The WIP Thread

[Demolisher]

Guess what this is.

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[Blade3327]

Pick me! Pick me! The House of Chthon map in your super-special-awesome <and fully 3-D> Quake mod for GZDoom? Glad that you're working on it again, man .

[Nash]

More doodling... I'm not happy with it but I'll continue later. Since I can't use my scanner anymore, I have to do my outlines directly in Photoshop with a tablet... and it feels nothing like drawing with pencil and paper. :/

[hnsolo77]

more wip shots from my hpack map.

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[esselfortium]

The atmosphere looks good. It really needs height variation though! Not just some stairs between sections, but rooms with walkways and higher rooms that overlook them, etc... In those shots, despite the differing heights used for detail and map structures, the actual playing space looks totally flat. I'm going to toss along my usual recommendations of Suspended in Dusk and the Scythe series for layout/height-variation/connectivity study and inspiration (these are all pretty much related).

[printz]

Yeah, but maybe hnsolo77 wanted to go specifically for a hallway or tunnel layout, that lacks complexity by itself. To me they look like the typical curved tunnels through which fast monsters attack.

The reason that I ask is because of this observation that OpenGL ports tend to be brighter than software Doom. I'm not disputing the observation - it's pretty obviously the case.

What?? I see all OpenGL incarnations as darker than their software counterparts! For me playing GZDoom is like going into the dark.

[hnsolo77]

Yeah, but maybe hnsolo77 wanted to go specifically for a hallway or tunnel layout, that lacks complexity by itself. To me they look like the typical curved tunnels through which fast monsters attack.

the idea is to have a somewhat structured castly type structure... but im probably going to say screw it and nerf a large section of the first floor and leave the flatness for a small section, then use the other chunk of the first floor as sorta a combined thing with the second floor. 3d floors ahoy for that.

nerfing due to the Wolfenstein syndrome the first floor currently has.

[printz]

In fact those curved tunnels reminded me of one map: E3M5 Unholy Cathedral, which admittedly is not bad. I'm not sure you should ditch that, unless it plays boring.

[hnsolo77]

aw hell why not give it a shot? if it works it works, if not i can then eliminate what does not work.

gameplay first, aesthetics second. *aka why the damn ceiling has little/no detail at all currently*

[leileilol]

More doodling...

add head and thigh wings, implants, turn the gap into a heart and you've got morrigan aensland

[Ryan Cordell]

More doodling... I'm not happy with it but I'll continue later. Since I can't use my scanner anymore, I have to do my outlines directly in Photoshop with a tablet... and it feels nothing like drawing with pencil and paper. :/

Let's see..

The eyes seem to be a bit too high, as does the head seem a little bit too large, thanks to the hair - shorten down the hair by just a small amount and take the eyes down a bit. Her arms look rather stiff thanks to being so close to her body - they just seem unrelaxed. The nose is the biggest issue here, being one of those really pesky things to get just about right. However, she just has a blank state to her - she has no defining emotion, no other defining characteristics (how shadows are cast on her face, which parts of her face are highlighted and featured).. I also think that her raised hip seems to be a way bit too high than necessary - are breasts usually spread apart so much? I think they're a bit closer, pointing more downwards, not outwards. Might be just me though.

There might be a lot of things I'm missing to point out however.. You best take it up with some heavy duty artistic site.. I usually recommend Pixelation - it doesn't necessarily have to be pixel art only there, however.

[printz]

More doodling... I'm not happy with it but I'll continue later. Since I can't use my scanner anymore, I have to do my outlines directly in Photoshop with a tablet... and it feels nothing like drawing with pencil and paper. :/

Let's see..

The eyes seem to be a bit too high, as does the head seem a little bit too large, thanks to the hair - shorten down the hair by just a small amount and take the eyes down a bit. Her arms look rather stiff thanks to being so close to her body - they just seem unrelaxed. The nose is the biggest issue here, being one of those really pesky things to get just about right. However, she just has a blank state to her - she has no defining emotion, no other defining characteristics (how shadows are cast on her face, which parts of her face are highlighted and featured).. I also think that her raised hip seems to be a way bit too high than necessary - are breasts usually spread apart so much? I think they're a bit closer, pointing more downwards, not outwards. Might be just me though.

Actually, one I know from college looks just like that. Big head and all. Still now that I see it, I'd suggest Nash to remove those creepy photorealistic eyes and replace them with doodled ones. I just hate when that's done over cartoons.

[Gez]

This, if anybody is interested.

[Phobus]

Playing through Heroes Tales - the first wad I've ever played that I couldn't succinctly put an opinion too. My /idgames comment ended up being excessively vague to try and avoid this. I'd honestly need an awful lot of space to say exactly what I think.

On MAP22, after having slogged through two very unenjoyable but good looking maps. I guess having a week to make a map means some people try and get a good look and end up with simplistic or unconsidered gameplay. Suffered from "Where the fuck am I going now?" at least twice too. The smaller levels did all seem good... until I got to Guard Tower (MAP20 I believe), where the start was frustrating after the beasting I'd taken in the previous, very unenjoyable level, and then the end was just too many (randomly-warping about) cyberdemons to be any real fun. Although, honestly, with the size of one or two of the levels, it's easy to see why they were "altered initiatively" and that some took two weeks. The Russian-English translations in the intermission texts are quite funny though!

Even that really doesn't sum it up though. Suffice it to say, I'd be unlikely to play it again if ever I finish it.

[Nash]

Criticism

Thanks... all of your points are valid and I'll look into fixing them. However, I doubt it'll improve much because my skill is not enough. :P

I also haven't been drawing anything seriously for YEARS (last time I took CG'ing seriously was in 2002)... one thing I'd like to say is drawing with a tablet is very different from drawing with a pencil.

I probably got lost with the proportions because I am zoomed in the Photoshop canvas like 500% most of the time because I can't draw with a tablet in a stable manner. If I draw zoomed out, the lines end up all crooked and unsmooth. As I've said before... I'd normally draw on paper first then paint in PS but since my scanner doesn't work anymore, all I'm left is with the tablet to do my outlines with.

I take this as a challenge though so that I can improve using the tablet (which has been collecting dust before this).

Regarding the "eyes too realistic" issue - well, the outlines are just meant to be a guide - once I start painting, the outlines will be erased... same issue with the nose - it's only meant to be a guide as to where the nose would go so I know where to shade when I start colouring. I definitely don't intend for the nose to have such a crappy outline in the final product.

Anyway, thanks again for the crits.

EDIT:



After coming to accept the fact that I'm now a n00b to painting and need to start small... I shall attempt to do portraits first before I do full figures/scenes. This is basic outline and colour practice... shading will come next.

(I know the lips are crooked - will fix that later. I hate outlining with tablets :/)