Concept Art / Props / Game Assets
Ahn' oth is the product of both philosophy and design. My concept was to create a being that was capable of housing a soul not its own and allowing that soul to slowly create a new body from within, to become its own existence beneath the shell. Once ready, the "guest" soul would be released as a being born of its own harnessed energy. The result was a semi-encased crystallized organism that is based purely upon it's power of will. If the soul is not stable upon release, the shell host will fracture and crack, destroying both the it and the visiting soul in the process.
The idea of creating a character based only on a self-powering energy source was something I had been playing with for years. The question was, why - and how? As I went from concept to concept I created sheet after sheet of ideas. Ultimately, the concept was a constant evolution down to the final product. Some things that looked great in 2D or a silhouette were not as interesting in 3D and were modified. I started with a base model I created from zSpheres in zBrush and sculpted armor, shells, and other casings to preserve the fragile creature within. About halfway through texturing I realized that this was much more like glass than energy and decided to work with it rather than against it.
Personal Project: Ahn'oth Ur
Animation Final Demo; December
Lighting was an increasingly difficult task to tackle: How could I get light to refract in a means similar to a crystal, but to emit its own light source when prompted?
I decided that both the armor and the body need to emit light, especially if the player was to recognize the body's components in a darker environment. Since the concept art was purple, it was an easy decision.
T-Pose Demo Test 1, November
Concept Art and Progress Shots