Speed Model: Singularity

[Bloomfalls]

VERSION 1.1 RELEASED

You stare upon a strange shield, with a wide hole featuring a black, odd sphere in the center. Light is distorted around it, as if being sucked into the object. You reach closer and start feeling yourself pulled too. You've finally found the Titan relic you've been looking for.

Once part of a greater engine, the shield generates a powerful black hole and keeps it stable. The gravity generated is so strong that only the most powerful projectiles can avoid being sucked into the void, and it would take great power and skill to actually hit the shield bearer without having one's strikes pulled by the colossus.

You can see a great deal of magic power has been employed to keep the object safe. The wearer is all but unaffected by it. Even the gravity generated by the massive body seems magical in nature, acting much stronger towards hostile entities and weak against your friends.

Regardless, you can sense a tremendous power coming from it, and no matter how controlled it seems to be you know it's a wild, savage energy. Although its defensive capabilities are far beyond everything you've ever seen, you fully understand why it's been sealed.

Should the mechanisms that protect the shield ever fail or break, the world as you know will change... forever.

Singularity is a new custom shield model. The goal was to make a custom model in the fastest time possible (check the thread for timers). Finished the first version in 5 hours, current version in 10.

Download: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NYMN7TM0










Instructions:

How to use:

1) Download the file.
2) Locate the file name of the shield you want to change it to. You can use a viewer such as WoW Model Viewer to find the weapon.
3) Open the file you downloaded in a MPQ editor such as Ladik's MPQ Editor or any other of your preference.
4) Browse to the folder ITEM > ObjectComponents > shield in the file. Rename the .m2 file to the name of the file corresponding to the shield you got in step 2. Change the .skin file to that same name, except with 00 in the end (so if the file is genericshield1, the m2 will be genericshield1.m2 and the skin will be genericshield100.skin).
5) DO NOT touch any other file in the mpq!
6) Rename the MPQ to patch-x.MPQ. For example, patch-6.MPQ
7) Drop the file in the Data folder in your WoW directory. Don't overwrite anything, if the number you chose for the MPQ file is already used, choose one that isn't.
Enjoy!

There are MANY things I want to improve. My previous models took four to five times this one, but for a speed run I'm quite satisfied with the result I got. Anyway, beyond the speed modeling, these are the things I intend to improve:

1) Improve the stars, not happy with them.
2) Improve the textures.
3) Improve the model a bit although I'm fairly happy with it.
4) Add more special effects.

Anyway thanks for C&Cs, every word/suggestion is welcome. I'll be reworking the entire model now, this time with more patience, since I got the initial goal achieved.[/COLOR]


------ ORIGINAL POST --------
Got four hours free and bored, so here's a new project: Make a model, from zero, fully functional under four hours.

The model is a shield with a black hole in the center. The concept is that the black hole attracts the projectiles and attacks to it with its gravity well.

Starting now, I'll be posting updates every 30 minutes for the next four hours. It will probably look awful, but that's life.

Goal: To make a fully functional model under 4 hours.
First hour: 2D Sketch
Two hours: Model
Three hours: Texture
Four hours: In-game

And here I go.

If anyone is reading this at this time of the night/morning this is your chance to give suggestions for the concept.

[d3rrial]

Make the Blackhole-Shield somewhat with ulduar Design around and with some different colored stars moving to the middle of the black hole. Make it beeing held with some kind of crystals or maybe some Person (Looking like lilith (from neon genesis evangelion) in the end form (Human looking)). I am sure this could look cool

These are just suggestions, if you think they suck, just reject them and do your own thing, I guess it will look as awesome as your other models.

[The Lex]

Go go go

[Bloomfalls]

Time: 30 min

[d3rrial]

Looks really nice!
Another Suggestion: You know the room where "Mimiron" is placed? Sometimes there are huge green electricity lightnings, you could for example make one shoot out of the shield once in a while, like the Black hole is overloaded with energy and rejects the unneeded energy.

Or like shooting inside, from the area around it, sucking energy out of some atoms

[Bloomfalls]

Time: 1 hour



PS: I'm reading everything, so keep posting, I'll just not answer anything now to save time.

[CuT]

Use some of the small stars that the Celestial Steed mount has in its animation. I recommend either having it shoot out the sides in a jet or just having them move in rotation around the hole if possible.

[d3rrial]

Yep, but make the Stars not just white/blue but also green, red, pink and some of the maybe like smalls Suns...
And as I see your shield has a inner metal circle, are you able to make it turn in one direction very fast (and making it look cool) ?


Also, if that ball in the middle is the Black Hole you did something wrong (a little) that black whole would be able to crush our whole galaxy within nanoseconds. It is quite too big, you should probably make it smaller

[Bloomfalls]

There are no green stars, so that wouldn't make sense.

In any case I cannot make stars from colors that would go against the art direction and color scheme. They'll probably all the same color since I'm rushing here, so either yellow or blue which are real star colors.

Also, if that ball in the middle is the Black Hole you did something wrong (a little) that black whole would be able to crush our whole galaxy within nanoseconds. It is quite too big, you should probably make it smaller

It might be that the shield is just a small window to a supermassive black hole that is very, very far away from it. Also a black hole of this size shouldn't do anything to the galaxy, specially considering how the center of our galaxy is a black hole many, many orders of magnitude greater. It would probably consume Azeroth very fast though, so that's why you're gonna to sit with artistic license and understand that if it's there, then there are forces beyond your understanding to make it work.


Time: 90 minutes

[d3rrial]

Looks nice for now, but I think only because you haven't seen stars of that color yet, this doesnt mean they don't exist. Universe is pretty big...

[Bloomfalls]

I can't really see how a giant black body would emit light that is influenced by chemicals or another reaction that can be big enough to change the visible wavelength caused by its thermal radiation (red - yellow - white - blue). If you can show me how green stars would work I'll probably be fascinated enough by the concept to make something using it.

Not being a prick, I'm just the kind of guy who wonders what is the gravity speed of final fantasy planets. Thank you very much for the input in any case.

[d3rrial]

Maybe higher concentration of Bor, Barium or Copper on that Star... (I know Stars usually consist of Hydrogen and Helium) Could cause green light. Anyways, in WoW anything is possible and I think it just would look exotic...

[Bloomfalls]

Time: Two hours


Last 30 minutes were pretty uneventful, fixing uv maps and setting up the basic color.

[d3rrial]

Looks good for now! Also I think there should be some serious looking action going on, since black holes have enormous power (yours especially) you should make the shield look like heavy duty in controling the black hole thing.

[Bloomfalls]

Maybe higher concentration of Bor, Barium or Copper on that Star... (I know Stars usually consist of Hydrogen and Helium) Could cause green light. Anyways, in WoW anything is possible and I think it just would look exotic...

Maybe. The only problem is that it wouldn't mix with the current art direction/color scheme. Maybe if I did using an Outland purple+green your idea could work. Since I'm going with Titans (again...) which is yellow/blue/cyan, that wouldn't fit.

Again thanks for the idea though. I always appreciate C&C and ideas no matter how different or common they are.

Looks good for now! Also I think there should be some serious looking action going on, since black holes have enormous power (yours especially) you should make the shield look like heavy duty in controling the black hole thing.

That's a good point for the texture, will keep it in mind.