[FfH II Art Team Blog]

[Kael]

Glad you agree!



Well, we can use this for Bannor

Previews:

Spoiler :

Archmage

Mage

Adept

Those three are Warrior-Mage. More warrior-ish than mage-ish, as I presumed that every Bannor child must study physical combat before else.

More important than how cool the unit looks is that a user be able to easily determine what type a unit is. That they be able to distinguish between units and that a quick glance tell them the general type. We would hate to have a user attack with a mage before he thought that was a melee unit, etc.

That practical concern usually trumps style. Unfortunately it means that we have to balance between making something unique enough to be interesting, but standard enough to not be confusing. SeZ is a master of threading that needle.

When you try to mix types (it would fit that the Bannor should have more warrior looking mages than other civs) it messes with clarity. Even though its right for lore, we can't use those units. In general if a unit has a backpack its a recon unit, thats our visual clue to the player. Mages should have staves, daggers or books. A mage with a spear is problematic.

Hopefully that makes sense.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I don't really like those units for the Bannor adept line (as Kael sid, they just don't look like arcane units and could cause confusion), but they definitely look good enough to be in the game in another capacity.


That Bannor Archmage proposal looks to me like it would be an excellent Malakim Champion, if the glow were removed from the end of the spear and it were perhaps given a slightly deeper tan.

 

[esvath]

Very well then, begone bagpack and spear... And come forth glow!

Let me see what these modifications can do. Perhaps they would fit then.

 

[Lord Tirian]

When you try to mix types (it would fit that the Bannor should have more warrior looking mages than other civs) it messes with clarity. Even though its right for lore, we can't use those units. In general if a unit has a backpack its a recon unit, thats our visual clue to the player. Mages should have staves, daggers or books. A mage with a spear is problematic.

Nevertheless, I think the mage looks good. The simple staff and bits of armour make him a bit more martial, but he still looks very much like a spellcaster.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Tasunke]

I concur that the "bannor" archmage would make a good model for a Malakim Champion. If I recall though ... dont the malakim already have unique art for their champions?

Although ... nothing says "desert warrior" more than that archmage of yours.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Yes, they already have unique art. It has more of an Egyptian than Bedouin look though, and doesn't seem as high quality to me.


It could also make a nice Phalanx, but their current unique Phalanx Art is probably better than their unique Champion.


The Malakim Immortal oddly seems to have unique button, but the normal Hoplite art most immortals use. Maybe the "Bannor Archmage" should replace that?

 

[Annex]

Yes, they already have unique art. It has more of an Egyptian than Bedouin look though, and doesn't seem as high quality to me.


It could also make a nice Phalanx, but their current unique Phalanx Art is probably better than their unique Champion.

Most civs have nice consistent art, but the Malakim's seems to be pretty mish-mashed. Their phalanx looks Bedouin while their champion and swordsman looks Egyptian. The knight unit looks European while their immortal unique art is basically a greek hoplite. IMO they should all look Bedouin, it seems to fit the best.

The Malakim Immortal oddly seems to have unique button, but the normal Hoplite art most immortals use. Maybe the "Bannor Archmage" should replace that?

Their immortal art is actually unique, it is a much improved version of the normal hoplite most civs have for immortals.

 

[esvath]

Well at least, Malakim arcanists (in the future patch) will have a consistency : purple ladies with big eyes and long limbs

 

[esvath]

Okay, I did a quick reskin from my reskins for Bannor Warrior-Mage. This is the result :
Archmage

Spoiler :

I removed the spear-head so it look more staff-ish. I also added a glow-effect to complement the starry ones.

Mage

Spoiler :

I just added the glowing effect at the top of the staff.

Adept

Spoiler :

I removed the bag and add a glow-effect at the top of the staff.

I hope this fit the theme better. Download here.

 

[JDexter]

Now they look more arcane, good job. I like them!

 

[Fenboy]

Very nice esvath.

SeZ, what's next now the ferret dudes are done? Balseraphs, Calabim, Sidar, more Kuriotates, or something completely different?

 

[Lone Wolf]

Most civs have nice consistent art, but the Malakim's seems to be pretty mish-mashed. Their phalanx looks Bedouin while their champion and swordsman looks Egyptian. The knight unit looks European while their immortal unique art is basically a greek hoplite. IMO they should all look Bedouin, it seems to fit the best.

I actually like the Egyptian flavour more. Maybe a mix of both styles could be done.

I rationalize the art inconsistency as the Malakim being a confederation of desert tribes with different phenotypes.

 

[esvath]

I just realized that I rarely reskin for evil civs. So, here I present to you Blood Witches, the Calabim arcane line. Beautiful in their pale skin, always dressed in red-blood gown, these witches walk an eternal life bathed in blood.

(wow... I might post something in the lore forum after done with reskinning )

Download here.

Previews :

Spoiler :

Archmage

Mage

Adept

The basic models were created by SaibotLieh for his Amazon modpack. So, compliments about the units go to him directly.

 

[Kael]

I just realized that I rarely reskin for evil civs. So, here I present to you Blood Witches, the Calabim arcane line. Beautiful in their pale skin, always dressed in red-blood gown, these witches walk an eternal life bathed in blood.

(wow... I might post something in the lore forum after done with reskinning )

Download here.

Previews :

Spoiler :

Archmage

Mage

Adept

The basic models were created by SaibotLieh for his Amazon modpack. So, compliments about the units go to him directly.

Very cool, and I definitely want these. But, the danger is that they resemble each other to closely (for a player at normal zoom). I would want a player to confuse his mage and archmage units, nor should they have to look hard to tell the difference.

So a few request for modification:

1. Could the skin color get a little more flesh toned? I love what you are doing with the pale skin, which is perfect, but I need them to look like very pale people, not like the svartalfar with their white skin.

2. I think the most natural progression is short skirt (adept), full shirt without sleeves (mage) and full skirt with sleeve (archmage). Following that can we get a little more bling on the mage level. Maybe some slight gold trim on her clothes, or a black tatoo coiled around one arm.

3. For the archmage we need to really highlight that bling. Having her with sleeves is good. But maybe something a little sexier, slits in the dress could show off skin beneath, more gold on the dress and staff.

Let me know what you think.

 

[esvath]

Let me try to work-around a bit on the skin color. Modifying the dress will be done in a little time (faster than trying to recolor the skin ). Just need some Enchantment Mana to work my spells

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I like the adept, think the mage is ok, but don't like the archmage. For one thing the legs seem way to wide,


As Aeron's sphere is greatly concerned with physical appearance and is quite sexual, I tend to think that female Calabim units should be showing off quite a bit of cleavage. That is especially true for archmages, who I assume would be using illusions to make themselves incredibly inciting even if they were in reality shriveled hags. At first I was going to suggest a sleeveless dress for the archmage, but then I decided that long sleeves with a low-cut, perhaps backless dress would be better. An ornate Corset might also be nice. As Aeron is a Sadist, a Dominatrix look might even be in order.

The archmage's staff also appears to me to be too short, too plain, and with too large an ornament on the top. (Maybe that is just the angle though, as what appears to be the same staff looks fine for the mage.) She should look incredibly vain, with a jeweled golden staff of scepter instead of a rod of iron. I just got to thinking it might be nice to have a mirror on the staff, as Erebusian vampires do have reflections and are vain enough to enjoy staring at themselves.


Oh, all of them could probably use some crimson lipstick.

 

[Randolph]

I'm not sure what the etiquette is on suggestions, I feel bad making even constructive criticism given what a amazing job you all do. That said, I think the Losha Valus model could be greatly improved with some minor modifications. It's not a bad model over all, but there is something terribly awkward about how she holds her arms, it looks likes she's trying to do a gorilla impression. If they were just more at her side, the way that most human beings (and depictions of vampires ), I think the model would look a lot more natural.

Again, great work on the unit models in general! It plays a central part in making FFH stand out as a immersive and coherent game, and not just a simple mod.

 

[esvath]

Ok, I already did some reskins for the Blood Witches. Also repaired the .kfm, don't know what is wrong with the previous one. Here is the preview.

Archmage

Spoiler :

Yes, more cleavage, backless gown as Magister suggested, a little gold here-and-there, and added blinking-purple-ray effect for the staff. Oh, I also reskin new shoes for her

Mage

Spoiler :

Fixed the .kfm. The previous one contains some error that made the Civilopedia screen buggy. Add gold accent in the gown and alter the staff a little bit.

Adept

Spoiler :

Nothing for my part but SaibotLieh (the creator of these models) fixed some bloopers only he can see

I hope these witches are better than version 1. And I sure hope Kael introduce them to patch K, which we should call as "female spellcasters patch" if none male model is added.

 

[Tasunke]

I like the Calabim adept and mage ... but I think the archmage could still do some work. Im not sure if its the model or the skin ... but the archmage looks flat-chested, and kind of manly around the sleeve/shoulder area.

 

[esvath]

weeeell... that's because the "chest" is actually an armor Going to modify the coloring a bit.