Fherot, on 18 November 2013 - 07:47 AM, said:
A fair and solid critique, IMO.
BISHOP STEINER: when it comes to my design, first let me say, I am pretty shocked to be in the finals, as my art execution skills are nowhere near being in the same league as the other 4, or even many of the submissions that did not make the Finals, like
Hammur's, or CarrionCrow's. I can only assume, the actual design elements themselves spoke to people, which I am happy about, being unskilled in digital art, I know my limitations are currently toward TRO style line art.
As for the design itself, I largely agree with you. I generally prefer to lean toward the hooded viewport, as it fits the "obscured field of view" described in fluff and TRO. I decided to try something totally different, since I had actually done several hooded versions in the past. As for the size, it is approximately the same as the
Cataphract, so take that as one will.
The legs. Yeah. Those were not cooperating. The idea, which generally worked, was to tale the
Glaug Pod legs, and try to make them work. The only way to do so, IMO, was to give them the extra joint at the ankle sheath, like the
Cicada. That said, they seem too spindly and out of proportion with the rest of the mech. I was trying to work on a commision at the same time, and sadly neither are what I would have liked to see as finished products.
KARYUDO DS: I like the design a lot. Not as groundbreaking as Marcobra's, per se, or Resident Crow's, but maybe that is why it feels more Maraudery to me. I think that simply sliding the torso back 10% or so, would do a lot for the balance, along with moving the Gauss back a skosh too, maybe in a heavier mount to counter the jut of the snout. Not as many nick nacks bolted on as some, which leaves it a little plain, but out of the 5 candidates, I guess I would say it won by default,because it had the least nits to pick out of the options.
MARCCOBRA: God I want to love this thing. The details, the quality of execution. BUT. He took a lot of risks, which I applaud, but IMO, some of the design elements he chose, in the end, just not pan out quite right for my eye. The hip join being the most glaring, but I also feel the carapace is still a little to high and back, and such. Best way to describe the minor changes I felt it needed would be here
I hate doing that to someone elses work, but as they say, a picture is worth 1000 words. something closer to that though, and
Marcobra would have been my hand's down winner. He still nearly was, just because of the boldness and quality of the work. There were just too many things that I had to keep asking myself about.
RESIDENT CROW: Real cool piece. But it feels a little "busy" with so many bolt ons and such, that it's hard to take it in as a whole, instead of a bunch of little parts tacked together, which does odd things to the perception of proportion. For instance, if I silhouette the legs, they are fine in length. But if I don't, they are so busy that I focus on individual sections, which in turn makes them look out of proportion. I think a cleaner execution would have made this one a standout to win. And hey, it looks like it has a decent chance as is!
SHIMMERING SWORD: Yeah, critiquing the big boy here. Doesn't make me a little like the student telling the teacher he is wrong or anything, lol. That said, there were a couple things. 1) To me, it is still too close in execution to his original, popular mech. My opinion of the criteria was to go all new. Obviously
MoonUnitBeta was fine with it, so I can't complain, but it feels too similar still to me, which leads me to the critique: 2) It shares the same overall proportions with the original
SS design, and I always felt that design felt too lumbering, more like an amazing take on the Marauder II, than the 75 ton Marauder. Judging by some of the comments on the first contest, I am not alone in that. I get the comment that when you compare the legs to the
Cataphract, etc. But the weapon pods feel tiny, which in turns makes the body feel more massive.
Proportioned more along those lines, I would be much more into it. The last critique 3) is that it is kind of the antithesis of
Resident Crow's, in that it is almost too clean, which again, does not help with the perception of bulk. Breaking the lines more would have gone a long way to giving it a sleeker, aggressive look. Much of that might have been mitigated had
SS had more time to work on it, but I cannot judge on what might have been, but what is.
As for Dadrick's, I can think of a few things that held it back. The picture itself was very stiff. Adding some posture, whether fair or not, goes a long way to giving it energy. The design itself had a very upright, awkward carriage, and some of the individual elements didn't fit the theme as a whole, such as the cockpit.
Just my 2cts, hoping I didn't overstep, or step on any toes. But I feel all levels of artists benefit from honest opinion, even if we don't always share or agree with them.
Regardless, just happy to be in the same breath with the other 4. Thanks MWO peoples!
Edited by Bishop Steiner, 18 November 2013 - 09:50 AM.
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