Osaka's doodling

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Osaka
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:03 pm

Osaka's doodling

Part of a slow and lazy ongoing over-complicated project I've been fiddling with.

This is what the current version looks like at the moment but I'm gradually going to post an explanation of the mechanisms involved in the transformation, design decisions, etc. Its probably going to be a while before I fix it. I've literally gone into this project a total 3D nub and hopefully should come out not-totally-sucking at modelling.

2010-2011
  • Initial scale mockup
  • Pointless experimentation with detailing
  • Messing with universal-limb layouts
    Essentially, the universal limb was going to be a system where any of the machines limbs are all physically identical components, folded differently along joints so they switch roles. Each Universal Limb was composed of the Primary Limb (trunk, shoulder, housing or leg) and secondary limb (fore-arm) with a component uniting the two. Every major universal limb had one primary and two secondary limbs, for redundancy and each secondary limb would contain two hands -- one out, one withdrawn or retracted. That's going to be the final goal, anyway.
  • Front view. Ugly head is ugly.
  • Scale reduction
  • Telescopic Legs condensed, hips adjusted to see what it'll look like in its 'squat' or 'minimal frontal profile' mode
  • Deciding the layout of hardpoints
    These aren't necessarily just for weapons but for armour-plating too.
  • Basic tetrapod/4leg layout | From the front
    So say we've got an extra pair of limbs folded up into neat shoulders and retracted arms, like the engine-pods on the Sinanju. They can unfurl, fold down and become a second pair of legs. The idea is they skim the ground (think ACFA) like a hovercraft of sorts for high speed mobility and heavier loads, making it ideal for assault roles.
  • Hardpoint Experiment 2 | From the back (72 missilepacks total)
  • Rail Cannon | 2 | 3 | 4
    At this length, if I surpass a particular output (I think it was 6.1 MeV?) it should be capable of firing at targets in orbit, though it'd need assistance from a spotter which was much closer to the target.
  • Early Cockpit, prior to bifurcation
    Early cockpit. This went on to become a separate unit, actually in the final after my drive died - a sort of repurposed civilian machine that acts as a combined cockpit and escape pod.
  • Early Transformation Front | Rear
    So yeah. In practice, I could fold the components away carefully into a more streamlined pattern, pointing most of the thrust rearwards.
  • Dynamic Skinning 1 | 2 | 3
    So after that, I take a few lessons from BMW's Gina concept car, to add a few space-frame components and coat the whole thing in cloth which zips neatly over the frame then packs away in vacuum sealed compartments when not in use. Means I can be much more robust (and lazy) with the transformation.
  • Reverse Joint, armlock 1 | 2 | 3
    So yeah. The same set of legs can also become reverse-joint, with a scissor-mechanism at the thigh just by inverting the quad-layout. Also decided in the final, I want a switchblade mechanism beneath the arm and a pair of basic hardpoints on the inner and external, so in practice, it could carry four times the firepower of smaller units (from the setting, stararmy.com) quite easily.
  • Engine Effects 1 | 2
    Turn-A meets ZOE, I guess. This was about three years before Tron came out.
  • Spine 1 | 2 | 3
    Simple, ugly but ... I kind of liked it.
  • Prototype 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Round about then my harddrive died. I gave up for about a year and started modelling again from scratch about two months ago from the sketches and screenshots. Hold on.
Osaka
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Osaka's doodling

2012 Work

  • New Torso, from scratch: front | back
    • From log:
      ... The cockpit is going to be a detachable part from the exterior, like a smaller simplified power-armour of its own with a power-loader kinda vibe. Note the chest parts - those are going to be arms that fold down, like the Winter, with concealed hands and pile-bunkers. I'm pondering adding an extra joint to give them an extended reach, sort of like a praying-mantis.
      Alone, it sorta looks like some sort of construction droid. I might experiment a little with that.
      The major arms and legs still need to be added and the back-parts. They're on my external drive, since my internal failed recently and I still haven't salvaged them back but I think they need a fundamental re-working.
      Proportionally, I'm kinda going for a Takemikaduchi Type-00R vibe (the purple one I linked earlier -- I'm even using references) but I'm not really seeing it yet *laughs* I need to decide where the major curves of the frame are visually in 2D, then re-model most of this so I can get a higher aesthetic rather than just a base proportional draft.

      Kinda has a Mercurius/Vayaete (http://www.crunchyroll.com/mobile-suit- ... ero-539718 2:33 - the red & blue mobilesuits) feel, doesn't it, with those side-vents?
  • Early Bifuricated cockpit module 1 | 2 | 3
  • Later cockpit module 1 | 2 (lol sensor-pod placeholder)
  • Basic Frame 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
  • Cockpit Module Update 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
  • With structol gelatine metalloid muscle structure coverings & proportional tweaking 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
    • Experimenting with an Orbital-Frame esque look here.

      I think it was too feminine. What I wanted to experiment with really, was that kind of TSF-Wasp-thin-waist and bulky limbs matched to a very fragile looking body with a much more organic feel. The idea was the limbs were bolted on, a bit like Eva 05's provisional cybernetic limbs. Eventually, they get popped off and the structol alloy forms organic shaped limbs using the chest-arms and the legs inside as a basis. I could never really get the look to work but it was fun experimenting with.
  • '1.0' 1 | 2
  • With space-gear 1 | 2
  • Ablative Armour 1 | 2 | 3
  • Mandible chest-arm Assembly (seriously overdue) 1 | 2 | 3
  • Demo View of Mandables 1 | 2
  • Experimenting with smaller form-factor for possible successor 1 | 2
  • Experimenting with new leg layout 1 | 2
  • Experimenting with the cockpit as its own unit (GENI 'Flea') 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | CutAway View | Folded/Cockpit Mode
Osaka
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Osaka's doodling

Controller/cockpit design experiments:

Fig i
Directional Input:
Rather than using directional analogue sticks which are in common use, even now, the choice was made to go with stationary resistance sticks, like those used in fighter-jets. While they don’t actually move, they measure pressure applied in any given direction and apply directional action accordingly. While a typical stick only offers two to five levels of directional sensitivity, stationary resistance sticks offer up to 512 levels. Even better, there isn’t any travel so changing direction is almost instantaneous. The result is no over-panning and no correction needed to compensate. Just snap to aim sharp and precisely.

The left stick is for motion and the right stick is for sighting or rotational control.

Central Joint:


Both joints: Some level of resistance attempts to return the controller to its original relative position. Spring-loaded? Uses the same sensors as the basic rotation or not? (Probably not — spring loaded?)
Fig ii
Action buttons:
Opens up potential to ‘smarter’ games without ‘gimping’ things down from the PC.
Unobtrusive and entirely optional to players.
“We think you deserve more control over what you’re doing and a better feel for what you’re doing.” “
“You deserve better.”

Similar to D-pad but also packing a capacitive pickup (think ipod clickwheel) capable of discerning direction but not position.
When tapped normally, behaves normally.
When tapped hard, the clickwheel behavior arises. By scrubbing in a certain direction, a choice is made (pie menu?) — Releasing confirms choice.
Tl;dr: Extremely rapid seamless control turning 4 buttons into a maximum of 32 possible selections total, plus the original 4 available.
Visual feedback and interfacing is necessary when making these choices, as passive as they might be.

Example: diamond of buttons? When user brings up a pie-menu, a button is pulled down into focus and the options displayed around it.
User glides into direction, picking specific option by direction. Options are visual, not textural. Rely on muscle memory.
Releasing the button confirms the selection.
Clicking the left stick cancels the selection.

The idea is if the user presses harder/deeper, the menu comes up.
The menu does not need to render before the action can be performed.
The result is that the players can learn via muscle memory the positions of options in particular games.
After which, they don’t need to see the options to actually use them. They can be performed without the menu (blind gliding).

Some typical examples:
Views:
Tapping scrolls through available views.
Gliding (term?) selects a specific view from a list.

Attacks:
Tapping is a punch. Tapping multiple times combos the punch.
Gliding selects specific punch types (up vs down: high vs low — left vs right: speed vs power)
Result allows for ‘analogue like’ control of attacks rather than specifics alone.
What could this mean for kicks, throws, other moves?

Driving games:
Tapping switches between reverse and active gear.
Gliding selects an upshift or a downshift.

Weapons Setup:
Tapping switches blindly between different attachments or weapons or firing mode.
Gliding selects a specific attachment or weapons or firing mode.


As a form of allocation:
This could be used to assign specific commands or attacks to buttons. For example, there could be a list of available attacks in the menu.
By using gliding, the tap function could then be defined (for example: as last glide) or back to default.


Theoretically, multiple slides could be tied into a single glide like driving stick.
Example:
Glide starts. Slide one direction, slide another direction.
This is visually shown in the UI. Result is a real gear-shift with proper vibration feedback in the controller.


As cockpit controller:

1
2
3
Osaka
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Osaka's doodling

Starship doodle 'Kashmir Class' (stupid Startrek thread on /m/)

Challenge: Combine the best of the Oberth Class, the Prometheus and the Intrepid.

Challenge accepted: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8[url] | [url=http://i.imgur.com/aeILE.png]9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13
Osaka
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Osaka's doodling

Current version of the Rhys Okay, so... From here, I'm unsure where to take the aesthetic or what to do with it in terms of detailing. At the moment, I'm working on its hands (instead of using a placeholder) which will be compactable and symmetrical down the middle.

Doing the math... Six primary limbs, each with two secondary limbs, each of those with 2 hands... So that 4 hands per limb and 6 total, making 24 hands. Wow. So... 120 fingers. Maybe I should go with a finger-mounted cannon, like the Orbital Frame Idolo? Hah. I'd really be able to go nuts. Danmaku style games like ]Touhou or Ikaruga, much? The energy consumption would be utterly batshit, though, don't you think?

On paper, I think I can also slip a flat-disc style unit into either side of each primary limb, like a bit or funnel and one either side of each secondary, making 6 of these remote units per limb, making 36 total. I think they'd be good in a defensive role, sort of like Earth Defensers.

Those who don't know what EDs are, click here. Its basically shown continually in the first 10 minutes of the episode. I couldn't find a Youtube equivalent -- sorry.
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Turinu
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Location: Florida
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Re: Osaka's doodling

This is... some really good stuff. Makes me look back on my own 3D modeling and want to start all over again, D:

Still, it also provides the opportunity to be inspirational. Looking at these nice designs, I'm getting some new ideas for future models~
Osaka
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Osaka's doodling

Most of what I do is explore new ideas. I very rarely polish any of it off.

What I really want is someone to bounce ideas off and have a discussion with since that's how I work best. IRC or something like that would be perfect.
Osaka
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Osaka's doodling

Matched the leg-plates up with the shoulders: http://i.imgur.com/7kHcI.png

http://i.imgur.com/VEm4c.png
http://i.imgur.com/m1kJg.png
http://i.imgur.com/Tb5Lv.png

Thinking of going for a sort of Portal-esque look, with smooth white panelling offset by darker more crooked looking components beneath. I still need to get the rectifiers in place in the armour. The idea with those is that they'll be tubes sunken into the leg and shoulder plating. When the plating they're embedded in is tilted in a certain way, they're revealed and then they can extend outwards, sort of like heat-sinks of weird particle-based cooling systems to flash-restore barriers, at the cost of using the particles that keep the internal structure sturdy - a kind of trade-off that might be ideal in some situations. They can also be used to suck in particles from a combat environment and recycle them or order those outside it into a more meaningful lattice. Sort of like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKCl3lfA ... page#t=52s




The idea, as stated, is that an entire leg or arm or back unit are the same component, just ... Folded differently, if that makes sense. I'm starting to get into the hard topology of making this work. For example, the whole leg folds down into a minimal space and the plates from either side slide up ontop of eachother to form the basic shoulder assembly.

I still need to make some decisions about where the foot goes in this version, since I don't want to reveal it. I'm thinking of using structol alloy as a kind of 'skin' to the feet and withdrawing it and configuring the skeletal beneath into the smallest space I can so it all tucks and fits properly.

I figure the biceps will be made of the same material. The trick is I need to decide what unites the limbs and makes them swappable. I'm thinking of putting independent thrusters and using a wire-anchor like system, to launch them away, shift the unit and then re-dock them -- or maybe a flexible arm grown from structol that swaps the joints, then kind of neatly sculpts to fill in gaps in the mass of the machine.

Liquid metal makes this a lot easier.
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MechLife
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2012 7:22 pm

Re: Osaka's doodling

Awesome! How long do these take to design?
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Amion
Posts: 2166
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:43 pm

Re: Osaka's doodling

These are really good, Osaka. The quadruped version with the railguns was my favorite, makes me want to dabble in 3D artwork. (Munches thoughtfully on a chocolate bar)
They don't know the power of a balanced vision.
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MechWarrior86
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:12 pm

Re: Osaka's doodling

Wow, awesome! I wish I had talent like that :)
lights, camera, action!
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