Tree Tag - Infernal Killers (upgradable obelisk, 4 tiers)
Welcome to a trip from this:
To this:
Let's go!
It all starts with concepts, and I needed to create 4 tiers of the Ashenvale obelisk to pay homage to the original building of Tree Tag:
These four obelisks are towers (Infernalkiller, Ultra Infernalkiller, Immune Infernalkiller, Ultimate Infernalkiller) and they had no 'Birth', 'Upgrade' sequence, proper team-color and all that.
The AshenStructures.blp texture had a few cool runes:
Here I thought it would be quite handy to use them to show tiers of this bulding
I gave the basic Ashen obelisk a cool TC base and a stone "leg" to make it higher:
Then I added a few runes and some other elements to see how my idea would work.
Those ugly ones above were nesessary to understand that I needed more destinctive details besides the runes.
The obelisks should also stand next to each other, like above, but that would make those "wings" terribly glitch though each other

So, I needed to redo the material!
That's why I created this shape below:
Looking good! In addition, its base now is as wide as its wings
Adding one block of runes upon another just by scaling them up could be a decision for the 'Upgrade' sequence BUT that was too boring.
And I came up with the idea of breaking the obelisks in order to sort of put them back together, and with integrity their power in the game increases, a good concept, isn't?
I broke one block and wings, re-wrapped their textures and here's what I got:
Looks nice! Though, if you use the game camera angle, they will not look that different from afar
To pay tribute to the original model I gave this obelisk a visual effect that could be perceived as a shield:
This blueish barrier symbolizes the immunity of this obelisk which fits well with the original concept of the
Immune Infernalkiller (that Frostmourne pedestal, tier 3)
Oh, I forgot about the fourth tier, here it is:
I made it hover, gave it a special runed platform and swapped the Ashen textures for Felwood
So, where am I? I added more team color and gems that should be percieved as a shooting-spot-of-tower-power thing:
Here I also tried to give the final tier another runed block (that one with a bear) but it didn't really fit, eh... too detailed! In addition, this would raise the HP bar way too high.
So I stopped on this variation with 3 blocks and here you can already see some shorter obelisks:
I also made the shards next to the first tier smaller and more spread out around
However, the first two tiers could be still confusing from the game camera view:
I needed to do something here, as the difference in height didn't help much! Hmm...
So I decided to add another piece of wing to the second tier:
Looks better now: it has a reflection on the wing which is quite eye-catchy
Now let's look at this long and amazing gif:
All three 'Upgrade' sequences are here and the HP bar is not that... annoyingly misplaced (couldn't really do anything about that

).
Hey, look at these final forms:
Here I placed some stone fragments on the first tier plinth that made it even more unique and gave it a more harmonious pyramidal shape
Setting the camera:
Quite destinctive, I'd say
Dayum, I really like how dominant the 4th tier looks in-game:
Just daddy's Infernal Killer
And icons, sure:
If you are interested in any of these buildings, get them here

It's not for nothing that you've read so much!