Shrine Pt.2 - 3D Art and Portraits

Shrine was probably my favorite legion to work on because there are so many interesting Asian lores to be inspired from. We also tried some new things like swapping out textures under certain conditions (Nekomata/Hell Raiser) and stationary building unit that summons units. We recycled Brute and Fiend mercenaries for the summons bc we def didn't have time or resources for it... I think we fake it pretty well

Yeah I know, his nose resembles something. Inspired by Tengu masks.

Model/texture by me. 天狗封 means (Tengu seal talisman)

False Maiden is the one that would laugh at your mishaps.

Model/texture by me. Hers says 喜女封 (Happy lady seal talisman)

Inspired by the angry oni demon face.

Model/texture by me. His says 怒鬼封 (Rage demon seal talisman).

These were tricky bc the game camera will show the back of the unit and that's boring. To make them interesting I made the animation to turn back and laugh at the user and also added a paper talisman.

During the development, we added the ability "Tantrum" and we needed an extra texture for gameplay clarity.

This unit only has one form, but you feed him fish offerings and he gets bigger and stronger. His tail tip's blue flame also gets brighter.

Model/texture by me

I ended up making an extra texture for his max level for gameplay clarity, bc Nekomata gets MUCH stronger at her max stacks.

I think Infiltrator was the first unit that looked remotely like a handsome male, but ofc he has to wear a mask.

Model/texture outsourced and polished by me. His voice is our main programmer/designer Lisk's. Such is life of an indie 4-men studio :P

I really love this character bc of her behind-story (her decapitation) and looks. Just never had a way to tell her back story though :/

Model/texture outsourced and polished by me. Her "voice" is just desperate gasping sounds bc she can't talk with her slit throat.

I just had to have a Ronin in the game..
Protip: Want to reduce tris count of your mesh? Design them without their legs.

Model/texture outsourced and polished by me. He's a noble spirit. I emphasized to the animator that he needs to Seppuku for the death animation.

Wanted to make sure that the armor doesn't look like western armor, bc Asian armor plates were often bound in a specific way.

Model/texture outsourced and polished by me. He shares rig and animation with the base form, his cape is using his hair bones. ;)

Yozora is probably the first portrait I made her look straightforward; I really wanted to show half of her face to be hidden and a half to be shown. She eventually became one of the most popular characters and the face of the game later on.

Model/texture outsourced and polished by me. She didn't get any leg to mesh either..sorry lady.

Example of feedback for outsource modeler

Full fox spirit form, a fox with a human face (although hidden).

Model/texture outsourced and polished by me. If you look closely her hairstyle hasn't changed.

Very first structure/non-moving unit.

Model/texture outsourced and polished by me. I asked the animator to really exaggerate the movement when it summons so it doesn't look so boring.

Example of feedback for outsource modeler

Hellion was a retextured Brute model (texture by me). You usually see his back so I focused on his back design. He's a melee summone.

Nightcrawler was a retextured Fiend model (texture by me). He is a ranged summon throwing crescent moon-shaped projectiles. Also has cool tattoos and extra eyes on the back of his head.

I wanted to push the sinister mood of this character, bc lore-wise Hell Gate is a corrupted version of the Soul Gate.

Model/texture outsourced and polished by me. The same request was made to the animator.

Example of feedback for outsource modeler

Retexture by me. Now red and evil.

Retexture by me. Now red and evil with drippy blood.