silhouettes for characters

im thinking of designing some fantastical sci-fi themed characters predominantly villains for the game level. i widening the scope on the initial thumbnails then going to focus my concepts as the ideas get more centralized.
thematically african culture has been connected to supernatural, which i find could be an interesting pairing with the sci-fi era i plan to design. I mixed predominantly sharp shapes and tried to focus on contrasting forms to make them more appealing. the imbalance of the shapes also shows the uneasy kind of connotations for most of these villain characters. i am also considering having them be animal themed as well in some sense to tie into the tribal and wild nature of the setting.
i plan to focus on weapons being melee based as to futuristic or projectile as it fits a lot better thematically and is unique for sci-fi settings which are predominantly based on lasers and missiles i find.

Unwrapping/Texturing excercise

vertex painting of the dragon

barrel render

 UV map attempt

environmental asset design and sprite sheets

linetest

testing out the motion for the warrior statue which is working great. the totems look to be a bit more difficult as i struggle animating inorganic assets. i played around with totem heads which i plan to stack on top of each other, or possibly be link by electrical waves of some sort.

Statue concept

this is my attempt to see the animatability of the statue concept, so far it is looking doable which is great co s i also intend to simplify the design to make animation easier.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSETS

i am considering designing an electricity tower based on tribal totems which i think gives culture to the environment in a practical way. the circle totem i thought could work as a handle to a door in the way the centres of doors rotate when activated in mass effect. however upon further reflection it could also be the basis of a design for a type of drone of sorts that could emit light or something else.

another idea was to have a railway in the distance the would orbit a tribal mask.

the next concept is of a carcass of perhaps a failed experiment based on the tribal warrior equipment. the cables coming out of the carcass would wriggle and the limbs and mask could twitch.

another idea was to have tribal warrior statues that would raise from hiding behind their shield. perhaps having some patrol properties, like a sneaking mechanic required??

then i considered futuristic industrial elements and how i could link them to tribal cultures and their fascination with animals. so i made a fork lift rhino [elephant would be a lot more appropriate in hindsight.

if neither of these ideas pan out i think some animated l.e.d projections like in typical futuristic settings but with african patterns and iconography.

maya and unity 101

Lighting and modelling in unity

and some maya 101