GOOD KNIGHT KNIGHT Creation Process!!!
Hello there!
After like Ages of no posting and just can't keep up to update the blog! here is some good post showcasing the whole process of Developing the Knight Protagonist of GoodKnight Game.
Early Prototype :
In the Beginning we were not sure which direction we are going with when it comes to art style or design, it was a bit more of experimental stage, so I took a direction which I was more comfortable with, Designing a simple character that will show nice flat shaded style to give a 2D illusion for a 3D model.
Started the model with a simple blocking of the character silhouette to get as close as possible to the concept, from there I just Painted it inside Blender with High Opacity Straight Curve Brush.
After that moved to rigging using Rigify tools in blender in Legacy mode as it did not need a complex rig for the model, removed the fingers from the rig as well and Rigging was done, nothing too complex.
Animation was very simple fun looking run cycle with lots of energy to give the character that feel of urgency as he is after all Running away from a storm of bullets coming to his direction, and with a couple of few other animations for having the option to do something else and the model was ready for Unity.
After we got a positive reception for the Prototype and we had more time to think of where the game over all look and feel is going, we decided to redesign the knight from the ground out but still few elements of the old design are still intact.
After we got a positive reception for the Prototype and we had more time to think of where the game over all look and feel is going, we decided to redesign the knight from the ground out but still few elements of the old design are still intact.
Concept Art :
The head was the iconic look of the Knight, the Horns, the Visor and hidden face were the major elements that we wanted to keep.
The head was the iconic look of the Knight, the Horns, the Visor and hidden face were the major elements that we wanted to keep.
We started with Many rough sketches exploring different designs while we still kept in mind those elements ( the Horns, The visor and the face )
After finding out our design, we did a quick coloring for the concept to make sure everything looks and feels right, and we kept polishing and tweaking the design until we found what we wanted.
Modeling :
I used Blender 2.79 for the process
I used Blender 2.79 for the process
Started the modeling process using a rough model sheet to give the estimate over all proportions as a guide.
Blocked the model and kept it as lowpoly as possible as one of the main target platform is Mobile as much as we want it for PC and for performance, as the game needs more processing power for the bullets and collision detection so we kept it as low as it can be while it still looks clean and polished.
For my workflow to sculpting is I give the lowpoly as much major details as possible, from topology flow for deformation to silhouette and where the light will cast shadow for the major areas.
Applying Multi-Tris Modifier and sculpting the character's details while not affecting the silhouette much as that was finalized in the Modeling process.
I use the Multi-Res Modifier for the sculpt to help me speed things up as I usually end up skipping retopology all together if we are 100% sure that this is the concept and no major changes are needed.
To Fine out more about Multi-Res modifier aka ( Multi Resolution ) visit this link : Multiresolution Blender Doc
Texturing :
After Sculpting all the details, Unwrapped the character using UV maps for different parts ( Body, Helm, cloth ) to give it more details in the baking process and as he is the main character he needs a bit more Juice power to bring out his flashy look.
Applied baking the maps from Blender internal engine using Bake From MultiTris option, Baking Ambient Occlusion, Normal and Displacement map to get as much details as possible from the Sculpt.
Taking those Maps to Clip Studio Paint and Applying Gradient Map to different to get as close as possible to the concept's feel and look, followed by Paint over, shifting between Blender and Clip Studio Paint to the Texture.
The model was starting to look good and polished and we called the model done.
Rigging :
Again Rigging was simple, I used Blender Rigify in Legacy Mode and removed the fingers, applied the rig to the model in Separate parts ( Belt, Helmet, Visor, cloth, etc ) with Automatic weights, doing that will help the algorithm have a more accurate weight and saves the pain of doing paintweights but might have some minor cleaning, some times if there are over lapping parts the algorithm will get confused when Automatic Paint weight is applied.
Again Rigging was simple, I used Blender Rigify in Legacy Mode and removed the fingers, applied the rig to the model in Separate parts ( Belt, Helmet, Visor, cloth, etc ) with Automatic weights, doing that will help the algorithm have a more accurate weight and saves the pain of doing paintweights but might have some minor cleaning, some times if there are over lapping parts the algorithm will get confused when Automatic Paint weight is applied.
Animation :
Followed the Similar idea for the Run as I did for the previous Prototype Knight "simple fun looking run cycle with lots of energy to give the character that feel of urgency".
Added few other animations such as a jump animation to filp the character's direction and Death animation and few more for variation, and the Knight was Good to GO!, you saw what I did there? Knight? Good? XD sorry for that.
So this is the Pipeline that is followed for all of our assets in general, I hope that was helpful or at least interesting read to help you with your next project.
So this is the Pipeline that is followed for all of our assets in general, I hope that was helpful or at least interesting read to help you with your next project.
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And you can check out our teaser trailer here : GoodKnight Game Teaser Trailer
Here is the Knight with a Glorious Stache when I was testing Blender 2.8 :D
