Small character appearance request

[Ssschah]

In Book II I was very annoyed that no matter the type of armor you had, no matter how covered you were, your arms were always bare, in Book III will the armor be more covering/will you have the choice between short sleeves and long sleeves? I know Book III will have more customization I just hope this is part of it.

[BasiliskWrangler]

I can tell you right now that very little has changed in regard to how your character looks onscreen. Armor overlays are essentially identical to Book II. It's not that we don't want to do it- it's just takes a crazy amount of time and money to draw a few extra pixels of armor on your character's arms. Artists don't work for free unfortunately.

I certainly hope that what we failed to update (such as armor overlays) is more than made up for when you experience the general ambiance, music, map designs, and quests - which is what we've spent 90% of our resources on.

[IJBall]

I can tell you right now that very little has changed in regard to how your character looks onscreen. Armor overlays are essentially identical to Book II. It's not that we don't want to do it- it's just takes a crazy amount of time and money to draw a few extra pixels of armor on your character's arms. Artists don't work for free unfortunately.

Related question:

How hard is it to give us color choices for our onscreen avatar (e.g. Xed in Book II) then?

I don't think any of us really expect BG to 'go to town' with new avatar graphics. But it would be cool if we could at least have some color choices for our avatar...

[Ssschah]

And also, did you make unknown books in the third game? Because apparently my character can't look at the cover. You can't read a book without knowing the title first lol.

[BasiliskWrangler]

And also, did you make unknown books in the third game? Because apparently my character can't look at the cover. You can't read a book without knowing the title first lol.

Unknown means that the book is above your ability to identify it. It's an aspect of calssic RPGs that doesn't really apply well to books, scroll, and recipes. We should probably address that in Book III.

How hard is it to give us color choices for our onscreen avatar (e.g. Xed in Book II) then?

I don't think any of us really expect BG to 'go to town' with new avatar graphics. But it would be cool if we could at least have some color choices for our avatar...

Harder than you would think. When it comes to 2D isometric graphics, it all has to be pre-rendered in separate layers. If we were to render each weapon as unique, each piece of armor as unique, each shield and cloak, we'd have hundreds of overlay combinations to deal with. It's just outside the scope of this project and budget.

[Mod]

Unknown means that the book is above your ability to identify it. It's an aspect of calssic RPGs that doesn't really apply well to books, scroll, and recipes. We should probably address that in Book III.

Not to mention basic foods such as fish if your intelligence is low enough, despite spending a lot of time fishing and probably eating a lot of such fish. In fact if you edit your character's intelligence down enough, there isn't a thing he can identify, such his own personal journal.

Lore shouldn't be something that is useful in the beginning of the game. Perhaps you can extend its use through things like special encounters, should that be something you add if lore is used in future games.

[Randomizer]

If I'm playing the game with no armor and/or clothes to lower encumbrance weight for the bare naked challenge, the game still shows me wearing a shirt and pants.

[Lord_P]

If I'm playing the game with no armor and/or clothes to lower encumbrance weight for the bare naked challenge, the game still shows me wearing a shirt and pants.

I prefer that to having a naked character.

[Vroqren]

I don't think the store owners would be very happy at that point. So yeah BW> Let's keep that one the same.

[Morgan Terror]

If I'm playing the game with no armor and/or clothes to lower encumbrance weight for the bare naked challenge, the game still shows me wearing a shirt and pants.

I prefer that to having a naked character.

Funny you should mention that. You know the basic clothes that don't give any armor value? You spawn with them in book 1, but not in 2. They exist in both. So yes, you do actually walk around naked at the start of book 2.

[IJBall]

How hard is it to give us color choices for our onscreen avatar (e.g. Xed in Book II)...?

Harder than you would think. When it comes to 2D isometric graphics, it all has to be pre-rendered in separate layers. If we were to render each weapon as unique, each piece of armor as unique, each shield and cloak, we'd have hundreds of overlay combinations to deal with. It's just outside the scope of this project and budget.

Huh, that's interesting. From my standpoint, I don't think I'd want to see weapons or shields or all (or most?...) armor 'accessorized' like that. But a few choices (even as few as just 2 or 3) in, say, cloak color, at least, would be cool.

But, if it's not in the budget, it's not in the budget...