Cool Devices: Weapons

well i notice a few things among weapon designers that i try to go against.
1- tons and tons of people model weapons that exist irl. this isnt a huge problem, and im sure its a great way to get down the feel of a weapon as art, but its just been done so many damn times. if i see another ak-47 im going to kill sum1. i cant speak for everyone, but i dont care to see something that already exist unless it was modeled with extreme skill and accuracy.
2- a lot of visual problems with weapons have to do with flow and form. i try to make sure a gun looks balanced, and if the overall theme is organic then i try to maintain that instead of throwing something blocky in there.
3- no presentation. i just like to have some kind of backround. anything as simple as a gradient will do. just not a plain picture of a rendered gun or sword.

thats just a few.
other than that uniqueness and originality mean a lot to me. and describing your work is half the battle. always have something to say.

--
Good intentions. Evil desires.

I agree with malmida...there are many real life weapons out there that have been done so many times i want to buy one and shoot myself with it!

If i come do design a new weapon, originality come very high, but also its functionality, the mechanics of the gun. IMO i dont like weapons which make no sense mechanically unless explained well (half the battle here as malmida said). Organic weapons bypass this rule...

Sometimes i would do some research into different parts of the gun, look at existing weapons to get the feel for it and then let the design carry itself.

The best weapons, and i believe everyone agrees with this, are the ones with the best detail.

--
Founder of ~MechWarriorsClub
Proud member of ~3d-studio-max
Member of ~Dominators-R-Us
----------------------------------------------------
It was pitch black and very dark, and to make things worse....there were no lights...

Check out the Tau weapons.
[link]

Do these weapons show good design?

--
98% of teenagers are fodder for statistics, if you are part of the 2% that is not, put this in your signature.

a good weapon design is like a good character design, it tells a story with its look.

Do you agree with =malmida and ~ulyses's points?

--
98% of teenagers are fodder for statistics, if you are part of the 2% that is not, put this in your signature.

Well, I do not usually make hand held weapons.. but When it comes to war machines as weapons... I just make them look "cool" not "realistic". I am not a fan or reality and I get comments all the time like.. "that weapon is too big" or "It does not look like a rail-gun" etc.. I just make shit up and go with it. Everything just needs to flow and that should make weapons look their best.

So remember (flow).. LOL!

--
"It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money."
- Canada Bill Jones, 19th century poker player [link]

What is "Flow"?
How does it feel when a design has it or not?

What elements make one weapon cool and another less cool?
In other words, what are the elements of "Cool" at least for Mech weapons?

--
98% of teenagers are fodder for statistics, if you are part of the 2% that is not, put this in your signature.

what are the elements of "Cool" at least for Mech weapons?

Whatever I think is cool is cool. I really do not think that much about it and I don't care what others think that much either. Sorry that is not much help but that is how I work.

When I say flow.. I don't know.. It just comes to me and I go with the flow. It's hard for me to talk about these things on a message board. I'm better off explaining in person. Although.. that would be hard to do on the net. lol!

--
"It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money."
- Canada Bill Jones, 19th century poker player [link]

I have used the massage boards in Sweden and had a good time with them, well except for the time I got splinters in someplace sensitive.

I am not sure I have a feel for cool as far as weapons go, got megs of reference pictures of weapons. Going to be making some guns/rifles/shotguns for an upcoming picture, not sure how they are going to look like or what I am going to make.

Do you use references?
What references do you use if you use them?

--
98% of teenagers are fodder for statistics, if you are part of the 2% that is not, put this in your signature.

No references. I always see whats in my mind and go from there. Wait.. Actually, I am inspired by Battletech. I always have that as a reference.

--
"It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money."
- Canada Bill Jones, 19th century poker player [link]