ut2k4 Character: Juggernaut 'Lite'

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Hey guys. Well, I’ve been playing loads and loads of ut2k4 of late and have been doing lots of reading about modding, character modeling, skinning and texturing etc and I’ve decided to have a crack at it.

The backstory/inspiration for this design came from the standard (Gorge) Juggernaut model that ships with ut2k4 (updated from 2k3). It’s probably my favourite model in the game and I fancied adding my own twist to it. So here it is: When I started drawing it, it was supposed to be a Lite version of the Juggernaut model, perhaps something that new Juggernaut recruits would wear before being taken on in the squad… but it’s ended up kinda hefty… Although, it’s still definitely smaller than the Juggernaut model and since most characters in ut2k4 are hefty, I think I’ll be ok.

Original Drawing (at 25%)
http://www.asphaltdesign.co.uk/images/juggernaut/25pc_fullscan.jpg

Front Image

Side Images

The drawings are fairly simple, but they have the detail I need to start putting it all together. I started with the front-facing image (and only actually did half of it, I copied and mirrored the other side (for symmetry). God, the side drawing was soooooooo difficult! I did that after doing the front shot. Then… well… there’s the arm. I kinda left it out of the original side drawing because I was trying to concentrate on how the body would look. A quick bit of photoshop magic and now I can change between the arm and 'armless pics with the greatest of ease!

All my reference pics are scaled and aligned, so that should prevent any major complications and the design is based on the original Juggernaut model, so I should be able to port the existing animations over to this guy (although, I’d like to do some of my own animating at some point).

Crits, comments, ideas all appreciated.

ps. Before anyone says “Oh, the head is waaaay too small”, I’d encourage you to look at the original Juggernaut models, as their heads all look really small compared to their bodies… It’s weird… in-game, it just all kinda… works…

Gorge (Juggernaut) - Original Model from UT2K4

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Modeling (in Maya) so far: Just the leg, but it’s going ok (I think… ). I think I’m pushing the polycount a little at the moment, so I need to clean it up a bit. Nearing 700 polys just for one leg… not sure if that’s waaaay too much or not - I think I’ll just need to be more reserved when it comes to the upper body! The final model should be in the region of 2500-3000 polys, though it can be higher (so I’m told).

Comments and crits appreciated!

Leg Playblasts:

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nice start :thumb: i didnt know you could use Maya and model :!: :wink:

is that all one mesh or seperate objects for the leg? Keep in mind to not over work the model. keep it simple and really work hard on the texturing, which is what they pretty much have done.

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Yeah, computer animation student and all (supposedly :sure: ). I was inspecting the stock models from the game and it looks as though (to me anyway) that the main leg is all one object, but the appendages (such as armour, ammoclips, backpacks etc) are separate objects, so I’ve tried to replicate that (I’ve got a few posts on some Unreal Modeling forums - seeing what other people that to say about that). Yeah, I do need to clean up the model quite a lot - It’s amazing how simple they can keep the stock models. I think I’m fairly safe within the limits for now though. Texturing is gonna be a b!tch (isn’t it always? ;)), but I’m looking forward to porting it into the game :smiley: