Character customization, an update?

First of all, please note that this post is simply my opinion and perspective of the subject at hand.

Being a huge fan of CoX and not being able to play to my heart's content during the past few years, I was at a loss due to the monthly pay. I decided to give a different game a go. Long story short, I don't like that game as much as CoX, but it made me come back for at least a good part of the summer.

That being said, during the very small amount of time I've spent playing this other game, I was astonished, stunned, even, at the amount of customization that I had during the character creation. A feeling that I strongly remembered having felt when I started playing CoX, years ago, and when I came back and made my first 'real' costume for my very first VEAT.

Now, I'm not about to cry about the lack of customization in the character creation in CoX, it's great, one of the things a lot of MMOs have to look at (several other games also have wonderful customization at character creation).

But... it just feels like it's lacking. That the superb character customization that left me amazed over the years is... outdated.

So I come and make this forum post, in the hopes that someone, somewhere, will read it and go 'oh, maybe we CAN'T have too much options in customization!'.

I'll leave here some examples of customization that really left me amazed (from games I've played to the things that dingle in my mind):

- Ability to decide the accessories on each arm and leg individually, basically there are a few of those options in CoX, but I strongly feel that CoX needs this.

- More sections. You should be able to have a necktie, a tie and shoulder pads. Right now, you cannot have a necktie and shoulder pads at the same time, despite not taking the same place on a character's body. This isn't just about a necktie and shoulder pads, because even to me, it sounds weird to have both on at the same time. But it is more about the things that we could easily have, but simply cannot due to the 'sections' in which they are located. If you take the necktie and shoulder pads example, the two of them are located under Shoulders, while there is no 'Neck' section, where the option for a necktie, a tie and a necktie plus a tie would be located. This is also just an example and could be applied to some other areas as well.

- Animal-related additions. This may be more of a personal point, but I'm sure that I am not alone. I love human characters with animal traits, such as ears, tails, etc. and I feel as though CoX is lacking in terms of selection. Yes, there is a good deal already, but creating a fox or wolf (werewolves are overrated), the options are rather slim, if there are any. Add to that that there is no option for feathers. No feathers in hair. No bird 'tail'. There are no claws, or close to none (I believe there is one or two options for 'hand-claws'), especially those related to the feet. Yes, it may look weird to see someone walk around with an eagle's talon, but it sure would look good when s/he flies with it.

- Butt-capes. I don't think I have to say much, every time that I've browed through the character customization threads, I've read about those.

- Robes. No, the option robe in the character customization area does not show robes. I am talking about long robes, real. long. robes. Think oriental robes, or even something similar to a wedding dress (just an example).

- On the subject of longer clothing, there are no long skirt. Yes, short skirts are a wonder as well as god's gift to man and all, but for the sake of customization and having more options, long skirts that reach below the knee would definitely add to the diversity.

- Finally, colors. There is a good diversity in terms of colourability, but there are things which we can't color. If you want a clear example of this, look up the 'tied' option for both the 'gloves' (which there should be a 'hand' section as well as a 'wrist' one. You can wear a brace/bracelet under a pair of gloves -and if the gloves are small enough in terms of length, the bracer/let could even be seen) and the 'feet' sections.

- I almost forgot, trench coats need more options. I don't know what, I just want more (oh yes my last point is extremely selfish!).

All in all, the customization options in CoX are great, but they really feels somewhat lacking and even, to a certain point, outdated.
But I'm also wondering, is there something (aka a post), somewhere, that I wasn't able to find that told the community about an update in character customization for CoX?

With all that being said, thank you for reading my post, if you need a tl;dr, then you can sum up my post as follows: After years or back and forth throughout many games, including CoX, I feel as though the customization options that amazed me time and time again as I came back and played new characters, are starting to feel outdated and lacking, even more so when compared to other, more recent, games.

Edit: I just looked at the wasp aura that was given with the new launcher. Now THAT feels like customization with more options. I can only hope that there will be more things added (or possibly redone) with that same idea.

This would be great

I would love the mismatched assessories!

I want this!

I need this!

Okay I just REALLY WANT IT!

In order to safeguard the OP (because I think the ideas are cool and valid), it would be a good idea to remove all references to that other comic-inspired game. It does violate the forum rules to make threads that compare MMOs.

The following suggestion isn't so much to do with colour or clothing customization but more to do with physical appearance.

This might sound pretty weird at first but hear me out before jumping to conclusions; why can't we have Children as an option for our characters? I don't quite know how it would work, be it in it's own sort of gender-section like HUGE but that wouldn't make much sense. Possibly file it in the Physical Attributes section alongside Slim, Athletic, Tall, etc...

And no, I am not a paedophile. But the fact that I can't make creepy looking child villain masterminds without it resulting in looking like a dwarf with breasts kind of annoys me a little. I don't enjoy the lack of choice in that aspect.

What would be the chances of getting character models in the character creation an update? I love the customization but and I like to create many different characters but the head and the hair are incredibly blocky and "hard".

i would ask for a poly count increase for character heads to make the faces look less flat and the characters more 3D, but i dunno how much it would effect ppl's machine or how bad things can get with the games engine.

i will ask for something els, stances and comic-shade options.
the stances are obvious, you choose a stance and you walk/run/stand/fly different for every stance.
now what i mean with comic-shade is not cell shade, it's the kinda shade where your character looks drawn so it's like you're playing in a comic book.
now you ask, there are many styles of comics so what style are you revering too?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_NC8G8BcUR...nforgiving.jpg
first i was planning on the photoshop style until i found the cover of the latest album of WT and i love that style, it's dramatic yet drawn right there.
i am not saying that everyone should use it, but it would be sweet to be able to change the style of textures trough out the game just to get an entire different experience.

i just hope i didn't hijacked the thread........

One thing I'd want to see is slightly less restrictions on what can and can't be worn with certain clothing combinations. Some clothing options disallow other costume pieces on principle, even when certain options wouldn't cause clipping.

For example, if you've chosen to make your Trench Coat sleeves short (or have none at all), why can't you then pick from the whole gamut of gloves? (Come to think of it, I'd like to see a short non-tattered trench coat sleeve, too.)

Things like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by youganite i would ask for a poly count increase for character heads to make the faces look less flat and the characters more 3D, but i dunno how much it would effect ppl's machine or how bad things can get with the games engine

Having seen how the Steampunk Pack's faces (which use normal mapping) dramatically improved the quality and appearance of characters without actually increasing the polycount, I think one of the major improvements to the game would be to add normal maps to a lot of textures, but specifically certain costume parts, especially anything that's low-res already (like, say, character ears ... there's a glaring difference in texture quality between the face and the ear, especially if it's a Steampunk Pack face).

The only parts that I think could really use an increase of polys are the hands (everyone's complained about the paws), and maybe the face after all, if only because the cheeks look like they could fit on the prow of an icebreaker. However, again, normal mapping really did the trick in the Steampunk Pack.

Except most people cited the SP faces as being creepy and dicing into the uncanny valley by looking too waxy and abnormal. Whereas the Mutation pack faces were MUCH higher quality. I, for one, would use the bio-armour face all the damn time, were it not for the armour chitin on it and the eye glow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

the face doesn't have to have a CO kind of poly count (and the faces of CO are horrible, way to restricted), just have some true 3D eyes and 3D lips would do the trick. (customizable if possible)