3D Character - The Formless

The Formless

Concept Art - Copied from Independent Game Project Document

Above is concept art for the enemy that the player would be fighting in the game, it is a collection of entities identifiable by their mostly solid colour humanoid figure with a personal fog shrouding their body and with abstract shapes floating in said fog, these shapes are believed in world to be their method of communication. The main stand out useful in the context of the game part about them though is their combat state which is identified by a sudden change of colour to their corresponding attack element and their body suddenly becoming 'unstable'. Some inspiration that I took behind this idea was the 'Shades' from Hollow Knight (image below) which gave me the idea of the enemies simply being figures formed from The Void and that don't make any verbal noise.

Formless Model - Copied from Independent Game Project Document

As shown in the image above I have made a model for The Formless (the enemies) in Maya and have textured it in Substance Painter. I had baked the texture map to the UVs so I can use substance painter's smart materials for making the base and then on a layer on top I had added the markings that were to add detail and a distinguishable 'face' so the player (and I) know where the AI is looking. As of typing this I am yet to learn animation so the animations will be their own segment. If I were to make this model again I would separate the top half of the torso and the bottom half of the torso to allow the model to be animated more dynamically, as it being one whole object has proven to include some difficulty when animating.

Formless Walk Cycle - Copied from Independent Game Project Document

In the GIF above is the first animation I have made in Maya and it is a walk cycle for the Formless in their docile state, with the intention to make them seem intelligent but with the rigidness of a slow walking zombie. for making the animation I had some issues with the FPS and getting the speed of the animation right, but it is made up of a starting key frame, an extreme of the body being lined up in the middle, a contact key frame of the enemy stepping forward, another extreme key frame, and an attempted replication of the start key frame to make a loop. For the rigging of the model to make the animation process easier I attempted to make a basic parent-child rig based off of my idea of what that would look like with the main body as the parent to the head, right upper arm, left upper arm, right thigh, and left thigh, with all other parts beyond those being connected to the part before them (e.g. right upper arm being the parent of the right lower arm which is the parent of the right hand). If I where to make this again I would try to make a proper armature set-up instead as rotating the main body made everything else rotate with it and that got annoying to correct, I would make the legs lift off the ground more with the body having a slight up and down bob, and made the arms swing less and instead hang down more as in the animation the arms do look off with their movement, I would also just copy the start key frame to the end instead of trying to replicate it manually as that would prevent the jitter that is visible in the GIF. But for a first animation I would say it is a great success.

Formless Idle Cycle - Copied from Independent Game Project Document

As you can see in the GIF above I have made an idle animation for The Formless so they aren't completely stationary when not moving and to breathe some more life into the enemies. If I were to make this animation again I would make the legs bend more and make sure the feet don't slide on the ground.

Formless Left Punch - Copied from Independent Game Project Document

As seen in the GIF above I have created a left fist punch animation for The Formless to have when attacking the player in close range, I will also be making an animation for the right fist. If I were to make this again I would make it so The Formless goes forward instead of remaining stationary and having their feet slide.

Formless Right Punch + Casting + Rig Update - Copied from Independent Game Project Document

As you can see I have been informed that the quick rig tool is a thing and I had wasted my time using a parent child rig earlier, the quick rig tool simply being a tool in Maya which allows the user to create a quick rig with either the click of a button or setting up of some guides (indicators to the program of what is where in the model) and then clicking a button - however this tool only works on humanoid models and not for anything with additional limbs or isn't of a humanoid shape, which would either have to have the additional bones and joints added on or would have to have a custom made rig made for it. However, using the rig made by the quick rig tool I had finished off making the animations I intend to use with the Formless which now includes, an idle animation, a movement cycle, a left punch animation, a right punch animation, and a casting animation. I am proud with how all these animations turned out considering this was the first model I have ever animated but I do wish I was told about the quick rig tool sooner.

Peer Review Feedback

My concept art and model have been seen and given feedback on by a peer and this feedback has helped provide me valuable insight as to what I need to work on with the model to improve it if I were to. The things I was given feedback on was to improve the silhouette of the model as the concept of something formed from the void is something that can be used to create something that looks highly abstract and instead I had ended up playing it a little too safe with making it a simple humanoid.