Updated at: 20-06-2023 - By: Craig Huey

SKELLS

This is a copy across from my university”s work forums. I”ve been spending a couple of months on a hard surface vehicle/mecha project, due to conclude its development cycle in May.

What’s up, y’all?the finest skell weapons from Xenoblade Chronicles X

I am a skilled 3D modeler who can crank out hard surface mechs within strict deadlines. An it

As such, I plan to create a mecha that follows the same design and construction principles as the Skells from Xenoblade Chronicles X (MonolithSoft & Nintendo).

Skells are playable pilotable combat mecha from MonolithSoft’s Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U, 2015). Takayuki Yanase, who is a mecha designer and illustrator (Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Armored Core, and more than 50 other mecha-centric anime and films), created them.

I”ll be utilizing the readily available designs from Yanase, with my own copy serving as a direct source of information of both Xenoblade Chronicles X and its associated wiki, Using tutorials on how to model Skells and other relevant materials, I was able to create my own Modeled in Three Dimensions.

MY LAST PROJECT

OPTIMUS PRIME RECREATION

As my second complex mecha build, I hope to refine my process from my first, a copy of Optimus Prime based on the Revenge of the Fallen Leader Class action figure – with this Skell.

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All of his attention to detail has been replicated, right down to the most inconspicuous of details; the topology is uniformly clean; and the pieces fit flush together with no clipping, even during the animation. The workflow relied solely on floating/segmented geometry and didn’t employ the hard-surface philosophy of chamfered edges on its high-poly, which led to bakes that were riddled with artifacts when texturing and rendering. Neither of his energy swords entered the building with him.

This cycle gives me 16 weeks to build the skeleton and equip it with weapons. The high poly meshes will need to be modeled with baking down in mind, so chamfers and full geometry will need to be included in the modeling process from the start. This time around, I’m aiming for a clean, error-free normal bake and to capture a metal look with his texture. The skells’ ability to morph into vehicles is another feature I’d like to implement, and I plan to do so using the Unreal Engine.