How do you transform a folklore hero into a villain? For Rama, this was the main design problem I had to tackle. I settled on a slender, sorta Illidan-esque frame for the final design. Chronologically speaking Rama was the last god I designed, so I tried to put in everything that I've learned in this yearlong process into this character.
More information about the character: Rama Role – Carry Skill 1 – Gilgamesh’s Will Rama can change between melee and ranged attack at will. Skill 2 – Godly intimidation Rama’s aura reduces the enemies’ attack and movement speed whenever they are near him. Skill 3 – King’s Crown Rama’s passive enables him to receive more gold per kill as compared to other heroes. Ultimate Skill – Calling of Vishnu Rama splits into 3 different avatars of Vishnu – Rama, Krishna and Buddha. Each of them is a controllable unit and they possess different abilities and roles.
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While designing hanuman, I made a conscious effort to differentiate him from the other popular Monkey God - Sun Wukong. I ended up with a more feral form, highlighting the "dark" side of the NEBULA. The selected design also gave a unique spin on his signature mace weapon. I chained it onto his buttocks, forming a makeshift tail.
More information about the character: Hanuman Role – Jungler Skill 1 – Blur Hanuman’s evasion rate is much higher than other heroes, enabling him to avoid attacks more frequently. Skill 2 – Chant of Life Hanuman can channel a prayer that heals his HP overtime. Hanuman is immobile while channelling this spell. Skill 3 – Windwalk Hanuman can become invisible for a certain duration. During this time, his movement speed is also dramatically increased. Should he attack before the duration is up, the attack will receive a damage boost but he will become visible. Ultimate Skill – Dark Radiance Hanuman’s ultimate is a passive ability where dark energy emits from his body constantly, burning any enemy who dare stands near him. As with the other anthropomorphic gods like Fenrir, it was difficult to come out with unique reimaginations of Ganesha. The requirements of having an elephant head plus his role of an initiator means that he has to have a certain amount of bulk to his frame. I tried going for a dual upper limb set-up, theoretically making it easier for a 3D modeller and rigger to create the 3D asset. However, I really liked the multi upper limb silhouette as it sets him apart from the other gods in the game.
More information about the character: Ganesha Role – Initiator Skill 1 – Battle Fury Ganesha’s passive Battle Fury enables him to damage all enemies within an AoE with each attack. Skill 2 – For the Herd Ganesha will charge towards the selected area on the map in the shortest route possible, traversing over otherwise impassable terrain. Which charging, Ganesha is immune to magic. Skill 3 – Hammer to Fall Ganesha slams his hammer onto a single enemy. The enemy receives damage and is stunned. Ultimate Skill – Samsara Ganesha’s HP, Mana, spell and item cooldowns and physical position are reversed to what/where they were 5 seconds ago. Chang'e is the Chinese moon goddess. Legend has it that she lives with a group of (jade) rabbits on the moon. For the final design, I went with a gigantic rabbit that ferries Chang'e around on the game map. This version of Chang'e is younger than her classical interpretations and attacks by playing on her Pipa (Chinese guitar).
More information about the character: Chang'e Role – Support Skill 1 – Sonata of the Moon Chang’e sings to the sky. If it is night time, allies around her recovers large amount of Mana. If it is day time, allies around her recover small amount of HP. Skill 2 – Moonrise Chang’e sings to the sky. If it is night time, she summons spirit rabbits that attack the enemy for a certain duration. If it is day time, she gains a temporary movement speed boost. Skill 3 – Rising Wind Chang’e summons a whirlwind that sends an enemy into the air. During this time, the enemy is stunned but cannot be attacked or healed. Ultimate Skill – Elixir of Life Chang’e revives any friendly ally who was killed in the past 3 seconds in an AoE around her. After all, real heroes never die. I experimented with a more demonic variant (2nd thumbnail) of Nezha but that didn't quite work out. In the end, I went with the safe, classical interpretation of this deity. I wanted him to have a serious demeanor; he is tired of people seeing him as a child. His elegant pose represents the grace and fluidity of his fighting style.
More information about the character: Nezha Role – Jungler Skill 1 – Battle Fury When activated, Nezha goes into a rage. His attack speed increases everytime he lands an attack on an enemy. This buff lasts for a certain duration. Skill 2 – Jade Bash Nezha’s passive skill Jade Bash gives him an increased chance of stunning the enemy he is attacking by 1 second. Skill 3 – Fiery Path Nezha releases a path of fire from his Wind Flame Wheels, igniting the area behind him as he traverses for a certain duration. Ultimate Skill – Fire Spin Nezha tosses his universe ring onto an enemy. The ring binds and stuns the enemy, causing the enemy to take repeated burn damage. "Fire Boi" started as a recap exercise for myself before I started training the kids for WorldSkills. However due to other work matters, external projects, other personal art projects and of course my personal life, I was only able to work on this intermittently. Well, I'm glad to finally call this done for now (don't intend to rig this unfortunately).
Moving forward, I will be focusing more on polishing up on my ZBrush skills and learning more about Substance Painter in preparation of the next WorldSkills. Thus there will be less "big-scaled" 3D projects like this one and more small practice assignments. The concept art of this model is from Tooth Wu. Do check out the rest of his amazing artwork. I have designed Erlang Shen before. In that attempt, I went with a more feminine streamlined silhouette. The Erlang Shen in Mythosphere holds the carry role and as such I wanted a more heroic and slightly muscular frame. I had a lot of fun designing Freya's pet cat, so I was determined to include Erlang's loyal sidekick Tian Gou in the design.
The final design dons a spectacular golden armor, a symbol of his strength and sense of justice. That same armor design can be found on Tian Gou, who enters battle along side with the general. I chose to represent his 3rd eye in the form of a floating yellow gemstone, held in place by the dragon shoulder pads. More information about the character: Erlang Shen Role – Carry Skill 1 – Heavenly Sidekick Er Lang Shen summons his best friend, Tian Gou, a guard dog. Tian Gou is a controllable unit and can attack enemy and enemy structures. Players can even equip the sidekick with weapons and items. Skill 2 – Soul Switch Er Lang Shen channels the spell for a certain duration. After which, he switches position with Tian Gou. However, the weapon and items equipped between the two characters do not switch. Skill 3 – The Third Eye Er Lang Shen opens his third eye for a certain duration. During this time, he can see a wider area in front of him. This ability also allows him to see hidden units and objects. Ultimate Skill – Metamorphosis Er Lang Shen fuses with Tian Gou, combining the values of their weapons, items and stat values. This unnatural fusion drains Er Lang Shen’s HP and he takes damage every second because of it. Tian Gou must be near Er Lang Shen for this skill to be activated. There were a number of different angles I could have went with Freya, but I ultimately settled on the dweller of the undead realm Necromancer-like role with her; It does align to the whole idea of dark magic within the NEBULA faction. The Norse mythology sometimes casts her as a harlot, and that gave me the opportunity to give her a sexier outfit. I envisioned the undead realm to be somewhat of a desolate environment so I incorporated cats into her design to keep her occupied whenever she's not busy with reanimating corpses.
More information about this character: Freya Role – Support / Pusher Skill 1 – Raise Dead Freya can revive a corpse into an ally skeleton archer. Skill 2 – Trueshot Aura Freya’s aura enables nearby ranged allies to enjoy damage bonuses. Skill 3 – Life after Death Freya destroys a selected ally skeleton archer. The HP value of the skeleton archer is distributed equally to any allies (including herself) in the AoE. Ultimate Skill – Ultimate Sacrifice Freya “kills” herself to cast Raise Dead on a selected area. Once the last skeleton archer is destroyed, Freya will respawn at the location she used the spell. Fenrir was difficult to conceptualize as I did not have a lot of different ideas for the character. In the end, I played with different proportions and ended up with one that looks like a tall chimpanzee.
More information about the character: Fenrir Role – Jungler/Carry Skill 1 – Lone Wolf Fenrir passive, Lone Wolf, kicks in whenever he is not near any ally heroes. During this phase, his movement and attack speed is significantly increased. Skill 2 – Bloodlust Fenrir has the passive ability of lifesteal. He gains HP for the amount of damage he deals. Skill 3 – Depths of the Shadow Fenrir becomes invisible to the enemy when he is standing next to a tree. The invisibility is broken whenever he attacks. Ultimate Skill – Slayer of Gods When activated, Fenrir’s Lone Wolf passive kicks in regardless of the proximity to his allies. If he manages to kill an enemy hero during this phase, his HP is healed to maximum. Loki was the first NEBULA god that I designed. I wanted to highlight the trickster and crafty nature of this character and thought that Riki from Dota 2 was a good reference. Like Riki, the final design of Loki is in the form of a satyr. He dons a skull mask that hides his true identity from other players. He also wears a jester-like checkerboard patterned pants, which was inspired by Kafka from Final Fantasy VI. In Mythosphere, Loki is the only character with no fixed role. Thus I made his proportions, costume and effects a little more ambiguous to match his role.
More information about the character: Loki Role – ??? Skill 1 – Shape Shift Loki can shape shift into any unit of the game. When shape shifted, Loki will not be indicated as an enemy unit to the opponent. The shape shift guise is broken after a certain duration or whenever Loki attacks. Skill 2 – Blink Loki can teleport to nearby places. Skill 3 – Backstab Loki deals extra damage when attacking an enemy from behind. Ultimate Skill – Mischief, Mischief For a fixed duration, Loki gains all the skills of a selected enemy hero. |
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