Underlord - Character Models
About: Underlord
During my time as a contract artist with Bolder Games, the team began developing an isometric dungeon crawler and management game called Underlord. The prototype of Underlord was an asymmetric 4v1 game that features classic action in a dungeon crawler format developed in Unreal Engine. Up to 4 players play as different character classes, traversing and fighting their way through a dungeon created and filled by the “Dungeon Master” player who is building the level and spawning traps, enemies, and hazards to try and stop the other players. Unfortunately progress on the project halted due to lack of funding, but my time on it was a blast!
WHat I DId:
My contribution to the prototype included modeling/sculpting, retopologizing, and uv/texturing the 4 playable characters. Each character/class had wonderful concept art created by Eamonn McCormick, and after seeing each new concept for the characters I was excited to bring them to life in 3D!
Provided below each character is more information about their concept as well as my process for working on them.
Sculpting // ZBrush
Retop/UVs // Autodesk Maya
Textures // Substance Painter
Wizard
In Game Screenshot
Final Textures
UVs and Textures
WIP - Blockout
WIP - High Poly
Concept Art by Eamonn McCormick
The Wizard is the first character I modeled for this project. This character, as with the others, has steampunk-style armor plating that contributes their look to resemble certain animals. In the case of the Wizard, we wanted them to look more aquatic and fish-like. I started the modeling the character by blocking out the basic forms/proportions before refining and sculpting high poly details. I then retopologized and UV’d the mesh where afterwards I baked in the high-poly details and textured the final model!
Ranger
In Game Screenshot
Final Textures
UVs and Textures
WIP - Blockout
WIP - High Poly
Concept Art by Eamonn McCormick
The Ranger is the next character I modeled. The Ranger was designed to resemble a more canine-like animal. This character was made using the same process as before, starting from a blockout of forms, moving into high-poly refinement, retopology and UV’s, and finishing with baking and texturing!
FIghter
In Game Screenshot
Final Textures
UVs and Textures
WIP - Blockout
WIP - High Poly
Concept Art by Eamonn McCormick
The Fighter is the next character I modeled. The Fighter was designed to evoke the image of a bear. While my process for working on this character remained the same, being as they had more complicated hard-surface elements than any of the other characters, I went back an forth between ZBrush’s “ZModeler” tool and the poly-modeling tools within Autodesk Maya to achieve the proper shapes. Once the hard-surface blockout was complete I continued the process, moving into high-poly refinement, retopology and UV’s, and finishing with baking and texturing!
Healer
In Game Screenshot
Final Textures
UVs and Textures
WIP - Blockout
WIP - High Poly
Concept Art by Eamonn McCormick
The Healer is the final character I modeled for Underlord. The Healer had a design that resembled avian features. This character was made using the same process as before, starting from a blockout of forms, moving into high-poly refinement, retopology and UV’s, and finishing with baking and texturing!