Character designs that look cool without being stupid?

[oscar]

 

[markec]

Hitman

 

[commie]

Say what you will about Bioware but The Architect looks pretty cool even if he's a bit similar to the Bloodlines thingie above.

 

[Wolfus]

This thread is full of popamole...

 

[catfood]

What game is that Wolfus?

 

[Wolfus]

Waxworks - end of Jack the Ripper level.

 

[Excidium]

http://i54.tinypic.com/2dbkzo2.jpg

What the fuck.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

What the fuck.

 

[Excidium]

Is it intentional that he looks a bit like Putin?

 

[sgc_meltdown]

 

[DraQ]

a character which looks named and yet hasn't been for the viewer is far better than one that looks like it has been drawn purely as a safe stereotypical example template

(...)

In a non-formal setting quirks and personality variances between a hundred members of the same guild should become very apparent. Even if each is isolated in a scene, the difference remains. Remember, we are talking about character design here, not uniform or armor design of an organisation.

Same here, in an action scene. Why shouldn't these designed as fully realised individuals? Wouldn't that deepen interest in the class for prospectives? Isn't the notion that you should give the loosest and blandest template possible running counter to the objective of 'cool' design?

 

[PorkaMorka]

Everyone in this thread has bad taste. Except me.

(They're character designs, they're just not characters. Perhaps that is what spared them from being ruined by marketing.)

 

[Excidium]

Icewind Dale art is awesome.

 

[Cassidy]

Someone linked that Arcanum easter eggs by Drog, and then I couldn't let this go unnoticed in this thread as an example:

That is worth at least 88 Kodex Kool Kredits for matching the subject of this thread more perfectly than any previous submission.

 

[Secretninja]

 

[sgc_meltdown]

Icewind Dale art is awesome.

5/5

 

[Wunderpurps]

If the average pair of breasts is consistently large enough that noticing it has become cliche: ipso facto they've failed in the attempt to get them to "show up and look normal in-game.".

Well I agree in principal, but to deliver something tasteful and subtle which also looks correct while 3 inches high AND is limited to a few thousand triangles is a very difficult proposition.

It's very easy to make the extremes, like a huge fat guy or a bean pole skinny guy with no muscle tone. It's a lot easier to make a femme fatal than an average girl as well, and get it to show well.

To do all that and to make it all deform properly for animation, you are almost forced to compromise a bit. You also can't make a million character base models for a game it's just not possible, because every model causes extra costs.

So for still lifes sure exaggeration has little place, but for game art in a 3D engine it's almost unavoidable. Probably some of the best models I've seen for females which looked feminine and realistic were fallout, but when it's 2D you have no technical limits on the art assets so the job is many times easier.

 

[Ulminati]

 

[sgc_meltdown]

 

[Machocruz]

So for still lifes sure exaggeration has little place, but for game art in a 3D engine it's almost unavoidable. Probably some of the best models I've seen for females which looked feminine and realistic were fallout, but when it's 2D you have no technical limits on the art assets so the job is many times easier.

Thin to average build

Realistic. Fit, idealistic, but not grossly exaggerated, if exaggerated at all.

Typical J-girl pin-up body.

Rockstar games showcase a range of naturalistic female body types.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

naturalistic female body types

with the increase of female gamers in the population the shift of lara croft from mobile breasts of death to strong british female role model in the upcoming reboot is quite unsurprising

short of something really obvious like that lollipop chainsaw thing blatant protagonist boobsploitation is probably a thing of the past for pragmatic marketing reasons

mirror's edge, chell, etc

not that it stops the rule34 and ingame hookers and always-trendy form fitting outfits or armor with defined chest areas at all of course

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

chell

Can't tell me Chell isn't designed to get male gamers hot and bothered because she certainly works for me.
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/59468 ... 72374034C/

 

[Deleted member 11480]

Probably no one would ever post/remember this except for me:

 

[Machocruz]

naturalistic female body types

with the increase of female gamers in the population the shift of lara croft from mobile breasts of death to strong british female role model in the upcoming reboot is quite unsurprising

short of something really obvious like that lollipop chainsaw thing blatant protagonist boobsploitation is probably a thing of the past for pragmatic marketing reasons

mirror's edge, chell, etc

not that it stops the rule34 and ingame hookers and always-trendy form fitting outfits or armor with defined chest areas at all of course

Besides that, the tech is at the point where modelers can sculpt subtle modulations and variations in form. Subtle enough. Women don't have to come 44-20-36 to register anymore.

 

[Mangoose]

Might be a popular art trend. Comics have also moved away from the "mobile breasts of death" of the 90s.

Edit: Also, not just female gamers. Female artists.

Edit 2: Need more fat people in games. Best mod I ever used for Oblivion was one that randomized body shapes. Fucking hilarious, but it was one of the few mods that actually added realism for me.