Rusted's Ringers, Gallery III: Original Character Designs

[Rusted Blade]

Christine:

Just a young Edwardian woman out for a picnic...but apparently she has duel to attend to on the way.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Counselor:

Adversarial system indeed!

 

[Rusted Blade]

Hadrian:

Hadrian was just an experiment to see what I could make of the 'malfested (fully transformed)' base model. I'm not really sure what his story is, other than that his name suggests a roman origin, and yet I tend to think of him as a part of "Silk Road encounters" series of creations (which include Rhodus and Nimbusia above), so perhaps we can presume he was a solider in the eastern provinces before whatever unfortunate curse befell him? I'm also not sure why I stuck a metal object into the side of his head: sometimes I lack a credible explanation for some random element I've added to a design but once it is in place, I can't bring myself to remove it. That said, even stylistically speaking, I have to admit this guy is more a random combination of elements than anything that suggests a cohesive story or even theme.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Hera:

Hera is clearly rocking a bit of the Arabian Nights theme, except I imagine that rather than promising to tell stories, she has offered to kick the crap out of the Sultan's would be assassins for a thousand and one nights. :) Obviously I couldn't call her Scheherazade, however, so I went with a hellenistic name instead: it seems like it would suit her better in any event.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Kara:

Just a minimalist design I threw together for playing Mitsu in player matches in SCV: I never appreciated at the time that she has a bit of a subtle Rule 63 Arthur expy vibe going for her.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Fai / Fia:

Fai runs a small gang of street urchins engaging mostly in pick-pocketting and other forms of petty theft. Right now she is under cover as a house servant trying to make a big score: aristocrats are typically easy marks, and she is fairly certain this foppish french lord in exile and his ginger brat will be no exception..and if their fierce occasional practicing gives her any pause for concern, she reminds herself that she can feed all her little ones for years on what her fencer has offered for that relic. Since it's not entirely obvious from the photos, she utilizes Dampierre's moveset.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Blue Lily Oracle:

'Blue Oracle' got an update with some detail work that has been lacking from the start. I think the texture work came out quite well in general, but I think looks particularly sharp in nighttime/low light conditions. The textures all work well and cohesively together, the the body provides extra contrast for the lite markings, and there's just something about that one glowing eye that gives some focus to this design--plus the sanctified accesory works surprisingly well the headscarf.

Plus these extra detail helps to flesh out the concept beyond the visual. Her oracular powers are derived from visions she has after ingesting a tea she makes from the blue lily. Keeping one eye blinded allows her to see possible outcomes of events already set in motion, while the other eye keeps her rooted in the present. So refined have her abilities become, that if anyone who does not like the visions she shares ever attempts to lash out at her in the vain hope that killing her will prevent it, she is able to predict their every move, allowing her to react faster than virtually any opponent. Yes indeed, I like this upgrade.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Duchess-Heir:

Just an alternative to Hilde I developed for SCV. Honestly, there is something of a resembelence even beyond the moveset, so perhaps this is Hilde's politically savvy and influential cousin who is more at home at court than Hilde, but still trained in the family tradition. As to the design itself, it's nothing too complicated: I go back and forth on how wellt he vest bonds with the rest of the visual design: I suppose I really out to have eventually removed the little colour-discontinuity triangles on the vest. But overall, I think it works well enough for what it is supposed to be.

 

[DanteSC3]

This is just Natsu rebelling from Taki.

 

[VILARCANE]

I like the counselor...i'll make a briefcase of why...done
Also it SUITs you well mr lawyer :)

 

[Rusted Blade]

The Wizard:

@VILARCANE I just realized that I had forgotten the detail that my 'Wizard-man' was meant to have been an established character 3P. So this first guy is going to be both slow in coming and only half-fitting the criteria. But I am otherwise taking the challenge so seriously that I am planning on making nine of these guys in the same general theme of "Wizard man", so I can make one or two of those 3Ps! I'll do one more of the remaining eight every few weeks to give me time to lazily hack away at them and make them increasingly detailed, but I felt that..

Conjurer:

...the first guy here was decently far enough along to be shared. There's not a whole lot more I can do with him aside from perhaps a few small effects here and there to sharpen some detail. I'm not 100% certain this is the final robe pattern effect I am going to utilize, but I do like this one. One of the problems with those robes is how patterns and colours are broken up by the pattern in the middle; I feel I capably spliced around that to make it look like those contours are cuts/fittings in the robe by using compatible textures in the right position and sizing. At the same time, any use of the robes tends to make for a kind of simple feeling design, but they are nevertheless the most obvious starting point for our Wizard Man #1 and I feel I worked the other details with some finesse to give him some depth. Still, I hope each of these guys will be a little better than the last--let's see if I can deliver!

Sage:


Warlock:


Enchanter:


Magus:

Sorcerer:


Necromancer:

Shaman:

Thaumaturge:

 

[Rusted Blade]

El Manchachine:

Just a silly design threw together in a hurry. Might be worth doing over with a shapeshifter or human basic model to have more options with regard to the texture appearance of those joints, but he more or less came together as I had imagined. Of you were to enquire as to its purpose, El Manchachine will gladly tell you that he is programed for maximum chivalry...but the reality is that his heuristics and ability for finesse in interpreting it's meaning make him a rather bumbling and sometimes unnerving knight-errant at best. I really wish I had a couple more objects to give that mace-appendage some mean detail.

 

[VILARCANE]

Toy pop CAS i like him...kudos for using that...basket helmet and for the helmet design...hum for the mace i'd use the rusty nier head and make it bigger for more obnoxious SD look...
First wizardman...huhum i meant a wizzy...lizzy...but hey it's fine and the staff build alot I LIKe K ?! I love anagrams too :)

 

[Rusted Blade]

Toy pop CAS i like him...kudos for using that...basket helmet and for the helmet design...hum for the mace i'd use the rusty nier head and make it bigger for more obnoxious SD look...
First wizardman...huhum i meant a wizzy...lizzy...but hey it's fine and the staff build alot I LIKe K ?! I love anagrams too :)

Ohhhhhhh! Ok. That is next on the list then! Hmmm, that's tricky: gotta make do with limited items and whatever you can generate from objects...

I love anagrams too :)

Et c'est un portemanteau et double entendre hybride! ;)

 

[Rusted Blade]

Anne:

Her earlier variations in SCIII and SCIV are lost to the dusts of time, but she was always a masked, vaguely turkic-looking warrior with armour and a veil, using Lizardman's style. In retrospect this version was a little light on detail work and the colour pretty saturated for the theme, but I like it all the same.

 

[DanteSC3]

Anne looks like she comes from Girardot’s rebel camp with all that purple.

 

[Rusted Blade]

@VILARCANE J'admet, c'est un peu tard, mais voici ma reponse a la precedente requete/defi pour un 'Wizardman'. Je te presente: 'Primal Shaman Char', alias 'Lizard(sha)man'. It took some time to contemplate what might be done with the limited tools available to the lizard folk in order to achieve the sought-after arcane theme, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, once I settled on the general concept: I might do some further tweaking of the colours and patterns, and maybe the contours of ExEq a little. Note that I've included a handful of variations on the theme among the photos, but the first one presented is the latest and most complete.

Char, le Lezarkahn:

 

[VILARCANE]

Very scarrrrrry for little geeeeellllfling...yeah reminds me of a skeksis somehow...nice blend of assets and good choice of colors...let's call him Lezarkahn...lezard and arcanes in french, tu piges ? Bravo, un defi releve fort bien releve ! (can't do accents on "e" on xbox sorry)

 

[Rusted Blade]

Very scarrrrrry for little geeeeellllfling...yeah reminds me of a skeksis somehow...

Haha, yeah...that wasn't my intention, but I have to admit, from certain angles, I can definitely see what you mean: something about the curve of the beak, combined with the reptilian teeth on the side and that whole "Is it a lizard or is it a bird? Well, regardless, it feels unnatural somehow." kind of look.

nice blend of assets and good choice of colors...let's call him Lezarkahn...lezard and arcanes in french, tu piges ?

Bien alors, Lezarkahn ce sera. ;)

Bravo, un defi releve fort bien releve ! (can't do accents on "e" on xbox sorry)

Merci, merci! Et, comme tu l'avais probablement remarque, je n'utilise presque jamais d'accents / diacritiques: je ne peux pas etre derange de m'engager avec ASCII pour chaque troisieme mot francais. :P Of course, once upon a time I would have had abundant technical work-arounds, but today I just trust you will indulge my laziness. ;)

Anne looks like she comes from Girardot’s rebel camp with all that purple.

Yeah, it's a little bit much; purple was a part of the earlier iterations on this design, but never so prominent or as super-saturated as in this version. SCV Anne was probably meant to be a placekeeper for a more nuanced version that I never got around to--that's the only explanation I can think of for why I would have used such a non-subtle colour palette.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Necromancer:

Continuing the prescribed series of wizards, we have this handsome fellow. He's still in need of some tightening in terms of the detail work for the attire, but I'm happy with where the more important parts of the design, the face in particular, are. Regarding the face, I must have re-done it at least 50 times; I could not decide whether it should be more pestilent, decayed, or raw? Emaciated or desiccated? Is he still among the living, is he dead, or somewhere inbetween? Ultimately I decided this Necromancer is at least well on his way to full-on lich, and went with more ravaged versions, a small selection of which you can see below.

Recolour of Reptilian Shaman:

More of a swamp marsh vibe to this version of my recent challenge of a 'Wlizardman'. :)