Cool. What if Xel'Naga construction would illustrate that?
The Weaver Drones would deploy and swirly machine dust cloud will appear, then the building, for example.
Edit:
I think it would be nice if the second set of arms for the hybrids here are zerg claws. Claws like that of hydras.
Looks really sick. The dust cloud idea could work, yeah. Then they could also slowly turn into liquid goo and then condense into solid form?
And I say give it a try (the Hydra claws idea).
It's all looking really really sick! Keep it up :)
P.S. - If you want some interesting ideas, feel free to check out this mod for Red Alert 2: http://www.moddb.com/mods/mental-omega
It has many interesting gameplay mechanics, especially for it's 4th side/faction, The Foehn.
That looks amazing. Is that the same structure, in different modes?
Also, I like the ideas you suggested. However, I would also incorporate the idea that Xel'Naga can change form, merge, and dissassemble at will, as if they are made of nanomachines. However, they would be a perfect mix of nano-machines and organic tech. Their cells look organic but act like nanomachines. It's the perfect synthesis of biology and machine. Some form of warping in or teleporting would make sense, too. :P
It's a shame you wanna walk away from it, though. I was going to propose we all work on a rewrite of the SC2 story. And I mean everyone...You, Gradius, Avex, Gna, CybrosX, and so on...
Update on the walker. I can't get it to feel right to me having it with the inverted arms and legs. This feels good though. But I don't know yet.
edit: This could just be a worker maybe?
Holy crap, whatever you use it for...Please DO use it, it looks absolutely amazing! W-O-W. I could see it as either a worker, medium unit or a caster.
EDIT: The amount of detail is ok, unless it's a worker. I say keep it as a T2 unit, the size of maybe a Ravager. Amount of detail should be fine, then. If not, keep this detailed one for the portrait and for cinematics and then bake it down and use that one for the actual in-game unit. Though modern medium-range PCs and even the game engine can handle this amount of detail on a unit. Just look at some of the more recent LotV and Nova assets.
Main/Basic units can be warped in, but only those.
2. Buildings are entirely mobile. They move and don't "land", "entrench" or "burrow" at all, albeit they are extremely slowly (more so than Terran). They can be teleported via a special power.
Think like the Frame (main building) from Perimeter, or the ships from Homeworld.
3. Their buildings work like the Shroud in Grey Goo. They can be upgraded to specific structures ("infantry", vehicle, air). Tech tree and unit production would function in the same way (can build up to 3 units at a time, but they're very expensive, yet strong enough, but require micro/finesse to be truly worth their money, otherwise, if you A-move your force, it won't be as strong as it could be and it won't be worth the money you spent on it). Xel'Naga are very efficient but strong. Nothing should be wasted. They're "perfect". They also have really amazingly strong psionics, highly advanced physics, nanotech, light tech and what not.
4. Designs are organic and round, but also with spikes/tentacles. Floating parts are included in some of the units. You can't tell if the unit, creature, infantry, vehicle, aircraft and building is biological, organic, or a mix of both. It looks perfectly like both, but also seems very confusing. Their stuff is mostly black, dark grey or really dark blue. Player color is teal-ish green, teal, or light blue. They use high technology mixed in perfect unison with organics (not bruteish mix of tech and organic like Terran, or elegant but obvious like Protoss), where both are the same and you can't tell if they're organic with highly advanced nanotech and "light tech" or if they're tech-based with organic elements/imitation. There should also be light coursing through their units, but you can't tell if the light is organic-based or tech-based.
Some design ideas:
- Aliens from the Earth 2160 NEP mod:
...And a few others (Some are even from obscure Korean & Russian RTS games).
I've included a zip file with a lot of design references & suggestions.
Another alternative to their design, if you go more towards the SC1 Xel'Naga temple design route, is to have them navy blue with yellow team color (The Korean RTS game called Atrox has the Intellion race, which seems to fit that design idea. Their stuff looks just like the SC1 Xel'Naga temple and has a Protoss-ish vibe to it, almost like the DT stuff.
Your designs, by the way, remind me of some of the designs from the cancelled game Guardians of Atlas, by Artillery Games: https://guardiansofatlas.com
I love your designs, both the mech and structure, really sick stuff :) Kinda fits somewhat with what I have in mind (although I have a somewhat diverse visual design vision of what the Xel'Naga could look like)
edit: I find it difficult to think how the Xel'Naga would use their tech if they had the Cthulhu bodies though. They had world ships, and the Xel'Naga temples, the tech the protoss and Dark Templar were able to extract from them.
Before sc2, the attribute "purity of essence" is given to the protoss and the Zerg. The protoss for their communal link; the zerg with the overmind - which the Xelnaga made.
They had accomplished their goals of creating a race with purity of form and essence with the zerg, and they were proud of it. At first, the zerg was naturally endowed with purity of form, then with the creation of the overmind, purity of essence.
I have this idea, that like we do today, in the quest for creating A.I. , robots, transhumanism, maybe, the XelNaga was trying to create their own image.
Maybe the xelnaga's workmanship can show us what they look like, how they live, and who they are.
Actually, if you follow Blizzard logic, yeah I guess, Zerg would have purity of form, as well, but purity of form is not united thought. In the SC1 manual, form referred to a "strong, unique, psionically advanced" creature, whereas purity of essence referred to "being a Zerg not out of form, but essence". A Protoss is a Protoss, whereas a Zerg can be a Zerg regardless of form or psionic potential. These were retconned to being respectively extremely high psionic power and the ability to evolve/adapt/change. So unless you mix the SC2 definition of Form with the SC1 Manual's definition of Essence, it doesn't really apply. :P
At least that's how I see it. Blizzard's lore is so confusing...
Yes, but Ulnar is a direct link to the void inside an astral anomaly that "should not exist". So maybe it doesn't count as our standard universe for that.
But keep in mind that Bipedal and quadrupedal creatures are those most capable of evolving highly advanced and specialized brains, so it makes sense, in a way. Not to mention many Zerg creatures, as well as the Protoss, are all bipedal.
However, they can always look like the Psion Mother I posted or like the Void Thrashers. Those are not bipedal, but they don't look "fat and weak", either. I would also imagine transposing Xel'Naga Duran's face and extra arms on a Void Thrasher body, that could work, too.
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Looks really sick. The dust cloud idea could work, yeah. Then they could also slowly turn into liquid goo and then condense into solid form?
And I say give it a try (the Hydra claws idea).
It's all looking really really sick! Keep it up :)
P.S. - If you want some interesting ideas, feel free to check out this mod for Red Alert 2:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/mental-omega
It has many interesting gameplay mechanics, especially for it's 4th side/faction, The Foehn.
0
That looks amazing. Is that the same structure, in different modes?
Also, I like the ideas you suggested. However, I would also incorporate the idea that Xel'Naga can change form, merge, and dissassemble at will, as if they are made of nanomachines. However, they would be a perfect mix of nano-machines and organic tech. Their cells look organic but act like nanomachines. It's the perfect synthesis of biology and machine. Some form of warping in or teleporting would make sense, too. :P
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I try to search "reforged" in the mods menu and I can't find it.
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I would definitely make use of this :D
It's a shame you wanna walk away from it, though. I was going to propose we all work on a rewrite of the SC2 story. And I mean everyone...You, Gradius, Avex, Gna, CybrosX, and so on...
0
Holy crap, whatever you use it for...Please DO use it, it looks absolutely amazing! W-O-W. I could see it as either a worker, medium unit or a caster.
EDIT: The amount of detail is ok, unless it's a worker. I say keep it as a T2 unit, the size of maybe a Ravager. Amount of detail should be fine, then. If not, keep this detailed one for the portrait and for cinematics and then bake it down and use that one for the actual in-game unit. Though modern medium-range PCs and even the game engine can handle this amount of detail on a unit. Just look at some of the more recent LotV and Nova assets.
0
This is really amazing.
http://zbrushtuts.com/2015/11/17/reavers-3d-art-by-riyahd-cassiem/
Love it. Either Hybrid or Xel'Naga could work. :)
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Good luck! :)
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Hey man, it's no trouble, you're welcome. :)
If you wanna discuss more Xel'Naga ideas you can always add me on Skype:
Alex05222_alex06
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Ok, so...Here are some ideas. I have yet to put it all in a comprehensive design doc, but the jist of it is something like this.
1. Units can merge into larger units or divide up into smaller units at will, like morphing, kind of. A good example of this is Perimeter (RTS game):
Another example is Earth 2160:
http://www.earth2160.com/en/index.php
Main/Basic units can be warped in, but only those.
2. Buildings are entirely mobile. They move and don't "land", "entrench" or "burrow" at all, albeit they are extremely slowly (more so than Terran). They can be teleported via a special power.
Think like the Frame (main building) from Perimeter, or the ships from Homeworld.
3. Their buildings work like the Shroud in Grey Goo. They can be upgraded to specific structures ("infantry", vehicle, air). Tech tree and unit production would function in the same way (can build up to 3 units at a time, but they're very expensive, yet strong enough, but require micro/finesse to be truly worth their money, otherwise, if you A-move your force, it won't be as strong as it could be and it won't be worth the money you spent on it). Xel'Naga are very efficient but strong. Nothing should be wasted. They're "perfect". They also have really amazingly strong psionics, highly advanced physics, nanotech, light tech and what not.
4. Designs are organic and round, but also with spikes/tentacles. Floating parts are included in some of the units. You can't tell if the unit, creature, infantry, vehicle, aircraft and building is biological, organic, or a mix of both. It looks perfectly like both, but also seems very confusing. Their stuff is mostly black, dark grey or really dark blue. Player color is teal-ish green, teal, or light blue. They use high technology mixed in perfect unison with organics (not bruteish mix of tech and organic like Terran, or elegant but obvious like Protoss), where both are the same and you can't tell if they're organic with highly advanced nanotech and "light tech" or if they're tech-based with organic elements/imitation. There should also be light coursing through their units, but you can't tell if the light is organic-based or tech-based.
Some design ideas:
- Aliens from the Earth 2160 NEP mod:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/nep-new-earth-project
- Vintarid and Paladin races from the RA2 Doom Desire mod:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/doom-desire
- Seraphim from Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance
- Scrin from C&C3/Tiberium (The cancelled FPS game)
- The Shroud from Grey Goo:
https://www.greybox.com/greygoo/en/info/tech/shroud/
https://www.greybox.com/greygoo/en/info/factions/shroud/
- The Goo from Grey Goo:
https://www.greybox.com/greygoo/en/info/tech/goo/
https://www.greybox.com/greygoo/en/info/factions/goo/
- Scrin from C&C: Tiberian Sun - Shattered Paradise mod:
http://www.ppmforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=41917
- Virons from Ground Control 2
- Crysis 2 prototype alien design:
http://www.designpicture.com/pro/crysis2/index.html
...And a few others (Some are even from obscure Korean & Russian RTS games).
I've included a zip file with a lot of design references & suggestions.
Another alternative to their design, if you go more towards the SC1 Xel'Naga temple design route, is to have them navy blue with yellow team color (The Korean RTS game called Atrox has the Intellion race, which seems to fit that design idea. Their stuff looks just like the SC1 Xel'Naga temple and has a Protoss-ish vibe to it, almost like the DT stuff.
Your designs, by the way, remind me of some of the designs from the cancelled game Guardians of Atlas, by Artillery Games:
https://guardiansofatlas.com
I love your designs, both the mech and structure, really sick stuff :) Kinda fits somewhat with what I have in mind (although I have a somewhat diverse visual design vision of what the Xel'Naga could look like)
So yeah, here's the zip file with all the stuff:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByDj29jsUbyVcF9CREVRWUpWdkU/view?usp=sharing
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It's actually not bad at all, I'm impressed. Seems you are a man of many talents! :)
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I have a few ideas. I'll try and compile them into a comprehensive post and share them soon. :)
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For what it's worth, I agree with you :)
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I knew it.
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Actually, if you follow Blizzard logic, yeah I guess, Zerg would have purity of form, as well, but purity of form is not united thought. In the SC1 manual, form referred to a "strong, unique, psionically advanced" creature, whereas purity of essence referred to "being a Zerg not out of form, but essence". A Protoss is a Protoss, whereas a Zerg can be a Zerg regardless of form or psionic potential. These were retconned to being respectively extremely high psionic power and the ability to evolve/adapt/change. So unless you mix the SC2 definition of Form with the SC1 Manual's definition of Essence, it doesn't really apply. :P
At least that's how I see it. Blizzard's lore is so confusing...
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But keep in mind that Bipedal and quadrupedal creatures are those most capable of evolving highly advanced and specialized brains, so it makes sense, in a way. Not to mention many Zerg creatures, as well as the Protoss, are all bipedal.
However, they can always look like the Psion Mother I posted or like the Void Thrashers. Those are not bipedal, but they don't look "fat and weak", either. I would also imagine transposing Xel'Naga Duran's face and extra arms on a Void Thrasher body, that could work, too.