character-models
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Do we need a free character re-customization for the new models?
The recently announced new character models are causing quite a stir, with varying opinions appearing. The reactions to the new female human model have been largely positive, but the question I'm interested in today is whether you think we need a character re-customization after the models are added to the game. On the one hand, I can see that the developers' objective has been to stay as faithful as possible to the original models, and as such they may not really see the need for it. But although I think there has been some great work done in this area, they haven't been entirely successful with the fidelity to old models. Indeed, that is a very subjective assessment, too, and what you liked in your character's old face might not be evident in a new face. Depending on the skintones available, given that Chris has teased potential others, you may want to alter that too. Hair style and color can, of course, be edited in the game. %Poll-86777%
World of Warcraft dev blog details character model revamps
World of Warcraft players have long been clamoring for updated character models, as many of the Vanilla races lacked the level of detail (and wrists, in the case of Humans and Orcs) seen in more recent races such as the Pandaren. In light of that, World of Warcraft's senior art director, Chris Robinson, has posted a new dev blog on the game's official site that gives players an inside look at the process behind the model redesigns, which are planned to hit the game alongside Warlords of Draenor or sometime thereafter. Robinson notes that the team is looking at the model revamps as "a sort of 'spiritual update' to the art content that currently exists in-game." So while the team is rebuilding everything from scratch, the goal is "to do so while retaining the core look and feel that has always made them your character." To give an idea of the scale of these updates, Robinson states that the team is increasing polygon count (sometimes going from "less than 1,000 to over 5,000"), "more than doubling" texture resolution, "increasing bone count significantly to support updated animation and facial expression," and even "retouching nearly every animation for all of the characters." If you want every last detail about the process (and some preview shots of the finished product), just click on over to the official post below.
New human female character models revealed
Blizzard Senior Art Director Chris Robinson has been teasing us with heavily cropped images for a couple of weeks now, and the blog post he was alluding to has finally arrived, revealing the female human character model. It's a sterling piece of work, you can really see how they've done their best to retain the look and feel of the original character, while removing the blockiness of the old model. And it looks to me like this is the best job they've done so far. The model has not changed in size or overall shape at all, with the exception of some slimming in the legs. This, frankly, makes them look more natural than the older shape. Instead, the original shape has been smoothed, and contours added, making it look so much better. The look of strength remains in the arms, she hasn't been given a super-flat belly, nothing has really changed. And the face, which is where the greatest difficulty surely arises for the art team, is a faithful simile. While it's a highly subjective matter, it seems that they have managed to simultaneously maintain the shape and style of the original face, while bringing it up to date with the rest of the character models we've seen so far. The hair looks fantastic, as we've become accustomed to with the new models we've seen so far, and with Chris Robinson teasing that new hairstyles may become available at some point, it's exciting to see what they can achieve. If you're curious about the other models, or want to see them all collected in one place, do have a look at our gallery, and hit the break for more human female images!
New skins and hairstyles planned for Warlords character models
Senior Art Director Chris Robinson has been tweeting today about the coming updates to show players the new character models that are ready for public airing, and the current stages of the process. Within the series of tweets, Chris also slipped in a sneaky mention of the designers' future planned features, mentioning new skins and hairstyles: Along with breakdown of decisions made with each PC, and hopefully someway to track and update everyone with plans for additional features - Chris G. Robinson (@artofcgrobinson) January 9, 2014 Like skins, new hairstyles,etc. want to be as transparent as possible so community knows we're listening and implementing feedback - Chris G. Robinson (@artofcgrobinson) January 9, 2014 While these are only plans, not confirmed new features, and there's no timeframe on them at all, it's pretty exciting to read. The new models we've seen so far have been amazing, and new hairstyles and skin tones or even things like the recent fan mockups on imgur would be fantastic additions. It's always great to learn that designers are listening to the community!
What do you want out of new character models?
We knew that updated models were coming for vanilla-era races in Warlords of Draenor, for which (we're pretty sure) anyone playing those races is thankful for. But we've recently heard that both blood elves and draenei will also be getting updated character models, which will hopefully get all of the game's models up to the same visual level. So knowing that new character models are coming our way, but we don't have a ton of detail from Blizzard on what to expect -- so let's talk about what we want out of them. Our own Matthew Rossi has said this would be an ideal time to add variant skins for races, but for my part I want better hair. Hair that looks more like hair and less like an experiment in geometry that used far too much hair gel. But what about you, dear readers? What do you want out of updated character models?
The time for variant skins is now
With the upcoming character model redesign for Warlords of Draenor, and with no announcement for any new races or classes, a question I've heard asked a lot is is that enough? And while I think it is enough, considering how massive a task it is and how much it will change the game for people, I do think the focus on character models means that now is absolutely the time to introduce another level of character customization. I don't expect (based on what we've seen) to see many new options like a height slider. So I think the old idea to give us variant skins based on sub-groups like the broken draenei, Mag'har orcs, Dark Iron dwarves, Grimtotem tauren and so on should finally become an option. In some cases this would be easier than in others. Giving draenei a playable broken appearance (seen above) would require a lot of work - as you can see, the model is outdated and is even on the wrong skeleton for a draenei. (It's built on top of the current tauren skeleton.) But allowing a player to choose a Dragonmaw, Blackrock or Mag'har orc is as simple as giving them more options in skin tone.
World of Warcraft's evolving engine
Some people say that World of Warcraft's visuals are outdated. The game's graphics haven't been updated since launch, they say. In terms of some older art assets, I would agree, but the overall picture is a different story. The system requirements when WoW launched were a meager 800MHz CPU with 256MB RAM and a 32MB graphics card. Today, the bare minimum requirements are a dual core CPU with 2GB of RAM and a 256MB graphics card. Mists of Pandaria requires an expensive computer to run smoothly at the highest possible graphic settings, and yet it will still run on hardware from 8 years ago. Do you know of many other games with a spread like that?
The Queue: The Vale, columnists, and more character model chat
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Farewell, beauty of the Vale. You were gorgeous, but your quests drove many a player to madness. Is your fate deserved? Maybe. MichaelBarrs asked: for reasons out of my control I've been absent from Mists since not long after launch. If I continue to quest to level 90 will I get to see the Vale of Eternal Blossoms in its pristine state, before Garrosh went and ripped it a new one or is that something I will have missed out on permanently?
Which updated character models are you most looking forward to?
Updated character models are on the way -- and for those of us who have been playing launch races since 2004, they're well overdue. They looked great in 2004, but these days -- especially compared to newer races -- they're looking more than a little dusty. So hooray! New character models are coming! When are they going to be here? Tomorrow? Could it be tomorrow? Okay, it's probably (almost certainly) not coming out tomorrow. But we can hope, right? But now that we know new character models are coming, what are we looking forward to most? Since I'm playing a gnome these days, I'm curious about what the updates bring to my character of choice. I'm willing to bet that most of you are the same, primarily looking forward to a revamp of your favorite race. So tell me, readers: what are you looking forward to with revamped character models?
What race needs new character models the most?
Over the weekend at Gamescom, Game Director Tom Chilton and Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton revealed that new character models for the older races are currently in development and are about 25% done. Chilton also added that he wasn't sure if all the new models would be launched at the same time, or if Blizzard would opt to release them over several patches as they are completed. I'm in favor of the latter myself, though I can see that resulting in an unbearable amount of QQ from players whose characters didn't initially receive model updates. The whole thing makes me wonder which races are likely to get updated first. It's possible the developers will go after the most popular races first (humans and blood elves) since that will appease the largest number of people. It's also just as possible they'll work in order of which races need new models the most. That raises the question though, which race is in the most dire need of a character model update? If I had to pick one I'd probably go with dwarf, specifically the female dwarf because so few people play it. Granted, I don't think female dwarves necessarily suffer from the worst looking model, but they're somehow still one of the least popular choices among players. That alone makes me feel like the model needs some time and attention to not only update it, but to broaden its appeal somewhat. Mind you, female dwarves don't need to have the same appeal as blood elves or humans, but they certainly should have more than they currently do. Which race do you think needs a character model update the most? Tell us why.
Character model rework 25% complete
Speaking to Tom Chilton and Cory Stockton this morning, the question came up of the character model rework. Unusually, these guys actually seemed happy to give us quite a lot of information about where they were going with the character models. Most notably, when pushed, they let us know that the percentage completion of the new character models was as follows: TC: "Um, 20% maybe?" CS: "Yeah 25%, maybe 25. That could be a safe number." TC: "But yeah, there's a long way to go. And I also don't know that, when we launch the new character models, I don't know that they'll all be done at the same time. We'll probably have a good number of them done, and we'll launch those, and we'll continue to update more throughout the patch cycle. We figure players would rather have some earlier than wait forever until they're all done. Not forever but, a longer time. Might feel forever. Blizzard soon." Tom and Cory also went into quite some detail about the reasons why the process took so long, and brought up the importance of maintaining a character's identity while also updating the models. They recognized how important that was to players, and how many players identified heavily with the look of their characters' models.
The Queue: BlizzCon, daily quests, gnome heads, and more
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Let's go right to the questions! mikkelsdk asked: Considering Blizzard has a lot of things on the table currently (Heartstone, Blizzard All-Stars, Titan, Next WoW Expansion, Diablo 3 xpac and probably SC2 xpac) which of these aren't we going to hear about at Blizzcon? Titan is a given but have Blizzard talking about Heartstone, All-stars, WoW xpac, Diablo 3 xpac and SC2 xpac is kinda of a long shot.
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls elves are supposed to be ugly
I don't know if you noticed this, but in the fully rendered trailer for The Elder Scrolls Online, the Aldmeri Dominion elves looked nice. In traditional fantasy lore like Lord of the Rings, elves are some of the most beautiful creatures in the universe. However, I've always seen the Elder Scrolls elves as somewhat alien -- like the grey-men kind of aliens. In fact, the dark elves with their ashy skin really looked like grey men, especially if they were bald. Yet that particular MMO trailer presented a different kind of elf. Of course, that's just a CGI trailer, and CGI trailers rarely represent what we will see in the game. I can accept that. But more and more screenshots have popped up and more in-game videos have appeared on different websites, and in each of them, it appears to me that the elves -- the "mer" -- have received a makeover. And it's not just the elves; even the Argonians and Khajiit look different. I suspect there's a reason for this.
Breakfast Topic: What the biggest graphical eyesore in today's WoW?
If you'd ever care to observe a WoW player heat up to a slow boil and finally explode in a spectacular, spittle-flecked rage over a minor technical issue, find someone whose favorite character model suffers clipping issues. Most long-term players have a character who can't wear or wield a much-loved item because it does something annoying -– clips through their back, chops off their hair, or disappears into the ground. This is a shoulder-shrugger of an issue to me, but for players who want their favorites to look their best, graphics clipping is utterly incensing. After eight years, we've had ample time to grow weary of the ugliest graphical glitches that persist in the game. The old character models get cited for a variety of abuses. Night elf hands/mittens, anyone? Creepy. Sometimes, it's their expressions -– the terrifying rictus on a female night elf when she's "smiling." Just look at that screenshot up there. Definitely zombie material. And I know this isn't a superficial issue, because I swim. Ever looked up the skirt of a robe-wearing class while they're swimming? You can see their brains. Blizzard's deft art direction and over-the-top, cartoon-ish fantasy aesthetic smooths over a multitude of aging and sins, but at some point, rough edges simply refuse to stay hidden. What do you find to be the most appalling graphical eyesore in today's WoW? Is it part of the older character models or landscapes and dungeon textures? Is there some aspect of WoW's graphics that shouts "old and tired" every time you see it?
Pathfinder Online shows off early development art
You might have been looking forward to Pathfinder Online for a while, but it's been hard to really look at the game. That's starting to change with the latest blog entry on the official site in which art director Mike Hines discusses the process of making art for Pathfinder Online and shows off some early renders that should demonstrate what the game will look like once players finally get to enjoy it. Hines discusses the fact that the game has the advantage of drawing upon a great deal of established artwork for the Pathfinder tabletop game, but it also has the challenge of adapting those visuals to the online space. He also shows off several early concept renders and sketches, stressing with each that these are still works in progress that might change before the final release. If you're anxious to look at the game instead of just forward to it, look through the full blog entry on the official site. [Thanks to matixuzn for the tip!]
Star Citizen base character model teased
Cloud Imperium has given us our first real glimpse of Star Citizen's avatars. The game's website features an early look at the human male head model that will serve as the starting point for character customization. But wait, Star Citizen is a space flight simulator, isn't it? Well, yes, but players will also have a fully customizable avatar for use in boarding actions and bipedal combat as well as a hangar full of ships. Cloud Imperium says that more character details will surface later this week.
Oveoflod shows old models still have new tricks
I have no idea how the above video managed to escape attention for so long. Originally published on May 4, 2012, the video by Oveoflod -- simply titled Moves -- seems innocent enough at first. It isn't until 26 seconds in that the standard female human model decides to break out of the standard female human model animations and show us her moves, which are nothing like the Macarena. According to the Youtube description, the video took over a year to make, using MotionBuilder, 3ds Max and Wowmodelviewer to pull it all together. Let's be clear, here: Creating new animations is not as easy a task as you'd think. This tiny, 4 minute video took well over a year to create. However, I still find it pretty astonishing that the old character models can still be taught new tricks. And I still hold out hope that one day, we'll see different dances for all of the races in the game. Until then, we can go ahead and watch Oveoflod's video and wonder about the possibilities of what could be done, given enough time.
How we see the World of Warcraft
One of the things I'm leeriest of is the idea of a complete overhaul of World of Warcraft's aesthetic. I've talked about it in terms of character aesthetics, and in terms of the visual set that defines the warrior class and what it all boils down to for me is that when I log into the game, I want it to feel like it's the same game, the same world. This is not to say that the game hasn't seen plenty of upgrades to its visuals over the years, far from it. As Takralus pointed out recently in a forum thread asking if WoW will ever see a major graphical upgrade, the game has seen upgrades, at least one every time an expansion has come out in fact. World of Warcraft is a game built out of all of these separate elements combined. It's got excellent sound design, both in music and in sound effects (although I can't watch a TV special on dinosaurs without recognizing a sound from World of Warcraft nowadays), which the graphics build on top of to create the world we experience. As such, I'm simultaneously interested in yet afraid of the long awaited character model redesign Takralus mentions. Yes, it's somewhat ridiculous that human wizards and warlocks, if male, have arms like coiled pythons, but by now I'm so accustomed to it I don't know if I could accept a more slender build for a spellcaster.
WoW Moviewatch: Pandaren Style
We've seen a couple of Gangnam Style parodies on WoW Moviewatch at this point. They all had their charms but personally, I'm still holding out for a Gangnam Style parody which combines a perfect execution of lyrics, music, and machinima .... One parody to rule them all, you could say. (23 days left, by the way!) For now though, we must wait. But in the interim, we have today's machinima, which I think is a step in the right direction. The music from the original song has gone mostly untouched, but the accompanying animation is astonishingly well-done. Who knew a pandaren could show so much expression when screaming at a girl's butt? I'm no 3D animation expert, but I'd guess this is the work of all those extra "bones" the pandaren models have. Amazing stuff. It may also be of some interest to know that the creator of today's machinima, Animpinabox, also made the old video World of Warcraft: Dancing. If you've never seen it, World of Warcraft: Dancing features the dances of several character races and NPCs alongside the footage that may have originally inspired Blizzard developers. It's a classic machinima, so be sure to check it out if you've never seen it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go dig out my old Alizée albums.
Mists of Pandaria and character aesthetic
Why do players choose to play what they do? I'm not referring to class here, or even role, but purely why they choose the race they choose. An undead warrior named Tearsnomore on the EU forums asked why anyone would play a male pandaren. To me, this is interesting because choosing to play a forsaken male is equally as baffling. Forsaken female? Sure, they have some awesome animations at least. Forsaken male? Why not just wear a bag on your head the entire time you're playing? This led to some feedback from CM Takralus that got me thinking. I haven't race changed to pandaren, although I expect I'll roll one before long. Gotta catch 'em all and all that (I even have a forsaken warrior, and yes, it's female) but what really interested me about his post was the idea of visiting a major city to see the player diversity at work. I feel like, so far in Jade Forest at least, I don't even have to go back to see it. Heck, I see more of it because I see the Horde and the Alliance running around. Goblins, forsaken, draenei, trolls - I've seen a lot more trolls than I expected. This got me to wonder -- is it all just about racials? Racials don't care what gender you play - do you just pick whatever gender you're more comfortable with? Do you even look at racials when you pick your race? I tend to play night elf and draenei tanks because they have solid racials for tanking (the draenei racial has gotten better for tanks under the active mitigation system) but I also play worgen and tauren purely for looks. I honestly don't think I could have stood to play Horde as long as I did as any other race than tauren.
