'Faithful' Shambler Re-creation

[Dutch]

I'm trying my hand at slightly more complex style of modeling: organic. This is a whole different ballpark from ammo boxes and weapons.

The first little project is a better looking, but still somewhat faithful, Shambler. This is where it sits so far (pic below). I've created a basic armature for it that needs tweaking. No texture, and it's not even close to being done. Needs a lot of improvement. That's what this thread is for: criticism. I'll start.

Like: pronounced shoulders, teeth, claws.

Dislike: arms are too muscular, legs too long/skinny, not hunched over enough (looks a little too 'human' so to speak).

In case you don't recognize it, the one on the left is id's original shambler.

[Legend]

That looks pretty cool man. Especially the teeth and the shoulders. Could make him slouch some and maybe add a little paunch to his gut.

[golden_boy]

Nice project.

As for criticism, I agree that he doesn't have the hunched stance of the original shambler.

To recreate that, I'd give him shorter, thicker legs and a longer body, and push those shoulders down until there is a downward curve to them with the "head" being the highest point.

The original Shambler's body looks more like an "A" instead of a "V", too.

[Pringles Man]

That is all. Notice the few, but massive teeth and shit-your-pants scary look.

[Dutch]

@legend and GB: thanks for the feedback guys. I'm going to work on it more when I get home. I want to keep him similar to the original but make him more intimidating.

@Pringles man: that clay model is the best shambler ever. I remember reading the guys build thread of him making it. I was afraid to look at it during my modeling last night though for fear of completely imitating his creation. Now that I have a base to work on, I'll incorporate some of his details.

[Dutch]

Looking back on the model, I realized I didn't like just about anything on it. So I deleted everything, inserted a new cube mesh, and started again. Having warmed up last night, I decided I should reference some objects for the build.

I went to a rodeo the other night and as I started making the shambler's shoulders, I thought back on the heavily sloped back and shoulders of a bucking bull, which I then implemented into the model:



And of course, I tried mixing that into Techuser's clay shambler figure, which Pringles Man already posted up a picture of. Here's another picture of it I found useful in making the head:



The build thread for Techuser's model can be found here. Very high quality work.

My next step is to build a solid armature for the model. Here is where it stands as of now:






EDIT: I stepped away for a few and looked at it again. The arms need some work, but overall I feel I'm on the right track now.

[gnounc]

The trick to modeling is iteration.
Do it again.
and when you've finished that, maybe take a break.
Then do it again.

Your shambler is a great start. Its much better than any of my attempts at organic modeling, I hope this thread gets a fair number of additional screenshots

[Pringles Man]

I would tuck the belly in slightly and the chest under the neck too. Other than that, looks a lot like the clay model. Impressive work!!!

Side note: one thing that stood out about FrederikH's shambler is the fact that it attacked at twice the speed as the original shambler, making it much harder to kill. I don't know if that couldn't be helped at the time he was making it or if he intended to do that, but I still say its a modification that all the shamblers are in need of. Try to stick it in if possible.

[MadGypsy]

It looks pretty good but you should take some lessons on topology. I don't say that in a mean way. I simply notice that (especially in the shoulder area) you have a lot of triangle mess going on. Your model should consist of concentric loops that do not cross themself, as soon as you add a triangle you damage that uniformity and it could cause even bigger messes when you finally triangulate the entire model.

I'm also noticing an ngon. It's still pretty good though. You just need to clean up the topology.

bad place for poles
green - hilighting poles
red circle - hilighting ngon
red line - remove edge
yellow line - add or merge edge


results

[Tea Monster]

This is looking nice. Don't be afraid to add a few more polys - you don't have to go mad, but rounding out the shape and taking it up to double what you have there wouldn't be a bad idea.

Mad Gypsy speaks wisdom on topology (as usual ).

[gdiddy62]

Excellent looking work so far!

[Spike]

an hourglass figure on a shambler seems a little wrong.

[Legend]

The new one looks pretty good too and definitely improved in some areas. I think the maw could protrude slightly more and you're right about the arms needing a little more work. Maybe paunch out the sides of the gut just a little. Would like to see it in a more natural pose like in the first pic of the original version you posted.

[Dutch]

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated!

@ gnounc: for sure man, I'll be posting lots of pics

@ Pringles Man: thanks! yeah, I can't wait to code this bad boy. He will basically be a low-level boss fight and will completely destroy. Quicker attacks, more health, runs faster, and smash attacks instantly kill. Also will add some checks to see if the player is out of range once he starts swinging, and will revert to a quick lightning attack, which means no more shambler dancing. I also want to add a death scene. If the player's health is below 10 or so and he gets close enough, it will initiate an animation of the shambler picking up the player and smacking him on the ground until body parts start flying off. Maybe another one where he picks him up and bites off his head. I want players to feel totally owned if they get killed. Lol.

@ gypsy: excellent tips and pictures, thanks buddy. Dressing up the topology now.

@ Tea Monster: thank you as well. I do have quite a few polys/verts left to use, at least as far as MDL limits are concerned (I think I'm only halfway to the max). I will probably make two versions, one as a drop-in replacement and one intended for my mod.

@ gdiddy: thank you sir!

@ Spike: haha. Looking back at it...maybe too girlish of a figure. You're right.

@ legend: also good advice, you're also kind of saying what Spike said. Consider it done. As for the pose, I want to get the model totally finished and polished in this T-pose first before building an armature, because I like to use vertex groups on low-ish poly models. I never have much luck with bone envelopes, I'm definitely not a pro.

[Dutch]

White fur or off-white leathery skin? Let the classic debate begin. Hell I might even start a poll. Lol.