

There are also half a dozen D3 zombie heads that could be modified for our use. I hadn't bothered yet since we don't have any AI that could use them.

[Fidcal]

Could they be modified as normal human heads or only zombie heads? I mean are they badly disfigured without noses and jaws?

[Springheel]

I mean are they badly disfigured without noses and jaws?

 

Yes.

 

There aren't too many default D3 heads that would work for character use. I already made one (the bearded commoner) but most are a pain to work with because they mirror the uvmap. Doesn't matter as much for zombies though.

[SneaksieDave]

This looks like it has character. It looks like a dopey guy with makeup on his face.

Masquerade party at Skywatch, anyone?

 

I agree with the sentiment toward more grey/pale yellow and away from vibrant green/red. And yeah some of those doom heads are really good (the ripped lower jaw guy comes to mind). I think the fat-bloat guy would be too recognizable.

[jdude]

I don't like the idea of using the default heads. If we modify them so they don't look like the doom3 content them I'm for it but otherwise while playing Darkmod people will be reminded of Doom3 which is a negative in my experience of playing mods which use default content.

[HappyCheeze]

I don't like the idea of using the default heads. If we modify them so they don't look like the doom3 content them I'm for it but otherwise while playing Darkmod people will be reminded of Doom3 which is a negative in my experience of playing mods which use default content.

 

Same here. Its magnified if you actually make maps for the game and you see that stuff ALL THE TIME.

[Springheel]

Obviously the character heads wouldn't work without some adjustments. The zombie heads, on the other hand, probably wouldn't need much tweaking.

[ascottk]

Well, that's all the work I'm doing on him for now. Here's a look at the revised zombie head (who is using the "forester" skin for now):

 

& here's a screen of the proguard 2 family:

 

Updates on svn now:

• All cloth is sharing UVs
  
• Updates textures and materials
  
• Got rid of colored textures (taken over by the colored material stage) and other excess textures
  
• Updated rigging
  
• Mesh updates
  
• Head mesh tweak (less asian eyes)
  

 

TODO:

• Zombie body skin
  
• Possibly add more meshes for commoner clothing (sleeve ends. collar)
  
• Texture touchups (beardless head is too smooth), add more character to cloth
  
• Better normal maps
  
• Update animation when available
  

[HappyCheeze]

Much better looking, although there is still something about the eyes that bothers me.

[Fidcal]

All those nice clean pale necks! Are we using a common neck? It shows up most on the zombie but it drew my attention to the proguard neck as well.

[jdude]

Just a quick note, his legs look a bit too bent for a standing position. I love the newer zombie face though 100% on the right track.

[Tels]

& here's a screen of the proguard 2 family:

 

They look fine, but it appear they are all floating above the floor by a cm or so?

[ascottk]

Much better looking, although there is still something about the eyes that bothers me.

You can only please most of the people part of the time and part of the people most of the time . . . or something like that. In other words, you can't please everyone.

 

 

All those nice clean pale necks! Are we using a common neck? It shows up most on the zombie but it drew my attention to the proguard neck as well.

I'm not sure how to approach that but in low light conditions & most people won't be able to get an extreme closeup. But I'll see what I can do.

 

Just a quick note, his legs look a bit too bent for a standing position. I love the newer zombie face though 100% on the right track.

That's the new idle animation on the new rig. I can't do much about that.

 

They look fine, but it appear they are all floating above the floor by a cm or so?

Partly my fault, partly the idle animation. With that combination the effect is exaggerated.

[Domarius]

You can only please most of the people part of the time and part of the people most of the time . . . or something like that. In other words, you can't please everyone.

Well it suggests something could be improved but the important question is, will it do for us at the moment.

 

I think it'd be fine.

 

I think it's because the eyes are just stuck in, no shading around where the eyes meet the skin , so the are very obviously stuck in. If you wanted to do something about it, you could make the skin get darker around the eyes, and the eye texture itself could get darker towards the back of the eyeball.

 

I showed a guy at work, and he said for a zombie, the skin doesn't look rotten and falling off, it just looks like old man skin. He's a programmer. I'm afraid to show the artists because they will rip it apart But I can if you want.

[Fidcal]

I think it's because the eyes are just stuck in, no shading around where the eyes meet the skin , so the are very obviously stuck in. If you wanted to do something about it, you could make the skin get darker around the eyes, and the eye texture itself could get darker towards the back of the eyeball.

Surely that is what the normal is for. The skin does look plastic somewhat. Falling off patches of skin I would do with areas of raw flesh recessed by normals.

[Domarius]

Surely that is what the normal is for.

Might need a bit of help in the texture area though. The transition just looks too harsh and artificial. Not that we need to bother with it, just that's what might be making people think it looks wierd.

[ascottk]

Well, my quest continues for improvement and I've been trying out different software to help. ZBrush has been largely unused until I started using my graphics tablet (ZBrush + mouse absolutely sucks). So here's an improved texture for the zombie head:

 

New normal map generated by ZBrush (& I think it looks great on the left cheek).

[Domarius]

Yeah that's an improvement. Looks like a severely diseased man now, but maybe not so much a zombie yet.

 

When I think of zombies, I even think that the old T2 zombies are good to aim for. Parts missing, dead colours, I mean, look at this dude

 

even in this blurry picture, with him far away, you can see instantly that this is one dead, evil dude. The basic sillhouette, the pose, and the overall colouring.

[Fidcal]

Looks really good to me though but Domarius has a point. Try some heavy desaturation to compare but I'd like to have both - the old, ashen zombie and the fresh, recently undeaded, warm cuddly zombie. I'd have no objection though if you want to bulge his left eye out a bit more, expose part of his brains, etc. But I think this is useable as it is.

[ascottk]

I'd have no objection though if you want to bulge his left eye out a bit more, expose part of his brains, etc. But I think this is useable as it is.

I took out the skull underneath but wait . . . I have an idea He needs something to keep his eyeball from totally falling off . . .

[Fidcal]

Not sunglasses, please not sunglasses.