That was an incredibly impressive, obviously a piece of many subtle moving parts. The episode felt like it just got better and better as it moved along. There's a lot of freedom in the way that you cut from scene to scene, and what was most impressive in that is the consistency of visual cues and the integrity of the setting.
Let me just say how grateful I am for your comment and review. I put a lot of effort into this so I’m absolutely delighted when people “get it” and appreciate it like you do. You made my day! All the best!
Homeworld was certainly a source of design inspiration for me, though oddly enough my designs for the vehicles predates the ones in Deserts of Kharak by more than ten years. My original Homeworld inspiration dates all the way back to Homeworld 2 in the early 2000's when the HW-franchise was entirely in outer space. My jaw dropped to the floor seeing DoK in 2016 when I was already more than a decade into development of my own thing. There were obviously a lot of visual similarities! Well, I guess that's just one of the quirks of reality and I'm not going to sue Blackbird Interactive for stealing my designs 😆.
Fucking amazed how good this is mate and that soundtrack had me, the mrs and the cat head banging. The theme, set design and storyboarding looking damn tasty.
Its has potential.... More lore about the characters and characters goals and make it complex and make the audience guess but not bored... its gonna be good.... thank for the video...
Thank you so much for your comment and for your advice! I believe you are absolutely right and I’ll do all I can to deliver and to live up to it. All the best to you!
Some sort of advanced AI MUST be controlling the enemy units. the actions functions and methodical motions speak of a system that seeks efficiency over everything. Even the suits well ugly and bulky to A HUMAN mind would be perfect in a automated role as machine workers and basic soldiers. what I dont get is why the girls where sealed into the suits when they where clearly NOT made for humans to use. So someone must have GUTTED some originals to make exoskeletons out of exo-bots But that just leads me to question. Que bono? Whos benefiting? or Por qua? For what means!? This is MYSTERY I WANT TO SEE EXPLORED! also Im happy to say I AM SUBSCRIBER 150! I love this kind of strange hard pulp scifi. YOU MY GOOD FRIEND HAVE GOT A SUBSCRIBER FOR LIFE! LONG LIVE EXOSKELETONS!
Thank you for an amazing comment and for subscribing Lorn Baker! You absolutely made my day. It's an honour to have you on board, and you are certainly on to something - I’m really surprised you got that far with so few clues in this opening episode! There is A LOT to reveal still, and I think you’ll be surprised just how deep and big things will go across the next 26 episodes. We’re in for a ride! Don’t know if you saw the trailer already - it has some enigmatic pieces of the puzzle on the audio side that are not part of the episode video: th-cam.com/video/XcFkYkANSy8/w-d-xo.html Thanks again. All the best to you! /Lars Kaag
When it comes to science fiction like this. I look at it with the hard eye of a scientist. Everything could possibly be a clue to unravel the mystery. And i'm so glad that I was so accurate with some of these guesses. I can wait until I get my next paycheck so I can Donate to this amazing thing. I can't wait for episode two!!! Seriously I am buying that book. Your idea and art style just hits a certain string in my soul. That just resonates in a beautiful symphony. Mystery hard sci fi action and Empathy of soldiers trying to understand a strange Situation. I absolutely love it! Love it! Love it! I can't wait to happily partial Out a bit of my paycheck so I can support this wonderful series! It's well worth the money! As for that trailer I shall begin my scientific analysis right now! Professor baker will figure out this entire mystery. Or have a brain aneurism trying.
I am very humbled by your response @lornbaker1083. To read how my work resonates with you on so many levels is really amazing to me and a huge encouragement. I am equally humbled by the fact that you plan to support this project financially - I will do my utmost to put every entrusted dollar on the screen in the coming episodes! About the book, you mean the big one, right? I might be interested in selling it actually. It’s a one-off art piece that I made years ago intending it for studio- and company pitch meetings. It has a lot of neat tricks worked into it: The front cover is printed on an aluminum plate with its backside covered in black napa leather with foam underneath (talk about smooth!). The book/storyboard is 360 pages and it describes episodes 1-6 in comic-form. The book is parted in three separate and very sturdy volumes that can be mounted magnetically on top of each other. Each volume, naturally, containing two episodes. The entire thing is placed on an aluminum tray so it can be carried around. Every page in the book is printed on very thick paper and placed in plastic sleeves. Two places in the book multiple pages have been connected in order for them to be “drawn out” and reveal enormous vehicle-vistas. One of these panoramas is 252 cm / 100 inches. All things said, I am not a professional craftsman in regards to making a “book” like this, so just don’t expect ultimate grade finish in every corner of the thing, but I did my absolute best and it certainly is a “stunner” as a coffee table piece and it’s very durable and has stood the test through the years. If you would want to continue with the book-purchase we can maybe continue via mail: exoskeleton2020@gmail.com. All the best to you and I wish you a great weekend 🙂.
I would love to see this take off Ill share this vid on discord and elsware though perhaps it would be easyer to reach a smaller goal and just do one season as a start.
Thank you so much, that would be amazing! I think you're right about the smaller goal. I'll think about how to communicate that somehow. If you have any ideas or things you would like to see to bring this further out, I am all ears. All the best!
Hello. This seems, at least to me, to be inspired by the 'Homeworld' computer game. You have obviously put a LOT of effort and time into your work, and it shows. I just wish I had the funds to support your efforts. But, alas, being 'retired' and on a pension, does not leave me more than pocket-change to 'live' on, after the bills are paid. I really HATE being mugged by the Williams Gang every month. You know, the gang with the 7-foot tall giants, and 4-foot tall midgets that take all your money? Being a father and supporting a household, I know you also, get mugged by them every month as well... paying the 'big' and 'little' Bills. Please continue with your project. I am interested in how things develop over time.
Thank you so much for your comment and kind words. They mean a lot more to me than a 1.000 $ ! Homeworld 2 was certainly one of my inspirations visually. Since EXOskeleton only has land-based vehicles I thought my designs would distinguish themselves sufficiently from Homeworld’s space-vessels back in the early 2000's. But I got to admit that my heart sank when Homeworld - Deserts of Kharak came in 2016 with giant tracked land-vessels much like what I had already developed years prior. I couldn’t help but think that the two design ideas where treading on each others toes. Today I’m a bit more relaxed and feel pretty confidently that people will be able to distinguish between the two. Anyways, thanks again and all the best to you 😉!
The suits look fairly tight for containing a human body and all its machinery, and the shoulders seem off to me in a way I can't describe... I'm wondering if these people are actually just their heads? Are the enemy EXOs people too? Or are they robots? Why did that pilot think it was a good idea to shoot the PIT pilot? When does shooting the bridge consoles ever do anything good? And why do science fiction soldiers always open their helmets in combat or on windy, dusty worlds? There's a lot to unpack here and I'm eagerly awaiting answers!
Interesting animation, though it could have used a bit more explanation as to what was going on. I have no idea what any of the characters wanted, or what their overall goal was with attacking that big machine. All you need is something like a few short sentences between the characters going over what their goal/plan was with attacking the P.I.T. before they jumped onto it, so that viewers aren't just watching them do whatever they're doing, with no clue as to their objective. It doesn't have to be anything long or complicated, but I was really clueless about what the characters were doing/planning, and it kinda felt a bit like those Michael Bay mindless action spectacle movies, where there's no real plot, just explosions and cool action. I get that you're probably working within the restrictions of your minimal budget, but I think it'd help viewers be much more connected to your show if they had some connection to the characters in it, and what they're doing. You could even do mostly visual story telling, with the characters only reporting relevant information or giving orders to each other, but showing them having a concrete plan or reacting to changing circumstances, but all of it painting a picture for the viewers of what they're doing, and that they have a concrete mission to complete. Probably the best example of this I can think of is the Armored core 6 story trailer, where they never say what's going on, but put in enough cues through the radio transmissions and action for the viewer to understand what the goal of the mechs are in that trailer. Obviously I'm not saying you should strive to be that top notch quality, considering they probably had a whole game studio working on that animation vs just you making it yours, but the subtle story telling is the important part that I'm referring to. This is the trailer: th-cam.com/video/Vs2piSWfofQ/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so much for your comment and for your very thoughtful and constructive suggestions! You are certainly right that I need to explain a lot more about the characters and about what was going on in this first episode! I deliberately made it so the audience would be left with a lot of questions - but it’s a balancing act and some will be put off by the lack of sufficient information, others find it intriguing. I wouldn’t claim that I struck the perfect balance with the way things turned out but the answers are coming: The coming eight episodes will take us back in time and tell the story leading up to the events in this opening episode and reveal a lot more about the characters and about the strange and ominous system they are part of. And then there is a lot more to tell once we reach that point: All in all it’s a 27-episode-show with a continuous storyline across all episodes. I hope you will stick around to see how things unfold. I understand that it may feel like an up-side-down-way of telling a story, but hopefully it will make some sense why I did it this way once you see the big picture. I don’t know if you have watched the trailer for the show. In it there are parts of a pep-talk that give some enigmatic clues. Here is the link: th-cam.com/video/XcFkYkANSy8/w-d-xo.html All the best to you, and thanks again for your interest. /Lars Kaag
Ah, that trailer does add something... though as you said, I'm not sure what. Mostly I was referring to explaining their mission in episode 1 and their individual roles in the attack, rather than overall character goals. I get that the characters themselves and the lore around them will be more flushed out in other episodes, but I was referring to how the action itself was kind of unsupported in episode 1. The characters are just doing what they're doing, and it seems very random without some character dialogue beforehand laying out a basic plan of attack, or supporting dialogue of the characters ordering each other to do things once they're on the PIT, or giving orders in reaction to changing circumstances during the assault.
I love the style of the film and the animation, but I have to be as honest as I can be here, a third of the runtime being a brand pitch is cringe. If you keep that bit it should be it's own video, it makes the film look like a promo for art books and shirts.
Thank you for your comment. You are perfectly right that it makes absolutely no military sense that they have no head protection. However, the reason for them not having it is in fact related to the plot. In episode 4 and 5 there is a deeper reveal about what is really going on. I hope you'll stick around to see it. All the best to you.
There is air but the suit has a mask-system that can assist the breathing in some cases. The mask is also used for supplying the body with nutrition and water. In episode 1 the masks have been detached, but the upper part of the mask can be seen below the faces in some of the shots. In episode 2 the mask system will be very apparent.
That was an incredibly impressive, obviously a piece of many subtle moving parts. The episode felt like it just got better and better as it moved along. There's a lot of freedom in the way that you cut from scene to scene, and what was most impressive in that is the consistency of visual cues and the integrity of the setting.
Let me just say how grateful I am for your comment and review. I put a lot of effort into this so I’m absolutely delighted when people “get it” and appreciate it like you do. You made my day! All the best!
This looks like a faithful adaptation to a 2000 era RTS game. I am not complaining because it is well done.
Thank you 😀. I'm glad you like it. There is MUCH more in the pipeline. All the best to you.
Yeah, i was thinking it looked kinda like Total Annihilation.
Getting some Homeworld: Sands of Kharak vibes with that vehicle design.
Homeworld was certainly a source of design inspiration for me, though oddly enough my designs for the vehicles predates the ones in Deserts of Kharak by more than ten years. My original Homeworld inspiration dates all the way back to Homeworld 2 in the early 2000's when the HW-franchise was entirely in outer space. My jaw dropped to the floor seeing DoK in 2016 when I was already more than a decade into development of my own thing. There were obviously a lot of visual similarities! Well, I guess that's just one of the quirks of reality and I'm not going to sue Blackbird Interactive for stealing my designs 😆.
cool
Thank you for watching :-)
Absolutely amazing.
Amazing work my friend
Thank you 😊
Really cool! Loving the practical effects!
Thank you so much!
This is so cool! Such detail and suspense. Looking very much forward to the upcoming episodes 👍
love it its like what i remember my childhood 90's cartoons like GI joe to be like. the music is especially good and fitting
Thank you so much. Really glad you liked it. I hope to be able to deliver more soon. All the best to you!
From what I saw of the storyboard, that looks very cool, the artwork is very nice
Thank you so much. So glad you like it. /Lars
getting strong Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors vibe and am loving it I think this deserves to be a toyline
I thoroughly enjoyed this! Very well done. I look forward to watching the rest. I will share this with my sci-fi community. Skål!
Thank you! I'm really glad you liked it :-). And thank you so much for sharing - it means a lot to me! All the best. Skål!
❤❤❤😂😂😂 Exelente video gran trabajó ❤❤❤
Muchas, muchas gracias :-). Todo lo mejor para ti!
Good work
Thank you! All the best to you.
Fucking amazed how good this is mate and that soundtrack had me, the mrs and the cat head banging. The theme, set design and storyboarding looking damn tasty.
Thanks man! Your comment just made my day! All the best to you - and the mrs and cat too 😃
Awesome short film the effects were good as far as the story needs more explaining I guess I'll have to wait until next year.
Thank you so much! I'm trying hard to bring the next episode within this year, but I better not promise anything.
If the only purpose you're allowed to have is war, can you embrace peace?
Anyway, great job.
You have my attention.
Its has potential....
More lore about the characters and characters goals and make it complex and make the audience guess but not bored... its gonna be good.... thank for the video...
Thank you so much for your comment and for your advice! I believe you are absolutely right and I’ll do all I can to deliver and to live up to it. All the best to you!
Keep doing ur project yo
Thank you for encouraging me. All the best to you
2:13 We're jumping onto White Base!
'...Ahhhhhhh!' 😄
Some sort of advanced AI MUST be controlling the enemy units. the actions functions and methodical motions speak of a system that seeks efficiency over everything. Even the suits well ugly and bulky to A HUMAN mind would be perfect in a automated role as machine workers and basic soldiers.
what I dont get is why the girls where sealed into the suits when they where clearly NOT made for humans to use. So someone must have GUTTED some originals to make exoskeletons out of exo-bots
But that just leads me to question. Que bono? Whos benefiting? or Por qua? For what means!? This is MYSTERY I WANT TO SEE EXPLORED! also Im happy to say I AM SUBSCRIBER 150!
I love this kind of strange hard pulp scifi. YOU MY GOOD FRIEND HAVE GOT A SUBSCRIBER FOR LIFE!
LONG LIVE EXOSKELETONS!
Thank you for an amazing comment and for subscribing Lorn Baker! You absolutely made my day. It's an honour to have you on board, and you are certainly on to something - I’m really surprised you got that far with so few clues in this opening episode! There is A LOT to reveal still, and I think you’ll be surprised just how deep and big things will go across the next 26 episodes. We’re in for a ride! Don’t know if you saw the trailer already - it has some enigmatic pieces of the puzzle on the audio side that are not part of the episode video: th-cam.com/video/XcFkYkANSy8/w-d-xo.html
Thanks again. All the best to you!
/Lars Kaag
When it comes to science fiction like this. I look at it with the hard eye of a scientist. Everything could possibly be a clue to unravel the mystery. And i'm so glad that I was so accurate with some of these guesses. I can wait until I get my next paycheck so I can Donate to this amazing thing. I can't wait for episode two!!!
Seriously I am buying that book. Your idea and art style just hits a certain string in my soul. That just resonates in a beautiful symphony. Mystery hard sci fi action and Empathy of soldiers trying to understand a strange Situation. I absolutely love it! Love it! Love it!
I can't wait to happily partial Out a bit of my paycheck so I can support this wonderful series! It's well worth the money!
As for that trailer I shall begin my scientific analysis right now! Professor baker will figure out this entire mystery. Or have a brain aneurism trying.
I am very humbled by your response @lornbaker1083. To read how my work resonates with you on so many levels is really amazing to me and a huge encouragement. I am equally humbled by the fact that you plan to support this project financially - I will do my utmost to put every entrusted dollar on the screen in the coming episodes! About the book, you mean the big one, right? I might be interested in selling it actually. It’s a one-off art piece that I made years ago intending it for studio- and company pitch meetings. It has a lot of neat tricks worked into it: The front cover is printed on an aluminum plate with its backside covered in black napa leather with foam underneath (talk about smooth!). The book/storyboard is 360 pages and it describes episodes 1-6 in comic-form. The book is parted in three separate and very sturdy volumes that can be mounted magnetically on top of each other. Each volume, naturally, containing two episodes. The entire thing is placed on an aluminum tray so it can be carried around. Every page in the book is printed on very thick paper and placed in plastic sleeves. Two places in the book multiple pages have been connected in order for them to be “drawn out” and reveal enormous vehicle-vistas. One of these panoramas is 252 cm / 100 inches. All things said, I am not a professional craftsman in regards to making a “book” like this, so just don’t expect ultimate grade finish in every corner of the thing, but I did my absolute best and it certainly is a “stunner” as a coffee table piece and it’s very durable and has stood the test through the years. If you would want to continue with the book-purchase we can maybe continue via mail: exoskeleton2020@gmail.com. All the best to you and I wish you a great weekend 🙂.
I would love to see this take off Ill share this vid on discord and elsware though perhaps it would be easyer to reach a smaller goal and just do one season as a start.
Thank you so much, that would be amazing! I think you're right about the smaller goal. I'll think about how to communicate that somehow. If you have any ideas or things you would like to see to bring this further out, I am all ears. All the best!
Why was faction 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9...
I'll see myself out...
Hello.
This seems, at least to me, to be inspired by the 'Homeworld' computer game. You have obviously put a LOT of effort and time into your work, and it shows. I just wish I had the funds to support your efforts. But, alas, being 'retired' and on a pension, does not leave me more than pocket-change to 'live' on, after the bills are paid.
I really HATE being mugged by the Williams Gang every month. You know, the gang with the 7-foot tall giants, and 4-foot tall midgets that take all your money? Being a father and supporting a household, I know you also, get mugged by them every month as well... paying the 'big' and 'little' Bills.
Please continue with your project. I am interested in how things develop over time.
Thank you so much for your comment and kind words. They mean a lot more to me than a 1.000 $ ! Homeworld 2 was certainly one of my inspirations visually. Since EXOskeleton only has land-based vehicles I thought my designs would distinguish themselves sufficiently from Homeworld’s space-vessels back in the early 2000's. But I got to admit that my heart sank when Homeworld - Deserts of Kharak came in 2016 with giant tracked land-vessels much like what I had already developed years prior. I couldn’t help but think that the two design ideas where treading on each others toes. Today I’m a bit more relaxed and feel pretty confidently that people will be able to distinguish between the two. Anyways, thanks again and all the best to you 😉!
The suits look fairly tight for containing a human body and all its machinery, and the shoulders seem off to me in a way I can't describe... I'm wondering if these people are actually just their heads? Are the enemy EXOs people too? Or are they robots?
Why did that pilot think it was a good idea to shoot the PIT pilot? When does shooting the bridge consoles ever do anything good?
And why do science fiction soldiers always open their helmets in combat or on windy, dusty worlds?
There's a lot to unpack here and I'm eagerly awaiting answers!
The suits look right
Interesting animation, though it could have used a bit more explanation as to what was going on. I have no idea what any of the characters wanted, or what their overall goal was with attacking that big machine. All you need is something like a few short sentences between the characters going over what their goal/plan was with attacking the P.I.T. before they jumped onto it, so that viewers aren't just watching them do whatever they're doing, with no clue as to their objective.
It doesn't have to be anything long or complicated, but I was really clueless about what the characters were doing/planning, and it kinda felt a bit like those Michael Bay mindless action spectacle movies, where there's no real plot, just explosions and cool action. I get that you're probably working within the restrictions of your minimal budget, but I think it'd help viewers be much more connected to your show if they had some connection to the characters in it, and what they're doing.
You could even do mostly visual story telling, with the characters only reporting relevant information or giving orders to each other, but showing them having a concrete plan or reacting to changing circumstances, but all of it painting a picture for the viewers of what they're doing, and that they have a concrete mission to complete. Probably the best example of this I can think of is the Armored core 6 story trailer, where they never say what's going on, but put in enough cues through the radio transmissions and action for the viewer to understand what the goal of the mechs are in that trailer. Obviously I'm not saying you should strive to be that top notch quality, considering they probably had a whole game studio working on that animation vs just you making it yours, but the subtle story telling is the important part that I'm referring to. This is the trailer: th-cam.com/video/Vs2piSWfofQ/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so much for your comment and for your very thoughtful and constructive suggestions! You are certainly right that I need to explain a lot more about the characters and about what was going on in this first episode! I deliberately made it so the audience would be left with a lot of questions - but it’s a balancing act and some will be put off by the lack of sufficient information, others find it intriguing. I wouldn’t claim that I struck the perfect balance with the way things turned out but the answers are coming: The coming eight episodes will take us back in time and tell the story leading up to the events in this opening episode and reveal a lot more about the characters and about the strange and ominous system they are part of. And then there is a lot more to tell once we reach that point: All in all it’s a 27-episode-show with a continuous storyline across all episodes. I hope you will stick around to see how things unfold. I understand that it may feel like an up-side-down-way of telling a story, but hopefully it will make some sense why I did it this way once you see the big picture.
I don’t know if you have watched the trailer for the show. In it there are parts of a pep-talk that give some enigmatic clues. Here is the link: th-cam.com/video/XcFkYkANSy8/w-d-xo.html
All the best to you, and thanks again for your interest.
/Lars Kaag
Ah, that trailer does add something... though as you said, I'm not sure what. Mostly I was referring to explaining their mission in episode 1 and their individual roles in the attack, rather than overall character goals.
I get that the characters themselves and the lore around them will be more flushed out in other episodes, but I was referring to how the action itself was kind of unsupported in episode 1. The characters are just doing what they're doing, and it seems very random without some character dialogue beforehand laying out a basic plan of attack, or supporting dialogue of the characters ordering each other to do things once they're on the PIT, or giving orders in reaction to changing circumstances during the assault.
I love the style of the film and the animation, but I have to be as honest as I can be here, a third of the runtime being a brand pitch is cringe.
If you keep that bit it should be it's own video, it makes the film look like a promo for art books and shirts.
Thank you for your comment and for your honesty! I'm glad you liked the film. All the best to you.
Needed some male actors. Suspension of disbelief could not be achieved
Maybe he'll hire you.
Made no sense, all girl exos with no head protection, and no plot.
Thank you for your comment. You are perfectly right that it makes absolutely no military sense that they have no head protection. However, the reason for them not having it is in fact related to the plot. In episode 4 and 5 there is a deeper reveal about what is really going on. I hope you'll stick around to see it. All the best to you.
Is there air there? No visor or breathing apparatus even?
There is air but the suit has a mask-system that can assist the breathing in some cases. The mask is also used for supplying the body with nutrition and water. In episode 1 the masks have been detached, but the upper part of the mask can be seen below the faces in some of the shots. In episode 2 the mask system will be very apparent.