Ava and Adam - Character Packs for Torque

[Spencer Boomhower]

Hi all,

This is AdamPack, a character pack I've had for sale for some time now on GarageGames:

http://www.garagegames.com/products/61/

http://www.rockettree-llc.com/portfolio/AdamPack_promo.jpg

Finally getting around to promoting this a bit :)

AdamPack features:

* Player model at 1216 triangles, with LODs at 376, 196, and 100 triangles

* 3DS Max source files for Adam and 17 animations

* 1024x1024 texture with layered PSD Source

* Thorough documentation

* Biped skeleton for easy importing of animations


AdamPack was soon followed by AvaPack:

http://www.garagegames.com/products/95/

http://www.rockettree-llc.com/portfolio/AvaPack_promo.jpg

Ava has similar specs as Adam's - her skeleton is based on his, and they have the same number and type of animations - though Ava's player model has 1526 triangles, with LODs at 954, 580, and 328 triangles.

The idea behind these packs was to simply replace the Torque engine Orc with basic, realistic human characters (I also threw in the weapon models so these people wouldn't be running around the Orc's massively oversized crossbow :)).

The models are generic enough that they lend themselves to customization. AvaPack's legs, for instance, have no modeling in the pants cuffs, so that a simple texture swap can make them bare. Same goes for her and Adam's shirts.

I've also messed around a bit with exporting the packs into Ogre3D, and it seems doable. Currently, however, there's no official support for engines other than Torque.

See more of my work here: http://www.rockettree-llc.com

Thanks!

-Spencer

[zoombapup]

Great models spencer.. I kinda wish they didnt have to match the stock torque skeleton in some ways, the holding position of the gun always seems kind of wonky to me :) but its not an issue with the characters, so could easily change that.

I have to admit that these characters are some of the most professional content packs around. I hope you do more!

[jankoM]

hehe, after you said it I looked at the models again and I must say they both hold guns a little "wonky" - no better word :)

[Spencer Boomhower]

Thanks, Phil, glad to hear you like the models!

And yeah, the gun poses... what is one to do? The baseline goal was to get a realistic human replacement in there in place of the Orc, and everything else works towards that end. Including having guns to replace the big honking Orc crossbow, and including the ever-at-the-ready pose.

Had I just put them in a non-weapon pose, people would've seen them swinging around the Orc's crossbow while doing non-weapon moves. Running in a non-weapon manner would make them whack themselves in the face repeatedly with the crossbow. And I'm guessing many of my customers would be non-scripting artists like myself who have no idea how to get rid of the crossbow!

The other option was to make the pose more of a hardcore automatic rifle pose, like in CounterStrike. But, eh, the point is to err on the generic side, so that people can use these characters to make their own models.

Thanks for the feedback, it's always welcome.

-Spencer

[electronicStar]

Nice work, these models look like they come right from a Sci-Fi made-for-tv movie with terrorists threatening to release an alien virus or sthg like that. Except your models look livelier than the standard actors:D

[Bad Sector]

Very nice models, especially Adam :-).

Ava's upper part (esp. the head) is very good, though the legs look somewhat funny, like if they're very wide when you look them from the side and thin when you look them from the front. Also the pose you have there seems like her left leg (right from our perspective) is broken.

EDIT: i noticed that the same happens with Adam's leg, although isn't that noticable. That torque skeleton perhaps?

Btw, your texturing is very good too.

[Spencer Boomhower]

electronicStar - Thanks, I love hearing people's interpretations on these characters. Especially since I went so out of my way to make them generic - to hear they have any character at all is a pleasant surprise :).

Bad Sector - Really good feedback, thanks. I think you're spot on with the point you make about the varying width of Ava's leg. And I never noticed that until you pointed it out (gaaah). That's the maddening thing about making art, I find. Or games in general, for that matter. It's totally possible to stop being able to see what's right in front of you. It's like a voluntary blindness that swtiches on to dodge the pain in the butt of having to track down and fix a problem. But that doesn't make the problems go away. That's why I tried to get these characters in front of people when I was making them, to get fresh eyes on them. Only no one spotted the leg thing. Next time, I'll put my WIPs on IndiGamer.

I'm not seeing the broken leg thing, though. My selective blindness must be too strong :). It could just be a little extra lumpiness I put in there to offset crimping when the leg bends.

Glad you like the texturing!

-Spencer

[Bad Sector]

I'm talking about these:

[Spencer Boomhower]

Bad Sector - Yeah, that's an especially harsh angle where the thigh meets the butt. A tricky area to deform properly. Thanks for pointing it out.