Concept Shot: Thorp Blackpaw

[GreyArchon]

Since I've been asked to make a new model/skin for Thorp, I'll post the progress here:

Depending on the feedback from Tommi and Janne, he might undergo more changes eventually.

 

[Mr. Level Maker Person]

Looks nice! Is the file size large? Nobody wants to spend an extra half-hour downloading the map due to extra skins. But it looks nice anyway.

 

[GreyArchon]

Looks nice! Is the file size large? Nobody wants to spend an extra half-hour downloading the map due to extra skins. But it looks nice anyway.

Custom Hero: 1 KB
Model: 146 KB
Skin: 80 KB
Blackpaw in action: Priceless

There are some things filesize can't afford. For the rest: ArchonCard.

 

[Tommi]

My comments:
+ The icon on the back is nice with the crown.
+ The gold/brass ball on the flail is a great idea!
- To me, somehow two spears on the back don't look so good, compared to one spear on other models.
- The fur texture isn't as good as with Blizzard models. It doesn't look like fur at places, e.g. arms. What are the white spots over his body (arms, ass)?

The last thing I was looking at was the cap. Hmm... Does it make him look like a warrior-king?

I think you should wait for Janne's comments, before doing any modifications. He is our graphics guy and he also created Thorp Blackpaw for the story.

 

[Janne]

I'll get back to you soon

I just got my Internet connection working at home, but now I must rush to work. I'll get back to you later when I'm back. The beginning looks good, I'll return with suggestions how to improve the model.

 

[GreyArchon]

My comments:
+ The icon on the back is nice with the crown.
+ The gold/brass ball on the flail is a great idea!
- To me, somehow two spears on the back don't look so good, compared to one spear on other models.
- The fur texture isn't as good as with Blizzard models. It doesn't look like fur at places, e.g. arms. What are the white spots over his body (arms, ass)?

The last thing I was looking at was the cap. Hmm... Does it make him look like a warrior-king?

I think you should wait for Janne's comments, before doing any modifications. He is our graphics guy and he also created Thorp Blackpaw for the story.

The white spots are part of a pair of golden gauntlets he's wearing. Unfortunatly Blizzard decided to use the same part of the BLP for his ass as for his arms. :\

The cap, I dunno. Since those Overseers are the only ones wearing caps with those markings are the ones with authority, I think a King of a tribe would wear a cap too, only with different markings.

I'll wait for Janne's suggestions.

Edit; Oh, and there're subtle changes too. He's taller (not bigger, taller), has a longer tail and longer muzzle.

 

[Tommi]

How about if Thorp had black leather gloves or black steel gauntlets? It might go well together with the name Blackpaw. 8)

 

[Terai]

How about making Thorps hair/fur black? It could be hard to do this so it looks natural, but it would be quite cool I think...

 

[GreyArchon]

How about making Thorps hair/fur black? It could be hard to do this so it looks natural, but it would be quite cool I think...

I'm trying to make him resemble the Thorp Blackpaw from chapter 3.

Meaning furcolor somewhat more yellowish-beige.

 

[Tommi]

It's possible to update the model to Chapter 3, too. In fact, I think it is a good idea!

The most important thing is that the model looks cool and original, not that it resembles the original Thorp that is a recolored Gnoll Overseer. Recoloring was a decent solution for us, who have no skills in modelling and limited skills in skinning.

Cheers!

 

[GreyArchon]

It's possible to update the model to Chapter 3, too. In fact, I think it is a good idea!

The most important thing is that the model looks cool and original, not that it resembles the original Thorp that is a recolored Gnoll Overseer. Recoloring was a decent solution for us, who have no skills in modelling and limited skills in skinning.

Cheers!

That gives me more freedom in altering his furcolor. Hmm... I'm getting more ideas now.

 

[GreyArchon]

Removed the gauntlets, gave him a more alterated furcolor, made teeth slightly brighter, and made his paws black.
The model shares the location of the paws on the BLP with the undersides/backsides of his legs- these become the color of his paws. Thus, also black.

 

[Janne]

My Comments

I looked at the pictures, and they look quite good already. The crown symbol on the back is brilliant; new skin color and bronze flail are nice, too. The 2 spears on the back are ok, although it would be better if they were scepters of some sort (golden / silver with gemstone embeddings; probably silver, as otherwise there may be too much yellow). I wonder if you can make them look like that, otherwise leave them as they are.

The blue coloring of the outfit is quite ok, but might be better if it were (majestic) purple instead. Like gnoll warden's but darker. Yellow/golden decorations are ok with both colors.

Adding the dissipate animation was a good idea. You could add the hero glow, too. Send me the model file when you are ready. I could have a closer look at it with the World Editor, especially at the animations.

Many thanks for all the work with Thorp's model! It looks good already, and I'm sure it will be great in the end!

 

[GreyArchon]

Re: My Comments

I looked at the pictures, and they look quite good already. The crown symbol on the back is brilliant; new skin color and bronze flail are nice, too. The 2 spears on the back are ok, although it would be better if they were scepters of some sort (golden / silver with gemstone embeddings; probably silver, as otherwise there may be too much yellow). I wonder if you can make them look like that, otherwise leave them as they are.

The blue coloring of the outfit is quite ok, but might be better if it were (majestic) purple instead. Like gnoll warden's but darker. Yellow/golden decorations are ok with both colors.

Adding the dissipate animation was a good idea. You could add the hero glow, too. Send me the model file when you are ready. I could have a closer look at it with the World Editor, especially at the animations.

Many thanks for all the work with Thorp's model! It looks good already, and I'm sure it will be great in the end!

Excellent idea on the scepter thing! I'll get right on that. Not sure about making it a purple color because he'll already have purple teamcolor, right? Meaning his armwraps will be purple already. But we'll see how it looks!

Yes, it has Dissipate and Spell, though I'm looking for a way to tweak the spell animation. For now, it's the same as the Gnoll Warden's, but his jaw doesn't open when he does it, and his flail doesnt move naturally.. so it needs tweaking.

 

[Janne]

Team color

Thorp is only temporarily purple during his first dialogue, before he changes his side to the player. For most time, his team color will be either red (1 player) or blue (2 players). We could try purple and see how he looks like. Blue might be ok as well, I have to see and compare first.

 

[GreyArchon]

Re: Team color

Thorp is only temporarily purple during his first dialogue, before he changes his side to the player. For most time, his team color will be either red (1 player) or blue (2 players). We could try purple and see how he looks like. Blue might be ok as well, I have to see and compare first.

I'll make 2 versions of the skin, in that case.

 

[GreyArchon]

Well, I'm afraid I have a bit of bad news. As it stands now, I cant edit the spears on Thorp's back to resemble Scepters. It doesn't have enough keypoints to properly shape the tip into either an orb or a cube.

Adding Hero Glow is giving me some difficulties too- You sure you guys can't do it with triggers?

Better news is is that the purple color does look rather good.

 

[Janne]

Reply

You may not need to shape the spear's head as a sphere or a a cube. Instead, a feasible solution might be to widen the spear from its head end and shorten the length of the spear's head. The result would be (I guess) a pyramid-like shape on the head of the spear and a shaft part (rod) that widens towards the head. A proper skin might then do the job. However, if this seems too complicated, let us leave spears to be spears, perhaps with silver heads; a king might be prepared to have some weapons against undead & werewolves, which are unaffected by normal weapons.

For some ideas for the scepter skin, go to google, select images, and type "scepter". Of course, gnolls' scepters need not necessarily resemble human scepters.

I wonder what is the problem with the hero glow. Anyway, it is a minor point; we will do well without it. However, somebody reading this forum might be able to give you some tips as how to add the hero glow. We won't probably be adding it through triggers, rather we will leave it out otherwise.

I'm looking forward to seeing Thorp in purple.

 

[GreyArchon]

Progress! Only thing left is that damned Hero Glow.
I tried a proper model/skin edit to have him have scepters, but it didn't work out well at all. Blizzard really designed this unit with simplicity in mind, meh.. :\

 

[Janne]

Looks brilliant

This looks great, Grey Archon. It is good to see that you got the portrait working. Hero glow is not that important, but if you are able to add it, the better. If not, that is ok as well. Anyway, when you are ready, send me ([email protected] or [email protected], both are ok) the model, so I can look at it in more detail, and see if everything is ok with it in practice. Great job altogether!

 

[GreyArchon]

I've gone and taken another try at adding a hero glow... Read this:

http://www.wc3campaigns.com/showthread.php?t=28831&

Worst tutorial ever. I consider myself a pretty intelligent guy, but this tutorial is just so damn awful. It has gaps, missing important things for everyone who hasn't done it before... and at the end...

"counting geosets". This would take HOURS, and adding a hero glow by downloading the Hero Glow set from this site and triggering would take SECONDS.

Man, I'm pissed off right now. Adding hero glow by MDL editing is definatly NOT worth the time and effort.

Ready to receive the Thorp model, Janne and Tommi?

 

[Janne]

Pronto

I agree that adding the hero glow by actually editing the MDL is unnecessarily laborious. And yes, I'm ready. I'm waiting to see the new Thorp model in action.

Many thanks for all the effort. We'll let you have the new version of Temple as soon as we have finished with it.