Long time no model post. Last time I did this, the image limit was 10. Now I am bound by no such constraints. Let's take a look at a statue from Ferenia. Specifically, chozosancstatuebig02mirror.
I'll preface this by saying I haven't done anything to make the textures look more like they may in-game (e.g.: making the gold portions look more metallic).
What we're looking at is a black and gold statue depicting a kneeling Mawkin warrior wearing a red cape. It holds a soldier's spear in its left hand, and its right hand is enclosed in a fist, touching the ground.
This statue appears in Escue's arena alongside two other statues: chozosancstatuebig02 (left) and chozosancstatuebig01 (center). chozosancstatuebig02mirror and chozosancstatuebig02 are identical, except the mirrored version is just that: flipped. sancstatuebig02 is kneeling on the left knee, and sancstatuebig02mirrored has its right knee touching the ground.
The subject of today's post is on the right-hand side of the above screenshot. We take a closer look at it beneath the cut, reaping the full advantage of Tumblr's spankin' new (several months-old now) 30 image limit.
The model is comprised of two meshes: the cape and the statue. It has no bones, as expected of a prop, and the textures are pretty low res because it's a background element that's not intended to be seen up close. This helps the developers save space on the cartridge, and the game doesn't have to render super detailed textures that you're never going to scrutinize in-game (at least not very closely).
I've removed the cape to examine the whole statue. It's modeled in full: unlike some larger props (and some NPCs: see Quiet Robe's chest), there is no vacant hole beneath the cape.
As you might have expected by looking at it during gameplay, its design doesn't deviate terribly from the Chozo Soldier NPCs. It's like someone posed a soldier, removed its bones, changed the colors, and crunchified the textures.
I gotta say, I appreciate the Mawkin's dedication to realism with this one. Some of their statues are styled or have a lot of edges and fancy details, but this is just a guy.
If I may be a nerd for a minute or two, it seems like this one embodies values that a warrior tribe may hold dear: gravity, duty, humility. In the boss room, two kneeling statues flank a standing warrior draped in cloth.
We're not given any context as to who they are or what exactly this represents, but the standing warrior in the center of the arrangement appears to be a figure of some renown: like a decorated officer flanked by a selection of solemn warriors. The Mawkin are warriors: their army seems to be a large part of their culture. Respect for one's betters, the act of honoring someone who stands out for their exceptional martial prowess: that's what I think of when I look at this.
I don't know who this is, but the arrangement gives off military ceremony vibes. According to "Adam", Ferenia is a temple complex, and the site of many ceremonies. Maybe one was held here.
The concept art shown here is from page 103 of the Metroid Mission Logs. The first image is on the top half of the page, the second is near the bottom. I can appreciate that they gave us two versions: the dramatic lighting in the second version is stunning, but I also like being able to see the room under more neutral light.
That's enough out of me. Here are some close-ups of the spearhead.
I tried to capture the detail in the front of the blade, crunchy as the textures may be. There are three pointed grooves in the center of the blade's front.
It doesn't appear any different from the... "living" soldier's spears.
The cape's going back on so I can talk about it.
The cloth rests just above the base of the neck, draped over the area behind the shoulders and falling over the back. The right foot is clipping through the back of the cape (from the leg with the knee on the ground), but that's a secret between us and the developers: you never see this during play.
I wanted to paint a better picture of where the breastplate ends and the cloth begins, so I took a few more shots.
You thought we were doing one statue today? No! We're also looking at chozosancstatuebig01.
This one also possesses two meshes, and they're the same as the last one: a cape and the rest of the statue.
As previously stated, this one differs from its companions in that it's standing instead of kneeling. The cloth is draped over its front instead of its back, but it doesn't wrap around the whole of the figure. It also appears tattered, like there's supposed to be more cloth covering the other half of the statue. The strands hanging over the left side could just be tassels or decorative drapery hanging off the main bit. Like it's wearing a cloak. Or a half-cape.
If you look at the concept art, that seems to be the case: there are gold stripes at the base of the strips, as well as at the top of the greater drape. If you look really closely at the red drape on the statue in the image above, you'll notice there may be traces of this idea left on the cloth, but they're not quite as golden as they appear in the concept art. The stripes on the tassels are hardly visible in the texture!
I wish the concept was translated with more clarity: I dig the idea of a soft, velvety, ceremonial drape with golden embroidery.
Something I find peculiar is the three circular indentations on the front of the chestplate, in the section between the concave indicators of where those red lights are on normal soldiers. There's one tiny hole on the left-hand side, and two larger holes on the right.
There are also two holes in the right bicep, a dent in the left bicep, and a big chunk taken out of the upper left leg. It stands to reason that these blemishes might be the result of long-term wear and tear: environmental damage, Silent Spear falling backwards into the arrangement like an idiot, that sort of thing. Who knows?
The blade on this one's spear is wider than the other statue's, and their construction is different, as well. The pole isn't visible halfway through the back of the blade on the other statue.
That about does it. Thanks for sticking with me, and expect more statueposting.
