Mazder wrote:A quick quarian anatomy question for all of you.
Or two or three, maybe.
Okay so first a continuation on my "WTF are quarian ears best at being for a good 3D model" quest.
When is it too elaborate or too simple?
Right now I have a direction of vulcan-y/elfy with a tiny variation. Pointed tips, some few ridges, etc.
Now I tried with "less ear" but it looked too close to Asari. I tried more ear and it looked too complex to have in a suit/too turian-y.
Have any of you seen a unique style in any art you think is "perfect"?
Secondly, the ridges/lines on a quarian via the "official art"/lazt sho-job we got, do you reckon they are purely skin pigmentation lines?
Are they raised on the skin or lowered into the skin?
Are they even skin or implants?
And thirdly, have you seen a decent design for those marking that go belong the face? I have looked but all I have seen is the bad textures on some SFM model that is NSFW but not good/great in design/utility,
Or do you believe those designs could be unique to each quarian as well?
When it comes to quarian ears, I no longer really have a preference to be honest. I'm cool with whatever so long as it would fit inside a quarian helmet. On fan-made 3D models, from what I've seen, most seem to either hide the ear under the hair, or just go with human ears or elf/vulcan ears.
When it comes to those colored lines, I still kinda like this headcanon I read in a fanfic once that I shared with you guys in the previous Clan Z:
[[
Read a bit of Mass Effect headcanon concerning quarians I haven’t seen before. In summary: The dark colored markings on Tali’s skin, and quarians in general, actually contain tiny “gill slits” which helped trap pollen and symbiotic micro-organisms back on Rannoch. Biologically important for Rannoch’s ecosystem and the quarian immune system. The markings are typically on the forehead, throat, sternum, belly, legs and thighs. They are highly sensitive to touch, so they also act as erogenous zones, and quarians like having them caressed and kissed. ]]
So I'd say if you're going to keep the lines and use the above theory, then the lines would seem like just color pigmentation to the naked eye, but if you touched one, you'd feel an indentation or recess in the flesh to indicate where the "gill slit" is. If they're just akin to stripes or spots, then there just color pigmentation. I have seen people argue that they're cybernetic implants, which would probably feel like raised skin, so whichever floats your boat or is easiest to work with.
I don't have any links on hand, but there are some good choices to look through on deviant art in regard to the markings on the face. If the markings are akin to stripes or spots, or are cybernetics, I'd imagine there'd be a ton of variation and each quarian's would be pretty unique. If you go with it having a specific biological purpose like the gill slits headcanon, then there's probably little variation and the markings would be more uniform.