In this blog post I’ll be discussing my inspiration for the hero asset. As a media studies student I am not part of the environment design module so I was initially confused about what I was supposed to make. After emailing a tutor I was offered a list of locations and subthemes to choose from. Initially I chose Armory and Alien and planned to make some sort of alien great sword that featured a big eye in the hilt, however I quickly changed my mind as I felt this was a little uninspired and boring. I then changed my subtheme to Feudal Japan and started looking into some Japanese folklore and myths that were believed in Feudal Japan times. Eventually I stumbled upon “Susanoo”, the God of the sea and storm in Japanese mythology. Susanoo is the brother of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess and was banished from heaven for his tumultuous behavior. After returning to earth he faced off against the eight headed dragon “Yamata no Orichi” and defeated him.
After looking into this mythological figure and doing some research I was quickly inspired about a hero asset I could make in relation to this tale. I had thought of a sword with a blade in the shape of a tidal wave and with the eight heads of Yamata No Orichi wrapped round the hilt facing the wave, almost as if the sword was depicting the legendary battle between these two foes. An ambitious task considering I had no prior experience with 3D modeling, but alas I was up for the challenge. There are many different depictions of Yamata No Orichi in Japanese culture however I decided to go with my own version rather than try to make him look exactly like he does in other media.
I also had the idea of making the hilt look like a sun in relation to Amaterasu, The Sun Goddess. Unfortunately I started this assignment pretty late due to personal issues (around a month before it was due) and therefore did not have time to make any detailed sketches or plans as I also had to get caught up with all the lecture material and learn how to use Maya and Substance Painter within this time due to having no prior experience. Eventually after learning how to use Maya I jumped in and started experimenting.
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