The Lion Statue - Modelling and Texturing

We needed a bridge that could be pulled down by the grapple hook at the beginning of the game.

This is so that the player could cross a gap.

I started with a 9 meter block to act as a ruler.

With this as a guide, I began constructing the statue at the base of the pillar.

I began to extrude and pile the base of the player up as if it was stacks of slabs.

I used the relaxed tool to give it a slightly rounded edge.

Initially I wasn't too certain on what design to make the statue, so I decided just to create a low poly base mesh that I could sculpt in zBrush.

I scaled some parts of the pillar so that I could get some additional volume in those particular areas.

I also extruded inwards and added a small crack/hole in its base, so that it makes sense to topple down there.

In considering what I was going to model the pillar as, I decided to look at some various statues. One that caught my eye was a lion one:

I decided to try and mimic this particular statue as I thought it was visually interesting.

I started simply by sculpting up my base mesh to the general proportions of a lion's head.

I then started using additional references to further create a more accurate looking figurehead.

I continued to refine the model as I best, I could.

One problem area was definitely the lion's nuzzle as it was hard to manipulate the sculpt into getting the right proportions.

When I was fairly happy with the lion's head's proportions, I began to work on the body of the pillar.

I wanted some variation it the stonework, so I decided to try and mimic the stacked slabs at the base of the statue.

I used the polished tools to start creating harder edges on the model itself, so that it would resemble stonework more than clay.

This was quite tricky as I had to strike a balance between polishing an edge and not overdoing it so I'd lose details.

For the finishing touches, I added cracks and dents using both alphas and dam standard brushes.

I also added a ring to the lion's mouth, so that the player can see what to grapple onto with their hook.

I used the zRemesh guide brush and the crease brush to help re mesh my model. This allowed for good topology and a better polygon flow in the low poly.

After unwrapping the model I split it into various parts so that pieces of the lion, could be placed around the scene as modular props.

Finally I took the model into dDo with my maps, and created some materials.

I decided to make the ring gold, so that it would stand out against the statue's rocky texture.

I was quite pleased with the result of the statue. I feel that the cracks and eroison really brought the materials to life. However I think I need to final an alternative to the zremesher, as I feel that the statue lost a bit of form and hardness in the decimating process.

Still it was a quick prop, and I feel that it works well for our game.