Boss of Bosses, Part 3

I spent the last few days constructing a low-poly version of Shattered Dream’s ultimate boss. With 5,208 triangles, however, this mesh exceeds the poly count of most, if not all, official NWN2 models. Considering that this creature is one of a kind, I think that the relatively large number of polygons can be forgiven. As can be seen from the in-game screenshot on the right, I’ve also textured the mesh. My next task is to rig and animate the model. Because none of the skeletons of the existing NWN2 models fits this creature, I’ll have to make one from scratch. This, together with creating the animations, will probably be easier than building the mesh itself.

Here’s another picture of the creature. If, during the game, you can see the pupils of its eyes, you are too close.


Update, May 31, 2009

Stop the presses. Feedback from Nicethugbert and Josh/Anduraga has prompted me to try to retexture the boss to make it look more natural. The new look is shown on the right. Oh, by the way, that cute little thing beside the boss is a full-grown red dragon. It's just there to give a sense of scale but won't appear in Shattered Dreams. Player characters will have enough to worry about without red dragons getting in the way.

Comments

nicethugbert said…
NEAT! But it does need some blending between the appendages and the body or else it looks like a custom sort of. Can't wait to see the animations. Hmm, what if the wing tips pointed in the opposite direction.
nicethugbert said…
*costume
Josh said…
I think most of his body doesnt have a texture especially when you have something so detailed for a tentacle to match it up with. His belly and and black skin seem almost painted on.

My two cents.
Frank Perez said…
Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'm not sure what I can do to improve the texture, though. I was basing the main part of the body on manta rays and killer whales, whose coloration does look painted on. Nevertheless, I may need to find a way to unify the textures somehow. I'll see what I can do.
Frank Perez said…
Ok, I think I may have solved the problem. Comments are welcome.
Michelle said…
Yikes!!! That thing is "ginormous"; can't wait to see it "up close and personal". :)
This monster is simply excellent! More power to you and your creature creation, as you obviously have a talent here.

We could do with more people like you who could fill in some of the missing monsters in the game as well as create great new creatures like this one. :)

Lance.
Anonymous said…
Looking great!--the new skin for the underbelly does wonders.

My only suggestion/comment is that the arm texture looks too clean(his 'human arms', I mean). It stands out a little too strong from the creepy textures on the rest of the body: maybe you could give some more detail on them? To me, they seem to just be stuck on.

But I know I like the look of this guy. Have fun animating the tentacles!(jk)
:p
Frank Perez said…
I'm glad that the new texture is being well received. As for the texture on the arms, I'll see if I can improve the texture without making them look too grotesque. ;)

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I appreciate this opportunity to improve on my work.
nicethugbert said…
The new belly texture is NEAT! Overall it still has that costume look because the appendages just come out of the torso. But, it is a very scary critter, weird, confusing, scary. I can see a lot of "WTF is that" as people run away in terror.

I can't wait to see your bosses around in PW land.

Hmm, I wonder if a little lighting zapping down to the ground from the tip of the tail would add to it.
Unknown said…
Maybe I'm missing the obvious, but how the hell are you supposed to hit that thing with a sword? :Dra
Josh said…
Jump and pray to god that you dont land in its mouth.
Frank Perez said…
@Azenn,

I guess damage to the creature's tail is negligible for all intents and purposes, so the best way to hit it is with ranged attacks, including spells.
Shaughn said…
Excellent job. The texturing and color scheme looks great.

A range/spell attack battle would be different for a end boss. An interesting twist for the high damage melee fighter types.
Anonymous said…
Hi,
First time going through your blog and I'm astounded by what I saw.

Great ultimate boss. Even if the PC is not going to see much of it but his feet (paws?), it will make great a scarry cutscene when it is first introduced.

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