Aether - "Viper"

TLDR:
Game-ready asset
25,981k tris for the gun
4,074k tris for the scope
3,061k tris for the laser
2 texture sets for the gun 1 2k 1 4k
1 2k texture set for the laser
1 4k texture set for the scope
Texture resolutions for presentation purposes

Aether: Where elegance meets precision in every strike.

Presenting the Aether Viper, a close quarters semi-auto rifle retrofitted with a laser sight, advanced optic and collapsible stock

Aether manufacturing provides elegant non-lethal weaponry for self defense. Originating in 2134, their main purpose was to supply private defense contractors with stations on smaller operations such as space mining rigs or orbital hospitals. In recent years however, they've fully adopted their role as the "designer" weapons manufacturer. So much so that having an Aether weapon is a huge status symbol for wealthy elites and criminal scum alike.

Aether weapons can be picked out by their distinct triangle paneling and logo. Aether weapons of the same generation also tend to have the same color palette and can often be found with attachments from their child company, iVCS industries. Due to their place as more of a status symbol than a tool, most Aether weapons are in borderline mint condition, having never even chambered a round. This specific model has seen some combat and was recovered during a raid on one of their plants.

I had a lot of fun with this project. I've always really loved the worldbuilding for weapons in games like "Borderlands", "Destiny", and most recently "Starfield". The distinct visual style or trademarks of certain weapons being tied to manufactures or foundries is something I wish more shooters would adopt. I've started using Blender and Zbrush more in my workflow and this model was actually created before my last project making it technically the first project I started in Blender. I took some notes from product designers and visualization to capture the feel of "elegant weaponry" and I had fun building the story and world this could exist in.

I would like to create a small arsenal of Aether weapons one day but for now I have a few other projects that need to be finished. Overall I'm pretty happy with everything about this project and I just needed a little bit of stylized work before I go work on something super photoreal again.

Thanks to Chase Markham for challenging me with this project and giving me great feedback along the way!

https://www.artstation.com/chasemarkham

Some shots are using 4k textures for presentation, others have game res textures
Weapon crate model is a modified CGGame asset and scans were used for the industrial floor