Greetings,
In this 3rd devlog, we will go through the processes of both weapons and mob design. This can be considered a direct follow-up to the second devlog, especially when we get to the mob design, as both characters and mob design share a few similarities and certain processes, but only a few.
In short, this devlog will be split into parts, and as you might have guessed, the first part is going ot be about weapons, and the second about the mob design.
So without further ado, let's start.
Weapons are designed in a similar fashion to props, but with quite a few additions that goes beyond the design process and are implemented in-engine, after all, the weapons are not meant to be placed as environment props unless for blacksmiths shops, but to be used either by you, the player (party members) or your enemies, and thus, comes the linking between weapons, characters or mobs, and of course their respective animations. This alone is not enough, as in the Alder Forge 2, and just like the Alder Forge 1, when you change your weapon, the 3D asset itself changes, and not only your stat boosts.
The process of weapons design is the following:
Research of real-life weapons as inspiration to build moodboards
2D Sketching the shape
Blockout of the geometrical shape
Sculpting, refining, or hard-surface painting
Integration into the game engine
Calibrating the character's socket [Footnote 1] to link the weapon and its user
Testing through animations [Footnote 2]
Testing in-game play [Footnote 3]
[Footnote 1] The weapon class defines at first, which character to calibrate and also which socket within the skeleton hierarchy of that exact character to adjust for the calibration process.
[Foonote 2] The animation testing doesn't happen during test gameplays within the game engine, but just within the animation sequencer itself. (Please check the weapons design videos to view an example) [Footnote 3] Test gameplay of the weapon happens in-engine, following these steps: 1- Picking the weapon. 2- Equipping the weapon. 3- Using the weapon. The 3 steps keeps repeating until the weapon is fully calibrated with its wielder.
Image subject: Example of side-by-side weapon blockout (left) and painted (right)
Image subject: The 8 Classes of Weapons in the Alder Forge 2 by each Party Member.
Video subject: Weapon's design process example.
Mob design follows a similar process to character design, albeit only partially, as both end up being skeletal meshes, but here they separate entirely, as the mobs have an in-engine function that's completely different from characters, NPCs included, yet their design is focused on their affiliation or grouping as the following:
Netherwave Monsters
HXP Machines
Sanctus (Alder Forge Sentries)
Netherwave Lords
Netherwave Abyss
Netherwave Grims
Humans (Example: Tartarus)
Unique Creatures (Usually Story or Optional Bosses)
Technically speaking, we can generalize by splitting the whole into three categories per design style:
Robotics (Where the rigging and animation process is completely different)
Flying or Floating enemies (Where the design process as a whole changes)
Organics (Where the process is close to the character design)
PS: Please check the mob design video examples to view the difference between each.
Image subject: Sculpting chamber of an example mob.
Video subject: Design of a Flying Organic Mob.
Video subject: Design, Skinning, and IK Rigging of a Robotic Mob.
Video subject: Design of a Netherwave Monster.
I hope that this third devlog completes a few elements that were discussed in the previous one (Character Design) and gives you a good idea about what to expect when it comes to weapons and player classes.
Kind Regards,
Zine. E. Falouti