13 Days of Content from The Amethyst Dragon

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

There's a fungus among us! Or even two!

 

I was minding my own business, building underdark areas for my PW, when I realized that there just weren't any models for certain underground hazards that made me think of those old D&D sessions. So, I made them, based off old Monster Manual descriptions and my own ideas.

 

I wanted my shrieker to look the part, so I looked at various illustrations, found and modified some textures, and went to work with gmax to create a completely original giant mushroom. Then I added the "speakers" that have always been a feature of these harmless, yet deadly in their own way, fungi. I went with purple as their top color because of another type of fungus they're often found with.

 

Violet fungi are, of course, purple. It's right in their name. I started with the shrieker mushroom, enlarged it a bit, changed up some of the textures, then swiped the animations from the really, really old Roper model that's in the CEP (not sure of the original source right off hand), because violet fungi are violent fungi.

 

So, there you go. Two new creatures for killing your module's/PW's player characters while underground. One to attract attention, one to give it.

 

Day 9: Shrieker & Violet Fungus

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

Not going to get today's model out. Had it all packaged up neatly, ready to post on the Vault, launched NWN to grab screenshots, noticed a major visual problem with the model when it's actually moving (it's a creature, and when it moves it leaves a gap between the torso and pelvis). Going to have to fix this when I get time tomorrow, because it's going to bug me. 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_PLUSH HYENA of DOOM]

               

Hm... That Aenean Drake just might end up as a Cuddly Pet for one of my ladies, as you suggested...

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Fester Pot]

               

Hm... That Aenean Drake just might end up as a Cuddly Pet for one of my ladies, as you suggested...

Still quite early for me, and still working on the first cup of coffee.


Anyhoot, from the root of the forum, I saw this thread title - 13 Days of Content from The...


and you were the last poster mentioned - Plush Hyena of DOOM

So, early morning mind + old age equals new thread title!

 

13 Days of Doom.


Now there's a Christmas right up your ... well ... whatever the heck your avatar is '>


FP!

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               

So we do end up with 12 days of Christmas stuff anyway (always thought 13 was ambitious anyway). '> <Note to AD, I am pulling your leg. Do not take this seriously unlike that previous post...>

 

TR

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

So we do end up with 12 days of Christmas stuff anyway (always thought 13 was ambitious anyway). '>

 

Nope, there will still be 13. In fact...

 

gmax is a pain for me to work with recently (due to some technical glitches), but tonight I managed to improve on the model I wanted to post yesterday. This just pushes things back an extra day.

 

I've always thought the one of the lamest looking creatures BioWare made for NWN was that classic two-headed giant, the ettin. The poor thing was obviously either a really early model or a very quick addition just to have it in the game. Really, it is just not good (see original version for comparison).

 

I decided to send my scrawny ettins to the gym to put on some muscle, then to a team of professional stylists to make them look like the dangerous beings they are supposed to be.

 

Actually, I pulled parts of orcs and other creatures together from Project Q, did a bunch of resizing and moving vertices around, tied them to the Q bugbear animations, and set them loose to spread destruction. And now everyone else can use them as well.

 

Day 10: Aenean Ettin

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_PLUSH HYENA of DOOM]

               

FesterPot... Don't know about 13 Days of Doom... I mean I just finished that entire Citadel of Doom. Don't want to overDoom myself again...

 

But I am contemplating creating a model of the "Anyhoot" you mentioned... Some sort of Gigantic Debased Five-Headed Owl or something, I suspect... Hm...

 

PS:- TAD, why is that idiot just standing there like an inert berk? He's asking to be crushed to a paste. Shouldn't he be trying to stab the Ettin with that poxy little shortsword? Or running away from it? Or actually be depicted being crushed to a paste. Always amusing... Or trying to pacify the Ettin by attempting to hypnotize both it's heads at once with a pair of large fluffy dice?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               

Probably trying to figure how to lift jaw from floor without being blatted.

 

TR

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

TAD, why is that idiot just standing there like an inert berk? He's asking to be crushed to a paste. Shouldn't he be trying to stab the Ettin with that poxy little shortsword? Or running away from it? Or actually be depicted being crushed to a paste. Always amusing... Or trying to pacify the Ettin by attempting to hypnotize both it's heads at once with a pair of large fluffy dice?

In the screenshot module, he's just a 1st level fighter. It's technically an in-combat screenshot, but the ettin kept killing him before he could even raise his sword to attack. I paused it the 4th time so the PC would be standing and you could still get the proper scale of the ettin in the picture.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_werelynx]

               

I think I saw different models of violet funghi and shrieker. Probably by Atom. Just letting you know, Dragon '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

I think I saw different models of violet funghi and shrieker. Probably by Atom. Just letting you know, Dragon '>

Yup, saw those. I like mine better (I'm probably biased). '>

 

Chaeolwyn once made a very nice, classic displacer beast. It is included in the CEP. However, I was never really happy with the rather light and uniform navy-ish blue they used. I took it upon myself to come up with a new texture more fitting of my vision of a nearly black beast.

 

And then I got tinkering.

 

My version uses the Chaeolwyn/CEP version for animations (so if you use the CEP already, you can just ignore the additional model in the download). I covered it in four skinmeshes (which, when I think about it really aren't that noticeable in the dark, but I was determined to have a less blocky cat-like creature). I gave it some new teeth, then I added green eyes that glow in the dark.

 

I admit it isn't one of my best models (just realized tonight that it sits a few inches above the ground), but it really does work well in dark areas that such beasts usually hunt in.

 

Day 11: Displacer Beast

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               

@AD, as you can see I liked your beast. The thing is in my vision of a displacer beast the size is more akin to somewhere between a cougar and a jaguar whereas yours appears somewhere in the region of a dire tiger. To put it another way, and this is just a matter of taste, it seems larger than I was expecting is all (but I still downloaded it).

 

TR

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

You could always make it a "tail" (in tailmodel.2da), add it to one of the invisible creatures appearances for scaling, and get the size you want.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

Getting an early jump on this today, as I will be going to the theatre in my home town to see the 7pm showing of the newest Star Wars. '>

 

Stone giants have been rather lacking in NWN over the years. I think I've seen one such model, and it was basically just a recolor of the BioWare hill giant. 

 

For this bad boy, I started with the DLA ogre, clipped his toenails, gave him hands, switched out the monstrous head for one based on a PC head model, played with the texture until I liked it (it can be difficult to get two or more completely different textures to match up nicely), and finally scaled him up a bit.

 

Yes, I know I usually go "classic D&D", which means he should have been completely upright and thin, but to me this guys looks like he could blend into a mountainside better.

 

Day 12: Aenen Stone Giant

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_3RavensMore]

               

LOVE that stone giant!  It looks like he's just about ready to bite the puny mortals head clean off at any moment!  Hold still, this won't hurt a bit!