It occurred to me that I might try modeling some of the aliens from Tekumel. It would probably be possible to do the human elements of the world fairly easily using existing free models and software. Half naked women and warriors in armor dominate the world of computer art.

For those who are interested. Daz is a 3d modeling program and it offers several models for free. I will list major sites and freebies here before continueing my question.

http://www.daz3d.com/i/software/studio/download?_m=d The software is free and all you really need to do art. After you download the software a set of more freebies appears at the download site.

http://www.download.com/3001-6677_4-107 ... -DAZStudio

You want the poser daz studio 3d models pack. It gives you two free male and two free female models.

Artists frequently post their freebies here
http://www.sharecg.com/index.php?PSID=0 ... 838b351738 There is an endless supply of swords, armor, and skimpy outfits.

They post notices of their freebies here
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuf ... d=1&page=2

It is searchable by software, model, and various other categories.

V4 is free and comes with the initial software.
M4 is also free and can be downloaded here
http://www.daz3d.com/i/3d-models/main-f ... t=837&_m=d

I was going to try to model an ahoggya first as they strike me as being relatively easy to do. I cannot find much in the way of pictures to look at while modeling.

So any archive of Tekumel art would be welcome.

Here is a render of the basic body, legs, arms, claws. Some textures added to let you see it more clearly. Are the proportions right, should the body be taller? etc?



I am beginning to think it may be beyond my skill level. I can do an ahoggya shaped robot easily enough but not sure about making one look like it is biological.[/img]

A bit too spider like from what I can see. But do not give up. There is a picture of an Ahoggya on this very site http://www.tekumel.com/world_nonhumans01.html
which may help. There is also a reproduction of the picture of one which appeared in the original EPT rules which I found at
http://robertdushay.home.mindspring.com ... eview.html

Hope this helps.

_________________
And when one dreams dark dreams dark days shall follow.

It might look a little less spider like if the arms were not extended. It is only that the skills to make a seamless body are a bit beyond me. I could make a toon version probably, but not one suitable for fantasy art.

I could probably make an eye which could be posed for various eyes in Tekumel. Making a continuous skin texture rather than a composite of simple shapes is beyond my skill level at the moment. Similarly, making and rigging the skeleton for the eyes and mouth are difficult.

I recall that originally all the faces on an Ahoggya worked, and in a later version of the game it said that only one face worked and the rest were just camoflage type things like the eyes on a butterflys wings.

What is the current standard on that issue. I may do a toon or robot type Ahoggya anyway, because it is within my skill level.

First I'd heard about the change in nature of Ahoggya. I havn't tried the DAZ software, though I do have a copy. Is it possible to distort parts of the body then use that as the basis for the structure?

As I recall the illustrations of Ahoggya, they reminded me of a sort of pork pie shape with a flat hat and a leg at each corner coming out at the bottom and an arm at each corner coming out just beneath the "hat".
They appear to be radially symetrical as seen from above.

Keep working on it though (there's a reason my 3D work tends to be buildings and landscapes, living things are much harder to get right)

_________________
And when one dreams dark dreams dark days shall follow.

You cannot do much 3d modeling in Daz without buying additional plugins. They had the advanced rigging bundle on sale a few months ago and I bought it then. I have since been trying to learn a bit about how to make stuff using it.

You can make simple primitives, deform them, and save them for use in building structures. What I have not learned is how to add bones and groups to a seamless structure to animate it. I do not know if that kind of modeling is possible with Daz or not. I know relatively little about 3d modeling. I am learning it as a sort of hobby.

I have some stuff up at Share CG, and I post in the Daz forums when I put new stuff up.