Revisiting YM's polycount pack

[YM]

So I may be choosing to revisit my polycount pack after I finish up strata and circus and before I setting into the next large project so I thought I'd start by getting some feedback on what I'd made already:
The Schwaben Charger:

The Tonsil guillotines:

The Overdose (They totally stole my name! :<)

And the backpack:

I want brutal honest truths, suggestions for improvements or changes, heck I'm even open to ideas for entirely new models.

Here I'll make you a feedback template:

Schwaben Charger 9000:
Do you like it?
Would you use it if it had the same stats of any of the current Medic items?
What would you change/What is the worst part?
What would you keep the same/What is the best part?

The Overdose:
Do you like it?
Would you use it if it had the same stats of any of the current Medic items?
What would you change/What is the worst part?
What would you keep the same/What is the best part?

The Backpack:
Do you like it?
Would you use it if it had the same stats of any of the current Medic items?
What would you change/What is the worst part?
What would you keep the same/What is the best part?

Tonsil Guillotines:
Do you like it?
Would you use it if it had the same stats of any of the current Medic items?
What would you change/What is the worst part?
What would you keep the same/What is the best part?

 

[tyler]

Here's my brutal, honest feedback: it's all very boring. I think the tonsil thing is incredibly dumb and I can't see that functioning in a real world as a melee weapon, as well. Every piece feels woefully underdetailed. The only thing I really think is a nice touch are the uh... things... coming off the bottom of the medigun. Otherwise the items don't do anything remarkable that set them apart from the stock set.

 

[Geit]

Schwaben Charger 9000:
Do you like it?
Yes, the makeshift nature of the additions to an otherwise expertly crafted medigun make this appear like a field prototype for a new weapon, and to me provide a reasonable cause of downsides, and corresponding positive offshoots as a result.
Would you use it if it had the same stats of any of the current Medic items?
Likely not, I'm not particularly fond of pure reskins, however I do like having a choice of tradeoffs when I play a class.
What would you change/What is the worst part?
Honestly, I wouldn't change this one much at all.
What would you keep the same/What is the best part?
I love the fact that it looks like it was quickly cobbled together with electrical tape of some sort.

The Overdose:
Do you like it?
Overall, yes. -- It looks like a weapon that would be better suited to be "charged" as opposed to a normal syringe gun, which was perhaps the aim. However, there are parts of it that I don't like, as I've mentioned below.
Would you use it if it had the same stats of any of the current Medic items?
See above.
What would you change/What is the worst part?
The wooden trim, compared with the rest of the pack, to me this just doesn't fit, although I guess that the Medic's hands would be covering this anyway, making it rather a moot detail.
What would you keep the same/What is the best part?
Non-traditional Syringe gun that could be an interesting sidegrade, and perhaps a reason to finally leave the Blutsauger behind.


The Backpack:
Do you like it?
Not really, no.
What would you change/What is the worst part?
It looks rather bland at a glance, and appears to completely break the sillhoutte of the Medic. Although, with all the stupid hats in the game, I doubt that's too much of a problem.
What would you keep the same/What is the best part?
I do like the gas canister, and it's styling.

Tonsil Guillotines:
Do you like it?
No. It doesn't appear to be a practical weapon to me, and looks too delicate to do any damage to anything.

 

[Pocket]

The first thing that came to my mind was that the Overdose and Schwaben Charger are too conservative. They look like slightly different designs for the default weapons, like something you might expect to see in the concept art gallery without so much as a descriptive caption. Most community items that tend to get accepted into the game have very distinctive designs, and the polycount packs in particular had very specific themes. Even the Quick Fix was designed to look like a mad-scientist-y prototype.

Alternately there's the option of thinking up an actual function a new medigun type might have and trying to design it to look like what it does. The Blutsauger, with its tube of mysterious glowing fluid representing ubercharge, is a good example. The Scottish Resistance, with its kludged-on electric eye designed to spot mines in range, is another. So, for example, my idea for a medigun that builds ubercharge with kill assists instead of healing might have a set of skull-shaped LEDs on the side that light up for each assist. Or one that lets you deploy ubercharges in increments of two seconds after attaining a minimum of 25% charge might have four tank-looking doodads attached to the barrel and four lights ... indicating ...

...wait a second

 

[Crash]

Yeah I've always thought the tonsil guillotines were a really odd choice for a melee weapon. Unique, yes, but not practical/ logical by any means.

A lot of them seem really plain. The pack seems like really basic geometry squished together, for the bulk of it.

 

[Trotim]

Just one tiny bit of feedback: "The Schwaben Charger 9000" is an absolutely terrible name. It's not even a cool German word, it just means "The Swabian Charger 9000". That said when making models try not to worry about the name too much, that's for the weapon/balance designer to set unless it's highly reminiscent of an existing object (e.g. Liberty Launcher). But don't use bad names.

I also agree that the tonsil guillotines look downright stupid as a Medic melee. Personally the only thing I like is the backpack. And no, I wouldn't use any of them as reskins but that has nothing to do with model quality.

 

[grazr]

The medi gun looks like it's taken heavily from some of the District 9 and other various sci-fi weapon styles and doesn't look very TF2-ee to me. IMO you should consilidate that detail to a single cannister on the bottom or some transisters/capacitors on the side (so that the player can still see them).

 

[Harribo]

I think the only interesting part of this set is the medigun, a new backpack for the medic was at the time of the contest was an amazing idea and so something very similar to the default still went down well but I think it's pretty generic now. The set needs to feel like they are all related, like how the meet the medic set all looked cobbled together from odds and ends, they to fit each other and have a cohesive theme. I also don't understand how the reskin question is relevant

 

[Jetti]

My 2 cents, for what they're worth:

At the time of the Polycount, I *LOVED* the look of the Shwaben Charger; it looked really interesting to me, and meshed with the items we already had for the Medic. (I thought it'd look great when paired with the Blutz) I loved the 4 capsules on the bottom, and still do. It'd be great if they were jiggleboned.

But now, following more recent updates, the whole 'Sterile, manufactured then modified, but damaged' look of the Medic weapons has been lost. Especially with the In-game Overdose.

I think if you were to re-work it, you should add some protruding parts on the side, as well as adding Scorch Shot/Rocket Jumper esque scratched paint to the main housing. (The capsules look great)

Again, at the time, I loved your Overdose. And I kind of still do, but it seems a little bland in comparison to some things I could point to in the workshop of now. As with the Shwaben, I'd seriously suggest the Scorch Shot paint thingy going on with the paint on your Overdose. I completely agree with Geitiegg on the terms of the Wooden Trim not fitting; perhaps consider reworking it?

And as for the Tonsil Guillotines? 100% agree that it suits Medic in tone, but not for a melee weapon. I think I'd honestly expect to see it used in some sort of gouging taunt than an actual 'I'm going to hit you with this' melee weapon. How would that even work?

I love the backpack.

Schwaben Charger 9000:
Do you like it?
Kind of - consider re-working details.
Would you use it if it had the same stats of any of the current Medic items?
I'd use it if it had it's own stats, but the stats of the current items don't really mesh with it's current theme.
What would you change/What is the worst part?
Worst Part would have to be the chunky screwed-on metal case behind the capsules. It's kinda bland. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
What would you keep the same/What is the best part?
The Capsules - well, that whole end section, really. It's beautiful.

The Overdose:
Do you like it?
Yes maybe kinda not really a little.
Would you use it if it had the same stats of any of the current Medic items?
If it had the stats of the Crusader Crossbow but fired a different projectile? (As in a projectile reskin, not different stats) Definitely.
What would you change/What is the worst part?
I'd change the paint work to be more scratched.
What would you keep the same/What is the best part?
I'd keep it mostly the same, just re-work the texture.

The Backpack:
Do you like it?
It pretty much fills the definition of 'Misc'; Pretty cool, honestly. Whilst I wouldn't seek to buy it myself, I could definitely see myself rocking it if I found a good deal or had a random drop.
Would you use it if it had the same stats of any of the current Medic items?
Misc item.
What would you change/What is the worst part?
I'd give the gel the whole self illumination thing Valve have going on. I'd also consider changing the texture on the Pipe to match that of the Medigun.
What would you keep the same/What is the best part?
The idea. It's pretty cool. Better than the Scrap Pack, at least.

Tonsil Guillotines:
Do you like it?
Not really.
Would you use it if it had the same stats of any of the current Medic items?
Not really. What would you change/What is the worst part?
Ugh I don't know. Maybe just revise the thing. Edit it to become a Crusaders Crossbow reskin or something.

What would you keep the same/What is the best part?
I like the idea and the mood.

Kinda feel bad for all the hate on the Guillotine. :/

 

[Mr. Happy]

I like the backpack alot, it needs some more detail/interest but the composition and forms are really nice.

The Schwaben Charger is probably the best out of all of them, neat little prongs on the bottom: a solid model. There is room to make it longer and add more doodads though.

The Overdose looks very standard but is solid. It could have been the model for the stock needlegun, but it isn't special enough to be a new weapon.

Your textures are very nice and fit TF2 perfectly. The textures are much much better than most stuff on the workshop (even workshop models that are better, don't have as good textures as yours...they fit TF2 perfectly).

 

[MangyCarface]

I think the overdose and medigun hold up real well, but yeah the tonsil things are ridiculous. The medigun might need a better indication of it being a different weapon, as the details are on its bottom, maybe add more of that bright color around the muzzle elsewhere