In July of 2020, I was given the opportunity to flesh out some of the character creation options for the UDX Interactive game, Wheel of Fate. The primary goal was to conceptualize, design, model, texture, and rig 5-10 new hairstyles for each of the playable races. The hair/horn/feather styles needed to be unique; as well as visually, and thematically aligned with the background lore and style of each race. They also needed to be versatile, and modified/rigged to fit both available gender/body-style options.
The first step was to design the styles and create paint-over concept art in Photoshop. Once the styles were tweaked, narrowed down, and approved, I started modeling them in 3DS Max. My primary technique for creating the models was to use the freeform modeling tools to get a base mesh that fit perfectly to the character’s heads. After I had finished the low-poly models, I unwrapped them, and brought them directly into Substance Painter to do some hand-painted texturing.
*All screenshots and art depicted are the legal intellectual property of UDX Interactive Inc.