Altar of Darkness and Derivatives

[Moderator]

Misha 20th Oct 2013

Moderator's Review: I agree that the statue should be more blocky and stylized representation of Sylvanas, would surely help making a much better wrap on the back, instead of the horrible stretch that cape hides. so yeah.. make it similar to other altars and get rid of that cape. and.. draw a better forsaken banner if you want to keep those on the model..

works nicely ingame and looks cool. approved

Reasons specified in the PM

 

[Lordul Dracula]

gz man 5/5

 

[Kyrbi0]

Interesting. I suppose it makes sense for them to worship Sylvanas, of sorts...

Although I kinda think it would look better with a more blocky/stylized Dark Ranger, rather than the well-detailed one you have there. Most Altar's have a statue that is barely recognizable as [insert race here], and more of just a personage-like figure.

Interesting color scheme.

 

[Voidwalker]

I would suggest you to add more detail to the back pillars. They look rather plain like that. And like Kyrbi0 said, the statue should be blockier, because the detailed contrasts a bit with the more geometric style of the altar.

But other than that, it's pretty great. It's good to see a Forsaken model pack in the making.

 

[Forsaken]

nice ideia, but i thing that sylvanas can be more detailed 4/5

 

[andreasaspenberg]

i might use it for my forsaken faction but people need to convince blizzard to increase map sizes.

 

[Go'el]

It's very great
___________________________________________________________________

For The Horde!

 

[Chen]

Yay! Forsaken altar. 100/100 Just Continue.
Hmmm..Altar of Queens? They only have one queen. Maybe Altar of Torment? Will? Anyways useful.

 

[Avex]

i might use it for my forsaken faction but people need to convince blizzard to increase map sizes.

You mean the size of the map or the space the map can take up? Such as the 8mb limit?

Else, you can get 480x480 maps, so.

 

[Sunreaver]

Nice

 

[Snake4Y5H]

Simple and amazing models.

I like it...

 

[Sunreaver]

Yay! Forsaken altar. 100/100 Just Continue.
Hmmm..Altar of Queens? They only have one queen. Maybe Altar of Torment? Will? Anyways useful.

Altar of Banshee suits better

 

[Chen]

Altar of Banshee suits better

Altars are named for those they worship or respect.

 

[Renly Baratheon]

Can't wait for the entire pack.

 

[Go'el]

Hmmm..Altar of Queens? They only have one queen. Maybe Altar of Torment? Will? Anyways useful.

Altar of Banshee suits better

Altars are named for those they worship or respect.

But the altar of humans is called 'Altar of Kings', so what's the problem of this altar be called 'Altar of Queens' ??

 

[andreasaspenberg]

the map developers can call it what they want inside the map so why argue. the name in the map doesnt need to fit the model name.

 

[Kyrbi0]

But the altar of humans is called 'Altar of Kings', so what's the problem of this altar be called 'Altar of Queens' ??

You know, you might've just swayed me entirely...

I'm big on naming things appropriately, and Altar's are one of the most non-obvious thing that people often get 'wrong'. Silly stuff, like "Altar of Doomosity" or "Altar of Gnolls" or "Altar of the Evil Gaiz".

I've talked about this before (somewhere...), but Altar's are most commonly named something as an often-subtle indication of the Faction's primary focus or pinnacle. "Torment", "Rebellion", and "Anguish" all come to mind with the Forsaken... But as I've been working on races, I realized that some custom races are quite well described in terms of the original four:

• Jungle Trolls -> the barbarity of the Horde with the nature-themes of the Sentinels.
• Naga -> the caste-based society of the Sentinels with the calculated xenophobia of the Scourge.
• Dwarves -> the loyalty of the Alliance with the battle-mind of the Horde
• Pandaren -> the serenity-wrapped steel of the Sentinels, with the honor of the Alliance
• and
• Forsaken -> the cruelty of the Scourge, with the vestiges of the Alliance

Both in terms of Theme and Role (Aesthetics & Gameplay), I feel that the Forsaken are most well-represented by a sort of "Human/Undead" hybrid; building instead of summoning structures, but still needing Blight (?)... Having a mix of possessed Humans and nefarious Undead (esp. Spirits); well-rounded mix of casters, warriors, and creatures.

Anyway, my point with all this is (as time draws short for me): the Humans indeed have the "Altar of Kings". And while all the above words ("torment/abandonment/rebellion/anguish/etc") are great, considering their Human-esque origins & their rallying behind Sylvanas... Well, let's just say "Altar of Queens" isn't too bad after all.

(maybe good for "Naga", but they already have "Altar of the Depths")

 

[Kyrbi0]

Sorry to double-post (surprised no one has commented after me; this is a good model...), but had a few thoughts:

I really rather like it so far, now that I've gotten a chance to take a look at it's updated form. The changes are quite good; the backing for the statue, the texture-wrapping, the changes to the statue. I like the obelisks & the dome... I especially like the mix you've made of the Human & Undead elements (banners/flags, with graveyard obelisks & "downwards-stairs" like the Undead Altar).

However, I still feel like there are a few things to change to really perfect this model. For one, the image on the flags is too stretched, too detailed, and sadly, completely lost in any sort of view. I had to really zoom in to realize it was the Forsaken crest; a great icon, but nothing that should be on a Building (the way it's drawn is all wrong for Wc3 textures, IMO). I like the idea of banner/flags, but there's got to be something else to put there.
Further, the stark grey of the obelisks seems kinda off, next to that garish deep purple you have (like all the other Forsaken buildings) in the central columns.

My biggest beef, aside from the flag-pics, is mainly just the statue, though. It's better than it was, but it still needs some tweaking. Looking at the other Altars

IMAGES!

The original 4(5)

~
Not a perfect example, but a Jungle Troll Altar (of Blood) I had Deolrin make for me.

~
All of them

The statue is always barely recognizable, few features, not well-defined at all. In yours, however, it's quite easy to tell the Dark Ranger with a stone-grey texture. Might there be some way to further 'wear down' those features?

Keep up the great work. No one else has done as much as you towards giving side-races actual Buildings like this.

 

[ayrton9617]

I get the altar of the forsaken statue of yellow sylvanas is not as in the picture. Help with that problem

 

[Mister_Haudrauf]

Hey @Ujimasa Hojo Here is an Icon for your
Altar of Queens:
BTNForsakenAltarOfQueens.blp
DISBTNForsakenAltarOfQueens.blp

Tried to make the same angle. However i don't know, if i got it right.

 

[Ujimasa Hojo]

Please put all replies in my Resources Discussions instead.

 

[Mortimm]

Absolutely awesome collection. I love these!

 

[JCarrill0]

I downloaded Altar of Darkness (Demon). Well done!