A tale of souls and swords, eternally retold...

KiraxSummers said:
Dayum! O.o I love those pants! XD And the sideburns and everything. Hey, three pages to go til you hit your century. We should, like, throw a party or something. Dionysus can bring the mead :P
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Thanks,
Great idea, we could throw in a virtual party where every xbox CAS lover would join a a mega private room for the ultimate CAS show-off...
Did you check the idea I submitted to you in PM :) ?
 
VILARCANE said:
Ok, i got a request from Darkrythm in PM, i am really not a request kind of guy so let this one be the last, but Darkrythm stood up for me not so long ago as an admin, so i tried my best to make a character design that would fit the various inputs he has given me and the following the nice background story he provided me...

The reason i post it here in my thread is that it took me one hour to get him right after all, it helps me get closer to the 100 page mark and retire for the 100th time, I want him to accept the challenge of recreating him based on pics below and post in his thread along with his full background story (which i have but won't post here because i didn't ask for permission and i think it is fair he posts it in his thread when he is done with his ater ego, not a typo, just another silly pun).

Provided he likes him and finds him faithful to his own bio.

A wanderer, battleworn, wounded and scarred, but skilled in all martial arts, ferocious and unstoppable at times.
I hope he'll appreciate all the little details i have crafted to bring his text to life :)

Because he is a wanderer, i shot him in different stages and moods, featuring various weapon styles (he is using kilik mimic style as requested).
Oh and i kept the black ponytail, just added hair where you expected it least D.
I threw in a few puns for good measure, Vil style...

In case you wonder, the belt is wolf skin, the beard is a new technique blendind racoon and facial hair, and the pant is an armored hakami reinforced with turtle shells...the last but one pic shows why and how i did this turtle shell effect...

In the end, i really like this character and will keep him as an alternate edge master of sorts...so thanks Darkrythm for the original idea and guidance / art direction.

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Dayummm shits got SWAG yo
 
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VILARCANE said:
About the eye now, if you look carefully, you'll see i have used one ExEq on the sides of the beard, but where are the others (did you ever see me not use all 3 slots :).
I won't tell you everything, but think of an apple and demonic horns, and you may have your answer (i can also tell you it is gonna be a chore to size and position right, you will if you wanna make it look like it is only a standard eye (well, the pupil is smaller if you look closely, which is a hint :)
I will now go to your thread and read your first chapter :)
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Took me a long time but I got it hehe. Thanks for the hint I would have never gotten it otherwise. Ill try and get that recreation up within the next day or two ^.^
 
DarkRhythm said:
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Took me a long time but I got it hehe. Thanks for the hint I would have never gotten it otherwise. Ill try and get that recreation up within the next day or two ^.^
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I gotta see the result and be swept off my feet :)

Ok, remember i worked on dino concepts in my animal kingdom thread (after making a few dragon themed CAS, dragon god being the most iconic), i wanted to go for a bulkier version, learning from the homework i'd done back then...

Here what came out of it...



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Easter egg : if you look closely at the second pic and look at the face, you'll see what looks like a red eye below the normal eyes (some kind of optical illusion)...

A propos ILLUSION, here is what comes next, directly inspired from the novel i recently posted...
 
As you read in the novel, Vilarcane Level 1 wasn't that much of a big shot in the field of magic.
Vilarcane Level 9, however, that was another story...

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The corrupt eye uses a purple pure ring, the color is much more vivid in-game than on shots

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A few bonus shots :

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VILARCANE said:
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The dinosaur is really cool and the turtle shell head thing is a interesting concept as well as the snake belt. I think the color scheme you picked was a great choice and gives that ancient feel to it. I dont know how you colored the arm/shoulders but I really like it. It really stood out among the rest of the outfit and was the perfect addition to compliment it.

As for the Vilarcane characters they are really well done. The use of Zwei and Cervantes's jackets(My personal favorite two because of the wear and tear) were great choices in my eyes and their coloration really did give me the wizard impression(Especially the pattern and colors on the Novice Vilarcane.) Older Vilarcane's little wings as a Mantle really impressed me and I might have to use that idea sometime haha. The book under Viola's orb is a really cool concept and the way you explained the reason he used it made it even better :D Idk what it is but the novice Vilarcane stands out to me a bit more( Might just be that awesome eye on his chest haha)

All said these are amazing and unique characters ^.^
 
DarkRhythm said:
The dinosaur is really cool and the turtle shell head thing is a interesting concept as well as the snake belt. I think the color scheme you picked was a great choice and gives that ancient feel to it. I dont know how you colored the arm/shoulders but I really like it. It really stood out among the rest of the outfit and was the perfect addition to compliment it.

As for the Vilarcane characters they are really well done. The use of Zwei and Cervantes's jackets(My personal favorite two because of the wear and tear) were great choices in my eyes and their coloration really did give me the wizard impression(Especially the pattern and colors on the Novice Vilarcane.) Older Vilarcane's little wings as a Mantle really impressed me and I might have to use that idea sometime haha. The book under Viola's orb is a really cool concept and the way you explained the reason he used it made it even better :D Idk what it is but the novice Vilarcane stands out to me a bit more( Might just be that awesome eye on his chest haha)

All said these are amazing and unique characters ^.^
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Thanks Darkrythm, you are just as good as Brucege with reviews now :)
I too think young Vil stands out, probably the sticker "teen" moustache, pimples and angel face of a wizard in the making...
I think for old Vil i will stick to alpha Pat style because weapon and stance work better with the soul than the rather dull ones of Zwei...Edge master style used for some of the pics is fun too because mages can bind magic swords and other weapons and master weapons designs look the part with the adjonction of magical weap FX i used.

All in all, I really appreciate you giving me some of the love back after accepting your request, it is the bright side of this forum that kept me from going away on several occasions.
 
Not to be outdone by DarkRhythm, here's some of my observations.

1) Tricerasaurus Rex: The speckled pattern blends the turtle shells into the lizard head very naturally. The scaly sword was also very fitting for a dinosaur. What I especially like is how you used the calligraphy pattern to simulate blood and tell a story. I notice that the blood is concentrated strongly around the mouths and horns, so he's recently just fought, killed, and eaten some unfortunate creature. Exquisite.

2) Young Wizard: Very good equipment choice. Flared sleeves and flared collars are wizarding fashion staples. The pumpkin shorts add a lot of character, giving him that amateurish, weak-legged kinda look. That beholder with the double dragons is pretty damn cool. I do understand that you want to show how his beard grows out when he gets awesome later, but I'm not entirely convinced by the sticker 'stache and beard. Also, the fishnet on the undergarment, stripes on the sleeves and calves, and the flowers on the jacket and hat are too brightly colored to fit together in my opinion. I would either lower the saturation or eliminate some patterns.

3)Old Wizard: This is a work of art. I love the dragon skin effect (green outside, white inside). Here the patterns are soft enough to coordinate, rather than interfere with each other. The souped-up lapels on the jacket, bat-wing popped collars, and the waist sash complete the image of a powerful arch-mage. That little flower on his chest is beautiful. Taken together with all the gold highlights, gold sash, and gold-rimmed glasses, he thinks very highly of himself.

I see your wizard starting off as a happy, talented youth with big dreams. One day, he slew some mega-dragon, earning him the respect of the wizarding community and, of course, a handsome bounty. For a while, he was treated like a rockstar. He wore the skin of the dragon and bought extravagant clothing to show off to his peers and pick up pretty witches, but as the years passed, his arrogance drove away his friends, and no one seemed to care anymore about that dragon he killed so long ago. Starved for attention, he marched off to an ancient castle to slay its master, an arch-demon. The demon fought back, trying to possess him, but the wizard ultimately prevailed.....or so he thought. As the demon lay dying on the dungeon floor, it channeled the last of its fading soul into the weakened and unconscious wizard. The next day, the wizard emerged from the castle victorious and cockier than ever before, but he felt a dark presence chewing away on his soul bit by bit. As we see him now, his body is pale, sick, and weary from his eternal struggle with the demon, who's now gained complete control over his right eye.

What's to become of this hopeful youth turned abomination? That, Vilarcane, is a story I hope you will share with us through your wonderful CaS.
 
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brucege said:
Not to be outdone by DarkRhythm, here's some of my observations.

1) Tricerasaurus Rex: The speckled pattern blends the turtle shells into the lizard head very naturally. The scaly sword was also very fitting for a dinosaur. What I especially like is how you used the calligraphy pattern to simulate blood and tell a story. I notice that the blood is concentrated strongly around the mouths and horns, so he's recently just fought, killed, and eaten some unfortunate creature. Exquisite.

2) Young Wizard: Very good equipment choice. Flared sleeves and flared collars are wizarding fashion staples. The pumpkin shorts add a lot of character, giving him that amateurish, weak-legged kinda look. That beholder with the double dragons is pretty damn cool. I do understand that you want to show how his beard grows out when he gets awesome later, but I'm not entirely convinced by the sticker 'stache and beard. Also, the fishnet on the undergarment, stripes on the sleeves and calves, and the flowers on the jacket and hat are too brightly colored to fit together in my opinion. I would either lower the saturation or eliminate some patterns.

3)Old Wizard: This is a work of art. I love the dragon skin effect (green outside, white inside). Here the patterns are soft enough to coordinate, rather than interfere with each other. The souped-up lapels on the jacket, bat-wing popped collars, and the waist sash complete the image of a powerful arch-mage. That little flower on his chest is beautiful. Taken together with all the gold highlights, gold sash, and gold-rimmed glasses, he thinks very highly of himself.

I see your wizard starting off as a happy, talented youth with big dreams. One day, he slew some mega-dragon, earning him the respect of the wizarding community and, of course, a handsome bounty. For a while, he was treated like a rockstar. He wore the skin of the dragon and bought extravagant clothing to show off to his peers and pick up pretty witches, but as the years passed, his arrogance drove away his friends, and no one seemed to care anymore about that dragon he killed so long ago. Starved for attention, he marched off to an ancient castle to slay its master, an arch-demon. The demon fought back, trying to possess him, but the wizard ultimately prevailed.....or so he thought. As the demon lay dying on the dungeon floor, it channeled the last of its fading soul into the weakened and unconscious wizard. The next day, the wizard emerged from the castle victorious and cockier than ever before, but he felt a dark presence chewing away on his soul bit by bit. As we see him now, his body is pale, sick, and weary from his eternal struggle with the demon, who's now gained complete control over his right eye.

What's to become of this hopeful youth turned abomination? That, Vilarcane, is a story I hope you will share with us through your wonderful CaS.
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This i what i love about your posts, not only do you seem to know my intents (even though i did betray some of it in the in-picture design notes) and deliver comments with pinpoint accuracy, and with hints for improvement i generally agree on (like an art critics, just better :)...
...but you also bring out the soul of my CAS beautifully and exactly as i meant them to be.

But that excellent background story of yours, and the encouraging concluding words, man, that was epic (and i think you never before did blend a review + background story, did you ?)

Again, i thank thee sir Brucege !
 
In greek mythology, Poseidon and Cleito had five pair of twins, who became the ten kings and rulers of the different provinces of Atlantis.
While there is no visual cue or reference about how he looked, i tried to imagine him as a demi-god imbued with supernatural powers (like water breathing), and living, ruling, and waging war in the open sea...

The overall idea behind the CAS was that of a fish armor, but one that would look menacing, almost shark-like (though sharks technically don't have scales of course...)

Here is Mneseus, atlantean king of the open sea...






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Yeah, he's got serious father issues :)
 
Thumbnails are (to me at least) an essential part of CAS creation, like creating desire to see what soul hides behind an intriguing thumbnail, convey a message, bring out a fragment of the soul and art before the actual reveal during the fight...
I have seen CAS makers totally neglect that, and others do beautiful things (i could name Le Bello, Orangeislands and a few others...).

As i am closing the curtains for a while, due to personal and profesional reasons mostly (and with the excuse of having another full usb save game with 50 new CAS, totalling a whopping number of...well, check out the 2 photomontages a few pages back if you wanna count :)...

and the fact that i sometimes need to refuel my creative energy, i thought it would be nice sharing them with you...

It is possible you might not have seen some of them because they were "different" and couldn't be shown publicly, but some can still be seen in action in my youtube channel, even though not advertised here...
The others have been posted in previous pages, so just scroll back if you missed some of them i guess :P

See ya,

Vil





 
You always make at least a couple and get me to like some of them. Sometimes I even get some ideas for my own. I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time this happens to me.
 
KokoYoshi said:
You always make at least a couple and get me to like some of them. Sometimes I even get some ideas for my own. I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time this happens to me.
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Lol.
Yeah, I should dig out all of the first and third person posts you wrote in this thread, man, that could be my key to the holy "100 pages" grail. Most of them were quite quirky i must say, and i like quirky :)

I sometimes thought of stringing together all the comments that meant a lot to me and kept me going, including yours, in some kind of golden book, but doing that i'd probably look like an arrogant proud french prick doing pointless self-advertising lol, so i'll just leave it a that and keep the discusison going as long as people want to discuss CAS, or anything else of artistic nature.

Btw, have you read my Heroic Fantasy novel, i thought it might appeal to you...
 
I've been out and about doing my own thing in life. Other times I lurk elsewhere feeling depressed. Anyways, I might take a look at your novel. Just link me and I'll look at if later.
 
KokoYoshi said:
I've been out and about doing my own thing in life. Other times I lurk elsewhere feeling depressed. Anyways, I might take a look at your novel. Just link me and I'll look at if later.
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But of course, i do understand as i have a lot of things happening IRL as well...
Nuff said, if you wanna see what you might have missed, judging from the lack of the usual likes, i'd say start from page 95, it is there between 95 and now, probably 96...
otherwise, if you happen to have an electronic reader that is .mobi compatible (ie. Kindle), you can find the latest version here :
http://www42.zippyshare.com/v/91950879/file.html
 
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