I decided to review the models to help me decide which model I should vote for. Please note that what was really important for me, a lot more than how well a model looks, was how well it would look in-game and how much it fits the lore, considering the theme is
Warcraft Heroes.
General Frank's and M0rbid's Human Executioner:
General:
The first impression I had when I oppened the model was... What the hell is up with those eyes? Yeah... The eyes look very strange. He looks as though he just saw a ghost. But otherwise, nothing really caught my attention, except maybe for that hugeass axe on his back(that I later found out he can use in combat as well). The model doesn't makes much sense to me, considering it's supposed to be a Warcraft hero. I can't connect him to any group or force in Warcraft 3 lore. He
could be an Argent Dawn member, judging by the color of his armor and his title, but you said nothing about it in the submission post nor did I notice the Argent Dawn's symbol or anything, anywhere.
Mesh:
The mesh seems to be edited from Arthas or the Blademaster, but looks very unique at the same time, except for the head which is obviously Arthas'. The head is for some reason facing
upwards, like he's looking at the sky. The eyebrows seem to grow from his armor, too. The huge shoulderpads seem to be scratch made, and are a very nice touch. They're way too huge for my liking though, I'll get to that later. The weapons look very nice and unique. Overall, the mesh is nice looking. Nothing more to say here.
Animations:
You have used standard Blizzard animations, which is understandable and fine, especially for a humanoid model. The animations fit well. There are quite some flaws with them, however. In many animations and especially the Alternate ones, many parts of the model go through eachother, for example the hugeass axe and the shoulderpads(which is why I said I don't like them, they're way too big). This is not so minor when it's so visible - especially on Stand Ready Alternate. The Attack Walk Stand Spin animations seem to be bugged in Magos, thou I haven't tested in-game - the whirlwind seems to spin all over the place, presumably thanks to some Global Sequence considering the sequence duration itself is rather short. There is something very strange with the Alternate Walk animations. When he holds too small axes, he seems to walk heavily and slowly. When he holds this huge axe in
one hand, he seems to literally sprint. He moves way too easily and with way too much agility for someone carrying a huge metal axe in
one hand.
Skin:
Overall the skin is very nice. I don't have too much to point out. The teamcolored parts look bad... They're too bleak, shiny and bright, which contrasts the metal parts too much. The only teamcolors that work well that I've noticed were Black and Brown. Red teamcolor makes him look like he's wearing spiderman's outfit. I think it would have been a lot better if you added teamcolor on some of the metallic parts, for example the shoulderpads, the axe handles, and a few parts of the chest. The metallic parts look very, very nice though.
Team Pink Baloons' Bandit Berserker:
General:
Overall, the model design is not too detailed nor too lacking in detail. It looks just fine. There is nothing that terribly stands out in the model nor anything that looks extraordinary awesome(which means
too awesome; so awesome it simply wont fit with the rest of the model, or the Warcraft 3 models), which is good. The model would make sense as a Bandit hero, but I feel you was very uninspired on the lore aspect. It feels as though as you made a random and generic knight or warrior rather than a bandit lord with a backtstory behind him. It feels like you was uninspired by the bandits in Warcraft, especially when it comes to the color scheme. I think it would have looked much better with the proper color scheme, for one - black and shiny metallic armor, dark-brown leather armor etc. It does seems like it wont be
too out of place in WC3, though.
Mesh:
The mesh is simple and effective. It looks rather good. I like the helmet and the big mace, as well as the teamcolored tabard. The shoulderpads look fine and just in the right size. I feel it lacks something to define it as a 'hero', though - perhaps a cape, or an actual face behind the helmet(e.g., the helmet could have had a hole in the front or something, so we could see his face). I also like how the gloves are detailed, even though that would never be seen in-game.
Animations:
First of all, there are very few animations. Not enough for a hero. I sort of like the attack animations, but that's about it. You should have included some particles or something in the Spell animation, and perhaps come up with a few other spell animations. The stand ready animation is just lame. You should have changed his stance a bit from Stand to Stand Ready, at least move his shield to match how it looks like during Attack animations. Death is really, REALLY simple and... Well, sort of lame. There isn't any actual digital movement, he just... Falls back. He should have at least moved a bit while he was on his back, like try to stand up or breath his last breaths. Instead he just dies very, very quickly and immediately rises to the sky. Doesn't fits a hero very well in my opinion. The walk animation looks strange. It doesn't seems to fit any other animation on the model; I definitely imagine him as slowly walking, using the same stance as he has during Stand, as though as he is sneaking up(due to the heavy weight of the mace and his armor). The walk animation doesn't looks too realistic overall.
Skin:
I liked the skin. It's simple and effective and detailed enough for a Warcraft 3 model. The emblem on the shield is really nice. Not much more to say here.
Team Brazilian Force's Death Mistress:
General:
The first impression I got was that the model is
way too detailed for Warcraft 3. There are so many details packed up in the model, it's literally hard to see what's going on. For example... The unnecessarily 3D chains(should have been alphaed out planes), the actual detailed fingers, the tiny skulls on her pelvis - and those are just a few. It doesn't looks very much like a Warcraft 3 model, and has a huge polycount. Looks more like something I'd see in WoW. The skull on her back is nice, because it characterizes her as a hero, like the paladin has a huge cape etc. But the details are simply an overkill.
I wouldn't have a hard time believing it's a Forsaken assassin under the service of Sylvanas, but not only did HappyCockroach not mention it
anywhere at all, when I did ask him if that was their idea in the first place, and explained what the Forsaken are(which felt very unnecessary to me), he simply asked me: "Okay, what does that has to do with the model?". That leads me to believe that HappyCockroach and his teammate were completely uninspired by Warcraft and its lore. This is a great degrading factor for me personally. It's sad so few people are aware of\are interested in the Warcraft lore.
Mesh:
As I said, the mesh is overall way too detailed for a standard Warcraft 3 hero. It is nicely done but unnecessarily high-poly. It looks sleek like an assassin model should be. Not much more to say here.
Animations:
The animations were overall pretty good. I like stand ready - it looks quick and deadly. The idea for the death animation is just awesome. I love how badass she looks until it is revealed she's so ugly behind her mask. My primary concern was how
weak the animations seemed - especially the attack animations. I totally expected her to strike swiftly and with great power, but when I look at the Attack animations, it looks like she gently sweeps her weapons in front of her. More than so, the scythe's attack sequence seems a little wrong. I'd imagine her slashing from top to down vertically, but instead it looks like she sorta... Sticks the tip at the enemy's shoulder, or something like that, which looks a lot less deadly considering she may very well has cut off her opponent's entire arm with one deadly and powerful slash. Overall, both attack animations and the Walk animation look very slow.
Skin:
The skin is pretty good, but like the mesh, it is way too detailed to my liking. Her skin color could have been a bit darker to fit the color of the Dark Ranger, as they seem to be of similar origin? It definitely looks like she might be a banshee who possessed her or someone else's dead corpse.
Team Obviously's Johanus Foul:
General:
First of all.. I have no idea how to identify the character. At first I thought it may have been a simple undead under the service of the Lich King... But then I realized it can morph into a demon; metamorphosis, an ability only demon hunters are said to possess. So an undead demon hunter? He seems way too armed and armored for that, not to mention not having the classical elven ears. The only thing I could think of is that the character is purely a creation of the artist, unrelated in no way, shape or form to warcraft lore. The colors don't make sense, either - what's that pink color supposed to be, leather armor? And teal\blue metal? I never saw something like that except in Runescape. So immediately, my impression was pretty bad.
Mesh:
The mesh looks basic, and yet strange in a way. It's good because it is simple, like it should be. But there are some things I found quite strange. He seems very thin; unmuscular. How can he hold such a heavy blade, in one hand? Not to mention he has some weird shoulderpad-like thing on his right arm, which would only make holding the blade ever more heavier. He has detailed fingers that would never be seen in-game, and there is a huge hole in the middle of his sword. His hood has some pretty annoying clipping issues. Other than that, it's pretty standard.
Animations:
The animations... Where to start... They're pretty terrible. :/ Attack 2 makes no sense whatsoever. He
swings his blade upwards? What is that even supposed to mean? Attack 3 looks more standard luckily. The attack animations both seem pretty powerful and quick, which is good, but then again, he swings it so easily and quickly, especially before he slashes and while he just raises his sword in the air, it just makes no sense considering he's using only one hand(in attack 3 at least) and he seems so weak. Attack Slam looks rather decent, but why is he holding his sword in the air for so long? Attack Spell makes no sense whatsoever, and looks weird. Is he supposed to be stabbing? If so, I'd imagine him pulling his sword backwards to the side of his chest and then stabbing with full force, like a spear. He doesn't even moves his arms... Only his hands. Death looks pretty strange, but passable for me. His sword drops pretty awkwardly to be honest. Spell looks okay, although too quick. He bends over too quickly and finishes the whole motion very very fast. And that is also where I noticed the strangest part.. The glow is yellow. An undead overlord... Who can morph into a demon... Using HOLY magic? That makes absolutely no sense WHATSOEVER to me, honestly. Spell one is way too quick, and again, makes not a lot of sense. Spell Slam looks fine and good. He walks really strangely, why is he bending forward like so? The particles look really strange on Morph, when looking at them in Magos at least. During all or most of the alternate animations, the demon is bent over really strangely, he looks very unbalanced. His feet keep on moving back and forth on the ground. And he just... Disappears into a cloud of black dust in Walk? I mean... What the hell? If he is phasing in and out of existence, you should have at least made him sort of disappearing and re-appearing from time to time on Walk. It makes no sense to me. That's all I have to say about the animations.
Skin:
The skin looks fine, but the colors don't fit at all. Not only do they contrast terribly with eachother, they're also don't fit the theme of an undead overlord at all. The face looks allright-ish, though.
Team Number 1's Dwarf Monk Pilgrim:
General:
First of all, this is probably the only model I immediately liked after I saw it. It is characteristically dwarfish in proportions and appearance - short and stout, with long hair and a long beard. The overall design is pretty awesome. The robe is great and the staff-axe is just pure win. The model looks like it would easily fit into Warcraft 3, and it makes perfect sense to me, lore-wise, even though Skrab didn't mention any background information. The colors would fit both a Wildhammer dwarf and an Ironforge dwarf; he doesn't looks out of place at all. I can easily imagine him as being a Wildhammer adventurer, or just any dwarf that serves the Church of the Holy Light.
Mesh:
He is short and stout like a dwarf should be... As I already mentioned beforehand. The mesh overall looks good. The axe-staff weapon looks awesome, and nothing is too detailed, or undetailed. He has no excess details such as fingers or 3D chains. The beard design is fairly unique and he doesn't reminds me of any dwarf in-game, making the mesh rather original from my point of view.
Animations:
The animations are sufficient, and sufficiently epic for a hero. All three stand animations are just lovely; he drinks beer and kicks ass. Pretty badass.
I would have loved to see a couple other attack animations and maybe a few other spell animations, though. With the right sounds in-game, the attack animation would look just right, despite not looking very powerful in the viewer. Stand Ready is just awesome. Walk looks pretty good, not too fast and not too slow. I would have loved to see some holy, yellow particles on Spell though(or maybe there are some? I can't see any in Magos anyways, but the Node manager seems to say you do have some particles there!). You should change "footprint boot small" to "footprint boot large" though, he has pretty big feet and all heroes have large footprints.
Skin:
The skin is great. I love the details on the robe, on the beard and on the axe. There's one thing I'd like to point out however, the teamcolor on the robe looks very bleak, way too bright and desaturated. You should have removed the color on the texture before creating an alpha layer, and instead you should have simply shaded it through the alpha layer.
Overall, all contestants with no exceptions did a great job. I decided to vote for Team Number 1 because their model just has this 'charm' that I love, it fits in-game and looks great.
I VOTED for da tANK kuz it's teh only modul that haz weehlz!! !111!!!9!! !!
