EVE Online - Ambulation Interview @ MMORPG

Keith Cross has a chat with CCP at the New York Comic Con about the social walkabout addition under-construction for EVE Online.

To find the look for these new avatars, they took examples of avatar faces that are currently available in game and tried to recreate their features using pictures of real people and morphing specific features from various faces to create realistic images similar to the original, caricature-like pictures.  It’s like figuring out what a politician really looks like simply based on their pictures in political cartoons.  Staring with that as a basis, they then went to work adding a dazzling array of options to customize the look of your avatar.

Characters start with their bloodline which determines a basic skull structure.  After that, players have a few options to edit their skulls, but within realistic guidelines, so no cone-heads or hammerhead eyes.  There are several body type sliders, which seem to be becoming a standard for the next generation of MMOs, having one slider for muscle tone and mass, which works in combination with a slider for heavy or thin characters.  So players can have a thin but well toned avatar, or an obese character who could be strong and fit under the extra weight, or have no muscles at all from sitting in a pod and eating all day.  The cool part about the body types is that they are on sliders, no pre set increments, and the body you choose will effect the animations of your character.  The thin, toned guy will have a little more bounce in his step to show his agility, the heavy muscled avatar will carry his weight around like he’s big and strong, and the fat guy will be a little more ponderous in his motion.  Body fat content and fitness will also alter the shape of a character’s face by adding more or less flesh onto the existing skull.