The anatomy of humanoid zoomorphs in
games
Brief
Problem
Statement
Zoomorphic
characters in games sometimes lack believability due to anatomically impossible
features.
Games of the
fantasy genre that portray zoomorphic creatures focus on delivering a
compelling design for such characters often with exaggerated features which
would make them stand out. However although these characters look interesting
from an artistic point of view, at often times they lack believability from an
anatomical and functional standpoint detracting from the games immersive
experience.
User
The user for
this product would be a company creating a game in the fantasy genre such as
Blizzard Entertainment’s MMO “World of Warcraft” which would feature creatures
such as Minotaurs, Centaurs, Satyrs, etc. The characters should be designed to
look and function in a believable way in order to create a more immersive
experience for the player base
Product
The final
product will consist of a video showcasing 3D models of cat, wolf and bull
humanoids accompanied with an animation of how the skeleton of each animal
would have to evolve in order to support a bipedal stance.
Analysis
and Research summary
The creation
of the final product will require a study into how zoomorphic entities have
been perceived and portrayed throughout history in order to uncover how the
expectations of the audience for the authenticity of such creatures have
evolved; a study of believability in game characters in order to assess the
audience opinion about the outstanding features that should be present in the
design of the models; research into human and animal skeleton and muscle
structure and distribution, as well as the theory of human evolution which can
be used as a template for how the features of the animals would have to change
in order to support bipedal functionality.
A study of
the depictions of humans and animals in mythology
Some of earliest representations of zoomorphs are
petrographs, one of the most famous sites of this form of art being the Chauvet
cave in France. One of the pieces that stand out is The Venus and the Sorcerer
which contains a depiction that seems to be a human body with the head of a
bull. There is a debate whether these primitive pieces of art are depictions of
the surrounding world or have some deeper religious meaning generated by the
shamanistic beliefs at the time. The Bradshaw foundation’s website (2011)
features a section where it describes expeditions into the cave and the
conclusions these haves generated. Dusan Boric (2007) speaks about the meanings of
these paintings and their religious motifs.
Greek mythology also contains numerous depictions of
hybrids portraying them as the result of breeding between deities or humans
with different animals. Pottery and bas-reliefs as well as other forms of art
from that time depict creatures such as the centaurs or the minotaur which
resemble fusions of features from different species. The website theoi.com
(2000-2011) offers information about the lore surrounding such creatures.
Another depiction of such beings comes from ancient
Egyptian religion. Some of their gods resembled humans with features (usually
the heads) of animals of that time. The Gods image could have been inspired by
animals which were associated with different events. For instance Anubis,
associated with death and the afterlife had the head of a jackal which is a
scavenger ( a creature that prefers to feed on corpses rather than hunt it’s
pray ) .
A study of
believability in game characters
This area
will focus on a study of what features of a character are most required in
order to convey authenticity. Jesse Schell (2007) speaks about characters on
both an aesthetic and functional role and avoiding the “uncanny valley” (a
phenomenon where a character looks human but behaves in a counterintuitive way
). Petri Lankoski and
Staffan Björk (2007) speak about non
player character behaviour in games using examples from Bethesda’s” Elder
Scrolls IV: Oblivion”.
A study of
the evolution of human and animal anatomy
This study
will focus on the evolution of the human skeleton and muscle mass from the four
legged prime ape to the bipedal stance we have today. The development of the
human skeleton would serve as a template that could be applied to the animals
that would be portrayed as humanoids. This will contain among other changes
modifications to the pelvis in order to sustain the weight of the upper body,
the thumb, and redistribution of the muscle mass in a way that would allow for
a natural range of movement.
Choice of
tools/techniques/approach
For creating the zoomorph
models I will use 3D studio max for the low polygon modelling and the
unwrapping. The high Polly meshes will be created using Mudbox . For baking the
normal from the high Polly I will use xNormal. Once I have a normal map of
desired quality I will use it to generate an AO map using NDo2 or Crazybump.
The AO will serve as a template for the diffuse texture which will be used as a
starting point for the specular map. The skeletons will be modelled in a
similar way and I will use a series of scale and freeform deformation morphers
to animate them. Some of the bones such as the ribcage could be made from one
solid mesh with an opacity map in order to maximise efficiency
I prefer to use this
workflow as it allows a lot of flexibility in tweaking the models and textures
at any point. xNormal is very easy to use and produces very clean normal maps.
I find sculpting in Mudbox very good for
creating detailed organic meshes and the software is easier to use than others.
The workflow is based
mostly on my personal experience with different pieces of software and I
consider it is the one I am most comfortable with. However the workflow might
change if I find a way that is more efficient or a piece of software that works
better than the ones I am currently using .
Design
specification
For the
design of the creatures I will start by creating the skeleton for each of them.
This can serve as reference for the proportions of the creature model.
This is a
reference image of a human and ape skeleton featuring their pelvises.
The ape
skeleton could be morphed into the shape of the human one by scaling some of
its bones, as it has a similar structure.
Cat
skeleton.
Bull
skeleton
Wolf
skeleton
Using the
ape to human skeleton modification as template for acquiring a bipedal stance,
a similar method could be applied to these animals by widening the hips,
elongating some of the limb bones, shortening the neck and reducing the size of
the skull, reshaping the rib cage and the position of the shoulder bones and
clavicles, repositioning the vertebras into an “S” shape, reducing the size of
the vertebral spines and finally changing the structure of the front legs in
order to create a structure similar to the human thumb.
The creature
models will be created separately using the proportions from the bipedal
creatures as reference for the distribution of the muscles.
Product
development plan
For the
development of the product I have chosen to finish my research on the
aforementioned areas and then move on to start the development of the models
and write the report at the same time so that I may record my progress more
efficiently.
This chart
shows the time periods I have allocated for each of the tasks. After the
research is done I will leave myself 2-3 hours a day for creating the models
and writing the report. However the time I have allocated per day might change
depending on how the work is advancing.
Reference
Jesse Schell
“The Art of Game Design” (2007)
P 310-312
Petri
Lankoski & Staffan Björk (2007)
Gameplay
Design Patterns for Believable Non-Player
Characters
P 416-421
Images of
Animality: Hybrid Bodies and Mimesis in Early Prehistoric Art
P 89-99
Aaron J.
Atsma, New Zealand(2001-2011)
Theoi.com
Images
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivSUykRbiBP9TTq0ycqES36cuHBi4x5V2CdQroH7giO4l3c4WevluWTLSVgvQHw8LaXZ_0ASmFBjk2sUsJtiT1jP3KTZ_wZsxPOoAxPUkbpg7DMkmNSkGtLWbC82aIFqsoh-Bk1h0ZM34/s1600/cat-skeleton-A.jpg
http://wolvessoldierspack.webs.com/a_Skeleton.jpg
http://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/386259565/Exquisite_bull_skeleton_for_students_and_doctors.jpg
