intro and requested concepts

[Eirhjien]

Hello to all, just a fun little intro before I get into business. Names Eirhjien aka Blue Rabbit Robbie aka Horse choker. I’m taking a small vacation from my team Persona Black, in order to just have some fun doing some concepts and design work on this project. I try to work in every form of visual media including games, TV. and movie production, and print work…the first image is from a water themed series I’m doing for someone right now, if anything it’s an example so you can see I’m not full of shit coming onto this team.

Below are some of the first concepts I’ve been asked about, the first is a little more detailed idea on the vine barrier “themed to use the same textures already in use on another object I was shown”, the second for a reptilian themed one… obviously less time is put into these images then what I’m going to do with promotional and in game art.

Again, just concepts, if they don’t work we trash them and try again.

[gavlig]

Hello Eirhjien! Welcome to our community!
I didn't want to be the first pain-in-the-ass but somebody told me i should do it :)
To my mind these concepts don't exactly fit the atmosphere of the alien race. I'm not the art director, but i think both of them look too much cartoonish and fairy. I see aliens as dark animal-like(or even reptilian) creatures full of teeth, claws, spikes, covered with slime, blood and sweat. You could say the same for alien buildings(maybe less sweat since they don't run usually, but still blood and slime at least). These are too bright and peaceful, even with those spikes.
And, of course, you should wait for others to share their opinions, because all I do is animating stuff (and i don't have much luck with it lately), cron is the guys who defines the main line of art here.

Anyway, I hope that my "critics" wasn't too harsh and you will not try to kill me next time you see me somewhere :)
I sincerely hope that you will like Unvanquished and Unvanquished will like you ;)

[kharnov]

I really do like that more plant-like barrier. The coloring on it is very good, and it has a pleasingly alien shape. However, I'd probably make it a bit more sturdier looking, like a large plant-like, dark tentacle is coming out of the ground to absorb gunfire.

[Eirhjien]

like i said concepts are ment to be trashed. With the vines, i was thinking it would use that texture the other "skull plant thing" used, that purple grey bark, which would make ith look more like a tree then the gentle lines gave off. Think of the flowing sketch as how i was seeing there movement, this thing should squirm and slide back and forth with the thorns

with the other design i can change the colors and add space gue, that'll take about 10 secs don't worry. I need to know from a design point if it'll work, or we want to try a different angle on how it enters and leaves the play feild... like instead of rotating, it could open up one joint at a time, but that's depending on how much time you want to spend on animations... maybe even maked each spine jointed like a finager, so when it folds up it's like a hand closing.

i know it's weird bringing the pretty stuff in, but think of it like a real life alien parallel... anything you see in the rain forest that is bright and pretty, will kill you....

[ViruS]

I think your ideas of the 'alien race' is becomming too-stereotypical. Tremulous' aliens were pretty unique, and i hope unvanquished stays unique.

[kharnov]

With the vines, i was thinking it would use that texture the other "skull plant thing" used, that purple grey bark, which would make ith look more like a tree then the gentle lines gave off. Think of the flowing sketch as how i was seeing there movement, this thing should squirm and slide back and forth with the thorns

Yes, I can see that. Speaking of coloring, perhaps some of these alien structures we have would give you some ideas for the texturing and/or shape of your concept designs?

Here is the acid tube, which squirts acid gas all over the place:

This is the trapper, which fires a sticky blob that holds humans in place:

This one is the egg that aliens spawn out of, although it isn't finished being colored in this shot:

with the other design i can change the colors and add space gue, that'll take about 10 secs don't worry. I need to know from a design point if it'll work, or we want to try a different angle on how it enters and leaves the play feild... like instead of rotating, it could open up one joint at a time, but that's depending on how much time you want to spend on animations... maybe even maked each spine jointed like a finager, so when it folds up it's like a hand closing.

Regarding the more reptilian design, I think it could work, but the coloring should probably take on a more subdued tone to fit in with the current alien structures. However, I like the plant-like design more because it seems to be more sturdy to me, and it also looks more like an independent structure. At the moment, while the reptilian concept does cover up a good deal of space, it doesn't look like it can absorb a lot of gunfire.

I think your ideas of the 'alien race' is becomming too-stereotypical. Tremulous' aliens were pretty unique, and i hope unvanquished stays unique.

ViruS, that contributes absolutely nothing to the discussion. Nothing he presented was stereotypical, and not only is Tremulous irrelevant, but the alien designs in Tremulous were taken from a variety of sources.

[Qrntz]

I'd really like to see the barricade take on a plant-inspired design. That said, it does look too tender at the moment to fit well with the alien theme of Unvanquished.
I subjectively see the aliens as resembling insects more so than mammals or reptiles, and while this sounds rather geocentric with regard to a certain unknown lifeform, having «plants» assist and augment a swarm of «insects» seems reasonable.
What I would like to see is something that more readily resembles a carnivorous plant (my personal favorites are Droserae and Dionaeas), but without the «carnivorous» part (our barricade is still just a barricade).
I picked carnivorous plants because they tend to naturally adopt rather fierce and exotic (alien in a sense) designs.

(don't take too literally, but…)

[Eirhjien]

Gonna hit reset real quick…. Ok, let’s start over cause I think everyone’s lost one this one, hahah. I more then understand the thorn design looks very fragile, that’s just the line work, not what I’m trying to represent. The idea is to take the barrier you showed me earlier and make it more like a tree with larger thorns, the motion of the concept is more to show how the trees could bend and twist like vines in order to block passages more precisely and also to ad life to them. I was thinking the base could match up with the egg design while the mass of the plant was more like a 6’ round tree. The image attached shows what I was going for, basically a quick reconstruct of other objects already in use to make a fast and simple in game model. The other image is example of how the vine like motions can be used in a large entranceway. Again, when you look at the image think really really big TREE with thorns the size of your forearm.

As far as viruses comment, I don’t think he was being insulting, don’t think he was even referring to me. I think it has more to do with the idea of making every object in the game match the exact same theme and color scheme, and I agree with him, talked with kharnov about 6am this morning. Not only is it unrealistic, it’s boring as shit. Nature is random, and bright pretty things will kill you. Also concepts are meant to be trashed, if they suck, they suck.

Last note on color and horror…. Horror is colorblind, take pink for instance, pretty, and most pink things are tasty too ;) BUT, I’m a pretty big dude, and if you were walking down an alley at 2am, and you saw me, in nothing but a pink thong, hold a machete, pink would be the scariest color you ever fucking saw.

[Khaoz]

The aliens in this game don't really have anything beautiful or deceptive about them. The more dangerous they look the more dangerous they are. Very much what you see is what you get.

I don't think making the barricade look beautiful or pretty really fits with all the other structures we have. The barricade also isn't deadly itself at all, it's usually used to just block a path so humans can't get past, whereas it opens up for aliens, or to protect another structure by being in the way of bullets.

[ViruS]

As far as virus' comment, I don’t think he was being insulting, don’t think he was even referring to me. I think it has more to do with the idea of making every object in the game match the exact same theme and color scheme

I was kinda refering to the 'slime' part, but when i said 'yours' i meant as well as the current alien designs already in-game.
Its just that slime and trees don't really suit aliens for me. Well i guess its hard to imagine something that isn't based of things existing on earth. Its like trying to explain what a 8th colour of the spectrum looks like.