Xertul

For your consideration...

Zombie Liberty!

I planned to color this, but I've been so incredibly busy... Maybe next month.

Alright, just finished editing and testing one of my latest arcs... I THINK I caught all the errors, but chances are, I missed a few.

Arc Name: The Balance of Power
Arc ID: 9769
Faction: Custom - Granox (Alien Empire)
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Xer'Tul
Difficulty Level: Medium to Hard
Synopsis: "When an alien race threatens to wipe out this arm of the galaxy, it would seem that only YOU can help to save it! Take part in this thrilling action adventure, as you side with the Cosmic Paladins to help drive away the threat of the evil Granox!"
Estimated Time to Play: 45 minutes, give or take.
Link to More Details or Feedback: PM me, or go here.

Enjoy.

I'm going to have to go with Tacky_Tricky.

I actually can't wait to find out next month's theme. Unfortunately, I was busy for most of this month, and forgot about the contest until just before the deadline, so I rushed to get something up...
My next entry will be of a much higher quality, to be sure.

Anyways... Good luck everyone.

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Looks like I caught this in the nick of time, Here's my entry, Baby Blue.

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lol thats awesome!!

Ok i guess we'll call it there. I'll post up the vote thread after i get off work

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Wait, what?!

But the day isn't oveeerrrr!

I'll see if I can get something up in the next 20-30 minutes. If not, go on without me.

I honestly thought it ended tomorrow, so I wasn't going to start on this until later on tonight.

EDIT:Here.

Needless to say, not my best effort. But I wanted to at least get something up to make it through to the next round... Meh.

I was originally going to whip up a quick model on Zbrush, but, well... That'll have to be for next month, I suppose.

Definetly can't wait to see then end result of this.

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*crosses fingers*

buttcapesbuttcapesbuttcapesbuttcapes...

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Nope, not this time, unfortunately. That was actually the first thing I checked.

Sign: Xertul

Totally psyched for this.

Very nice. It definetly looks like you've got it down pat for the most part.

I just found out about this program yesterday, and I've been having a blast with it so far. Although, I've still got alot to learn apparently.

Mind if I ask what kind of tutorials (If any) you've used to help you get started?

I've unfortunately run into a temporary problem with the grandville map, and so I won't be posting updates for that map for a bit. I should be able to fix the issue, however, and the end result with hopefully look better than what I initally started with.

You may note that I said I would not be putting up updates for THAT map for a bit. If you're wondering about this... Yes. I have another fun little project going on right now.

I can't divulge too much... But I'll leave you folks with this little hint:

Try and figure it out

More details on it by tommorow.

Oooh. Sounds neat. I'd be more than happy to throw Xer'Tul into the mix.

Xer'tul
Xer'Tul references

Bio:

Long ago, the mystic forces that governed the universe put into place a balance. One that would dictate the ultimate outcome of everything. After the balance was set, the beings responsible left the universe, as they presumed that the balance would forever be kept. Little did they know, the denizens of the universe would not keep to the Balance.

And so, an eternal struggle between the forces of the morally good and the morally corrupt began. Too late did the beings who created the universe realise that what had transpired could not be undone. If the balance were to somehow fall too far to one spectrum, the universe itself would enter absolute chaos.

It was up to the beings to find a solution - And so were born the Keepers of the Balance. Beings of pure energy, given physical form and a duty - To keep the Balance safe.
Xer'Tul was one of the ten born that day. With near limitless power, and the foresight to know what needed to be done, he and his cohorts set out to create order in what was now a mostly chaotic universe.

It can only be assumed that they succeeded, as the universe still exists this day.

The keepers of the Balance disbanded after their task was complete, each one governing over their own sector of the universe. It would seem obvious that Xer'Tul was tasked to maintain order in the quadrant that would eventually be home to Earth, as this is where he currently resides.

Unfortunately, he is not given the praise he deserves. As he has no true moral standings, he can make the choices that no one else can, to keep the balance safe. And so, neither villain nor hero truly understands him, nor do they welcome him.

Over the years living amongst the humans, Xer'Tul has developped a dark, brooding personality. His rejection has caused him to distance himself from anyone else, and thus, no one truly knows much about him or why he does what he does.

Why would he interest himself in taking down Bayani? Easily explained. Bayani is an anomaly in the Balance. His continued success against the forces of evil cannot continue, as it would upset the Balance that Xer'tul has strived so hard to maintain. It is by his hands that Bayani must fall.

Update #5

Hey folks. Here's another one for the day. I'm really enjoying this now that it's really starting to come together. I think I spent most of my day working on this map today.

Needless to say, I'm happy with what I managed to finish up until this point.

Grandville from a distance: Oooh. Dark and forebodding. Yeah, so... With this version of grandville, I'm going to do my best to make it as sinister looking as I can. I really want it to feel like the home of the most dangerous villain in the world.

Entrance: So, as you may or may not notice, I'm starting to add in the Arachnos tapestries as well as the floor logos. I wanted to throw these things in last, but I couldn't help myself, so I decided to do them now instead.

Center of the island: I know, it's very dark right now. As it stands, I have no lighting in this area of the map at all.

Tower lobby: And here we see the inside of the tower once again. This time with a couple textures. There's still a bunch of things that need to be done here, but it gives you a rough idea.

Before and After: I was just looking through the old pictures I put up, and I was amazed at how much it's already changed. The before picture is how it looked yesterday morning, and the after picture is how it looks now.

So there you go. I'm actually kind of upset that the day is over. I really want to keep on working on this... But I know I musn't.

For now, however, I want to discuss my future plans for this project:
-First off, I want to finish the basic models for all the buildings, as well as get those textures done up. That's, surprisingly enough, the easier part of this project.
-Once I'm done Grandville, I want to start working on some Arachnos NPCs to throw in there. I have absolutely zero skill as a modeler, but I pride myself at being a fast learner. More than likely, it'll only be simple arachnos troops, and bane spiders.
-I want to get an overarching mission storyline worked into this map as well. Although, I'm still unsure on if I'm going to make this from a villain's perspective (working for Arachnos), or from a hero's perspective (working against). I guess I could actually do both.
-Afterwards, I'm going to make a new map, on which I'm going to build the Fab, and the underground network of Grandville. Unfortunately, even the SB2 system has it's limitations, and as it stands, I simply cannot have these on my current grandville map. However, I can link the two maps together.

And that's it for now.

Update #4

Alright, I haven't got time to say much, so I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Overview, with textures

Grandville Propoganda

Generic villain, flying through the city

Still lots of work to do, but it's starting to come along.

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Gah! That's too bad to hear. I know exactly what you mean, though. I've had several projects where it's been better to just start over from scratch than try to deal with what's already done. Lookin' forward to Grandville v2.0!

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Actually, I got lucky. I found a solution to the problem.

Of course, everything will still be oversized... But that's okay. The textures were really what I was concerned about, and I found a fix for that. Actually, the method I'm using now is going to make texturing the easiest part of this project.

Expect an update by tonight.

Well... This is most unfortunate. I've run into a problem of sorts today. A pretty big problem, as well.

To put it simply, everything is about 10x bigger than it should be compared to a normal sized City of Heroes character. Like... It's immense. Falling from the top of the central tower takes forever. I also misjudged my initial map size, and I'm now out of room for the back areas, as well as the Fab (Oh yes, I'm doing the fab as well.)

This also creates a problem with textures. The objects are so immense, and the textures can only fill out so much space, that it looks horrible. I WISH I could make the UVmap bigger, but it appears that I cannot.

This leaves me with two options: Continue, but exclude textures and go with flat colors, which, in the end, will probably end up looking pretty boring... OR, I restart.

Restarting is what I'm thinking of doing. When I initially started this project, I knew HALF as much as I know now, so I really think it'd be the better course to take. The end result, I think, will look much nicer.

So. Looks like it's back to the drawing board for now. If I stop fooling around, I actually think I can get back to the point I was at by late tonight...

EDIT: Bahaha. Never mind. I found a solution.

At last... An update!

I shan't lie. I totally forgot about this little project for a while. I got focused on other things, and, sort of let this slide for a bit.

But, I'm back at it again.

So, here we go. An update from the past 2 days:

Grandville 4: This is what I completed yesterday. As you can see from the last update, it's not much. I started on the tangle, and finished up part of the wall.

Grandville 5: Here's what I finished tonight. I added in that building that sits beside the Tower. Although I haven't made any decent textures for it yet, unfortunately.

Grandville 6: I started adding more details to the front entrance as well. Nothing fancy yet, but, it should start looking better once I get some decals in there.

Grandville 7: And last picture for the evening, here's the inside lobby room of the Tower. I haven't worked on it much yet, so there's only the basic shapes and no textures at all... But I plan on having it looking a bit better by tommorow night.

And there you go. Sorry for the wait between updates. Hopefully, things should get back to a normal pace.

I've always been a fan of this little screenshot I nabbed a couple years ago.

Indeed, many happy returns to your grandfather!

Xer'Tul is, as always, in the signature.

As far as backstory goes:

Long ago, the mystic forces that governed the universe put into place a balance. One that would dictate the ultimate outcome of everything. After the balance was set, the beings responsible left the universe, as they presumed that the balance would forever be kept. Little did they know, the denizens of the universe would not keep to the Balance.

And so, an eternal struggle between the forces of the morally good and the morally corrupt began. Too late did the beings who created the universe realise that what had transpired could not be undone. If the balance were to somehow fall too far to one spectrum, the universe itself would enter absolute chaos.

It was up to the beings to find a solution - And so were born the Keepers of the Balance. Beings of pure energy, given physical form and a duty - To keep the Balance safe.
Xer'Tul was one of the ten born that day. With near limitless power, and the foresight to know what needed to be done, he and his cohorts set out to create order in what was now a mostly chaotic universe.

It can only be assumed that they succeeded, as the universe still exists this day.

The keepers of the Balance disbanded after their task was complete, each one governing over their own sector of the universe. It would seem obvious that Xer'Tul was tasked to maintain order in the quadrant that would eventually be home to Earth, as this is where he currently resides.

Unfortunately, he is not given the praise he deserves. As he has no true moral standings, he can make the choices that no one else can, to keep the balance safe. And so, neither villain nor hero truly understands him, nor do they welcome him.

Over the years living amongst the humans, Xer'Tul has developped a sense of understanding. He still lives a cold, distant life from the rest of the world, but ever so slowly, he seems to be gaining some humanity; OR WORSE. The beings who created him and govern over him and the other balance keepers may slowly be losing their control - And thus control over the balance of the universe!

EDIT: By the way.. I know you've done Xer'Tul before, and I'm really sorry I'm throwing him up here again, but... He's the only character I got. I have a serious case of the Anti-Altitis.

It's not much, but... In light of the new cyborg pieces, I just had to give it a shot.

Captain Steeljaw

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I think the name "Lighthouse" is already taken.

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Oh har har :P

Yeah, he has a bright face. Unfortunately, it's partly due to my graphics settings. If I lower them, it looks fine however.

I'm realling digging the new costume pieces.

Updated Xertul

Haha, thanks folks. And, yep TA, you'd be correct in saying that it's a device from another game. Although, infinitly more powerful than what I assume the mission creator we get will be.

SO. Time for another little update! This time, more on the entrance area of grandville. Oh, and, just an FYI, I removed the temporary textures I had for the time being. So it may look a little odd, or boring to most of you. But, no fear, I'll have something to replace them soon (Hopefully).

Entrance 1
Entrance 2

So as you can see, it's mostly recognisable from what you know in-game. There's still a few details missing that I need to address, but that's the look so far.

Keep an eye out for update 3 in the coming days. Next time, the citadel!

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The question is, are you actually duplicating the map as it exists in City of Villains, or is this simply a "look and feel" type of project?

Either way, it already looks cool.

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More or less exactly as it is in game, with a few personal touches of course. I've taken screenshots from every area possible in Grandville, from every angle, and I'm currently using those as my reference points.

Some things won't be exactly the same (Due to the limitations of the editor), but I plan on doing the most accurate job I can with what I have.

Also: I'll see if I can throw up another update for tonight.

Heeeyyyy folks.

Because it may be asked... Yes, the comic book project is still happening, although, I'm waiting for Issue 13 to happen first before really tackling it.

So, onto the main point: As some of you may or may not know, the game Crysis comes with a really great level designer known as the Sandbox 2. It allows for alot of things, and makes for some pretty awesome looking levels.

I've been playing with this thing for some time now, and I recently took it upon myself to recreate a city zone from City of Heroes/Villains, that being Grandville, as I'm sure you've already deduced.

This is going to be a big project. Huge, even. As I want to get as many details in as I can. And so, it probably wont be finished for several months.

Until then, however, I'll be supplying you guys with semi-regular updates on as to how it's advancing.

So, here we go:
Update 1 - Just a general shot of the Southern wall and entrance. I won't put up any shots of inside the city just yet, as it's nowhere near completion. Also: Textures aren't even started yet, so what you see are just flat textures with colors that kind of work.

Enjoy.

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Awesome! I've been wondering about this recently. Refresh my memory (if you mentioned it), will it be posted through your DA page?

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Yessir! It most definetly will be.

And, unfortunately, I lied about not having anything to show yet earlier. I found I had some spare time this evening, so I decided to whip something up. I didn't expect to finish, but... Looks like I did.

Here is a concept piece (The first) of one of the characters to be included in the comic. Xertul, of course. I've never drawn a Xertul that I was really happy with, but... I like how this one turned out.

During the course of the next couple weeks, I'll be putting up other concept pieces of the other characters in the comic.

Stay tuned.

So... A slight update!

Unfortunately, what with my uber busy schedule, I've been unable to work much on this. I've got the story laid out however.

I've also found out that I shan't be as busy in the near future... Meaning, expect to see something soon.

Thanks for your patience