You know him, you've (probably) fought him, he's a staple of this blog...
It's Raven Beak! We're finally doing this.
Today, I'm providing a comprehensive look into Raven Beak's model. I probably won't have enough space to cover the entire thing, as the image limit for Tumblr posts is capped at 30, but we're starting with the head and working our way down.
The rest of this post is under the cut for your convenience.
Navigation:
Fullbody turnaround and helmet meshes
Helmet details
Shoulders, arms, and hands
Arm cannon
Wings and torso
Legs and feet
BONUS: Naked head
Raven Beak is referred to as chozocommander in the files: his textures are abbreviated to "commander[whatever]" in the files, with the name of a mesh or general purpose specified in the square brackets (commanderbody, etc). Raven Beak appears in three maps: Hanubia, Artaria, and Itorash. As Metroid Dread's cutscenes are executed in-engine, his model can be extracted from the map packages for the aforementioned regions.
There are several models linked to him during cutscenes that aren't part of his base model: chozocommander_arm, chozocommander_face (appears in Hanubia and after the mask breaks in Itorash), chozocommander_wing_r (which he rips off during the cutscene preceding phase 3 of his fight). chozocommander_arm is a more detailed version of his left arm that exists in the actor files for both Artaria and Itorash, the two zones where a cutscene involves the camera getting close to his arm while he chokes Samus out.
With that out of the way, our first order of business is his helmet, and there's a lot to look at.
Here's a list of all his meshes. We'll go over each part as they become relevant. Relevant to our current objective is helmethead, helmethead_clean, helmethead_cinematic, and brokenmask.
You'll notice that each of these have two meshes to their name. The names that are lower on the hierarchy are the actual helmets, and those higher on the hierarchy are overlays for the eyes to make them glow.
Here's what that looks like without scene lighting:
With the overlay...
... and without the overlay.
helmethead_clean features Raven Beak's helmet without the crack from the Super Missile: this is what we see during the opening cutscene in Artaria.
helmethead bestows the crack over the right eye.
Of all the helmet meshes, the cinematic version is the cleanest and most detailed: this one is used during parts of cutscenes where the camera zooms in on Raven Beak's face.
I'll be using this model to explore the smaller details.
All helmet meshes except the broken mask have their own textures: the broken mask uses the basic helmethead's textures.
brokenmask (left) and brokenmask01 (right). These are used to animate the sequence where the helmet breaks in the post-boss fight cutscene.
Earlier, I mentioned that the cinematic mesh is cleaner than the others. The textures and geometry on the cinematic mesh are crisper and more defined because it's used when we want to get a good look at his face: you don't need to see every plane of his beak in high definition during combat.
Here's a closeup of each primary model for the helmet to demonstrate. From left to right, we have helmethead_clean, helmethead, and helmethead_cinematic. helmethead_clean appears to have the lowest clarity in its textures. helmethead is passable, but the planes on helmethead_cinematic are leagues cleaner: there's very little artifacting (the janky crunch affiliated with lower quality jpgs), the colors appear richer, and effort was made to define the negative space.
Look at the owl-shaped crest in the center of the headdress (helmethead left, helmethead_cinematic right): there are darker lines between the arch behind the head, and care was put into darkening the spaces between the eyebrows, around the eyes, etc.
I've already hit the image limit, so we're going to examine the details on his face even further in another post: I've waited so long to share all the little differences between these helmet meshes in excruciating detail, so I suppose it's only fitting that our first entry is more about that than it is showing off the finer details of the headdress and mask themselves.
I would not have been able to dive this deep a year ago when the image limit was capped at 10. I hope they increase it further so I can inflict you with more model facts.
I am working on the second post. The navigation section at the top of the post will be updated as things go live.
This is chozosancstatuel2, a statue that appears frequently in Ferenia. I made a post speculating about the iconography last year, but I have images on my drive that never got used there. While I'm providing references, I might as well drop the full turnaround.
In the previous post, I posited that these statues are intended to represent armadiggers guarding the entrances or exits to sacred sites. Armadiggers also appear on the texture for the orrery in Elun.
I was asked to provide further reference shots of the Elite Soldier, so here are more angles. Huge image dump below the cut.
This first batch includes a Chozo Soldier demonstrating the tail-end of the animation from the Elite Soldier's intro cutscene at different angles.
And some transparent crops.
I took way more screenshots with a few of the combat animations, so look out for that post within the next 30 minutes or so. I'm also going to talk about the different variations of the Chozo soldier model in another post.
Y'all like friezes? We have friezes. Today's post is about wall art that juts from the surface.
Here's our first subject, chozosancfrieze01. I don't have many screenshots to show; there aren't many angles you can show this from to reveal more information than we're given on the surface. It doesn't have a back, and it's a single model. The second shot shows that it is indeed more than a 2D texture.
The concept art for this one comes from page 127 of the Metroid Mission Logs.
Our next subject comes in a pair: chozosancfrieze02l and chozosancfrieze02r, on the left and right respectively.
You can also see these left and right buddies on this wall...
... as well as this one, alongside the first frieze.
The first frieze also appears above a doorway leading to an exterior location.
You may recognize it from the first set of rooms in Artaria, particularly where the counterattack tutorial takes place. This is a muzby egg, and it's the vessel from which muzby grubs are born into the world.
You can see muzby eggs in the background of the tutorial itself. In this shot, they're in the background below the muzzle of Samus' arm cannon.
But that's not all: there's a cavegg02, and—get this—it features two eggs. The smaller one's a bit dented on top, but we pay that no mind: this is a background asset, so we wouldn't notice that during normal gameplay.
Something interesting to note is that the egg models are hollow, likely to save space on the cartridge or to give the game less to render, allowing those cutscene transitions between maps to end quicker.
Wham, double feature! You thought I'd show you the eggs, but not the babies inside them? Nay! Muzbabies be upon you!
The grubs are orange, and their bodies grow pink near the extremities. It has a tiny head, dark pink in coloration, and mandibular structures that remind me of the grubs of real-life goliath beetles. They appear to lack eyes.
When Samus approaches the grubs, they hide behind their large forelegs. Adorable! And smart. These grubbies aren't being eaten today!
The model for this creature is called bigfistgrub. Its textures are simply labeled with "grub". "bigfist" is the internal name for the muzby, which is featured in this article on the official website for Metroid Dread (The website is now down, but fortunately, the Wayback Machine and Wikitroid have our backs!). Given that these babies are called grubs, I'd wager they pupate at some point during their life cycle, transforming into the lumbering pink pals we see in Artaria.
Speaking of Muzby...
That's right! Triple whammy.
Of the humble Muzby, MercurySteam says:
Muzby
This terrestrial creature with heavy arms is one of the larger lifeforms on Artaria. It drags its arms behind as it walks. Because it dwells and has evolved in darkness, a Muzby doesn’t have the equivalent to a face. It has tough, rugged skin and high endurance, so high-powered attacks like the Missile or Charge Beam are effective. Samus can also slide between its legs when it lifts its arms to attack.
Muzby may not have a "real" face, but it does appear to have little mouth parts with mandibles in the front. Given the developers' description, I'd hazard a guess and say the muzby is blind. If those spots on its face aren't proper eyes, they may be sensory organs of a different stripe. Perhaps they process olfactory information, or sense heat. Maybe they exist to fool other creatures into thinking the muzby can see them when approached from this end, like eyespots on the wings of the Polyphemus moth?
The muzby also has nubby feelers atop this segment of the body. Perhaps the muzby uses them to sense vibrations in the environment, or maybe these organs release pheromones. Who knows!
The muzby has two huge arms on one end of its body, and a pair of smaller limbs on the other. It carries two pairs of even shorter arms behind the mid-sized set: you can see them curled up behind the animal's small "head".
The article says the muzby has a tough hide, and its exterior certainly doesn't appear to be overly chitinous. The muzby reminds me of a soft-shelled crab in this respect, especially considering the layout of the underbelly.
In-game, the muzby attacks by turning so that its large arms are facing the threat, then rearing up on its hind legs, slamming its big meaty appendages down on the opponent. It doesn't seem to have any trouble navigating in either direction.
Muzby: a beautiful creature with very cute babies!
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.
Something I neglected to show during my first post about Experiment Z-57 is the concept art for its environmental body double in Dairon. I couldn't fit it into the post due to Tumblr's image limit only being 10 pictures per post, but here it is: Pages 114 and 115 from the Metroid Mission Logs.
While I'm here, I'd like to share a few frames from Z-57's animation set that I took screenshots of for reference purposes. Now that Tumblr allows us to put 30 images into one post, I can make posts as long as I want! More images for everyone!
Z-57 is firing a beam in these shots.
Here are some extra screenshots of the Dissected Corpse for good measure. This particular view of the creature's face never made it into the original post because of the old image limit.
Ever notice how Z-57's eyes are smaller and rounder than Corpius'? Corpius has these sort of elongated, oblong-form eyes (perhaps indicating that it's a wild type or unaltered specimen?), while the Experiment looks… domesticated somehow? Corpius' eyes look like they've grown into those uneven, craggy grooves it has for a skull-face, but the Experiment gives me different vibes. Round, calculated eyes that look like the face was carved specifically for them. Corpius' eyes bulge from its face in a particular way, and they're arranged unevenly.
If these two met face-to-face, would Corpius mistake the Experiment for a different animal altogether? Or if it were capable of sapient thought, would it consider the Experiment some ghoulish freak of nature, like a simulacrum of its kind? Like "I don't know when that thing went into that big building, but whatever it is, it came back wrong".
Maybe round eyes are a characteristic of younger specimens, who knows: I'm just spitballing here. I'm not sure I ever got around to talking about the eyes in the original set of posts, but they were featured in my venn diagram.
More Z-57 under the cut! I took all these screenshots, why not share them with other artists?
It's roaring in this set.
Best quality: its wiggles.
Experiment Z-57 is preparing to fire a counterable beam in this next round of screenshots.
When I made the original posts, I had to combine a few images to save space: There's one image that combines two in-game screenshots of the Dissected Corpse's room before and after the X are released with a shot of the boss, showing that they're the same monster. I'll deliver them here separately. As a treat.
Bonus: Corpius T-pose
I'm gonna go back to taking screenshots now: have a nice day.
Hello and good afternoon! Today I'd like to show you all an insectoid creature from Metroid Dread called nailong.
You've likely seen these little buggies flitting around Dairon and Burenia, and when you're first running through the area, they can be a bit of a pain to avoid! With time and experience, they become a trivial obstacle... though they did give me a spot of trouble on my first Dread Mode run.
Its exoskeleton is yellow with green stripes running down the length of the body. A pair of wings with two segments to a set sits behind its head. The eight black spines that form a ring around the head can be shot out from the body as projectiles.
Its wings are long and thin, with the forewings being longer than the hind wings. The segments can move independently of each other.
The creature's face is dark green, matching its stripes. Nailong has six light green eyes and a mouth with pointed mandibles. Two yellowed spikes protrude on either side of the face like a pair of tusks.
Top and bottom view.
I don't know enough about insect anatomy to make a statement on the tail, but I would hazard a guess and say maybe there's some inspiration from real-world dragonflies? If any entomologists want to weigh in on the shape and its features, feel free!
