More personalized characters

[medierra]

Originally Posted by -Aerows-

It is my understanding that you can't change things like hair color because it is built into the helmet art...which wasn't exactly a very good design choice. There are some mods that can change the skins, IIRC, so you might want to look in the Mods threads. Obviously it would be possible to offer hair color choices, etc. by going through all the art with Photoshop, but frankly I'd be satisfied with getting some of the broken quests fixed first. It isn't looking very hopeful that we are getting a patch at all, though.

Yes, I agree it wasn't a very good design choice. Well, actually it was an art choice but all those responsible have been sacked!

We will definately allow players to customize the appearance of their characters if we work on another RPG. People often suggest the idea of characters changing visually to reflect their class but I'm not sure this is as cool as it sounds since really, most people want to make their own unique looking character. If I want to play a hot babe sorceress I can tell I won't be too happy when she starts to go grey and her boobs sag!

I also try to avoid having arbitrary rules in the game like class X can't use weapon Y. We do kind of have class-specific weapons in TQ at least to the extent that casters generally use staves, melee characters generally use swords, axes, and clubs, hunters use bows and spears, assassins use swords or spears, defense uses a shield while warfare often dual wields. The choice though is not strictly forces, it is just highly promoted by complimentary bonuses and item requirements. After a certain point, a caster that has been investing heavily in INT, as generally suites those builds, just won't be able to use the best melee weapons. In the future if we wanted to take this further I would probably only go to the extent of having more weapon types so that we could gear certain ones towards more specifics classes. I guess mainly this would mean having more caster weapons, since melee is already fairly well covered. Of course, part of an RPG is about making your own choices and being able to customize your character the way you want! While there are definately some cool aspects of more class-specific gear, it does take away from your options to create really unique characters by limiting the potential array of practical decisions.

[Armatus]

Originally Posted by medierra

Yes, I agree it wasn't a very good design choice. Well, actually it was an art choice but all those responsible have been sacked!

We will definately allow players to customize the appearance of their characters if we work on another RPG. People often suggest the idea of characters changing visually to reflect their class but I'm not sure this is as cool as it sounds since really, most people want to make their own unique looking character. If I want to play a hot babe sorceress I can tell I won't be too happy when she starts to go grey and her boobs sag!

I also try to avoid having arbitrary rules in the game like class X can't use weapon Y. We do kind of have class-specific weapons in TQ at least to the extent that casters generally use staves, melee characters generally use swords, axes, and clubs, hunters use bows and spears, assassins use swords or spears, defense uses a shield while warfare often dual wields. The choice though is not strictly forces, it is just highly promoted by complimentary bonuses and item requirements. After a certain point, a caster that has been investing heavily in INT, as generally suites those builds, just won't be able to use the best melee weapons. In the future if we wanted to take this further I would probably only go to the extent of having more weapon types so that we could gear certain ones towards more specifics classes. I guess mainly this would mean having more caster weapons, since melee is already fairly well covered. Of course, part of an RPG is about making your own choices and being able to customize your character the way you want! While there are definately some cool aspects of more class-specific gear, it does take away from your options to create really unique characters by limiting the potential array of practical decisions.

Hey medierra that's great news, I've sort of commented on this in my first post in questions and comparsions to the DS series. I understand you probably don't want to get away from classes, but I like the idea of being able to use any weapon I choose. Staffs are normally used in melee, but in TQ they are treated like magic wands.

Another game that uses a purely classes system that really can't be compared to TQ or IT is Mount&Blade. They allow you to assign points to the skills of your choosing. As you play the game if you pick up and use other weapons you are not skilled with depending on how much xp you gain fighting with them you will start to improve your proficiency.

Anyway it's just really cool to hear from you guys!

[Rexus]

Actually, I think that even a simple improvement will do.
I used to play SW:KOTOR 1 and 2 a lot before (my first RPGs ever), and they had that simple class system...a fighter, a rogue-like class and a sort-of-a-hybrid (those that played KOTOR will know the exact names, I dropped them out intentionally). They differed in statures, from short,skinny scoundrel to tough and strong soldier. And there were faces too. Many different faces to choose from. It refreshes the game experience when you start over;now, I know that in KOTOR that was more noticeable since the game played from much different perspective...in TQ that is not maybe important but a small detail like this can change the experience somewhat; when browsing through numerous chars, it would be nice to differ them by face too, not just class, level or gear they use.
Who cares if some critic says that such a feature is extraneous...he won`t be spending more than a day or two testing the game...gamers like me stick to it for months (or years)

[yerkyerk]

Quite a while since the last post, but nevermind that.
What would be cool is the option to be able to set skin colors at the start of the game. Place tattooist, barbers, piercers in the cities (maybe even place ancient plastic surgeons, if people don't want their hot sorceress to turn in a sacky old witch they have to pay money, lots of money) etc.. in the game.
Maybe also let the stat points take effect on the characters looks. Ofcourse this would only work for base points invested (and possibly mastery points);
Intelligence: Hero gets older/slimmer
Dexterity: Hero gets taller/slimmer
Strength: Hero gets muscular/taller
Health: Hero gets taller/fatter
Energy: Hero starts glowing/gets transparent

Ofcourse, also show the info of most stats on a character sheet; age, height, weight, body-fat ratio, etc.

[Arkeyla]

On the topic of personalising characters, I loved the way that ES4 Oblivion gave you such control over how your character looks. That level of customisation I think is one of the best things in any game, especially for people like myself who love to have a character's appearance truly fitting whatever RP concept I come up with.

[yerkyerk]

Fable's also wonderful concerning the editing of one's hero. You can edit almost anything you want on the dude (although some facials are determined by skills, so you might end up with a crappy, cool-looking character). It's the most underrated RPG I know.
Bald, Mohawk, ridiculous moustaches, tall, short, aging, battle-scarred, lots of body hair, all manner of tattoos everywhere and even radiating glyphs.

An option would be to implement a feature where monsters drop aesthatic cards which you can use at the local barber to get that much wanted 'moustache of doom' on your guy (or gal).

[Ivaron]

Originally Posted by autumnedout

And isn't it great in Diablo where each class has its own specific weapons? Like the assassin had blades and katars. Maybe in TQ we could have that, so that a 'rogue' can feel more rogue-ish wielding a katar.

Well, that's already kind of the case..
Certain mastery combinations will definately restrict you in your weapon choice;

--

Theurgist (Spirit): most likely a staff or something with vitality damage, but anything works.

Wanderer (Nature): most likely a staff, but anything works.

Rogue (Rogue): spear and shield or sword and shield.

Hunter (Hunting): spear and shield or bow.

Stormcaller (Storm): lightning or cold damage staff.

Pyromancer (Earth): fire damage staff.

Defender (Defense): shield and melee weapon.

Warrior (Warfare): dual wield.

Seer (Dream): anything goes.

Assassin (Warfare, Rogue): dual wielded swords or spears.

Slayer (Warfare, Hunting): dual wielded spears.

Conqueror (Warfare, Defense): Seems like a weird combination to me, although it IS the "real warrior",I suppose. I think using a shield is best here, since Defense depends on that more heavily than Warfare depends on dual wield.

Corsair (Defense, Rogue): spear and shield or sword and shield.

Warden (Defense, Hunting): shield and spear.

Elementalist (Earth, Storm): any staff.

Brigand (Hunting, Rogue): spear and shield.

--

As for a melee or ranged mastery (Warfare, Defense, Rogue or Hunting) coupled with a caster mastery (Storm or Earth), it seems more rewarding to go down the melee/ranged path. Warfare and Defense are built really just for dual wield or shields, and Rogue and Hunting are not very useful if you're using a staff, while Storm and Earth are still handy without staves.

[The Chosen One]

Another good idea for character customization (getting this from KoToR) would be the ability to change from a hero-looking character to a darker, more sinister character based on your actions and equipment.

[yerkyerk]

Based on your actions? How? Are you planning to side with Typhon and beat up peasants?

[The Chosen One]

Hell ya! Good ol' fashioned peasant brawl! But if you did that then the villagers (the ones left) would probably "Shun" you and you would not be accepted there unless you redeemed yourself. There would be Pros and cons with either side, joining tyhpon would probably get you in a fight with zeus as the final boss, and taking the role of good would end up killing typhon and hades as usual.