The Shining Source

(Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section.)

Hello everybody, I'm new around here.

I'm thinking about starting my own Shining project, but I'd like some opinions on my concept art before I move forward. Specifically, I'd like your opinion on how the style of the art compares to the Shining games, and if you think this style should be used for my project. (Also let me know if you like the color scheme of the character please.)

First is a portrait concept and quick character mouse sketch. (This character is of my own design, not from the Shining series.)



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Then here's a quick 3d model I've made of the same character. Please note that I have yet to apply textures, costume or normal/bump mapping.
(Or bits like eyes/tongue.)






When drawing the portrait, I tried to emulate Shining's style as much as I could, although the highlights were tricky.

Please give me your opinion, and also let me know if there's anything you'd like to see in a 3d Shining style game.
(Maybe let me know your favorite characters also.)

Take care!

~Jibe

Actually a list of your favorite characters from any of the Shining games would be helpful.

Hey Jibe,

Very nice work! This is definitely acceptable for a Shining Game, but are you able to produce these in larger quantities? That may be the difficult thing here.

Either way, fave characters from me:
SF 1: Lyle, Guntz, Kokichi, Khris, Arthur
SF 2: Bowie, Karna, Slade, Kiwi, Zynk, Skreech, Kazin

Hey there Dev, thanks for the reply!

The worktime for the portrait, sketch and model was a total of 4 hours. Skinning, texturing and costuming might add another 1-2 hours. I'd assume that I'll be able to cut down that time once I get used to the process as well.

Also, I have a good idea what it takes to make a game, since I'm majoring in Game Art & Design.

There're possible lackeys everywhere!

Heya, just finished this one of Slade. I tried using a more classic coloring style. Let me know what you think!

Here's one of Domingo, no animation yet.

Hey Jibe, apparently the <img> html tags don't work here. Try doing the following instead:



I corrected it for the above posts already though .

Also, what will be the name of your project, and do you have any site? Then I could add you to the project list .

Ah, whoops! Thanks for pointing that out Dev. Actually, I don't have a site at the moment. I'd rather just have a project page here. (I was under the impression that we could submit our own changes to our project page, is that how it works?) If not then I could always try to make a quick project page. Anyways, here's some info on the project:

Working title: Shining Song

Shining Song will be a 3d SRPG game inspired by the Shining Force series and is currently being developed in the Torque Engine.

The game will take place sometime after Shining Force II and follow the story of a new main character, but expect to see some familar faces along the way. You can also expect a larger amount of character dialog and interaction. Members of the force won't just be there to fight and sit at HQ.

What WILL be in the game:

- Classic strategy battles
- At least playable 15 characters (Including the return of certain old heroes)
- A good storyline, sidequests and minigames
- Colorful 3d graphics
- Hand drawn face portraits
- Classic spells, items and equipment
- Headquarters

What MIGHT be in the game:

- At least 30 playable characters
- Explorable 3d world map
- Various mounts/transportation
- The ability to connect with your friends and battle your forces, trade items and chat. (Yes, it's possible with the engine, but would be one of the last things put in if time allowed.)
- Various other ideas :lol:

What will NOT be in the game:

- Cards :x
- A crappy action variation on any classic gameplay elements
- Any destruction or bastardization of the original story or characters
- Porn ... Well, maybe just a little.

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"Sounds interesting, but what's the point? You'll never get it done, right?"

WRONG! ... Er, maybe! Yep. :lol:

My expectations for this project are very high, and my work results have so far been encouraging. Also, the fact that I'm a Game Art & Design student is an additional motivation for me finishing this project. Everything that I do on this project can go right into my portfolio, and let me tell you how awesome it would be to have finished an actual game by the time I graduate.

I'm also attempting to rope a couple fellow students into working for me, but so far I'm the only team member.

What I have done so far:

- The full story outline written
- Most of the characters written out
- 4 drawn face portraits
- 1 character fully modeled, costumed, rigged and skinned
- 1 human template model, rigged and skinned
- 1/2 way done on a centaur template model
- Some experimentation with texuring/lighting to maintain that Shining feel

How long I've been working on the project so far: 3 days. :wink:

So hopefully I'll be able to keep up this pace and have something to show you in a while. Take care!

Looks and sounds good.

You truely are a god among rats... err...

Silly of me not to see this topic earlier.

You're artist is great.  My computer drawing skills are quite lower than anything that well done.

I'm better with good ol graphite

hey..there's no 'i like it all' button so i voted for tacos..cause tacos will compete with cockroaches for world supreamacy one day..

A pity the pipe will not make an appearence the house of pipes is sad but anxious to see what this develops into

I really like the portraits, especially the Slade one. They have that nice Shining Force feel to them, but with a nice dose of originality too. I look forward to seeing what else you come up with

Thanks for the nice comments guys, it's definitely encouraging. I'm having to finish up finals, so I won't be able to get any work for SS done for a few days, but I'll be back on track after that.

Apparently the people loves them tacos.

Oh, and what's this about 'the pipe'? :lol:

I looked up your site and noticed you have a guy especialy just for coffee making. You sir, are the king of kings.