Neza

This was my very first attempt at a character model and I chose one of the main protagonists of Animosity (my original game design project) to be the subject.

Neza is a differently-evolved large feline mammal that was captured and forcefully used as a test subject for biomechanical research. His legs have been replaced with robotic ones and his brain has been implanted with an advanced operating system that allows him to perform complicated tasks just by thinking about them in the right way. To learn more about Neza, check out the chapters featuring him in Animosity.

This model took a very long time because I leaped into character modeling a bit ahead of myself. I learned about using Symmetry in the stack after it was already half-done manually. I learned about Maya’s tools for “painting” details into a mesh after he was already fairly refined. This was my first time using a Wacom Tablet. I was doing many things for the first time with Neza and I learned much from the experience.

Technical Info

My very first character model had no upper limit to poly count obviously. I believe this added up around 6000 tri in 4 unique meshes, 5 total (torso, each leg, armor, halberd weapon). His only texture measured 1024. He was created in 3D Studio MAX and PhotoShop. I used a basic Wacom tablet mostly for his texture.

His polygon density is very high for a cartoony character and a lot of the splits are in awkward places. If I were to model him again, I would probably cut his tri count in half and have much better definition and animation in areas that matter more, like his hands.