Ragoon's Graphics For HoMM3SW

Wow, what a dick

Okay, back to the topic - I've got another suggestion from our old folk Kivo:

Kivo wrote:

Btw as everyone is talking about the Toad as I was thinking that instead of having it "biting" as Orzie suggested, what about having it spit some green venom? I don't mean it to be a shooter, it could still be a melee unit with a spit animation at the creature next to it. Just a thought. It might look silly having it biting.

Maybe even cerberus like skill? Like it could attack every unit in front. It would make the toad unique imo. What do you think?

Make the toad great again!

The toad seems like it would be a good candidate for some kind of ranged attack using the tongue. Not as far as a regular archer, but could still attack from two to three squares away. Kind of a compromise.

I think the Mantis looks amazing with the wings, although I can see why it might be a bit much to have so many flying units in a lineup. If it stayed that way, something would have to be nerfed to make up for their maneuverability, and it seems that if the creatures were just one sided in that way, then they would become easy to exploit. But as far as looks go? It looks great.

If we are to put spitting attack to the Toad, there may be too many questions why it uses it only in melee, and why archers can't shoot the creatures blocking them. Such ambiguity is not likely to be preserved for the mod.

I'm for the biting attack or leaving the current licking attack (which still requires fixes though). It's not a problem if a toad bites after all, there are a lot of examples.




Concerning the movement, after some thoughts I think it's generally possible to implement a groundwalking animation. Preferably it should look more like the one presented on Uhm's example, but not with the jumping. The downside of this is the fact that the Toad's design must be probably remade a little, because currently its static form hints that it is a jumping frog with weak 'forearms' and strong 'legs'.

Making the Toad groundwalking means that the flying Mantis is 100% defined as the 'official' creature of the lineup.

Holy shit, I didn't know toads had such sharp little fangs. You sure they don't belong in the undead lineup?

Sorry to bring bad news but toads don't have teeth.
But no biggie, the creature looks like a frog more than a toad anyway.

buffkaz wrote:

Sorry to bring bad news but toads don't have teeth.
But no biggie, the creature looks like a frog more than a toad anyway.

They have, but more rudimentary ones. Anyway, it's adjustable and we operate in a world of magic.
The creature design will be adjusted accordingly, I also mentioned that currently it's rather a frog.

Update on my work

I've started recording the process of animating lizardman and once finished I'll upload it on youtube for you and everyone else (acid cave, facebook page, df2 etc) to see

First part (dividing into parts ready to animate) took me 55 mins, had some trouble with bow shape

If you have a work-in-progress video of it, I'd surely like to have a look. Bad thing is that you didn't even ask me before doing any kind of such content, I could at least help you with stuff or participate in the making of the video - perhaps it would be useful for the official H3SW YouTube channel then.

I think you'll have to wait a little more friend

I am planning on adding text comments (so you'll know what am I doing exacly) and notes inside of the video, making some parts play faster when they'll be not as interesting to watch etc

I hope you didn't forget to mention that you used an already developed draft by Agar and me which was already about 15 hours total time of drawing and adjustment then

Don't worry, I remember that and will give you proper credit

It is taking time, but I'll eventually finish it :p
It has start and end moving animation, because I want him to bend down like in H3 and didn't wanted him to look like a pigeon



And when I'm finally inspired to do some progress I have to go to school :v Next one is shoot and death so It will be ready for v0.8
Then the same for upgrade and crossbowmen shoot anim.

Separate::

This is another step for the upcoming video

Looking awesome as always!

Looking good! I like that he's crouching when moving. The only thing I would criticize is the loincloth, is all of it supposed to move with the right leg? I think it would look better if it was hanging between the legs when he's moving. At the moment it kinda looks like he's really... "well endowed" Then again, could just be me and my dirty mind.

Have you thought about the idle animation? Maybe a hissing tongue?

AkuAkuIslands wrote:

The only thing I would criticize is the loincloth, is all of it supposed to move with the right leg?

I can fix it a little bit like a tribal, but nothing more can be done here

AkuAkuIslands wrote:

Have you thought about the idle animation? Maybe a hissing tongue?

Yup, it will be this with some body movement (probably tail and maybe some arms)




//EDIT
Shoot animation almost ready

I made an alternative bow for lizardman. It gives a more rugged feel to the troop and makes it more unique in my opinion.

xxswwxx, you need to practice, but you're very young. I can give you one advice that I've gotten from someone couple of years ago. If you're interested in drawing - and I mean professional approach - pick 2-3 of your favourite games and create more to it in this exact style. Is it drawing creatures for heroes, locations for new resident evil or weapons of dark souls, it doesn't matter. Just keep doing it and practice this style to be as close to the canonical one as possible




And about the mod. I've been very inactive lately, I've started new school which is very interesting and inspires me. It's not taking much time, but I've lost inspiration. I've tried to finish that couple of animations for the beta to at least be able to see it in action, to see my work being appreciated. But there are major difficulties in my life right now, it's very hard sometimes. I wanted to share what I've been able to acomplish so you can use it.

Separate:

Before you reply - I'm not leaving, I just wanted to tell you what's happening. I have everyting recorded (I wanted to make video on animating) and can publish just it and it's already couple of hours of footage.. It's just that I'm not happy with it being unfinished. I've also tried to draw some bigger fan-art for Succesion Wars mod:



But it's also unfinished. More of a sketch really xd
Also I've noticed that the development slowed down with only Agar working actively which also saddens me. I would like to see the release someday.

You dont have to worry about me if you wanted to. Sorry for not finishing my promised job to an end. Maybe I'll be more succesful in the future. But just maybe.
I'll leave my resources in dropbox folder later, so you can work on it to finish the job.

Good luck for everyone of you
and "don't you dare go hollow"

Ragoon, I've been your fan since you first posted, so long ago ...first just wanted to thank you for everything you have done...

Things are slow lately, didnt see Orzie or others arround, but its no problem, I think the kind of people who work on something like this have vision and patience.

I hope you, Orzie and others don't lose hope and passion, even if things go slow. Maybe you will take a week off, maybe a month, maybe a year, just hope the project will be here when you come back

Life always gets in the way... we all have to accept that But the moment will come when you will miss SWmod :d

I can share my school project that I've been working on recently :p
It's computer network cabling. 59 rooms full of double rj45 sockets (those used for connecting to internet), each has it's number for total of 582 sockets in the building and about 30km of cabling :v





In the future I'll have some lessons on graphic design too, maybe I will finally learn photoshop instead of GIMP

Damn Ragoon! You ate clever

Should make the floor plans in pixel art though ) would be cooler

The shooting animation looks nice Ragoon! Good job as usually Uhm and I are still sticking around in here, but I am only fixing maps for the moment. I cannot really do much to progress the release, but I do what I can with what I have

Ragoon thank you for your inspiring words I am thinking of doing this at least as a hobby. (Been very interested in politics lately as well). Heroes 2 was the first computer game I ever played and when I found this mod I was super eager to participate and was encouraged by the supportive community. I was immediately impressed with your work and your dedication to the project. I hope you eventually find your passion and best of luck with your school work.

No worries, my friend. Lack of inspiration is an issue everyone of us experiences from time to time. I myself went over 3 such cases, and got back to work everytime. Right now I am deadly busy, but I desperately want to continue the work, so I'll be back as soon as possible.

You are always welcome here when you feel it's time to return.

Thank you for all the work you made for the project, I can surely say that it was pretty fundamental for the upcoming version.

With Love from Enroth.
(yeah sorry I can't make beautiful long text... )

ps: If the building is a school, be sure that young students can't grab the cables, must hide them in the walls.

I dont know the exact purpose of the building, I think it's some sort of campus for students, but I've planned the cabling to be universal (but probably went with too many sockets anyway XD). It was to teach me how to do it rather than doing this the best and practical as possible. And the cables in hallways would be placed under the celling anyway :p

Thanks for your words everyone and for the music Orzie