Hi, I'm Harry, I´m from Autstralia. I have extensive background in realistically illustrating animals, particularly dinosaurs and marine life for several publishers publishers. Here at Tripmine Studios, I do both the storytelling; and the concept art for creatures, props and locations in Operation Black Mesa and Guard Duty. My approach is to take the classic content from Opposing Force and Blue Shift and recreate them in a way everyone would hopefully expect them to look if they were made today.
Gargantua concept development
A lot of factors were needed to bring the classic Gargantua into the higher detailed and more real-world looking Operation Black Mesa. While I had a few ideas for some subtle changes I thought would work nicely; it was vital that he kept all his iconic features intact down to his silhuette, so that hopefully, anyone seeing this concept would think "that's how I expect him to look with better graphics". The first half dozen attempts didn't marry the new ideas and the old ideas well, so I decided to start from scratch and recreate this beast piece by piece.
First came the head, and was an instant success. His mouth looked vicious and a slight mix between humanoid and insectoid and typically Xen, with a new 'four part' mouth now including two articulated pincers replacing the static tusks. Just as a fish's jaws were an evolved gill rake, I decided to make each part of his neck a continuation of his mouth parts and skull pieces, which looked great and helped connect the various parts in a way that looked plausibly authentic. In the spaces I thought I could add some kind of breathing holes. On the back he has articulated plates with more armour growing out from them. The heavy brow gave me an idea- what if the whole face sloped outwards towards the brows? That way, the eyes would always be looking slightly downwards, and the structure would always add a slightly enraged look.
Speaking of the eyes- everyone had different theories over what, precisely they were meant to be; a row of small, separate eyes like in Valve's original concept artwork? A single wrap-around visor? A compound eye? There was only one solution- I'd have to draw them all. The fourth option was a strange mix of all of the above. Overall the separate rows and visor were immediately the favourites among the team.
Following this was the torso- and as a consequence, all the limbs and where they'd fit. I first thought if it was possible to infer his classic humanoid chest plates were both a continuation of his 'neck' armour, and at the same time, the actual exoskeletal connections to his limbs. I also had ideas of having his legs longer, more articulated and flexible (an important feature for making a massive creature more nimble under its massive weight); and thought of maybe moving the vestigial clawed limbs higher up, connecting to his chest or stomach instead of his hips (like the quadrupedal concept had). Alas, they didn't look right and the Gargantua's extra long and jointed legs made him stand far too tall to look familiar, so I had a look at the classic model and noticed the claws were actually slightly lower on the hips than the legs.... so I thought what if I reversed the ideas- the legs he walks on are positioned higher up on the abdomen, and the claws were his 'true' legs, dangling uselessly? It worked! He could keep his long legs, but coincidentally, the classic backwards twist of his old, short legs happened to start at the hips, just like the old one.
Finally, there were his flamethrowers. Simply having the protective 'beaks' open to reveal a hole would be boring- something better and more noticeable would be required- but what? A bulging, protruding nozzle head? A series of moving plates that look like a jet exhaust? A Xen crystal? A concealed alien hand with lots of fingers, suggesting an entirely psionic source of his flame like the Slaves and Controlers?
Gargantua concept development
A lot of factors were needed to bring the classic Gargantua into the higher detailed and more real-world looking Operation Black Mesa. While I had a few ideas for some subtle changes I thought would work nicely; it was vital that he kept all his iconic features intact down to his silhuette, so that hopefully, anyone seeing this concept would think "that's how I expect him to look with better graphics". The first half dozen attempts didn't marry the new ideas and the old ideas well, so I decided to start from scratch and recreate this beast piece by piece.
First came the head, and was an instant success. His mouth looked vicious and a slight mix between humanoid and insectoid and typically Xen, with a new 'four part' mouth now including two articulated pincers replacing the static tusks. Just as a fish's jaws were an evolved gill rake, I decided to make each part of his neck a continuation of his mouth parts and skull pieces, which looked great and helped connect the various parts in a way that looked plausibly authentic. In the spaces I thought I could add some kind of breathing holes. On the back he has articulated plates with more armour growing out from them. The heavy brow gave me an idea- what if the whole face sloped outwards towards the brows? That way, the eyes would always be looking slightly downwards, and the structure would always add a slightly enraged look.
Speaking of the eyes- everyone had different theories over what, precisely they were meant to be; a row of small, separate eyes like in Valve's original concept artwork? A single wrap-around visor? A compound eye? There was only one solution- I'd have to draw them all. The fourth option was a strange mix of all of the above. Overall the separate rows and visor were immediately the favourites among the team.
Following this was the torso- and as a consequence, all the limbs and where they'd fit. I first thought if it was possible to infer his classic humanoid chest plates were both a continuation of his 'neck' armour, and at the same time, the actual exoskeletal connections to his limbs. I also had ideas of having his legs longer, more articulated and flexible (an important feature for making a massive creature more nimble under its massive weight); and thought of maybe moving the vestigial clawed limbs higher up, connecting to his chest or stomach instead of his hips (like the quadrupedal concept had). Alas, they didn't look right and the Gargantua's extra long and jointed legs made him stand far too tall to look familiar, so I had a look at the classic model and noticed the claws were actually slightly lower on the hips than the legs.... so I thought what if I reversed the ideas- the legs he walks on are positioned higher up on the abdomen, and the claws were his 'true' legs, dangling uselessly? It worked! He could keep his long legs, but coincidentally, the classic backwards twist of his old, short legs happened to start at the hips, just like the old one.
Finally, there were his flamethrowers. Simply having the protective 'beaks' open to reveal a hole would be boring- something better and more noticeable would be required- but what? A bulging, protruding nozzle head? A series of moving plates that look like a jet exhaust? A Xen crystal? A concealed alien hand with lots of fingers, suggesting an entirely psionic source of his flame like the Slaves and Controlers?