Been promising myself a chess work, I think this is one with a difference.
Viewport render of start made today.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]395092[/ATTACH]
Shaun
HI All
When I saw this in my minds eye it looked a lot better than it does now, not happy as there is just no oomph in this scene.
All out of ideas, so some input appreciated.
Crown by Nattie
Spear by JDHaller
Shaun
nice. I think the sword wielding queen could have a bit more of an active pose, like swinging the sword maybe.
(edit) I think you have captured the spirit of chess well.
(edit) just noticed, that is the white queen…I guess my previous suggestion doesn’t make too much sense.
Hey Modron
Thanks, maybe you are still correct, maybe a more attacking stance toward the pawn, because you can bet your life his ass is getting kicked next.
Shaun
PS: How are things going with the band, did your gig work out?
yes we are getting pretty regular work. thanks for asking. in fact we had a gig last night that paid pretty well. was a lot of work though, and I am completely exhausted.
Nice creativity on this project. I think I would make the kings crown a little bigger, and the queen should probably have a crown as well. Maybe some blood dripping down on the kings chest?
I’ll look forward to seeing where this goes.
I was thinking, what about tightening up the composition and giving it a more circular flow?
(edit) hey what about giving the pawn a touch of motion blur? it would be interesting. maybe scary.
The naked truth about chess 
I like the suggestion for the composition, in some way it is according to what you did with the spot light on the king in #3, Shaun. Maybe the bases should also have some torsion to make them less static and to minimize the strong dissonance between the static bases and the flexible upper bodies.
Hi All
@Modron, glad to hear it’s coming together, looking forward to hearing your stuff getting some airtime. Thanks for the comp ideas, see what you think.
@harley, how you doing? Will get his crown a bit bigger and give her one, actually meant to do it quicly tonight and forgot. Blood too much and looking gory?
@miniribus 
My young son wants to know why I am making pornography on my computer. Scene is very static, what would you suggest doing to the bases?
Shaun
If it were me… I would make the “gaping” hole in the kings chest a little smaller, but the blood drips on his chest look good. Something about the queens sword blood looks off. Because there is so much blood on her sword and directly below her, it makes me think like there should be a dead piece below her.
looking good. 
Seriously - nice though the queen’s tits are :eek: … consider covering them with a “skimpy” type top or bikini top, even a loose almost see-through material. I think that would add a sort mystical element - a suggestion of nudity rather than in-your-face stuff. The blood on her sword is not convincing - maybe the end should have some blood and a slight flow down and off the sword. It looks like she has been chopping many thin objects just now. The kings wound is too big - he would be dead very soon, I think it needs to be more of a very close shave, to which the queen is to respond by dispatching the black pawn toute suite. A bit of motion blur would not go amiss I think. Last point - consider adding gold crowns to the royalty…
This is a very nice and original concept, I wish I had thought of it first!
Cheers, Clock.
I forgot to say - the king should be on a square - it is clearly the pawn’s move now so the king’s base should be static on a square I think.
Hi All
@harley, I would from comments need to work on the blood, have added another piece just below the queen, think it fills the gap nicely.
@Modron, thanks man.
@clock, thanks for looking in here and will consider you ideas about the queens…thank goodness the bottom is covered with the marble hey :evilgrin:. Agree with the blood and the wound as harley also noted, so I will work on that. Did add some motion blur as Modron also spoke about in the last pic to the bottom of the queen and the pawn, but obviously not enough.
Clock just make a similar scene when you have time anyway, I am really not funny that way, this is all fun for me.
- All royalty have crowns now.
- King and small white pawn on square, never flippin noticed that :o.
- What do you guys think about the background? Seems to almost make the pieces into gods battling for the universe?
- Can everyone pick up who the thin and the fat pieces represent?
- Need some SSS on the black marble, keep forgetting.
To tired to mess around with the blood tonight, so just a render of changes made.
CREDIT TO: Dimetrii for the lack of a better word (hat).
CREDIT TO: tadine for the Kings crown.
Shaun
nice, the background really brings it to life.
- Can everyone pick up who the thin and the fat pieces represent?
I would guess the fat one is the Rook or Castle depending on where you live and the thin one is the Bishop…
Background is really nice.
Cheers, Clock.
The background is going in the right direction, but it is too strong in my opinion. I think it does add a sort of cosmic dimension to the image, but I wish it would be more subtle. And there is something else I’m struggling with more and more. Don’t know how to say. Chess figures don’t move themselves. Their “fate” is in the hands of the players. They are subject to someone else’s will. Therefore the last thing I’d think of would be “gods”. More than that I’d think of them as being tossed around as “pawns in the hand of the powerful”, even the king. And therefore I think a subtle indication of some players would be a good thing. But not too concrete, more like “forces”.
Just thinking loud, you know.
what about having broken bases on one or two of the fallen pieces
I think the suggestions you got on the composition and minoribus advice are good starts. I really think the biggest flaw is the main pose of the king and the attacker, it must be much more dynamic. The attacker has no weight or power into his movement (adding motion blur will only partly help here). Take two friends and a camera and record some images and some video to see poses. With a hit on the side like that I’d expect the king to try to roll with the blow, perhaps grap the spear to try to hold it back.
Hi All
@clock, thanks glad that I managed to portray that.
@minoribus, this is a fantasy piece, but I agree with you and I think that powers in control of the game will give it a very nice touch. I will try with maybe a smoke or a smoke and fire sim. Thank you very much for the great idea.
@Modron, thanks also for the wonderful idea of the cracked/broken marble, I never thought of it. I used cell fracture and some rigid body tools to do the bases of the two fallen pieces. I am going to need to fiddle a bit with the rigid body stuff as the fractured pieces are hovering above the floor and I cannot figure out why.
@tobbev, the idea I had of the attack on the king by the pawn was one of surprise and I suppose to some extent audacity. That is why there is really no attempt at defence on the kings part, but I do however agree that the pawn needs to have more of an angle of attack as though he is putting his whole body in to it and not just his arm. Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks to all you guys for the fantastic suggestions that you are coming up with, the piece has come a long way since your suggestions are being implemented. Keep them coming.
Shaun