With a smile, Xisuma dismisses the notification, and takes to the skies. He starts towards spawn, happy to welcome his hermit back home. X lands near the base’s Nether portal, only to watch as another player stumbles through, out of breath. Their eyes meet. He wouldn’t have to travel very far after all.
“Xisuma.”
The man’s voice is strained, and his suit has seen better days. The two close the distance quickly, Xisuma enveloping the smaller man in a tight embrace.
“Oh, Mumbo...”
So, this new game hadn’t been much kinder than his first.
My 3D final for the fall quarter! 4 assets made from scratch, modeled in Maya/Zbrush, textured in Substance Painter, and rendered in Unreal Engine 5.
Detail shots and some rambling about my process below the cut! :)
The helmet! I've talked about it a lot before, but my design for X's helmet is very heavily inspired by Motocross! :) this model was done with an AHR motocross helmet as my main reference, as well as my own art of Xisuma. The tubing was the main addition!
The pedestal was the final asset I made. I designed, modeled, and textured it in one day, and I'm very proud of how it turned out! I wish I could have shown it off better in the final render, but alas, the composition didn't allow for it. I still think It's pretty neat :) The decals along the top and at the center were designed by myself as well. At the top, we have some text art. It's hard to read (deliberately) but it spells out "XISUMA," repeating four times on each side. The front decal is dragon wings, framing an end crystal.
The flowers I selected are Asters! I was under the impression when I started this project that these were Xisuma's birthflowers, but it turns out his birthday is in October, not September, LOL. I was thinking of the his Youtube anniversary... I still associate these flowers with him either way though!
The flowers were probably the most difficult asset, but the skull might be the one I'm least satisfied with. Skulls are weird and complicated. If I were to do this over again, I'd go for a skull that I can find more precise reference for, rather than a sailfin lizard :') I picked out a lizard because I wanted to invoke dragons a lot in my imagery, but felt like choosing an extinct animal, like a dinosaur, wasn't appropriate for what I was going for? The sailfin lizard is a species which is vulnerable but not extinct, which I decided was more in line with my vision. Again though, if I were to do this over, I'd pick a skull which is more readily documented.
To conclude, some WIP screenshots! :] My initial sketch for the composition, two Maya screenshots, of the high poly helmet and pedestal, and an early screenshot from UE5, figuring out the composition, before I'd finished the pedestal model.
Happy to talk more about this, or answer any questions that people have! :D my ask box is open. I've been considering writing a short fic about the concept behind this piece as well... It's a little fuzzy, the details, but I do have a concept, and most of my choices for this project did have intention behind them. :)
The server erupts in celebration, as the Wither falls. Grian cries out for Jimmy, and Joel for Lizzie. Pearl and Bdubs share a glance. Words aren’t needed, they cry out in silence for their fallen Mounder. The remaining three walk home together, over broken terrain.
“We can deal with everything in the morning.” Joel’s voice quavers, but he smiles for them, before leaving.
Pearl hugs Bdubs. His thoughts are burning and hers must be, too. The anvil, the betrayal, Mumbo’s delirium, then his death.
“Get some rest, mate.” She whispers, before leading her dogs inside.
I really wanted to do the top 100 spotify trend last year but never got around to it... my winter break is coming up though!
Give me a number in my inbox from 1-100, and I'll try and draw something for the song :) feel free to include a character request too, (though i might ignore it in favor of something else haha)
Xisuma lands, collapses, and makes no effort to right himself. His counterpart wouldn’t be able to find him here, hundreds of blocks from The Octagon, hands and knees pressed against abrasive netherrack. With time, his panic subsides and breathing settles. What’s left is embarrassment. Xisuma had made a mistake, as he tends to do. Placed yet more barriers between EX and his path to redemption. He needs to make it up to his friend, and he’d promised him as much. But that’s for later, after he’s addressed his feelings and organized his thoughts. For now, he needs a moment alone.
