[CONCEPT ART] Unreal Universe Monsters! Lets make some art together!

[KazeoHin-TechAE]

Current Progress Updated Frequently™:

rapfamily4 on the Mercinary

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Metalfist on the Slith:

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Metalfist on the Manta:

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AndyN on the Gasbag:

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AndyN on the Krall

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Quadj130 on the Pupae

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KazeoHin on the Nali Cow

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KazeoHin on the Titan

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KazeoHin on the Brute

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Check the thread for awesome concepts by PaperCoffee, Sly, RapFamily4, Spectre-Owl and more!

Original Post:
Hello All! A few streams back, the crew said that Invasion (one of my favourite gametypes.. EVER) was a great idea, but one that requires too many resources in order to get in game. Epic agreed that the biggest hurdle to getting this awesome gametype in the base game (or even the marketplace) would be art. Art takes time, and getting a full-fledged character from concept to reality takes a lot of work-hours. Good thing we have a huge community of artists looking to get some exposure and help out!

One of my favourite things to model are creatures. I first started doing creature sculpting about 7 years ago, and I got so stuck into it that creatures took over as my main form of artistic expression. So, I'm RIGHT at home doing some fun creatures for the new UT: and I know there are a TON of people here who would love to participate too!

This thread is my attempt at getting the community together to help fill out the Unreal universe's monster portfolio

We need gasbags, titans, warlords, dragonflies, those spider things from Hell (actual place in Unreal). Lets get this stuff going. Concepters can make awesome 2D art, modellers can make awesome 3D art, and animators can make awesome 4D art! Maybe we can only really get a few monsters in UT, but this is an awesome opportunity for artists to get together and help make a AAA title happen: not a bad thing to have on your portfolio; not to mention you can help create Invasion, Monster Hunt, and maybe the basis for a Single-Player or Co-Operative campaign!

So far I only have rough 3D scuplts to contribute, and I am by no means ready to devote 100% of my art time to this, BUT thats okay! The core of UT (maps, wepons, characters) is really important, and I don't want to rip away any artist from assets that are more immediately required, but if you have a craving to see a skarj pupae in-game: a bit of work here, a bit of work there: it all adds up! so don't be afraid to do an hour of work every couple of weeks in between devoting most of your time on other UT stuff!

That's what I have. I'm planning on finishing up at least one of the models I've started, maybe making some more concepts, but one monster does not an invasion make! Lets makes some art together!

[_Lynx]

Looks great. I'd say concentrate on the Skaarj, as it's the most obvious "mass" enemy and it will fit on any map. Another thing to save resources and time is take a book out of Gears book and make several types of Skaarj based off this design, with various added elements, using different colors and different weapons.

[Drekorig]

I love it if this skaarj character was modeled in the game, good job.

[Sly.]

Hi, Kazeo! I see we shared the same thought and if I may say so: I love your Nali Cow and Titan! Especially the Titan looks pretty darn sweet!

I once made a thread in which I wanted to post monster concepts regularily. Made a Manta ages ago, but life and PC troubles got in the way so didn't make any other monsters afterwards.

I've also sketched a Skaarj around that time as well (it's mostly about the face here) since I was never fond of the demon-like "hunchback Skaarj" that was posted in the first post of the Skaarj thread (they never had a hunchback to begin with).


And recently these three Skaarj heads:

And based on this study I made of the iconic Skaarj head shape (based on the Unreal 1 Skaarj)

I made a paintover of that one Necris Skaarj Hybrid model which looks like this:

With two variations [1] [2]
Here's the screencap of the model it was based off: [click me]

Feel free to use these!

I wanted to continue and get back to some monsters too after having posted those Skaarj, but of course then the aforementioned PC troubles evolved into PC death, so atm I'm on a 16GB Xubuntu USB stick on a scrap built PC with 2GB RAM, a Radeon HD 5770 from my now non-functioning PC and an intel dual core processor.
However, I configured my wacom tablet just a few hours ago and was testing what's possible in GIMP (it seems much much more than I expected).

This makes things unnecessarily complicated, but I wanted to stress-test what's possible on this setup anyway, so I may just try and make some more of the smaller monsters. You know, gasbags, a new manta and a razorfly, things like that. I cannot guarantee that anything's really possible in my current situation though. I'm very limited... :/

[KazeoHin-TechAE]

That's awesome, Sly! I was actually thinking of your work when I started this thread, and I was hoping you would be willing to share your work here! I couldn't agree more on the skarj paintover, whats surprising is that it would not be a huge change to what Epic has, but it makes a HUGE difference to the 'skarj-iness' of the model!

I plan to edit my current skarj mesh to be not so hunched over, but I like the other aspects of the design with regard to making the skarj a more alien, insectoid-reptile race. I mean, c'mon! thy start life as spider-like pupae and have a six-limbed queen! I think we need to celebrate their strange, alien tendencies!

The Titan is definately my favourite Unreal monster, in particular the stone titan. when you awaken it in Unreal, it was just too awesome to forget! I do plan on finishing the Titan first.

[Sly.]

Thanks!

Yeah the Titan battle was pretty epic with all the torches lighting up and him sitting on the throne. Looking forward where you're going to take it!

Right now the Skaarj looks very reptilian (mouth area) and dinosaur-like (forehead) with a demonic (lots of big horns) touch. I think the latter comes mostly from the high usage of horns on its body rather than just thicker and bigger scales as it was in old Skaarj versions. I'm also missing some of the insect influences. I think one could try to add some insect elements to the face to break it up a bit. My main worry with changing the Skaarj so much would be that monsters like the warlord (who is essentially just a bigger Skaarj) and the elites would need a complete redesign since their rough armour shape will in no way fit their new anatomy anymore.
I've also wondered if the regular Skaarj couldn't have smaller tusks while the warlord and any other "higher grade" Skaarj would have bigger ones or whether this sign of hierarchy should be inverted. I think it would at least make sense to use it like that. And while elite are placed higher in hierarchy, they could trim/cut off their tusks in order to have better protection - or because it's stylish.
Skaarj are intelligent beings and I think it's quite important to somehow get that across with the designs. I don't think I fully succeeded with that yet myself without making them more humanoid.

Once you are done with editing the hunchback of the Skaarj, post it here and if you wish, I might try to make a paintover and experiment a bit where one can take it. I think some more insect influences could definitely fit in there so that the pupae won't need many changes to their visuals either.

I take it ambient creatures will be necessary too, right? I'm pretty sure those who want to make a Monsterhunt 2 or Unreal-styled campaign would appreciate it. You know, those birds, fish and... okay the flies probably not, unless they would be made very exotic in visuals and actually recognizable from up close.

[MonsOlympus]

You could use these Kralls, I mean they arnt entirely precise but I think they are a great model. With the SP the rig matters less where it made the difference in UT3

[Wail]

You could use these Kralls, I mean they arnt entirely precise but I think they are a great model. With the SP the rig matters less where it made the difference in UT3

That's a good idea. I actually have been interested in repurposing bits and pieces from UT3, but my thoughts were more along the lines of taking pieces of machinery and turning them into robot / drone opponents.

Going the character route would be pretty sweet in a lot of ways, although with monsters it's way more interesting to have shapes outside of player-like silhouettes so taking advantage of that freedom is also important. If anyone could port a few UT3 models I'm certain that I or someone else could make use of them.

[artuur]

I've been waiting for thread like this for 2 years!
Somebody make that classic Skaarj from Unreal modern!
I am even looking forward to donate 10$
Liking SLY's artwork the most!

[KazeoHin-TechAE]

That's a good idea. I actually have been interested in repurposing bits and pieces from UT3, but my thoughts were more along the lines of taking pieces of machinery and turning them into robot / drone opponents.

Going the character route would be pretty sweet in a lot of ways, although with monsters it's way more interesting to have shapes outside of player-like silhouettes so taking advantage of that freedom is also important. If anyone could port a few UT3 models I'm certain that I or someone else could make use of them.

I have a bit of a problem with how the Krall were represented in UT3, first off, they're WAAAY too bulky, and their design follows the standard UT3: throw enough random useless detail in there until it is no longer recognisable. I would rather model it from the ground up...

But it may act as a starting point or benchmark for work. I would rather see original artwork made by the community for ALL the monsters.

That said, one of the ideas I had in my head was to import the original meshes from Unreal and sculpt them inside a digital sculpting tool like Zbrush or Mudbox. It would be a way to help the silhouettes stay true to the original designs.

[Wail]

I have a bit of a problem with how the Krall were represented in UT3, first off, they're WAAAY too bulky, and their design follows the standard UT3: throw enough random useless detail in there until it is no longer recognisable. I would rather model it from the ground up...

But it may act as a starting point or benchmark for work. I would rather see original artwork made by the community for ALL the monsters.

That said, one of the ideas I had in my head was to import the original meshes from Unreal and sculpt them inside a digital sculpting tool like Zbrush or Mudbox. It would be a way to help the silhouettes stay true to the original designs.

I don't disagree at all. It's just way better artistically than I would ever reasonably be able to do, so it's a good base to work from. I also would enjoy the opportunity to up-end some of the poor decisions made in UT3 in a way. e.g. use the Krall models, but give a better fiction for them existing than say, "Hey, those guys you fought in Unreal 1? We used their name again for these weird demon minotaurs that have nothing to do with the actual Krall."

[MonsOlympus]

"Hey, those guys you fought in Unreal 1? We used their name again for these weird demon minotaurs that have nothing to do with the actual Krall."

Well the armour is interchangable, thats just one of the looks for them in UT3. I know they seem to be missing a staff, or something like that or maybe it needs more witchdoctor. Anyway its something thats game ready quick so I thought Id suggest, I think it would be easier to just model sets then do the aliens as ambients, eg giant mosquitoes. I would really like to see the tournament levels more alive as well tbh

[OMNIETY OMEGA]

May as well place it here too. I don't know if it'll be of any use, but it might help in terms of just a general idea. Maybe more so the Pupae in particular than that Skaarj.

That Titan, Nali Cow, and Manta look amazing. Really hope to see invasion and its monsters make it back into this game. Wish I had the skills necessary to 3D model proficiently and take the model all the way into the game, if I could, I would've tried making some monsters.

[Kaal979]

I dont like these much - they appear some sort of
undefined rock thangs and less like hot monster pawns.
(Not to mention their very annoying teamglows.)

[MΛuL]

So excited to see you taking the initiative on this Kazeo! Wail has a good start on the gametype. Hopefully Epic will provide some support on the coding side for the monsters.