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Tauer's Models 2.0

Level 11
Joined
Nov 23, 2013
Messages
665
Oh my goodness. Those are absolutely fantastic. I'm so grateful we have you here, even if not often. It was completely worth the wait!
Can't wait to see the final results!
Time to go back to our Warcraft 2-based projects, guys!
 
Level 2
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
25
Hey guys!

So. Ralle has helped me reopen this thread, partly at SpasMaster's request, partly because I wanted to give an update to you guys myself.

Before I get your hopes up too much, I am not ready for a release just yet. It's getting very close though. Before New Year's might be too optimistic, but at least sometime in January. I have been insanely busy this past year - studies have taken up most of my spare time. COVID hasn't helped much, although thankfully neither I nor my loved ones have been hit by it as of yet. I hope you guys are all staying safe!

Despite being busier than ever, I am actually paradoxically finding myself chipping away at the last pieces of the project at a faster pace than I have in some time. I think the studies are stressing me out so much that working on these models actually help me de-stress :grin:

I'd like to thank everybody who still checks in here and offers their support. As a show of gratitude I have decided to finally reveal what I have been working on with a little teaser:



I apologize for being a drama-queen and keeping it hidden, I just felt that releasing them all together was an opportunity I couldn't miss :)

I promise to get it finished and released as soon as I can - it's been like 3 years since I've uploaded a new model. Time flies.


OMG!!! HE'S BACK! :)
 
At last, the secret is revealed!! Been a heck of a time not telling anyone about those beauties in your absence, lmao.

Good to have you back, ol' buddy!

First Gul'dan and now Turalyon.
Where are the fucking ponies!?

If Tauer does not want to give Gul'dan a skeletor pony, he doesn't have to give Gul'dan a fucking skeletor pony!
(Not actually mad, just a reference to a convo that was had with a hilariously bad troll on the ORIGINAL Tauer Gul'dan model XD)
 
Level 39
Joined
Jul 26, 2004
Messages
1,481
Those are absolutely fantastic. I'm so grateful we have you here, even if not often. It was completely worth the wait!

Thank you! I'm grateful for you guys! It would be sad to make models without anyone to appreciate them :)

Time indeed flies my friend. But your skills are getting sharper and sharper each passing year. Great job!

Heck yeah baby, whatta lineup. Lookin' schweet. : )

HOLY SHI...ELD! These are AWESOME. Welcome back, Master)

I'm blown away. Can't wait for these bad boys. :)

Cool and welcome back!

Thanks guys! :D

OMG!!! HE'S BACK! :)

I'm back! :gg:

Nice, I see you went for a slightly more low poly approach this time. neato. I like it.

I think Danath and Khadgar are indeed a bit more low poly than my usual stuff :)

First Gul'dan and now Turalyon.
Where are the fucking ponies!?

If Tauer does not want to give Gul'dan a skeletor pony, he doesn't have to give Gul'dan a fucking skeletor pony!

Ah, good ol' Crusadius. Miss that guy :xxd:

Jokes aside - Great job as always, Tauer. You might just inspire me to put in a few more hours into the world editor.

Thank you! Been a while man, how are you? I'm glad that you get some measure of inspiration from my stuff :D

At last, the secret is revealed!! Been a heck of a time not telling anyone about those beauties in your absence, lmao.

Indeed! It's been way too long an absence. This is the first and last time I release so many models together.

Good to have you back, ol' buddy!

Thanks mate, glad to be back :)
 
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Level 39
Joined
Jul 26, 2004
Messages
1,481
I think its probably time to get into texturing myself as well, you definetly need competitors here :p

I'd love to see what you could do with custom textures! You should definitely give it a shot :)

Good stuff Tauer! Very promising! And I like you try to keep it classic . You're pulling it off quite well.

Yeah, I think I'll always stick to Classic models - making Reforged models from scratch just seems like such a massive undertaking, especially considering how long it takes me to get models made in the first place. I doubt I'd ever get one released lol

The mishandling of the Reforged release also took away a lot of my hype for it. As sad as it sounds, I just don't care that much about it anymore. I'd rather just play Classic.
Uhh, liking that Wizard tho :peasant-ok-hand: Can't wait to see some sick animations :peasant-popcorn:

Oh, you'll see animations alright :p I made a fuckton of animations for these guys. That's the main reason it's taken so long!

Ever so slowly getting closer to a release guys. Just be patient a little longer :D
 
Level 7
Joined
Jun 26, 2010
Messages
250
Thanks for sticking to Classic, Tauer. And good work on those meshes and textures! I recognized all those guys almost instantly. :)
 

Archian

Site Director
Level 61
Joined
Jan 1, 2006
Messages
3,046
Yeah, I think I'll always stick to Classic models - making Reforged models from scratch just seems like such a massive undertaking, especially considering how long it takes me to get models made in the first place. I doubt I'd ever get one released lol
You stay classy son. :peasant-ok-hand:

Oh, you'll see animations alright :p I made a fuckton of animations for these guys. That's the main reason it's taken so long!

 

Rommel

Hosted Project: HoS
Level 19
Joined
Mar 31, 2004
Messages
132
When I get back in classic after Reforged to work, among other things, on Khadgar model.
And am linked THIS.

Tauer, you magnificent modeller, I salute you!

One thing, however, shouldn't Khadgar have short hair and goatee? He had them in Warcraft 2 manual, game icon and movies, and grew a long beard only in TBC.
Nevertheless, looking forward to release, this certainly makes me not think twice about switching to classic)
 
Level 39
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Messages
1,481
After an unnaturally busy exam period, I can finally get back to these guys :)

When I get back in classic after Reforged to work, among other things, on Khadgar model.
And am linked THIS.

Tauer, you magnificent modeller, I salute you!

Thanks man, great to see you back here as well! :grin:

One thing, however, shouldn't Khadgar have short hair and goatee? He had them in Warcraft 2 manual, game icon and movies, and grew a long beard only in TBC.

Good point! Thing is that Khadgar has maybe the most inconsistent character design in all of fiction, so I've been taking some liberties with his design. Note that what I showed in the preview is Old Khadgar, there will be a young one as well that's more inspired by the WCII icon.

Here's a few of the different official designs Khadgar has had throughout the decades:


4-r9ic93-png.372459

180px-khadgarcinematicw2-jpg.372460

rhbwu-jpg.372461

khadgar_wod-png.372462

khadgardarkportalw2-jpg.372463

lothar_and_khadgar-jpg.372464

khadgar_wc2-jpg.372466



Super inconsistent :p

So what I've done is to try to incorporate parts of these different designs as well as descriptions from the books, particularly The Last Guardian and Tides of Darkness novelization.

Young Khadgar will be based primarily on the WCII icon, albeit a younger version of it. As described in The Last Guardian, Khadgar ages quite significantly when Medivh drains him, which makes him grow a white beard. So the version that you see in the preview is after he has been drained by Medivh.

Here's a little preview of Young Trust:

javaw_hgl65uwwyj-png.372467


Nevertheless, looking forward to release, this certainly makes me not think twice about switching to classic)

Yeah... I think I will be sticking with Classic. Reforged just wasn't the remaster I hoped it would be. I was pretty disappointed. Not to say other people can't enjoy it, but it's just not my cup of tea.
 

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Rommel

Hosted Project: HoS
Level 19
Joined
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Messages
132
True to that, though he's nowhere as inconsistent as Blackhand, for example, whose WC2, WoD and film looks have literally nothing in common, and then they somehow set the film one as canon in main universe!

I think it's safe to assume Khadgar had short hair, his beard/goatee size is debatable but it's long only in one canon source - Valley of Heroes statue, which is inaccurate in-lore (like them messing the looks of Turalyon too). And his model before WoD was a placeholder, it's a generic mage npc from alpha.
Metzen's art, while cool, is loosely related to game models (like his Sylvanas being having stiched skin). Comic looks are based on the placeholder, they also had one ugly Gu'dan (though they did get Cho'gall right)
There was one obscure RPG picture of him looking a veeery old man.

I like his young version, though! Does this mean we're getting more than one version of each hero?

Also, will Kurdran and Sky'ree be separate units as well as main mounted flyer?

And regarding Reforged, its biggest flaw is that they messed things that were working perfectly in old game. Like removing campaign support.
I do love what ppl at Chronicles of the Second War are doing, that's what I never saw in War3 to be honest - all War1/2 mods were lacking on either lore or visuals (one of the reasons HoS came to be).

Then again, your models do fix the visual part to a degree)
 
Level 34
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Messages
2,733
True to that, though he's nowhere as inconsistent as Blackhand, for example, whose WC2, WoD and film looks have literally nothing in common, and then they somehow set the film one as canon in main universe!

I think it's safe to assume Khadgar had short hair, his beard/goatee size is debatable but it's long only in one canon source - Valley of Heroes statue, which is inaccurate in-lore (like them messing the looks of Turalyon too). And his model before WoD was a placeholder, it's a generic mage npc from alpha.
Metzen's art, while cool, is loosely related to game models (like his Sylvanas being having stiched skin). Comic looks are based on the placeholder, they also had one ugly Gu'dan (though they did get Cho'gall right)
There was one obscure RPG picture of him looking a veeery old man.

I like his young version, though! Does this mean we're getting more than one version of each hero?

Also, will Kurdran and Sky'ree be separate units as well as main mounted flyer?

And regarding Reforged, its biggest flaw is that they messed things that were working perfectly in old game. Like removing campaign support.
I do love what ppl at Chronicles of the Second War are doing, that's what I never saw in War3 to be honest - all War1/2 mods were lacking on either lore or visuals (one of the reasons HoS came to be).

Then again, your models do fix the visual part to a degree)
add it the hearthstone young khadgar to the equation XD:
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/hearthstone_gamepedia/images/e/eb/Archmage's_Apprentice_full.jpg
 
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Level 39
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Jul 26, 2004
Messages
1,481
True to that, though he's nowhere as inconsistent as Blackhand, for example, whose WC2, WoD and film looks have literally nothing in common, and then they somehow set the film one as canon in main universe!

True dat, Blackhand has some pretty inconsistent design, although I'm not sure I'd count the movie since that's a different canon. But the WoD design is just so epically stupid that I refuse to acknowledge it. To me, Blackhand will always have that antler helmet. However, I'd still say that Khadgar has him beat in terms of the sheer number of different designs.

I think it's safe to assume Khadgar had short hair, his beard/goatee size is debatable but it's long only in one canon source - Valley of Heroes statue, which is inaccurate in-lore (like them messing the looks of Turalyon too). And his model before WoD was a placeholder, it's a generic mage npc from alpha.

Oh yeah, the short hair is a must. My Old Khadgar also has short hair, albeit with a hood covering it :)

Metzen's art, while cool, is loosely related to game models

Fair point, however, I do love me some Metzen art. Many of my models are inspired by his drawings, including my Doomhammer. The Metzen Doomhammer is the quintessential Doomhammer design in my opinion.

I like his young version, though! Does this mean we're getting more than one version of each hero?

Not necessarily a different version of each hero, but they all have some variety that makes them stand out :D except for:

Also, will Kurdran and Sky'ree be separate units as well as main mounted flyer?

Probably not for the first release, unfortunately. I originally wanted to make separate models as well, but it would set me back too much if I had to push the release until I do this. So for now, Kurdran and Sky'ree will be a package deal. I would like to make at least Kurdran standalone at some point though, for cinematic purposes.

And regarding Reforged, its biggest flaw is that they messed things that were working perfectly in old game. Like removing campaign support.

Yeah, that's definitely a big part of it. The fact that custom campaigns are still not possible is just inexcusable at this point. But to be honest, while the new art is freaking cool and all, I still prefer the old school handpainted look over it. It just seems like a staple of Warcraft by now. But that's just personal preference though.

I do love what ppl at Chronicles of the Second War are doing, that's what I never saw in War3 to be honest - all War1/2 mods were lacking on either lore or visuals (one of the reasons HoS came to be).

That project does look really interesting! Haven't really had a chance to try it out, since I refunded my Reforged copy :hohum:

Figured I'd give you guys some small teasers when I post, so here's a look at a quick reskin I did for Alleria:

javaw_0gj7tzalsa-png.372481


A Blood Elf version. I seem to remember @SpasMaster mentioning he needed this at some point, so figured I'd make it available with release :grin:
 

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SpasMaster

Hosted Project: SC
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I still remember when you first teased Alleria few years ago and I've been waiting for her since. And it seems to me the wait will turn out to have been worth it.

Even though I am Horde at heart and the new batch of models you have coming is mostly Alliance (BE Alleria being the exception), I am still so happy and grateful that you are still around, delivering top quality models as usual.

The blood elf skin looks amazing, man. I can't wait to get my hands on her (that.. may sound inappropriate :D ) and I hope you'll be around to bring us even more stuff in the future. And rest assured, I'll be there to support you.

Cheers.
 
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1,481
Even though I am Horde at heart

Oh man, you best believe I am having Orc-modeling withdrawals! I think it must be several years now without working on an Orc. Can't wait to get these bloody pink-skins finished so I can get back to the real deal :D

This guy will probably be the first after The Sons have been released:

wip8-jpg.372567


The blood elf skin looks amazing, man. I can't wait to get my hands on her (that.. may sound inappropriate :D ) and I hope you'll be around to bring us even more stuff in the future. And rest assured, I'll be there to support you.

Cheers.

Thanks man, appreciate the support :)

Hmm, something to show you guys. I guess I can show you guys something I made whenever I wanted a break from The Sons, but keep in mind that he's probably a ways off still. Want to get Killrogg finished before I finish this one:


3-jpg.372568

1-jpg.372569

 

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Level 9
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Gracious goodness. These look terrific! I recognize the Lich King, but I don't recognize the orc. Who might that be?

Side note, I remember seeing you work on a Velen model years ago, will you ever go back to him?
 
Level 39
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Gracious goodness. These look terrific! I recognize the Lich King, but I don't recognize the orc. Who might that be?

The Orc is Kilrogg Deadeye, based on the original Samwise concept:

latest


Side note, I remember seeing you work on a Velen model years ago, will you ever go back to him?

Wow, that's an old one! I still have the files lying around. Apparently, I made the mesh in 2015! That's kinda crazy.

wip1-png.372614


I might get around to him eventually, but he's not the highest priority to be honest. He'll probably need a lot of tweaking as well since I made the original mesh using the WoW model as a reference, so the proportions are way off for a WC3 model.
 

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Level 50
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Wow, that's an old one! I still have the files lying around. Apparently, I made the mesh in 2015! That's kinda crazy.

wip1-png.372614


I might get around to him eventually, but he's not the highest priority to be honest. He'll probably need a lot of tweaking as well since I made the original mesh using the WoW model as a reference, so the proportions are way off for a WC3 model.
Actually I think it's good as it is. He looks a lot tall in the WoW cinematics and the models in wc3 are somehow squished, but there are several models that are not like that, like Kael'thas or Sorceress.
 
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Those models look great! I hope I'm not repeating anyone else by asking if you'll release those on the HIVE for the community to use? That model of Aleria is killer!
 
Level 9
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The Orc is Kilrogg Deadeye, based on the original Samwise concept:

latest




Wow, that's an old one! I still have the files lying around. Apparently, I made the mesh in 2015! That's kinda crazy.

wip1-png.372614


I might get around to him eventually, but he's not the highest priority to be honest. He'll probably need a lot of tweaking as well since I made the original mesh using the WoW model as a reference, so the proportions are way off for a WC3 model.


Understood! Great works anyhow!

Also this is page 69, funny number.
 
Level 39
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Actually I think it's good as it is. He looks a lot tall in the WoW cinematics and the models in wc3 are somehow squished, but there are several models that are not like that, like Kael'thas or Sorceress.

True, he is quite tall. But I'd probably still want to at least match the proportions to the Blizzard Eredar models, like Archimonde.

Well, what can I say to all of this besides: GLORIOUS!

Awesome work Tauer!

Understood! Great works anyhow!

Thanks! :D

Those models look great! I hope I'm not repeating anyone else by asking if you'll release those on the HIVE for the community to use? That model of Aleria is killer!

Of course! I always release my models here ;)

That face, skin & pose is incredible. Wow.

<3

Still working on wrapping up the last animation work. Khadgar is taking too damn long - 3 different versions all with unique animations.

Meanwhile, little preview of Turalyon's alternate animations:

javaw_t8iufblqsx-png.373116
 

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Level 39
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God damn, he looks absolutely epic.

<3

I like the contrast of the textures you've shown. Very smooth and well refined.

Thanks, man! Texturing is probably my favorite part of doing these models, so I'm stoked to hear that you like it :thumbs_up:
Good news! Old and Young Khadgar are pretty much finished. Only missing the last version and then the models should actually be ready for release. This weekend is probably a bit optimistic, but I'm not ruling anything out!

A few previews of the animations (sorry for the poor image quality):

oodwnfzty6-gif.373494

efdtglxpag-gif.373495
 

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The thing I've always liked about your texturing Tauer is how stylised and cartoony it is. Very keeping imo with the look and feel of Warcraft 3. Some people make the mistake of going too realistic when it comes to skinning but when it comes to units, your style is definitely top notch.
 
Level 39
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The thing I've always liked about your texturing Tauer is how stylised and cartoony it is. Very keeping imo with the look and feel of Warcraft 3. Some people make the mistake of going too realistic when it comes to skinning but when it comes to units, your style is definitely top notch.

Wow, thanks! Mimicking an art style is pretty hard, so that's some high praise :D

I like the Khadgar models, but I have to say that the hood on old Khadgar is not my favourite. It looks a bit too rounded and silly somehow, perhaps a more extreme, angular, pointed shape would suit him better? Plus, perhaps trim it with silver like the tabard.

Hmm yeah, I do get your point. Clipping issues were a nightmare with that hood, which is why it ended up being a bit spherical. I might try to play around with it a bit more before release. It does have the silver trimming actually, it's just not very clear from the GIF :p

The beard waving is a nice touch. I hope we can see you in a model contest sometime. :)

Thanks! I always wanted to enter a contest, but the timing just never seems to work out for me.
 
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<3



Thanks, man! Texturing is probably my favorite part of doing these models, so I'm stoked to hear that you like it :thumbs_up:
Good news! Old and Young Khadgar are pretty much finished. Only missing the last version and then the models should actually be ready for release. This weekend is probably a bit optimistic, but I'm not ruling anything out!

A few previews of the animations (sorry for the poor image quality):

oodwnfzty6-gif.373494

efdtglxpag-gif.373495

No second thoughts. Beautiful.
 
Level 14
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968
<3



Thanks, man! Texturing is probably my favorite part of doing these models, so I'm stoked to hear that you like it :thumbs_up:
Good news! Old and Young Khadgar are pretty much finished. Only missing the last version and then the models should actually be ready for release. This weekend is probably a bit optimistic, but I'm not ruling anything out!

A few previews of the animations (sorry for the poor image quality):

oodwnfzty6-gif.373494

efdtglxpag-gif.373495
They are great but there is one thing that looks weird: it is the way the staff holding arm seems to have only one joint(at the shoulder) and that the staff is perfectly rigid relatively to the staff holding arm: it makes the animation sightly odd to look at.
I think it is only the attack animation of that first mage that have that problem.
 
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Can't wait to see them release. Great work, Tauer! Always have been)

But won't it be a problem in-game using the model with two various weapons at the same time? I'm speaking about Turalyon's alternates of course. In WE we can assign only one soundset for weapon blows and swords and hammers have these soundsets completely different (Metal Slice and Metal Bash correspondigly).
 
Level 10
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Just use a druid Morph or something to that effect. :)
Seems I don't get it) Morph can be used to switch one unit to another (sword Turalyon -> hammer Turalyon).
Can it help when the model is animated to wield sword and hammer at the same time? Because as I see on the screenshot, Tauer's model wields them both and looks like it will attack with both (one blow with sword, the second with hammer etc.)
 
Seems I don't get it) Morph can be used to switch one unit to another (sword Turalyon -> hammer Turalyon).
Can it help when the model is animated to wield sword and hammer at the same time? Because as I see on the screenshot, Tauer's model wields them both and looks like it will attack with both (one blow with sword, the second with hammer etc.)
Tauer and I have talked about this issue in PMs before and have been tossing around ideas to get around it - such as adding the weapon sound effects to the animations themselves and instructing people who use the model to set the weapon sounds to "None." Haven't tried it quite yet, but we'll figure something out! ^^
 
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Seems I don't get it) Morph can be used to switch one unit to another (sword Turalyon -> hammer Turalyon).
Can it help when the model is animated to wield sword and hammer at the same time? Because as I see on the screenshot, Tauer's model wields them both and looks like it will attack with both (one blow with sword, the second with hammer etc.)
Ah that's my bad, you're right, it can't do that. A conundrum indeed. Maybe just go for the axe sounds to be more neutral.
Adding sounds to the animations themselves would be amazing but I don't know if there are appropriate hammer/sword sounds.
 
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