Character designs that look cool without being stupid?

[SCO]

Killing that faggot felt so good.

I don't think that's Gomez. One, the faggot is brown haired with a moustache.

I think it's him, the armor is the same, and the throne and the whores...maybe they made his face different from the concept art. Or is that supposed to be the king?

It's the concept. It appears in the main menu ... minus the whores.
I could have used this image when some retard was talking about the "unrealistic women in fantasy literature" and praising gothic.

 

[Excidium]

They're prostitutes.

 

[MetalCraze]

I can't believe how much fail Codex's tastes are.

At first I thought people ITT were just taking a piss but FFS your tastes fucking suck.

What the fuck is with this shit with random retarded cloths, especially jap shit?

 

[SCO]

They're prostitutes.

They're some women that the king dumped into the crater. You don't know shit about them.

 

[Machocruz]

One of the few examples of the west not being completely shit at video game fantasy design

 

[Redshirt #42]

And Jon Irenicus?

Seriously, the guy looks like something Slof could have modded into the game, and he's pitched here as an example of non-derpy design? Along with his derpy bondage suit?

Oh well, I may have exaggerated the non-derpy part. He doesn't actually look that bad in the game since you only get to see his portrait and model.

I can't believe how much fail Codex's tastes are.

At first I thought people ITT were just taking a piss but FFS your tastes fucking suck.

What the fuck is with this shit with random retarded cloths, especially jap shit?

Inclining the thread to Skyway's taste.

 

[Excidium]

They're prostitutes.

They're some women that the king dumped into the crater. You don't know shit about them.

I know Gomez trades ore for those women, right at the start when you're being sent there it's shown a woman being sent down along with other goods. It's all you need to know about women in Gothic, they're trade goods, much like a sack of rice or a shipment of swampweed.

 

[Machocruz]

Inclining the thread to Skyway's taste.

Needs more stuff you can find in your closet or local army surplus store.

 

[Damned Registrations]

I can't believe how much fail Codex's tastes are.

At first I thought people ITT were just taking a piss but FFS your tastes fucking suck.

What the fuck is with this shit with random retarded cloths, especially jap shit?

Right. Guys in suits are so much cooler. You totally wouldn't have raged if someone posted Rude from FF7:

And god forbid it's an asian guy in a suit.

So unique! I totally couldn't find another 50 different characters that look the exact same because they're just generic stereotyped thugs in suits.

 

[SCO]

Sure. But they're non characters. Could be prostitutes, could be noble family daughters that pissed him off, could be a fucking convenient peasant. Basically thrown down there to be raped and cleaning floors ("you're not supposed to talk to us").

But basically, that's what the trollish person was claiming was "realistic portrait of women in fantasy" - ie: power tripping about raping a girl.
Sure thing nigga.

 

[Trash]

Why should a videogame character look realistic? It's a game ffs. Demonic enemies, bizarre aliens and ridiculous outfits should be par the course and droll office clothing nothing but a cynical nod. Personally I always liked freaky over the top and campy 50's sf stuff like that in Fallout and Buck Rogers. Terra Nova was also pretty awesome. Especially the art in the manual.

 

[Surf Solar]

Why should a videogame character look realistic? It's a game ffs.

It really depends on the game and the mood/art direction it wants to achieve. I can enjoy both some over the top pulpy design, as well as more down to earth "srz bsnz" design.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

well mr trash this is a thread where both the criteria of cool and being able to be taken seriously have to coexist just like being deep and accessible

either we fill this up with space sim ships and hard scifi designs and fictional military uniforms and the less retarded mechwarrior chassis or you post your very unwestern anime or mancartoon things and risk showing how bad your taste is



speaking of serious pulp I demand you make a fallout version of this poster

http://i.imgur.com/lmesv.jpg

 

[gromit]

Instead of posting DA2 and Gears of War, can we find a compromise? I'm always been drawn to characters who cannot help but lack subtlety, yet still have designs that are characteristically evocative, and generally pragmatic for whatever purpose in that setting.

I'm a sucker for black and white checkered patterns for some reason.

No offense to your tastes - I'll attribute them to you being a hobo - but I love the design because it's just the thing a sniveling little prick like Benny would wear. Imagining himself so amazing and clever, and the "hippest crackin' daddy-o cat in all of Vegas, baby!" when in fact he's just got a natural and ironic talent for buying hard into bullshit; of course then desperately trying to sell it to others.

That one-balled no-dick is the dumbest fuck to ever make his way top (by literally slitting a throat in plain view) and everyone knows it (even Yes Man.) A man bereft of any subtlety. One could say...

he wears it on his sleeve.


Speaking of sleeves, here's one of the plainest designs you'll ever see. Just another Jedi - but with such a truly wicked smile you can't help but suspect she can see, and probably even has a left hand. A wretched old bitch, and the game would not work if it weren't as obvious as daylight, with another lie layered on top, to ensure the most you can rebel against her, is to simply keep her safe and take her exactly where she wants to go. Great concept art (albeit very digital.)

Along those same lines, I always thought Vance Kovacs had a talent for knowing just how far to push it. Look at these people - the characters write themselves.

 

[MetalCraze]

Right. Guys in suits are so much cooler.

Guys that don't look like retards are so much cooler. Rude dude looks OK. The second dude looks like a fag.

So unique! I totally couldn't find another 50 different characters that look the exact same because they're just generic stereotyped thugs in suits.

They are not "unique" which is the whole point. They are normal. I understand that for tasteless retards like you "unique" characters are exactly what I wrote a few pages back - some dickhead dressed in all colours of a gay pride flag wearing gold chains and hugeass shoulder plates while carrying a 2m long blaster (he is in fact a member of a very secret police and has deep character to him, he is very sad because Ancient Evil dressed like vikings with gauss cannons killed his family thus he is on a revenge roll and tries to stay unnoticed) = unique.

Newsflash: random shit put together is not unique. It's what 95% of games do. It's how all characters in every single jap game and Avellone writing are being made in 5 minutes. I myself just came up with a very unique and deep character of CDP quality in just one minute. I would totally turn TW3 around with my unique and deep creativity.

 

[gromit]

JC Denton is also pretty cool. Check out the hdtp redesign on him.
http://offtopicproductions.com/hdtp/cut ... Render.jpg

Dear well-meaning volunteer artists (who, yes, are better at 3d modelling than me so don't even),

Four people of wildly different heritage rarely have exactly the same shape face, but when they do it's even more rarely a facial structure with strong racial characteristics.

 

[SCO]

Yep, looks like shit.

Right. Guys in suits are so much cooler.

Guys that don't look like retards are so much cooler. Rude dude looks OK. The second dude looks like a fag.

Always thought that the barcode in plain view fucked up the design.

Probably mandated by a producer trying to be cool.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

designs that are characteristically evocative, and generally pragmatic for whatever purpose in that setting.

my rule of thumb for an excellent portrait is that the face and general body language has to convey as much as the clothing or armor and leave you interested in the character

often designers just do some accoutrement smoke and mirrors filling up and it generally satisfies most people's criteria for 'having character'
blam intricate armor and holding something with fantasy greebles = deep personality, as you do in high school

like this this shit for example

that is the furthest thing from real for me. It might as well be a photoshoot with a dragonborn model or whatever that is. Just there in lieu of a blank cover.



compare to these, which have a lot less going on ornament-wise and actually shift your attention to the actual person

 

[Zomg]

This is better when you remember it's a painting in the gameworld, i.e. Gomez got some other prisoner to paint this hero picture of him with two slave women the King tossed in for his personal use. Reminds me of the Saddam Hussein fantasy cheesecake paintings.

 

[Trash]

well mr trash this is a thread where both the criteria of cool and being able to be taken seriously have to coexist just like being deep and accessible

either we fill this up with space sim ships and hard scifi designs and fictional military uniforms and the less retarded mechwarrior chassis or you post your very unwestern anime or mancartoon things and risk showing how bad your taste is

Half the codex are animefags so who gives a fuck anymore? I mean, once you admit to being a nipponphile there is no going back anyway.

 

[gromit]

designs that are characteristically evocative, and generally pragmatic for whatever purpose in that setting.

my rule of thumb for an excellent portrait is that the face and general body language has to convey as much as the clothing or armor and leave you interested in the character

often designers just do some accoutrement smoke and mirrors filling up and it generally satisfies most people's criteria for 'having character'
blam intricate armor and holding something with fantasy greebles = deep personality, as you do in high school

I agree completely with this; you're dead on that this is a recurring problem. But - as made clear with the pictures you posted - you can't discount accessories as an important part of design, just because we've been burning out on belts and pouches for almost two decades. A good balance should be struck - It's interesting to see some objects and interactions, especially in the concept art phase where it has a chance to inform the rest of the design.

 

[procrastinator]

 

[Machocruz]

like this this shit for example

Everything I hate about modern fantasy art in one picture. Aribtrary poses, overdesigned nonsensical armor, no sense of how light works, obsession with 'details'.

 

[Trash]

Modern? Dude, that's the kind of stuff you could find on the cover of pretty much every pnp source book since the 80's.

 

[commie]

Also if you're going to liberate an alien world, do it in mofucking orange!