Dwemer Centurions (Morrowind-Style)

Hey Guys,

First time poster here, so I apologize if this is the wrong forum for this, or if I'm forgoing any forum rules. Please feel free to re-route me if I'm in the wrong place.

Anyway, a while back (circa: Oblivion) my wife and I decided we wanted to put Dwemer Centurions into the game, and set out to update them to "modern" graphical standards. We finished concepting/modelling/texturing/1st-pass-rigging Sphere and Archer Centurions before life got in the way, and the project sort of just fell off...

Now that we've stumbled upon the Skywind project, our interest has been rekindled, and we were curious if our files/skills would be of any use to you guys. I know that Skyrim obviously has Centurion creatures, but I always preferred the aesthetic and mechanics of Morrowind's versions to the more "aztec" look of Skyrim's. I am also aware that the rig/animations of the new Centurions will likely make implementing the older variants difficult - if not impossible - but I figured it's worth at least getting your opinions.

So here are some shots of our Sphere Centurion. Please keep in mind we were working around late Oblivion time frame, and I'm a Designer/Scripter (not artist) by trade, so there's no high-poly sculpt or fancy Z-Brush painting techniques going on here, just old-school hard-surface modelling, unwrapping, and (my wife's beautiful) texturing.

Please let us know what you think, and if this stuff could be of any use in the project. Thank you for the opportunity!

This is an impressive

This is an impressive recreation, awesome work!

rewife her!

rewife her!

Great models, we decided to simply retexture skyrim versions due to the skeletal system of dwemer machines being VERY complex.

After seeing this, we could reconsider.
But only if we can tweak the shape to fit with the skyrim system, and if the mechanisms dont match, it wont be doable.

Is it just the sphere u made?
I'd be willing to take a look at the file and match it up with the skeleton on skyrims, and see if its possible.

Ravanna wrote:

Ravanna
Is it just the sphere u made?

We started with the Sphere, then we made a pass on the Archer.

Archer Comparison

Archer Front/Back

Archer Front Detail

Archer Back Detail

We weren't quite done with the Archer though (the diffuse needs dirtied up more, and the normal has some issues). We had started to concept the Steam Centurion, but that's about it.

Ravanna
After seeing this, we could reconsider.
But only if we can tweak the shape to fit with the skyrim system...

Would you mind elaborating on this a bit? (Please pardon my ignorance...)

I was planning on sketching

I was planning on sketching this a bit a while back. He means that the model would have to be made to work with skyrim's skeleton, which was comprised of many complex clockwork parts and movements.

I personally love that about skyrim's, though the actual look of the sphere -design wise- in the game wasn't my favorite.

Also, the mechanics of skyrim's makes a LOT more sense than morrowind's

Wow, I feel like we should

Wow, I feel like we should try and make this happen. We are so incredible close to the Skyrim models in shape that we must be able to replace it. Too good a "free" opportunity.

Omg that looks insanely good.

Omg that looks insanely good.. I'd be amazing if you could get that in-game

The_MC wrote:

The_MC
Ravanna
After seeing this, we could reconsider.
But only if we can tweak the shape to fit with the skyrim system...

Would you mind elaborating on this a bit? (Please pardon my ignorance...)

We can't make new skeletons, we have to use preexisting ones. Thus everything must be vaguely the shape of something else already in skyrim

mothafokin b0ss level

very well dont sir and sirette

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I always wondered why modders

I always wondered why modders in general can't make new skeletons. Why is that? Is it Besthesda simply not allowing modders to add more content? Or is it technical limitation?

Thegreatbrainrobbery wrote:

Thegreatbrainrobbery
I always wondered why modders in general can't make new skeletons. Why is that? Is it Besthesda simply not allowing modders to add more content? Or is it technical limitation?

The CK doesn't have such a function. And from what i recall it had to do with the fact that the software which was used to make skeletons and probably animate is not the property of Beth, but of a 3rd party company (the one responsible for Havoc? :/)

Plus, the morrowind sphere

Plus, the morrowind sphere doesn't make any sense whatsoever, while the skyrim sphere is much more mechanical and functional. Plus, it allows it to fall apart once killed, and that is something we have to make note of out of coolness

wel ya the skyrim sphere does

wel ya the skyrim sphere does make sense and the morrowind doesnt but thats just the age whit a bit of a update and a retexture this robot is perfect like the meter on his back and his eye look a bit to modern but whit a bit of retexture it wouldnt and seeing this was made for oblivion its very nice looking only thing that really missing is the weal thingies on the orb the skyrim 1 has

but i like the idea that dwemmer around world arnt al using the same schematics i like to think that the morrowind robots are a bit cruder and beter made than the skyrim 1 (that fall apart 1 the are broke[External image]) because the where at war so u would go for a sturdier model whit les art stuf on it

dwemmer just rule if sciense wonnt explian it u would just call it dwemmer magic

There is no logic in

There is no logic in improving Dwemer technology. The Dwemer are dead. Unless they had robots building more advanced robots, making them more advanced is counterintuitive.

> they had robots building

> they had robots building more advanced robots, making them more advanced is counterintuitive.
= actually they have machines, which can orient, attack invaders, may be repair buildings and each other. Why not? What is it if not some kind of magrealistic artificial mind? But of course, it will be beyond TES plot set.
---
Maybe ever some team or even some Bethesda's team will make game about dwemers repatriation and triumph over degraded medieval scum, but not now and not here.

Hey Guys,

So while we're still working out the kinks in getting our Sphere Centurions into the game, I wanted to give you a quick update on our concepts for some of the other Animunculi.

My wife has started to concept the Spider Centurion. As always, we wanted to keep the design as true as possible to the original MW look, but updated to modern aeshtetics (and fit the overall continuity of our other Centurions). This was actually quite challenging with the Spider, as the original MW version was a little... rough. It stretched and warped, and its texture was 'iffy' at best. As a quick reminder, here's what Morrowind's Spider looks like:

[External image]

I, personally, was never quite sure what this thing was supposed to be made of. The way it warps/expands, it can't be metal, but that's what the texture seems to be. Anyway, we wanted to do something that would evoke this design, but fit onto the Skyrim skeleton. For reference, here's Skyrim's Spider:

[External image]

So, with those precedents in mind, here's what we've come up with (open the images in a new tab to see their full detail). This first image shows a lot of the process/iteration we went through in trying to feel this guy out:

[External image]

We were very comfortable with the legs, but the body was a challenge to get to "feel" right. Here's what we settled on:

[External image]

Now, what we like about this guy is that he combines the best elements of the 2 games' styles. He has an overall round shape, like MW, but has the gem on top (recessed in his casing) to cast projectiles like in Skyrim. My favorite thing about this design, though, is that it takes cues from the native Vvardenfell wildlife. Morrowind is full of crabs and bugs and other things with shelly plates, so we figured it would only be natural that the Dwemer would model thier Animunculi off of designs that work.

Now, we like the front gem "eye," but are not married to it, and would love to get your feedback - about the whole thing, actually. So please let us know what you think, even if you like some of the older designs better. We want to make this the best it can be. Thanks guys!

I love this concept.

love the new designs as for

love the new designs as for the eye i think it works best as the crystal even tho i like the camera eye i don't think it fits the style as much but great work looking forward to seeing this in game

Claws-scalpels isnt as good

Claws-scalpels isnt as good as claws-clamps. It is worker still.

Actually the morrowind

Actually the morrowind centurions have gas bags on the top of them and I"m guessing the machine uses the pressure from the gas to run the machine or something like that. Thats why when you kill them they let out large clouds of gas.

The centorians reminds me of

The centorians reminds me of zergs robots from toy story[External image][External image]

Smerk wrote:

Smerk
Actually the morrowind centurions have gas bags on the top of them and I"m guessing the machine uses the pressure from the gas to run the machine or something like that. Thats why when you kill them they let out large clouds of gas.

You're probably right. The "leather" theory had occurred to me, but I dismissed it, since leather isn't found anywhere else in Dwemer materials or construction. Also, I doubt leather would survive the thousands of years between the fall of the Dwemer and the 'present' in-game.

alysander
Claws-scalpels isnt as good as claws-clamps. It is worker still.

Good point. We're still making some final tweaks before moving into modelling, so I'll see if we can address that.

HappyChappy
I love this concept.

That makes us very happy, Chappy ;-)