Welcome to the new update of this pack: fixes, improvements and even a new model are waiting!
Renamed some of the models and added extra armor:
- Skeleton Soldier (A, B, C) -> Skeleton Footman (A, B, C).
- Skeleton Footman (A, B, C): added chest armor plates.
Commentary: here I wanted to put more emphasis on the mentioned above re-armored Skeletons and their role in the Undead army so their Defend animations now go well with their names (feel the harmony!). Also, in support of the "more armor" comments and since these skeletons have lighter weapons, I decided to make them more "tanky". The other Skeletons with heavier weapons (such as axes, maces and flails) are left with less armor and smaller round shields, thus making the difference in role models for these warriors more noticeable.
Improved portraits:
- Skeleton Squire: changed the camera angle.
- Skeleton Warrior: added new gear and changed the camera angle.
- Skeleton Berserker: the portrait is reworked according to @Deolrin's suggestion from this post.
Commentary: I guess, more uniqueness for portraits never hurts.
Fixed some recently discovered issues:
- Added missing footprints in all Defend Walk sequences.
- The "Weapon L Ref" attachment point is now correctly linked in the Skeleton Berserker model.
Commentary: I find it necessary to go back to my works and see where I screwed up, from time to time.
New Skeleton:
- Added Skeleton Juggernaut with many special animations and a distinctive portrait!
Commentary: Finally I got my hands on a well-armored Skeleton with heavy blunt weapons. Take it, @Shar Dundred!
Skeleton Juggernaut
"Skeleton Juggernauts are granted hard bones, heavy armor and deadly war hammers. They form the striking force of the Undead vanguard."
Yeah, to break these bones, you have to break the armor first. And when you see these bloody war hammers, you might think that this is not an easy task.
Take a look at this armor: several large plates cover the bone chest and even the back; the shoulder pads are more massive and have additional spikes; the helmet is closed and protects the entire head; and even the boots are made of something hard. A tough guy, I must say!
And here I also played with the lights and shadows to make the front part deeper and darker so that we get a nice contrast.
But what about the whole image? Let's see what's hidden inside:
Technically this Skeleton is a constructor from specific parts, and it is these parts, in my opinion, that help us sculpt a lore-friendly Skeleton.
The big question was how to get a large and noticeable team-colored pattern with the right textures. I ended up re-wrapping the shield and using a non-glow gem so we got a solid looking loincloth and didn't need to paint our perfect armor either. The gem also adds status and uniqueness to the model.
By the way, the Skeleton is slightly larger than his brothers in arms and has bigger forearms that go well with these massive war hammers:
I decided that war hammers would better complement the look of the model: in my head I had a rushing Skeleton in heavy armor with deadly and curved weapon that would not let go of you as soon as it hooked on you. In addition, these weapons look more special, right?
This model inherited animations the from Skeleton Berserker, however the new gear forced me to change some of the sequences.
For example, look at the Walk or Stand-4 sequences: the upper armor plates jump to the beat, giving us more vibe. You can also see that there is almost no glitching, regardless of numerous armor pieces.
A fun fact, in reality the whole model looks like this:
And this spider-like monstrosity has 6 war hammers! (Just in case he loses some.)
So I wish you patience if you want to work on this model.
Hey, I didn't forget about the Death animation and added more armor pieces with dummy bones:
Because the devil is in the details, right?
And if you want to make your Skeleton use the Walk Fast animation, just add this string in your Object Editor:
Just in case you didn't know.
That's it, guys! Thank you very much for reading my blah-blah-blah and I hope that the new model did not disappoint you!
P.S. You can also try to guess what type of the last skeleton I'll add next to complete the pack