Outsider WIP

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               Izk, these are awesome. Anyone that say Lovecraft can't be done in NWN better go get a copy of Deities and Demigods, and not that crap version WotC put out - get the original AD&D version.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Invisig0th]

               They yanked the Cthulhu mythos in later printings of the 1E Deities and Demigods for copyright reasons. So you'd need to get an early printing. But to your point -- yes, Lovecraft definitely inspired the people who created D&D, and anyone who says that isn't so is incorrect.

Unfortunately, tentacled monsters generally look awful in NWN. My understanding is that they can be done, but the modeling is much harder to do, has to do with skeletons and skinmeshes I think. Take a look at the Roper in CEP for an example of how NOT to do tentacles. The only halfway decent example I can think of is the mindflayer mouth tentacles. So for anyone interested in Cthulhu, that's going to be a challenge.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Invisig0th, 03 septembre 2010 - 12:56 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Izk The Mad]

               Oops! I forgot to reply to this!

@pstemarie, thanks!

I still have my copy of that Deities & Demigods. It's "a timeless classic". I used to hate that Erol Otus artwork, but I love it now. I've been working on "Shub N'Grath" based on his image from that, using giant eyeballs and a bunch of placeables, which spawns all sorts of little creature oddities, like flying eyes and partial torsos.

I came on here today to share a new Cthulhu experiment, using CODI's Maelephant and Bioware's Alhoon head. It's still a work in progress:
 






The bigger head definitely looks better. I made it especially big on this one. The body texture needs a lot of work to match it up with the head better, though the striping effect they both share is going to work in my favor, I think. I just might keep the hairy beer-belly and the purple nipples. That cracks me up. It definitely adds a grotesque look to it. Also, the head isn't animated, in fact I had to remove the bones and convert it from a skin into a trimesh for now. The tentacles seem more like tusks when it moves its head, which may actually be worth keeping, after seeing it in game. If anything, it might be cool to convert them into a danglymesh. HPL's creatures are always open to a little interpretation, so I think it would work either way.

The wings are blue dragon wings from CEP btw. I'm currently having an issue with model type/animation compatibility, I think, because they don't animate in game. That's usually the cause of that IIRC, isn't it?

As always, all feedback welcome!
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Izk The Mad, 19 septembre 2010 - 02:59 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

Invisig0th wrote...

Unfortunately, tentacled monsters generally look awful in NWN. My understanding is that they can be done, but the modeling is much harder to do, has to do with skeletons and skinmeshes I think. Take a look at the Roper in CEP for an example of how NOT to do tentacles. The only halfway decent example I can think of is the mindflayer mouth tentacles. So for anyone interested in Cthulhu, that's going to be a challenge.

That roper is definitely BUFU. However, I'd beg to differ on the tentacles looking awful in NWN. The trick is to use several joints - like the dragon tail - then lay a skin over it all. You can get a fairly decent effect this way. Another thing to consider is the animation cycle - the more frames defining movement, the better the whole effect will look when animated.

Izk - I like the combination of the Maelphant and Flayer Head. You are definitely on the right track in capturing the whole feel of the Cthulu mythos with this latest round of creations. I look forward to seeing more.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Izk The Mad]

               @pstemarie, thanks. Hehe, it's probably not in your best interest to encourage me to make weird multi-tentacled things, since it looks like you'll be my go-to guy for animation assistance in the future for Enhanced. I've been especially intent on making something that could pass for a Shoggoth, just to warn you.  Any chance you'd consider Lovecraftian additions to Enhanced?

Oh, and it's official. I'm going to nickname that "Beer Belly Cthulhu", and keep the hairy chest. Sounds like a seafood dish.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Jez_fr]

               super stuff Izk =)
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Eradrain]

               There's something very "Frankenstein's Monster" about this thread.  Taking body parts from various other creatures and fusing them together into abominations.  I like it.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Elphilm]

               Fun stuff, Izk! I like the pot-bellied Cthulhu in particular; it sort of reminds me of my own attempt at an old school Orcus I did a while back. I used the Maelephant torso, Mephistopheles's limbs and the head of the CEP Orcus, if I remember correctly.



I never could get the animations to work properly, but it was fun splicing different creatures together.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Izk The Mad]

               @Jez, your continuing support of my madness is always appreciated. I think they call that being an "enabler".

@Eradrain, thanks, and the Frankenstein notion occured to me too, hehe. I do wish I could make new stuff from scratch, but this method has been a lot less time consuming, and probably just as much fun. I think there's a little of my own weird artistic philosophy at work there too, about taking the familiar and presenting it in new and twisted ways. It can be a little unsettling, if done right.

@Elphim, love that Orcus idea. I think Meph's limbs really add something to it. You could probably make that work by just using the Maelephant anims as a supermodel. You might have to start over, but you could align the Meph parts to match the positioning of the Maelephant limbs and their pivot points, and then remove those Maelephant limbs. I was able to do that with a couple of my critters. I don't know what your skill level is, but feel free to ask if you want any advice. I'm no expert, but I've learned a few useful things making this stuff. FYI, the Maelephant has a nice head-butt attack animation that would work great with that goat head!


I have to admit, I was a little undecided about "Beer Belly Cthulhu" at first, but now I want to follow through on it and improve the texture. I think the default Alhoon head texture looks fine as-is, so I just need to carry some of its elements onto the body, like making the Maelephant's stripes look more like the tentacles'. How about some texture elements from the CODI Manes, like skin pock marks? Make that beer belly as grotesque as possible!

Anyway, thanks for the encouragement everybody!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               As I've said in other threads, Izk, its a small thing to justify adding Cthulu themed monsters to NwnE - just got to add a custom section to the standard palette (or maybe Extraplanar) for such stuff.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_B_Harrison]

               I also approve of your monster-stitching madness.

I've mentioned it before on this forum, but if you're looking for further inspiration for really vile-looking creatures, you should check out some of the Warhammer Online concept art, particularly the Nurgle-related pieces.

WARNING: Large images of extremely unpleasant-looking fantasy creatures.
Plaguebearer
Nurgle Champion
Nurgle Champion
Slime Hound
Chaos Spawn(?)
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Mecheon]

               What I think might help with Cthulu there is maybe give him a wing node, so the wings aren't part of his geometry? That way they'll animate. The issue is the Maelephant doesn't have the wing animations in his model, so they won't animate, but the wing nodes are a separate model stuck on the back so they'll use the default animations per dragon disciples and whatnot



And if you're gonna go with Warhammer, Harrison, you gotta post some Skaven. Them and Lizardmen are the best races in the whole thing '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Invisig0th]

               

Pstemarie wrote...
That roper is definitely BUFU. However, I'd beg to differ on the tentacles looking awful in NWN.

Agreed.  I actually meant to say that tentacled (or "tentacled") creatures have historically tended to look awful in NWN. I didn't mean to insinuate that it can't be done, only that is generally hasn't been done. I have no doubt that a talented individual who is willing to put some work into it can indeed make a great tentacled creature.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Invisig0th, 21 septembre 2010 - 11:42 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Izk The Mad]

               @Mecheon, those are wing node applied wings, and it turns out they're part of the 1.69 patch. After testing them a bit more, there seems to be an issue with using them on creature models.


@Ben, those Warhammer pics are great. Thanks for sharing. The Nurgles remind me of something I've been working on. I'm making a set of Mutants using Quantiko's Resident Evil Nemesis as a starting point. I call them the InHumans. Thought I'd share a few samples. See if you can spot the Dark Future placeable I, um, borrowed, hehe. I've also been considering crazier versions of them, with weapons for hands, much like that first Nurgle:

Soldier (reskin w/long coat)
Soldier (reskin w/armor)
RE4 style Garrador
Garrador
Cremator 1
Cremator 2
Power Armor
Power Armor
Cyborg
"El Matador"

Here's another Quantiko reskin and mutant monster stitching effort I've been working on. Anyone familiar with the Centaur mutant in Fallout 2? I made a "Cerberus" inspired by it, using CODI's two-headed hound, a Hellhound, and the Tyrant:

Mutant Cerberus

How about a change of pace? I've been working on horses, and I want to run a couple new ones by the gang here. The first one is a new version of my Minogon/Horse hybrid, with an improved alpha channel for a nice subtle shiny metal effect. It looks quite Terminator-ish, IMO, and is meant to go with the guys in Power Armor in the links above:




Bonus Minogon reskin I needed for the horse's legs:




A very normal Clydesdale-ish horse, using parts from Hardpoints' Cauchemar and Unicorn models:



That last one was so simple I'm surprised I never tried it before, and it would be easy to make more variations of it.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Izk The Mad, 23 septembre 2010 - 06:24 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Izk The Mad]

               

Invisig0th wrote...
I have no doubt that a talented individual who is willing to put some work into it can indeed make a great tentacled creature.

I wish that was me. If you find one, send 'em my way. I wanna make a Shoggoth!