Skaarj Concept

[TeriyakiStyle]

Hey Seth.!

That's a great sketch - I like how you solved for the straps in the back and the mech arm details - he seems a bit more agile than mine which I like. Inspiring stuff.

Time to noodle on some armor bits! Nice to see you here dude.

[HeisenbergTrip]

Wow Seth, epic first post lol

@TeriyakiStyle That skaarj is getting awesome! Just one small thing that i didn't see anyone saying: Doesn't it have alot of detail? Like GoW? People say UE4 is a beast in lighting, maybe there's a few tricks to make it "2014". But.. i'm a newbie here, just giving my 2 cents

[MΛuL]

Ahhhhh.... so nice to come over to the Art forum after getting stuck in the rabbit hole aka the Movement forum.

Yeah I second the "wow Seth" for the most amazing first post in a forum!

TeriyakiStyle: Incredible level of effort you have put in. Your last update is looking awesome! The only thing I'm having a hard time with are the elfin ears. I guess I'm still thinking reptilian with just holes for ears but then it throws off the balance of the current head shape you have.

[Mik2121]

Hey TeriyakiStyle, the improvements to your model have been amazing. It's looking so much better now!

Also glad that Perna (and I assume the general thinking over at Epic) is more towards going with simpler designs.

Seth, your model is amazing too. You guys are doing a great job with the characters! Can't wait for this project to get into the "let's get the art ready" phase and have even more people pumping awesome stuff here.

[SDAHeatWave]

I have a couple of questions, would this skaarj be a character that you can choose in the options menu or is it a monster for Invasion/Monster Hunt? If it is for Invasion/Monster, after we can see something that can be used for the final product can we convert it to a robot? I don't know if you guys remember but in the first Unreal, the map "The Darkening" it was said they made Luminescent Skaarj and I will quote the description,

These are experiments that the player will fight while exploring the Skaarj Mothership after destroying the main Generator and plunging the ship into inky blackness. They are translucent, and glow green, which makes them visible in the blackness of the ship. They are strong and aggressive, but ultimately not too much different from regular Skaarj in terms of tactics. Luminescent Skaarj also appear from the Warrior caste, which, unlike the Trooper, come in more then one type of variation

So maybe the robotic skaarj warrior can be the final product of these "experiments." Just a little suggestion, it doesn't have to be done. Also maybe rename the topic title to Skaarj Warrior since Skaarj is the entire race which consist: pupapes, troopers, warrors, queen, warlord.

[seth.]

thanks for the kind words guys, if you have any further thoughts on proportions or anatomy throw them at me, I wont have a chance to work on him till the weekend but everything will be taken on board, I'm going to sift through everything thats been said about the skaarj so far and try and put that in there too...this thread grew a hell of a lot from when I got it in my head to make him!

[Diode]

It's an absolutely great model, but in the context of an arena shooter, I have to say that it's not something I would want to play with - all characters should be accurately represented by the same hitbox. As limiting as that is, I feel it's absolutely essential to an arena shooter, particularly one with *headshots*. How do you land a headshot on that guy from behind?

On top of that, it's not really a Skaarj to me. They were always upright and proud just like their blatantly obvious inspiration - the Predator. The hunched back is cool for portraying something monstrous, but it makes them lose that prideful, noble look.

I feel like a gigantic **** typing this because that model's beautiful, but it just doesn't seem right to me.

[Joen]

It's an absolutely great model, but in the context of an arena shooter, I have to say that it's not something I would want to play with - all characters should be accurately represented by the same hitbox. As limiting as that is, I feel it's absolutely essential to an arena shooter, particularly one with *headshots*. How do you land a headshot on that guy from behind?

On top of that, it's not really a Skaarj to me. They were always upright and proud just like their blatantly obvious inspiration - the Predator. The hunched back is cool for portraying something monstrous, but it makes them lose that prideful, noble look.

I feel like a gigantic **** typing this because that model's beautiful, but it just doesn't seem right to me.

I didn't say anything about the hunched over look yet, but I was going to, since it was on my mind. But now I'm going to, since you mention it and make a rather good point. I was thinking more in the vein of that the hunched over look makes their silhouette too similar to the Krall as they were presented in UT3.

[bass3]

I think seth nailed the concept.

[TeriyakiStyle]

Some updates. Need to do the arm tomorrow.

[Chris Perna]

WOW! you guys have been busy!

Seth, your take on the Skaarj is fantastic, great first go. He looks super agile.

Proportionally and detail-wise I think you nailed the concept. I think the face is where he needs the most work. In particular the nose, mouth and eye areas.


TeriyakiStyle, yours is coming along great as well. For me the head and face still need a bit of work. I love what you did with the skin and the tusks. The ears are giving him an "orcish" appearance and I would modify, make them smaller or lose them altogether. I see them as a reptilian race and reptiles normally don't have external ears. Just an observation.

Good work though guys. Really digging these and looking forward to seeing more.

The quality of the artwork is blowing me away.

-Chris

[Gooba]

There's already some killer stuff going on here, but I had to take a crack at it.

[Chris Perna]

That's really nice.

[Flak]

Love it Gooba!

[GreatEmerald]

Lore reminder: In Unreal there are different types of Skaarj. Skaarj Berserkers are the ones who are beefy. Skaarj Assassins are the ones that are cunning (and use Samurai-like armour). And, well, Skaarj Officers who look nothing like the standard Skaarj, but I guess it would be interesting to see an implementation of them as well, hmm... And there were things like Ice Skaarj, too. But yea, that means that variety has always been there, so you can't try and generalise that all Skaarj should be skinny or bulky.

I like the pictures, yea, although the face still bothers me... It feels a bit too deformed, compared to the original Unreal Skaarj. They had foreheads sticking out, while here it's the chin that seems to be dominant (which makes me think of fantasy ogres, instead of the reptilian Skaarj). Same thing in UT1 and Unreal II, the foreheads were the dominant feature.