Entry 7: Overlord Work

In this post I'll be showing the work that I have done so far for the Overlord.

So basically the Overlord is a huge monster that bosses around the other minions and makes them gather the fear from humans for him, in order to give him power and gain access to the human world.

However, the Overlord is so huge, only his eyeballs will appear before the playable character. Since i got assigned the task of designing, I started by doing thumbnail designs of various eyeball concepts.

As you can see I experimented with different sized irises shapes and vein designs. I wanted to make sure their was a lot of variety to play around with, and also to give the team a lot to chose from. Each team member had different favorite eyeballs, which in the end got whittled down to the first concept, however giving the eyeball the ability to morph into some of the other shapes I had created.

With this decided on I quickly created simple 3D models of eyeballs in 3DS MAX. I originally tried to create yes based off my own idea and workflow, but found that they didn't work particularly well. Also, I wasn't sure how to model the outer eyelid in case we ever needed one.

So after this stage I decided to look up a few tutorials to do get a better idea as to how to model it properly. The results came out a lot better than my first attempt did. To make an eyelid all you need to do is create a sphere, select the slice modifier, and angle it as you want it to be.

After this was done I started trying out manipulating the eyeballs shape into a evil expression. I also made an eyeball as if it had be freshly plucked out of someones socket.

I was also told to create a series of eyeballs with different shaped iris in order to test animation target morphing techniques. So I created a series of 10 eyeballs, one set in low poly, and the other set in high poly, so that the animators could have selection work with.

I sent them the files, but in the end it was discovered that there were some issues with vertex ID's, so the animators are working on a solution and will get back onto me as to what's to be done next.

So with the 3D Model on hold for a little while, I decided to create a final concept for the Overlord in the setting of his HUB world. Since we don't have a established environment a design for the hub world, I decided to design my own set piece based off the selection of images from our design documentation.

Step 1

 For the first attempt in Photoshop I drew up a very basic scene which includes the overlord, the monsters and some scenery. I didn't really like the composition of the piece and was using it more as a rough first draft rather than a proper set construction piece.

Step 2

 So for the second iteration I focused more on the images from the design doc, got a rough idea in my head, and drew it out in a red color brush. I did this so that when I draw over it in black, I can still see how the original looked, and change it up as appropriate.

The idea for the scene was a rocky pathway leading into the distance towards a giant rising tower, where the overlords eyes would look angrily down upon the monster before him.

Step 3 

For this step I focused on the main pathway and the two pillars either side of it in the foreground. I mainly made use of reference from a skeleton temple artwork from the game Darksiders 2. I used a different concept piece for the rocky, jagged path. I also added in stone touches, so that when I get to the colouring stage it will help to add a little atmosphere to this piece. 

Note how the red construction lines our still in place and noticeable, showing you how they both work together and changing with the design at the same time. 

Step 4

 For this step I added in the main pillar for the middle ground. For its lower center I added in a small door to make it look like the corridor stretches on for a long time. The design again mainly inspired by the darksiders concept art. In addition I added in the background pillars to give the piece a sense of depth and work out the basic components.

Step 5

For the last step in this post, i added in the background pillars and the bridges that connect them up to the main tower. In addition roughly added in where the overlords eyeballs will be, although their size may change depending on how much of the background I want to display. But for now their current size give them the sense of menace and imposing nature that I've been aiming for.

For the next blog I will most likely be showing a mixture of further work to this concept piece, as well as the NPC turnarounds, and possible 3D development on the Puppet Master.