Avatars

[madwun]

OK, I wouldn't be surprised if this was posted already, but I couldn't find any other suggestions for it.


Characters could have pictures of just their faces which are customised when they are created as you want them, or randomly generated if you have no imagination. Having the picture of the face only would save the problem of newspawns and people without clothes. I've always wanted to be able to really describe my characters, but didn't want to ruin what views people already have of them.

One problem with this would be to decide what kind of art to use. I think an anime-is style would work, but a bunch of people probably disagree with that. My thoughts for fixing this issue would be to have each feature seperate (Eyes, skin tone, hair, etc.) and availiable in many different styles. You could change which style you see in your Personal settings.
Another problem would be existing chaacters. Older characters would start with a blank space that could be left blank for the imagination, or have the one-time option of making an avatar for them.


What does everyone think of this? Any other issues?

[Doug R.]

I've advocated something like this in the past on several occasions, but it would have to be done right the first time, and would probably piss off half the players regardless.

[Solutions Maximus]

Yeah, I'm surprised this hasn't been shot down completely.

I don't really care if we have avatars. But I still would like a description. This would add the aspect of "race" into the game. That would be especially interesting after the family/reproduction idea is implemented.

Different areas of Cantr that are populated by descendants of a certain couple would have similar looks.

I know very few people like this. But I would like it. Greatly.

[viktor]

at current there is one way we can have our characters faces in the game, put it on a note, be it a self portrait or an ID card or anything it may be, only concern is if we get a little too wild and make a picture that isn't possible by future cantriian genetics. and hopefully when they get implimented we get to choose them for our already living chars, from the allowble cantriian gene sets
did i confuse neone yet?

[Doug R.]

Players should never be allowed to use self made avatars. It needs to be hard-coded, but the initial implementation needs to allow players to pick their appearances for existing characters. Jos' genetics idea would have been good if it was implemented straight away when the game was made, but I think it would be far too damaging to ever implement to existing characters, most of whom have a very clear self-image.

[viktor]

Players should never be allowed to use self made avatars. It needs to be hard-coded, but the initial implementation needs to allow players to pick their appearances for existing characters. Jos' genetics idea would have been good if it was implemented straight away when the game was made, but I think it would be far too damaging to ever implement to existing characters, most of whom have a very clear self-image.

one example of a picture of a character in game, allbeit she is long dead would be in zuzi, at least last time one of my chars was there, there was a note with the picture of the first empress Quel Nossir (sp?) looks like sailor moon but that's beside the point that's the kind of thing i mentioned and probably why i thought of the idea of using notes for pictures for 'avatars' i don't see how this could be bad as long as we don't get too carried away and have characters with spiky green hair that glows pink in the sunlight and shale eyes with purple polkadots.

[wichita]

We have discussed this. I have suggested it. Surprisingly, I can't find it.

I would love to see a little cartoon-esque avatar to display genetics (gender, skin color, eye color, hair color, ht, wt, etc) and clothing worn. It should be detailed enough to quickly transmit the basic concepts of the character's appearance, but vague enough so as to not completely replace imagination.

I would also like to keep the text discriptions, and the image should be small enough that it doesn't busy up the page.


Seko could qork out the drawings for it easily enough. Check out the manequins she has been making for the clothing images in the Wiki. That is pretty much exactly how I would prefer to see it handled.

[Pie]

Ep... I dislike it. Verrily I dislike it.

[Solutions Maximus]

I'm not really interested in a graphical description.

Text based is good for me.

EX:

Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5 foot 7 inches
Weight: 145 lb
Skin: Light

etc., etc., etc.

Basically that is what I would like.


If you see a person in RL, many times you can guess their heritage by appearance. I think it would be great if Cantr developed areas with certain genetic traits.

[wichita]

The only reason I think avatars would add anything are for those moments when you are really rushed and don't have the time to let that description sink in. I for one am not a speed reader and the text actually gets bulky when I am checking Cantr from the office.

[Doug R.]

I checked out some of her wiki drawings, and the only problem I see is that they are actually too detailed in some ways. A player could look at it and think "that's not what he/she looks like." The more I think about it now, the less I like this idea. I guess it should be like Solutions suggested, text based, unless there could be such a wide range of combinations that a player could construct virtually any avatar he could think of using the hard coded system.

Another option is to allow player created avatars that have to be approved by the PD. I know that I would actually enjoy viewing and approving avatar applications, and it wouldn't take too long, certainly not any longer than it takes to approve player apps.

[Nosajimiki]

I like text personally for the descriptions of people, it's a lot easier to empliment and would piss off imagination freeks a lot less, but if it is decied to go graphical it should be very genericly stylized: maybe cheebe or... lego men!

The less avitars are mistakable for real people the better for imagination, but the less arguement for not doing it in text to begin with.

Also, I've recomended the genetics thing before in another thread, please make it true genetics with double helix, dominate/resessive, and complex genes.

[The Sociologist]

Ep... I dislike it. Verrily I dislike it.

Verily, with thee I agree.

[Marian]

I don't like it either. No...that's not strong enough. The truth is I hate it. Sorry, but the way my I picture my chars (and the way I picture the chars they meet) is a specific, kind of personal thing that develops over time spent getting to know them. It's something I really enjoy, having them gradually take shape in my head. No two are ever alike, and the one thing I don't want is to get stuck with a cookie cutter picture or text description from the start, especially considering that it has absolutley no practical purpose in the game whatsoever.

Okay, maybe I could live with it, if it was all text and just some options like eye color, hair color, skin color, and the player was the one to pick them.

NO random descriptions though. Absolutely not. That would change them from a fun harmless RP thing to a game mechanic that actually restricts RP and frustrates and annoys players and takes even more control of their char away from them. 100 times worse than skills, IMO, and the next time I loose one of my main chars it would do more to make me want to crank out suicidal newspawns than awkward skills and lousy spawn towns combined. Either that or not make newspawns at all.

[Nosajimiki]

harsh... I like genetics and the idea of text discrptions based on hieratage etc for the reasons of the interesting social implications that might arrise, but I could do with out if it means fewer suicidal newspawns.

Seriously though, you should learn to play the cards your dealt. I've never killed a newspawn, and some of my charies do have aweful skill sets, or are put into towns with only 3-4 other people. This is an actual RPG, not a hack and slash. If you spawn as a useless dregg who will never own anything more than bone-tech then RP a useless bone-tech dregg, those can be some of the most interesting charies to have given time.