Clay Golem creature model

The Clay Golem is my first (and currently only) fully custom creature model for Neverwinter Nights 2 and stands as a sort of centerpiece to my portfolio, being my most recent full concept-to-completion creature model.

Originally conceived of as a quick, minor project, it took nearly a full year before it finally saw release. I was able to churn out the concept, model, basic texture, and skeleton in a span of only a couple weeks or so, but then after several nights of experimentation with file formats and exporting, I learned that the tools were simply not yet available to export custom skeletons, let alone new animations. The model was shelved.

By the time an animation exporter had become available, it was many months later. When I returned to the clay golem it was clear that, for it to ever be complete, it was going to require a custom skeleton and therefore an entirely new animation set. I had never intended to devote so much time to the model, but I felt the model and design were strong enough than it would be a pity to completely drop.

So I learned the particulars of NWN2's animation system, rigged up a skeleton, and started animating. There were about 22 animations to cover the basics and a little more. Below are short clips that show the run loop and some of the combat animations, respectively.

Some Final Thoughts

You could say that this model was a study in form and shape. I've been inspired recently by games like World of Warcraft and Team Fortress 2, which eschew photorealism for a return to the more fundamental elements of visual design. The clay golem made a good candidate to experiment in this direction; it is, as you can see, a character made entirely of clay — basically a single color. In order to make it visually interesting, those core elements, like form and shape, had to be emphasized.