shongshongs art dept.

[shongshong]

I understand that there is a lot of ww2 games out there, but me... Im a ww2 buff, and I just love the style of 1940 material. Here in marathon squadron, Ill be incorperating a continuation of the Rubicon plot (a mixed translation of the split ending to rubicon) and adding influences of the ww2 design aspect to things.

One of the main reasons why battles are being fought like this (old style) is because its difficult to teleport large troops into dense bunker positions, where its better to teleport near them and infilitrate 'tacticaly'. What better way to display team work than to attack gun mounted bunkers!

Im trying to avoid close combat heroic action (like that of previouse marathon styles) and bring it out into the open fresh air (or stank air of the Pfhor prime) since you are an average infantry-man. There will be points where you will be fighting alone and in new places (maby under ground, maby on new planets... maby..).

And you wont be just seeing old uniformed men (re-clothed), there will also be new monster like suprises.. to suprise you!

[Mr. Violence]

Appreciated.

Honestly, ever since I played my first Marathon mod, I had been hoping for something more along these lines (but that was quite a ways back). I can understand your explanation, as well. I guess the barbed wire, and very D-day looking setup of a couple of those screenshots turned me off a little. It just seemed _too_ familiar. The weapons look great, though, and the character designs have some potential.

Personally, I'd like to see more gas masks. They are old-fashioned and futuristic all at once, and their presence lends a certain darkness, I guess because of the strong associations to World War I.

It's a shame that Marathon is so dated. It becomes more apparent with a shift in focus like this. I imagine the lone hero mentality of games developed partly because of the limitations of early engines.

[shongshong]

I actualy do have some gasmasked enemies in the game, (this was like my first full featured, armatured character I made with blender.. goes back some ways).
yah, he might be skinny, but this character was practicaly made before/during the time I came up with the marathon squadron concept. (these guys are like the standard enemy's. grunt force), still being used in the game

[shongshong]

well, enough about the raw content... how about some 'art' from the art deptartment!
I have a picture I made a month back, It was ment mainly as a concept image... and not that of content.
Here is Lt. Ira Gunther, the main character you play as in marathon squadron.

Well.. since you will never see yourself like this in the game, its more of a depiction of what the guy would look like.


the uniform he is in currently is specificaly for minimal combat usage. His 'ranger' clothing on the Pfhor prime. lightweight and easy to hand wash in the dusty, yucky conditions. (notice that he is not wearing his safety helmet?! thats dangerouse!)

[shongshong]

thanks! I dont think I will be needing any help right now for content creation, for its commin along at an even rate... but Im shure you or yall can help me create net maps... But to make it fair for the 'element of suprise' for everyone, Ill probibaly get people to help me work on net maps as a pack (afterward.)

so that means... medeochre* net maps on final release. (time is money!)

[when I say element of suprise, that means I want my scenario to be new and fresh to everybody, out of the box... (I cant realy explain it any better, but I hope yall know what I mean)]

[John Drake]

About the gasmask guy, you might want to change the helmet. He looks remarkably similar to a Nazi

Everything here looks nice.

[shongshong]

About the gasmask guy, you might want to change the helmet. He looks remarkably similar to a Nazi

thats kinda what I was shooting for... like what I stated in my game project thesus a few times, marathon squadron is influenced by ww2 (and some ww1).
Ive been trying to come up with a quick and short summary of what style im aiming for, but it kinda goes like this. "a future based WWII FPS"... "that takes place after the events of rubicon"

but... to todays standards, that 'nazi' helmet look and style is used alot in most modern military designs for many reasons. mainly for the amount of head coverage involved.

[shongshong]

Here is an illustration of one of the levels in M:Squadron
origionaly a concept art, than used in the game for map design.


(no, there is no crouching in the game)

[Lugas]

Sweet!

[Phobos-Romulus]

Awesome picture!

[Dieselfame3]

nice hallway shot shong,u r always one step ahead of me on cool sketches

[shongshong]

Now that I preity much finished working with Marathon Squadron, I had some time to goof around, these past few days, I worked on a revamp of the MA-75B assault rifle. I designed it so its beefier and more futuristic robust looking... I'll see if im in the mood for texturing.

[Phobos-Romulus]

Great render!

[Dieselfame3]

i really like the position of the grenade clip on the gun, very cool!

[Coraxus]

Concerning the aliens, I see their role as something not really combat related, being that they're enslaved to do various chores, it's likely they could be in a position to sabotage stuff and in strategic locations already. Also the anatomy of their legs could use some work too. To make their "chicken legs" more realistic, you have to make their knees protrude forward a bit more.

[shongshong]

uhmm... that is a machine gun, not aliens,

[xyfbzi]

i think he be talking about the aliens you posted earlier, and i think he has a point about the legs, they seemed like they were overbalanced and the poor guy was about to fall over

[shongshong]

oooh!! woah! blast from the past!
¡Damn! I didnt get a chance to put those guys into my game :C
I guess there is no need to fix a useless concept ehh?