[Release: Lictor Alpha]Tyranids: The Evolution

[Shuma]

By Shumanga corporation. I figured that instead of cluttering my thread more and more(i'm mainly worried about my precious first post since we have an image limit on this forum ) i'd make a new thread for the Tyranids, since as i've said before, they're a huge undertaking, lots to do, but it should be plenty of fun, this will not be just about making models to replace existing looks for ranked gameplay(although it will certainly do that) it will also deal with making new stuff that's not present in the game, while i might not do crazy stuff(yet) like entirely new units, i definitively plan to make biomorphs not present on the game, for example i really want the Hive Tyrant to put his guns on by giving him weapons like the devourers and deathspitters, it will also get the traditional Bonesword and Lash whip combo(What are you doing Relic? Where was this?), that's a promise. It may also get wings(that's not a promise ).

For now, let's get started with a wip of the Ravener:



And go from there.

Releases:


Ravener Prime:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/0nt59e...ener_Prime.sga


Ultra Zoanthrope:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/77cgch...Zoanthrope.sga


Lictor Alpha:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/8z1qik...ictorAlpha.sga

[G3N3RAL_GR3IVUS]

FIRST POST!!!!!
Like the Ravener horn.

Btw are u gonna make trygons?

Spoiler

[The-Purebreed]

Nice will love to see this continue and second post

[Shuma]

@General:

Maybe, , big, biiiiiiiiig maybe, it would require entirely new animations and i'm no animator, but it's probably easier to anime than a biped so maybe... Maybe. Maybe.

[Joekid13]

WOW shuma thats amazing the nids are feeling the love now and i can be sure of that keep it up

[Shuma]

Well i'll just leave another preview here before i go to sleep:



The Raveners are burrowers, so i presume that this spikes should actually be facing the other way, however those growths the Ravener has on it's back also has a curve that gives it a point facing forward, so in short, what do you think, spikes facing forward, or facing back?

[Stryke]

Well since the Trygon has similar forward facing spikes as does the Red Terror, both of which are evolved Raveners then youre right in placing the spikes forward. In a logical sense the spikes could be part of the musculature used to dig and move aside soil as it speeds through the ground, much like many burrowing insects - the Carpenter Bee, Mole Cricket etc.

Also F***ING NIDS! Shuma youre a beautiful b***ard!

That is all.

[Shuma]

Alrighty then.



Might need more spikes. By the way, feel free to post pictures of converted tyranids that you find/like/want, will need some ideas.

[shadowninja0069]

looking good shuma.

[Immortal Djemo]

Maybe make those mandibles on the sides of his mouth bigger and more towards the mouth? Dunno i think it would look rad.

[EvilPie]

nothing says mean boss bug like a few extra eyes!

[Shuma]

Just as i suspected, Tyranids=Way, way harder to texture than generic inorganic models, but i believe i'm making good progress:





Mind you this is just to see if the team coloring looks as intended, i got no idea how Relic did the "epic" team color of the tyranids, so i'm trying to emulate it here, i think i got it, the texture needs some adjustments though, dirt is too heavy, the second color is barely visible(although it's also barely visible in Relic's own unmodified model so i'm not sure if that's how it's supposed to be) and obviously the head is not done, the model is but i still have to make the team color texture for it and it changed a bit from the last time you saw it.

So in short what i'm saying is that, Ravener Prime coming soon, i think it's not bad for my first Tyranid, and i already have some ideas to make the others better than this one.

Edit:

Well, here we go:


Ravener Prime:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/0nt59e...ener_Prime.sga

pics

So even though i've answered the same question over a thousand times i know someone will ask it again, so, no i cannot make it so that only the Ravener hero looks like this, that would break online compatibility. With that said, enjoy.

Edit:

Btw, Zoanthrope is next.

[Whiteshield]

SHUMA will you make the Death Leaper Lictor for the Lictor Alpha?

[Shuma]

Yes and no, no because the Death leaper is ugly as sin and not in a good way imo, in other words, i don't like him, so an exact replica of him will not be seen. Yes because the six eyes and those mandibles he has will probably make it, and i believe those are the distinguishing features of the Death Leaper, so at least his face will be similar.

And i'll leave a preview of the Zoanthrope here before i go to sleep:



Based on one of Gaertan's designs.

Edit:

Just in case someone hasn't seen it:

[muertz_15]

Ravener Prime looks sick....

EDIT: Never mind you already answered my question, disregard......tho kind of stupid/lazy on relic's part to have each of these unit share same model....i mean come on, just change the alpha slightly. at least they have different pic for alpha opposed to lictor alpha who shares the same picture as regular lictor

[Immortal Djemo]

Keep up with the awesome that is nids!
I really needed an incentive to start nids again, these skins are doing marvelously in that department ^^

EDIT: I dont see how the Death Leaper is any uglier then the regular Lictor, only longer spike thingys and different hands.
That being said will u be reworking its hands? The Games Workshop shows it (Death Leaper) to have like a single talon surrounded by lil talons instead of the "hand" that the Lictor has. That would look very awesome imo.

[Predalienator]

How bout this for the lictor?



Some warrior suggestions

[Azariah]

you will create a whole new brainhead??? why dont you use the default one?

[The-Purebreed]

Have to ask Shuma will you be making the broodlord possibility or a possible old one eye also I think they used Z-brush for the tyranids texturing I use it to model and texture my models

[Gaertan]

you're my new hero shuma xD

[Shuma]

@Azariah:

Because the one i'm making is different? Besides, the Zoanthrope is always shown smiling like a motherfucker, never liked how Relic's Zoanthrope isn't, that and thanks to that bullshit excuse i can save time by not rigging the tongue and mouth

@Purebreed:

The Broodlord, yeah maybe, the Old One Eye, i don't know. And yeah i know they used ZBrush when making the Tyranids, it's pretty obvious just by looking at the models and textures, especially the normal maps, my only problem is that i have little to no experience with Zbrush, but hey, we all got to learn someday right? The Zoanthrope head might go through ZBrush to make the normal maps.

[Immortal Djemo]

Bumping for an answer ^^

[Gabriel Gorgutz]

Death Leaper skin for the Lictor Alpha would be awesome. Also, how about bone swords for warriors and the Hive Tyrant?

[Shuma]

Man everyone loves the Death leaper except me, well i guess that's too bad for you guys What i have in mind for the Lictor is giving it a "bigger and meaner" look, if anyone here has the 4th edition codex look at his picture on page 38, something like that is what i have in mind for him, except with 6 eyes and beefy octopus like tentacles around his feeder tendrils.

As for his hands, he's keeping them, those talons the Death Leaper has doesn't even make sense for a creature like it, the reason the Lictor has hands is to hold it's prey while it sucks the brains out of it's ears, with those talons the prey would just cut itself into pieces as it squirms around, sure they look cool, and i bet that's why they're there, because they look "cool" but it doesn't make sense, and imo the hands look better.

@GG:

Man, you couldn't even read the first post?

while i might not do crazy stuff(yet) like entirely new units, i definitively plan to make biomorphs not present on the game, for example i really want the Hive Tyrant to put his guns on by giving him weapons like the devourers and deathspitters, it will also get the traditional Bonesword and Lash whip combo(What are you doing Relic? Where was this?), that's a promise.

And yeah i also plan to make Tyranid Primes. On other news, i haven't done much work on the Zoanthrope, although the base model itself should be done before tomorrow, what i have been doing the entire day is cramming my head full of Zbrush tutorials and playing around with Zbrush itself, so this bastard is definitively going through it, that said, it will obviously take more time to get done.

[Immortal Djemo]

Loud and clear, though that pic in the codex looks like a chubby version of a Lictor, which kinda contradicts with his sneakyness.
But who knows, it will probably be awesome and i cant wait to see it ))

EDIT: Oh i thought u might like to know, it seems that the Rav Prime mod isnt compatible with your Eye Color tyranid mod.
By that i mean that all my nids have their eyes set to red color, yet when u put in the Rav mod the RA wants to be special and changes back to green eyes.

[Gorb]

EDIT: Never mind you already answered my question, disregard......tho kind of stupid/lazy on relic's part to have each of these unit share same model....i mean come on, just change the alpha slightly. at least they have different pic for alpha opposed to lictor alpha who shares the same picture as regular lictor

While arguably it might be "lazy", it's nowhere near stupid.

1. Saves on modeling, skinning, UVmapping and texturing time. This is expensive, and is also the most time-consuming part of developing a new game (often in excess of writing the engine, I think. Could be wrong there though).

2. Reduces the loading time (marginally, in the case of model data, substantially in the case of duplicated texture maps) of the game itself, and thus decreases system performance.

[muertz_15]

@Gorb, alright well then not stupid(i guess what i meant was, why would you make specific commanders for every race, then just use same units for tyranids...must have made them last ), but still lazy and since its the only two that are actual units in game plus the fact that they are commander unit and not a squad of oh say 8 models loading time is probably not a huge issue along with the fact that every other races does this b/c they have have designated units for commanders, still wish they would have changed them

[Gabriel Gorgutz]

Sounds awesome! Can't wait for the Hive Tyrant stuff.

[Shuma]

@Immortal:

Yeah the Rav Prime's eyes are green by default, doubt i'll do anything about it.

As for the Tyranid stuff, on Relic's defence, the Tyranid's textures are way more complex than those of imo, anything else in the game. That said, once you get into Zbrush, it's really fun:



I still suck at it though.

[The-Purebreed]

I use Z-Brush alot and trust it me its one of the funnest modeling softwares to work with and hey if you need some help with Z-brush I can help you

[Shuma]

Nah, i'm getting the hang of how this works really fast, i guess it really is as easy as everyone says, althought i don't get why people keep saying "you can get into it as long as you can draw" and hey, i love to draw stuff(not that i'm particularly good at it) either way the head is done in my opinion:



I could add more detail but since the normal map is just 512x512px some of the detail like those little veins aren't even showing in it, so just the cables, plates and brain to go and obviously those pieces are smaller so it should be faster.

Edit:

Because why not? Here's the normal map so that you can see for yourselves:



I already foresee some fixing to do in the teeth area. And of course, those empty areas are where the other pieces will go.

[DeusImperator]

Awesome, I always felt the RA needed some better looks!

[ImPEREZ]

Hey Shuma! Do you have any progress with our sweety puppet zoantrope? =)

[Shuma]

Well yeah, here he is :


Ultra Zoanthrope:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/77cgch...Zoanthrope.sga

pics

Took quite a bit but don't panic, i didn't spent ALL this time just working on it, i was busy with other stuff so it's not like the rest of them will take this long anyway i think it came out pretty nicely, enjoy.

[27X]

As usual I'm gonna throw my opinion on the opposite end.

MOARSPIEKS belongs on Orks, not Nids. Being a more evolved creature means being more efficient and effortless at your given task, not turning into a Khornate Chaos pinata.

As an example. the TG does not need spikes anywhere, and as I know you're a fellow fan of Moloch and Ouroboros, take a look at the TG concepts over there. No spikes except for back defense and better articulated armor, ie, a MORE streamlined TG (particularly the rather awesome "samurai" version), not less, with better level and angle of armor to deflect crap thrown his way, not spikes to make him a larger target on the battle field, or more likely to get tangled up in stuff. SM are the TIP of the spear, and as such a biomorph variant based on their genetic profile should reflect that. The back stacks are certainly signature, and would fit better if the TG was upright, but for whatever reason relic stuck him as a quadruped. Sticking bullhorns on him is pedantry at BEST. Same goes for other run-gun nids like the Fex and Horms, you'll notice the pointy pits stay folded up and streamlined for maximum closing power until it's time to cut stuff up.

(and yes that would also be a vote for reverse facing stuff on the ravener if you ever add to it)

For certain CC Nids, giant extrusions on everything fits. For specific role Nids, not only does it not fit, it just reeks of OMGMOAR 10 year old raving.

The same applies to the HT. Sure a version covered head to toe in spikes like some S and M fetishist is fine, but a sleeker "armored badass" version reflecting the new codex status might be just as cool. Same for the Zoanthrope, unless this particular version is from Dark Eldar.

Nids borrow rather blatantly from Aliens, and Aliens tend to be smooth and sleek, not full of razor blades in every orifice and crevice that get caught on every available piece of terrain.

Something to think about.

ala streamlined:

















These have pointy bits where pointy bits should go, so they can be actually utilized in combat, both on offense and defense.

as opposed to YO DAWG I HERD U LIEK SPIEKS ON UR SPIEKS SO WE PUT SOME SPIEKS ON SO U CAN SPIEKS WHILE U SPIEK A SPIEK.

With all due respect some of gaertan's design wouldn't even be able to bite anything at all, much less actually attack/devour/pin and eat something on the move, which Nids kinda need to do in order to acquire new genetic juju.

[ImPEREZ]

Looks Great! I'm sure someone watched to much of Aliens lol
What next?))

[Immortal Djemo]

Id have to disagree, true some things should be sleek yet others are supposed to be a bastard child of a porcupine and a sea urchin.
The TG for instance is a guardian and should in every way try to be alive and do as much harm to the foe before the HT itself goes to pummel it. So back spikes, tons of other spiky bits ensure that some crazy ork/csm/whatever doesent jump on its back and go for some weak point in its neck while the TG can only try to shake him off with probably lil effect. The spikes would deny anyone to try to be a rodeo clown. As for being stuck, its a creature that should be brute streingth so i dont think it would have problems.
The Lictor on the other hand with its limited strength and need to not be seen should not have spikes nor anything to make it more noticable, the TG WANTS to be noticed so the HT wouldnt be.

Oh yeah and +1 vote for the Lictor Alpha to be next, so every commander has something ^^

[Shuma]

This are just the kind of posts i love to see, keep them coming. Now... What should i do next...

[Gaertan]

i've got to point out that the spikes arent a problem for them,think about tyranids the way they "think",carnifexes are beasts made for ramming and destroying everything that's nearby so they really need those spikes so when they charge they destroy almost everything,lictors,mantifexes and hormas need sharp blades so they can still be quick at killing while moving fast so they really dont need the spikes
about the carnifex eating things his mouth can be opened a lot,almost like hippos(there's a sync kill where you can see his mouth wide opened)so the spikes would still let him eat
and other thing,at the codex it says that ripper swarms are the troops made for eating the corpses and throwing themselves to the digestion pools.
and tyranids ,as you've said are evolved creatures,they have evolved to accomplish a specific duty within the tyranid army IE:lictors are made for stealthy killing causing panic and leaving pheromones(i dont really know if that's its name in english)to guide the other troops,raveners are made for tunneling then emerging within the enemy troops killing as much as they can when they do,carnifexes are made for destroying tanks and fortresses when they charge,TG is made for protecting the hive tyrant and killing whoever is nearby
.Warriors are made for giving synapse to the lesser creatures and killing things(so they need both blades and spikes) and at last zoans are made to be a extremely powerful psyker giving synapse to all the nearby creatures and being a support to other troops so the "pipes"are a symbol of its rank and importance(in fact,almost all the important creatures have those pipes)and they expell toxic spores(look at the doom of malan'thai for example)
etc etc so carnifexes,TG,HT and warriors need moar spikes
warriors need pipes,spikes and blades
lictors need blades and pipes
HT and carnifexes need a 3rd row of pipes
hormas need blades or spikes that still let them move fast

and +1 for the lictor too D

[Shuma]

Well i guess Lictor is next.



Might end up making a whole new body for him, don't know.

[wolfius]

if you do, we are right behind........him

[Immortal Djemo]

LA, yayayayayaayy!!!
Oh and a new body,weeeeeeee!

[Shuma]

Figured i'd post a preview even though not even half of his head is done.

[27X]

problem

Yeah, they are a problem for any creature that has to retain withering fire from projectile weapons, which you've apparently never encountered or give an attack a high range of momentum to pierce armor, something jes goodwin pointed out in his design notes.

need need need

No, they don't, and the fact that GW sticks on them certain areas says quite a bit. You sound like a used car salesman. I'm not buying a need, I'm buying a car. Don't get me wrong, I like your designs, and your opinion matters as much as mine, but they don't apply to every Nid nor should they ever, particularly on a fighting force that needs to move quickly side by side and accomplish their goals in rapid fashion. Secondly, I said some CC Nids should have area defense, so you don't have to get defensive about it.

Killing something efficiently doesn't involve looking like you came from a Skinny Puppy concert.

neck

If you're close enough to reach a TG's neck you're in range to get something bit off by some pretty powerful snapping turtle style jaws, except your giant horn spikes are in the way and your mobility is half of what it used to be. Oops. But hey, you make a cool looking corpse stuck in the ground right? Boss.

carnifex

Not really sure what you use a Carnifex for other than hang out your laundry, but I mount mine with big ass guns to kill tanks from far away, which allows my grounds troops to move with impunity. Secondly, a Carnifex with a tank stuck on his face is pretty much dead meat.

too much aliens

No, that would be this:

Lictor

New body would be nice.






http://buglands.moonfruit.com/#/biodiversity/4517152267

[Immortal Djemo]

Spikes on the said TG are defensive and not offensive, srsly. He needs to defend as thats his only purpose, and id say putting a spiky rock thigh in the middle of the HT and its foes is allot more intimidating than a polished looking rock thing.

As for the neck, the fact that those spikes are strategically placed for defense and probably longer than any melee weapon foes can muster they would have to be impailed first before going for the weak points, wounding them and leaving them stuck so other lil bugs can eat their face off while they dangle off the spikes.

And fexes, well i prefer the melee variant and for the sake of argument, impale a box of cigaretes on a sewing needle than shake it left and right, then you will see how actually "stuck" the impailed tank on the fex would be.

SPOILER: Under the shaking momentum of the needle (fexes head) the object would "un-impale" itself due to basic physics.

But to stop derailing this thread any further, he is doing these skins without anything in return but the gratitude of the audience. If you dont like the design (which im pretty sure he is basing on the GW's own models, accepted by nid players world wide) im sure theres someone else who would do exact replicas of Aliens from the movies for u if u ask nicely.
If their aren't any more designers that would do your ideas i suggest u be happy with the effort Shumas putting into this, or u know, stay with the vanilla nids, they are actually the closest to your "evolved" design wishes.

[Shuma]

Nah man keep it up, this kind of posts and arguments give me ideas, not to mention that all of you have perfectly valid points, besides he isn't saying that Tyranids shouldn't have spikes, just that not all of them do, i think we all know of the Thornback bimorph, which is basically "Ok, ok, so a Tyranid... But he's a porcupine" keep it coming, just keep it civil.

Anyway, head is already in Zbrush:

[Immortal Djemo]

Sirius Lictor is sirius.


But on a serious note mby another set of eyes, or that the second set of eyes not be that hidden. Then again it might look like that now that its unfinished, just hoping that the second set of eyes will be noticeable.

[Shuma]

Ha, don't worry the second set of eyes will be perfectly noticeable.



Just not from the front, my idea is that he uses his main pair of eyes like, well, we do, iirc hunter or well developed animals have their eyes set in front to see better, like Owls, Lions, Bears, while animals that are often prey have their eyes to the sides, like pidgeons and some rabbits, my idea is that this guy has two set of eyes, the main pair are obviously used to hunt, the second pair is more of a "defensive" thing that allows it to see it's surroundings while killing something. In fact i always found it odd that most Tyranids have their eyes on the side of their heads instead of the front, but whatever.

[Immortal Djemo]

Yeah i guess ur right, he will get the best of both worlds
Also is this the pic ur basing the LA on, from the codex?

Cuz those beefy scythe talons, that tail and especially those longer claws would look really awesome. I always thought his "nails" should be a bit longer and with the ends pointing inwards, like in the picture

[27X]

Yeah, the eyes on the side always seemed a bit odd, but then again body guard dudes who need to spot threats quickly are blind, but their light morphic variants are used as long range snipers.... with the eye on the guns.

foes is allot more intimidating

Not really sure why you're anthropomorphizing them, but A Nids don't seem to care what they look like, we do and B TG sure as hell don't care about visual grry-ness.. Spikes are scarier if you're... five, not a Space Marine. I mean I don't see Eldar running away from Chaos Marines with spikes all over their sh!+, there's no OH NOES SPIEKS rule in any GW product, so it's pretty safe to say you're operating on logical fallacy which consists of "I like pointy things"; instead of trying to come up with stuff that is completely fabricated like your magic attack scenario, which is rather handily refuted by the Space Marine sync kill on Carni btw, and even used by the Khornate champion to one shot a Carnifex in the face in retribution for all to see in the exterminatus mission. The Champion literally uses the things you say extra kill everything to pwn the Carnifex in his face. Literally.

I never said Shuma should make alien-nids, and you don't need to whiteknight for him, we've conversed before, a couple times EVEN IN PRIVATE GASP!. I said a sleeker/more heavily "shaped" armored design motif may benefit armored, dakka and fast attack nids, fullstop.

Nids, also like the rest of the races have a design bible. One of the things that make Moloch and Ouroboros awesome is that design motif was enhanced and extended logically, which works very well with a race that literally grows purpose built units "on the fly."

Now if I took the two designs offered now and fold them into the regular stuff we've got. The Ravener fits, and it also complements his earlier one off, with terms and horms. They look like mini warriors or wedge head Praetorians from the alien EU, it's consistent design motif across shared troop lines.

The Zoanthrope has a completely different silhouette to emphasize its origins, which is where the gribbly part is supposed to come from. In each phenotype you can see clearly where the race was nommed and processed to something inimical and alien, that's part of the horror aspect.

The ultra Zoan variant here on the other hand, is a flying Ravener, and pretty much the opposite of scary.


Might want to barb the feeding tendrils.