Icon Contest #10 - Custom Models/Skins

[chr2]

Beasts don't eat wood.

Beavers do!

Aight, I'm trying a different approach.

Potential (but highly unlikely) background:

 

[Sin'dorei300]

Looks great!

 

[I3lackDeath]

Chr2, if you stick to that background, atleast change its colour. It currently blends in with the wooden staff. That icon could also use more definition.

 

[Jolly_jumper]

Nice dude But somehow in that icon i feel the mace looks a bit small compared to how it is on the model :S Idk why though, just does
Also it feels like he's raised his mace a bit high, so maybe move the wood slightly higher up?
And that background doesn't fit imo, atleast not with that colour

PS: Many of the beasts in Fantasy Forest eats wood during the winter, not all beasts are carnivore;P

 

[Fjury]

at last, another wip.

I'm a terrible lazy person.

 

[Jolly_jumper]

Is that a Shield Punch or smth? It's a bit hard to see whats going on in that icon, but the outlines and details and such is awesome, the blue/teal stuff in the background however doesn't quite fit imo

 

[Fjury]

It is suposed to be some kind of shield slam ability. :>
But I've changed the backround colour to brown to hopefully look better.
I think the reason why it's hard to see what's going on is because of all the blood, but I missed one layer in the last image that might've been important to make the image look less chaotic.

< - >

Think you could help me out? :>

 

[I3lackDeath]

@Fjury
I get the idea of what you want to show, very interesting.
This needs much more definition though, so everyone will see on first sight what's going on there (which is the main thing an icon should do).
Shade it more, use wise highlights etc.

 

[D a w n]

the problem I see is that it currently looks like the shield would belong to that dwarf. So it looks like he'd hit himself. Personally I would reduce the detail or the design on the target of the shield bash and focus more on the shield.

 

[kola]

Change the color of the beard and the helmet to something different than yellow... Because right now it's confusing with the shield. And make the shadow stronger between the shield and the enemy.

 

[Fjury]

Thanks everyone for the awesome feedback. :>
I'll see what I can do do improve it now.

 

[D a w n]

Decided to try to join an icon contest once again.
First WIP of the day; got tired now and need some sleep(note: 2nd attachment is the icon in the size I work in)
Icons will be for this model http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/models-530/wildblueseahorse-193266/

 

[Sin'dorei300]

Current state:

Portrait:

Abilities:

Drink Ale
The Dwarf Monk drinks a cup of fresh dwarven ale, restoring an amount of health + mana and giving increased attack speed for an amount of time

Enchanted Axe
The dwarf monk enchants his axe with holy power, increasing his attack damage for an amount of time.

 

[Xian]

@BE300,good job on keeping the aura and color scheme just right,GJ!

 

[I3lackDeath]

@BloodElf300
Is the model actually holding a wooden mug? I didn't know this.
Still, think about changing its material to make everyone understand the intention of the icon.

 

[Vengeancekael]

^I think it's like the footman model where it takes out a mug for an animation.

 

[Sin'dorei300]

Thx for ur appreciation, guys!

 

[Jolly_jumper]

Nice details on the axe there, real smooth
I think you could do some small improvement to it though, if you made the aura/glow more similar to how it is on ur other ability icon i got a feeling it would look even better, also it looks a little empty in it's background, that could probably be fixed by that making that glow more vibrant though
Anyways....GJ!

 

[Pyramidhe@d]

fjury. here is a tip. or anyone else that do icons and arts.
anything going perfectly horizontal or vertical implies stability, rigidness, order and something that is immobile.
anything going diagonally implies instability, disorder and movement.

that's why a lot of blizzard icons use a diagonal for spell icons, cos it looks dynamic.

your shield bash movement is currently going from right to left. the line of implied motion is seemingly horizontal. it is very formal.

if you were to tilt the image a bit more on an angle, it would imply instability, something violent, something abrupt. also, it tells a story. if you are going from down right to up left, it is a shield upper cut. if you are going from up right to down left, it is a shield that charges down from above, implying that the dwarf is the weaker character, a prey to your shield bash since it occupies the lower space.

if you are having trouble making the dwarf more in pain, then you could put tears in his eyes, his mouth open with teeth flying out or even one of his eyeballs bulging out like it is going to pop out. you can even slightly warp his whole head. exaggerate the pain on the facial expressions because you have a small icon and you need exaggeration to get the emotion across

---------------------------------
i normally dont give feedbacks on people's icons in contests because that throws off the whole point of having a fair contest. so if anyone feels cheated, you know where to find me. bring me your icons.

 

[chr2]

I decided to make it a passive ability instead. So, here's the first ability icon:

Devastating Blows
The Orc Commander's attacks slow enemies on hit and reduces their armor.

 

[Sin'dorei300]

Updates:

Portrait:

>

>

Abilities:

Drink Ale
The Dwarf Monk drinks a cup of fresh dwarven ale, restoring an amount of health + mana and giving increased attack speed for an amount of time

>

Enchanted Axe
The dwarf monk enchants his axe with holy power, increasing his attack damage.

 

[Jolly_jumper]

chr2 that skill icon looks just perfect to me now

BE300 all those 3 portaits look great to me!^^ I'd have a hard time choosing which one to use And the glow around the axe looks great like that, but i think u should try to center it if ur gonna make it a passive icon, i guess u might also have to make it just a little bit smaller, or idk, maybe placing it slightly lower and to the right would make it fit just right, i guess we'll see ;P

 

[morbent]

Mephisto, Lord of Hatred

I'll enter with this model:
http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/models-530/mephisto-48083/?prev=search%3Dmephisto%26d%3Dlist%26r%3D20
Icons:

- Prime Evil

- Charged Bolt

- Lightning (I know, it needs a lot of fix.)

- Hatred (This is an aura, I know that Mephisto doesn't have this spell, but he does have a lower resistance aura so I think it fits.)

 

[snowman990]

@morbent: nice icon, I like prime evil, look fantastic. but I think you should improve charged bolt. It look like a blueish crack. For the passive one, I can't see his horns, you should add it since the model has horns.

 

[morbent]

Well, it should be representing him as a wanderer, but oh well, if you guys want ok... cuz, I've been told that I have to follow Warcraft 3 style and making an icon for a model that doesn't look like that aint Warcraft :\

 

[Xian]

Prime evil is badass

 

[morbent]

Thanks.

 

[Jolly_jumper]

@Morbent I used to be a hardcore D2 fan hehe and Mephisto is a really good choice!
Ur unit icon looks f*cking awesome man! I love the shape of ur Charged Bolt, looks just like one of Mephisto's spells in the game, GJ! But it looks a bit...idk how to put it....old?^^ Could use some more definition, i think it's the glow/shading around it that makes it look old, maybe if u tried to remove that shading and increase the contrast and see where u go from there
The lightning looks almost done imo^^ Only improvement i would make there would be to use either the burn or sharpen tool(if ur using PS) with like a 3px size brush in the midle of it, and slightly increase the blue colours, if ur still not happy maybe try just keeping the larger lightning bolt and remove the small one and see where that brings you?
The aura looks rly cool, evil and obviously fitting as a debuffing aura, it does however look a bit blurry to me, idk how you would fix it, maybe try increasing contrasts a little bit and go over it slightly with the sharpen tool, i'm only familiar with Photoshop so if ur using something else idk what the tools there are named
Anyways overall a rly GJ i'm looking forward to seeing ur next WIPs post
PS: if i were to suggest another ability for Mephisto, maybe you could have a spawn elemental/minions?

 

[morbent]

I know I write too much, don't read for your own sake

Yes the aura is blurry, I'm still working on it, but I3lackdeath told me to post my icons to get critique and still work on them, so I'm presenting it to you as a Beta icon. I use photoshop CS, old version, but I prefer it to new ones, it has all you mentioned. I've been thinking on making a Blizzard icon since Uber Mephisto has one, but I can't get it to look cool, and the poison nova spell (poison gas, but the name is poison nova) - I can't figure out how to make it in an icon so I'll give it up, I have no idea about the 4th icon but I'll think of something (Mephisto also has Frost Nova, but I can't make a frost ring in an icon, it looks kinda empty). I thought that people will dislike the Lightning icon and not the Charged Bolt one cuz well, the Charged Bolts look Warcraft stylish and the Lightning doesn't, it's monocolored (I won't be changing the mono color, just the details). And I've read almost everything about Mephisto, I know he summons undead. I was thinking of a shade but I can't fit it in a 64x64 sized icon. So I guess I'll stick to a skeleton, still, all I can do is a hand rising from the grave, cuz a part of him will have to represent the skull, which aint cool, cuz then 3 of my icons will be skulls. That will look stupid. I also had the idea of making his Skull Missle spell, the frost ball as we know it. Yes, the one that 1 hits you, as we Diablo 2 fans, know it. But to make it really cool I'll have to add the skull since it's a Skull missle but I can't do that, as I said 3 skull icons. Thanks for the comment, finally a person who has played Diablo II. I doubt others will though, for them, my icons suck (for me they do too actually, way too blurry etc) cuz well, an undead (mephisto model) who has 2 lightning spells, that are totally different, one white and one blue, and an evil undead with a hood (the PAS), that makes no sence since the model is an undead with horns (although this is the wanderer form of Mephisto that we never got to see).

 

[morbent]

Great icon BloodElf, I mean the last one, the axe... Second version is way cooler than the first one, I never liked outer line glowing. Now it looks as if the axe is really sharp. And it has Power. I'd suggest making the metal a little rusty and the wood a bit... na, I don't know the word... woody? It looks a bit lacquered. No problem in that, but dwarves tend to take no care for the weapons. Don't mind me, do whatever you want, it still looks great . I like how with time you made the unit icon soooo, awesome. I mean it's got contrast (something my icons lack) and good colors. That golden thing on his head looks really good, probably there is something more to be made, there always is about any icon, but I can't see it, it looks great.

Grendel, I really liked your images as you made them one by one, but I still don't know which model you're making them for :]. Razor Spine is the best.

PeeKay, what can I say, you're the best icon maker I've ever seen, but probably the Gryphon icon needs atmosphere. That's the least I learned from your icons. You make awesome background for your icons btw, so I'm sure you'll make this one awesome too.

JollyD, the Gnoll Mechanic looks better than before, more contrast and it's awesome. I really like the gadget you made, quite a cool paw.

Marcos, the treant mage icon looks really good, it's got contrast and good colors and everything. I also like the hand, it could be a poisonous strike, I don't know.

kola, I really like the passive, although I think that the unit icon needs a bit more contrast and atmosphere... you know guys, from what I've learned, atmosphere is one of the most important things. Why are Diablo 2, Warcraft 3, Republic Commando good games? How come the Diablo 2 Epilogue cinematic still be = to WOTLK Arthas? Well, the dark atmosphere gives this feeling... I can't explain it... you can't make good "feels" with only a model, you need atmosphere. That's why I'm a bit confused about the latest contest, but I'm sure our fine modelers will still make us feel something when looking at their models. Anyway, that isn't something to talk about here. kola, I also think that the arrow needs to be sharper, it will give the feeling of the Strike it will carry in. And from sharper I don't mean only the edge, make the wood thinner, and the light around the steel to be sharper. But it looks cool, don't mind me :\

Apheraz Lucent, all icons great... except Shooting Stars... I don't like outer glow. Around something. But that's just my opinion. Great choice of colors. And you know about the hand, as many people told you, it looks kinda strange... it's still great though.



Hmm... remember, that's just my opinion and believe me... I'm a strange person so... as I said above many times, don't mind me I wish luck to all with winning this contest.

 

[Jolly_jumper]

And you think u write too much hehe :P

If u wanna make a poisonous gas icon i'd suggest just making a green cloud and some sort of creature in the midle of it where the lower part of his torso(don't need to show his legs) is disintegrating/halfway to becoming a skeleton and his face looking like he's in great pain or sickness, maybe some pieces of his skin is missing, get the picture?

I don't think you should make a Frost Nova ability when you got 2 lightning abilities, mixing elements, if so you would have to skip one of the lightning abilities and make a third elemental ability which would make Mephisto "multi elemental", however the poisonous gas works somewhat like a third element so i guess it could work like that, but idk, i would stick to those 2 lightning abilities and make the last ability a raise the dead type of skill

Doesn't have to be raise the dead though, it could be summon lightning elemental, for raise the dead you could have like a skeleton or a zombie crawling up from the ground, don't need to show his hand imo For summon lightning elemental you could just look at different lightning elemental models and find which one u like the bast and base it on that, or you could make him spawn minions which would look like miniature Mephistos just without his horns, if u choose that you should concentrate more on his "foglike" body than the face.

I don't see ur aura icon as a man with a hood^^ I just see some evil burning eyes and vicious teeth, to me it just looks like smth which is supposed to represent an evil presence which does bad things to you aka a debuff aura hehe

I think you're off to a rly good start, hope my comments might spike ur creativity, looking forward to seeing ur progress

 

[morbent]

Yes I thought about the dying creature but I last time I tried to make one in an icon I failed so I won't be taking that chance. His face will not be seen, because if I want 3/4 or even 2/4 from the body I won't have the place to put details on the face to show it's feelings. Diablo 2 doesn't have lightning elementals and I want to present Mephisto as the Lord of Hatred he is so I think I need an undead, read some stories about Mephisto, he's really demonic and how can I make an elemental demonic? I could try the thing with the little mephistos, hard to fit them in a 64x64 icon but ... we'll see, as Count Dooku says. Yeah I guess I added too much red to the lines of the hood... and I'll be editing it soon, as I said it's Beta :]. And yes you did give me some ideas... I never thought of an army of skeletons, cuz I couldn't make the hand of a rising from the grave skeleton and with your idea of the mephistos I think I'm on to something. But before I start my last icon, I'll edit these.

Writing a lot is kinda annoying, we should stop this

 

[Jolly_jumper]

A demonic elemental would have a dark shade with blood-red highlights, burning, angry eyes and horns, the horns could point both upwards and downwards imo
Gotta make sure the shade doesn't look fiery though cause that would make it look too similar to a fire elemental

I'm not sure if i would try to make the aura icon look like the wanderer form of Mephisto, it's supposed to be an aura so looking like an evil presence like it does now is awesome imo
But maybe you should remove the stuff i circled in green here

And instead make it look like smoke that ascends from the evil presence

 

[morbent]

The stuff you circled is a pentagram
And I think that it fills the empty space, I wanted to make it really dark so I didn't color the skull but I guess I'll have to. And if you dont see the outer lines as the lines of a hood, as what do you see them? Anyway, I'll soon draw some plain ideas about the dying in poison gas creature, I have an idea and about the skeleton summoning. The elemental thing, I really like how you describe it and how it will probably look in the end, but I just can't imagine an elemental to be a summoning of Mephisto, cuz Diablo II had no elemental summonings except of the Hydra (sorceress skills).



WOW!: I think I realized why you guys hate charged bolt, I'm on the laptop now and it is brighter than my normal computer. There's this white glow that looks really dumb. The lightning's fog is waaaay too white viewed from the laptop.

 

[Jolly_jumper]

Hehe i rly can't see the hood^^ I see the dark red part as something you should make look more "smokey" (i would call the aura "Fear" or "Frighten" smth like that, allthough hatred is good too hehe)
But this would be the WC3 version of Mephisto and imo it would be natural for the WC3version to summon elementals

 

[Apheraz Lucent]

Guys. The icons should fit the model, not lore characters. Just sayin'.

 

[morbent]

Yeah, I guess. I will show you the stuff I was talking about probably tomorrow, I'm not in the mood of drawing right now. But it has to be Hatred, cuz well... he is the Lord of Hatred. And if you want it to be smoke then... oh well ok... just imagine that you can't see the hood completely, only the lines that are around the face. And about the pentagram.. I can make it a big bigger but, probably you're right. I'll have to remove it. It cannot be seen, it's way too small.


I know Apheraz Lucent but I'm not here for any reputation and first place, etc. I just want to make these icons, I've got nothing to do anyway.

 

[chr2]

Aight, another icon:

Tactical Retreat
The Orc Commander leaps backwards, jumping safely out of combat.

I'm not too happy about this one, and if I have enough time, I'll redo it/make another one when all my other icons are finished.

 

[Apheraz Lucent]

Third WIP of my Iconset:

Thanks to your suggestions, I improved what I foresaw, and added the sketch of the Hero Icon as well.

I still need to get that ear fixed in the second icon, had no time, sorry.

 

[snowman990]

Nice icons apheraz, but her eyes is small, make it larger a little bit.

 

[Sin'dorei300]

Current state:

Portrait:

Abilities:

Drink Ale
The Dwarf Monk drinks a cup of fresh dwarven ale, restoring an amount of health + mana and giving increased attack speed for an amount of time

Enchanted Axe
The dwarf monk enchants his axe with holy power, increasing his attack damage.

Heavy Strike
The dwarf monk heavily strikes with his mace a target enemy, dealing massive damage and making the unit bleed for a period of time.

 

[chr2]

Current state:

Portrait:

Abilities:

Drink Ale
The Dwarf Monk drinks a cup of fresh dwarven ale, restoring an amount of health + mana and giving increased attack speed for an amount of time

Enchanted Axe
The dwarf monk enchants his axe with holy power, increasing his attack damage.

Heavy Strike
The dwarf monk heavily strikes with his mace a target enemy, dealing massive damage and making the unit bleed for a period of time.

Heavy Strike looks amazing! Good job

 

[Sin'dorei300]

Heavy Strike looks amazing! Good job

Thx!

 

[Deolrin]

That looks great, but Heavy Strike ruins the color scheme. The ultimate ability should be red as well, or you should recolor Heavy Strike to have some kind of yellowish hue to it. Maybe a background glow or something, I'm not sure, or maybe replace the blood with yellow glow.

 

[morbent]

No I think it's cool like that, it looks great!

 

[I3lackDeath]

Morbent, a fitting and coherent colour sheme is essential to an entry.
I'd advise BloodElf300 to take Deolrin's suggestions into account.
He can always attach the "original" versions of his icons to the respective uploads later.

 

[Marcos DAB]

Treant Mage
The model: Treant Mage

Leach Ritual
Redirects the flow of living energy through a target friend or foe, damaging them or healing them depending on how many trees are near it.

Heartstopper
Prevents target's life regeneration for a few seconds, also causing damage over time based on the hero intelligence. The damage is doubled if the target is near trees.

Hallucinogenic Stick
Gives a certain percentage to make the enemy does not distinguish allies from enemies. For a brief period based on number of nearby trees.

?????
?????

Extra Stuff
Perhaps I'll work on all the icons.

 

[JollyD]

Third WIP of my Iconset:

Thanks to your suggestions, I improved what I foresaw, and added the sketch of the Hero Icon as well.

I still need to get that ear fixed in the second icon, had no time, sorry.

GJ, especially on portrait

 

[snowman990]

@marcos dab: what a nice set of icons

 

[I3lackDeath]

Dear contestants and followers of Icon Contest #10!

I hereby announce that Wazzz has been banned and I have been demoted.
Thus, neither of us will be judges in this contest anymore.

As long as I am still around, feel free to ask for feedback.

You all did a wonderful job, your entries are truly impressive.