Larian Banner: Baldur's Gate Patch 9
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#780053 11/07/21 06:13 PM
Joined: Nov 2020
R
apprentice
OP Offline
apprentice
R
Joined: Nov 2020
Hey, been enjoying the game so far. It's a lot of fun, and the roleplaying is really good.

I have a main issue with character creation, and it's the lack of different body types. I know height can be difficult to manage if there are too many different heights that need to be animated, but I'm mainly thinking of things like muscles and fat levels. It doesn't even have to be a million options, but something like "medium" "skinny" and "muscular" would be nice. "Chubby" would be cool too.

If I can argue for my case here, I think it would be better for the roleplay. Why does the nerdy wizard who reads books all day have the same frame as the fighter who has trained in martial arts their entire life? It doesn't really make sense. Every time a new roleplaying game comes out, I hope for a body-type selector, but there almost never is one. Even Cyberpunk chose to favor customization of private parts and pubic hair over bodytypes, and then you're stuck with the typical supermodel look that almost all characters have in almost every game ever.

There is also no difference in the bodytypes of the medium sized races (aside from male githyanki). When I look at their character models (human, elf, half-elf, githyanki, drow), they all have exactly the same frame, and that's the "supermodel" bodytype again. It frustrates me especially for the githyanki, where the males are clearly different, skinny and lanky, but the female githyanki are back to the same frame as all the other female character models, like the githyanki dna that made the males look different from the other races just didn't kick in for the females. This is so strange to me, because in Divinity: Original Sin 2 all the races had distinctly different body types, which was awesome. The elves I especially liked. They were weird, creepy, and really looked like an entirely different race in evey way. I know elves in dnd aren't that much more different than humans, but they are in fact described to be shorter and more slender, and there is only little difference between male and female elves in terms of weight. Again, height could be an issue, but they could be made more slender, especially the males who look a little too buff for elves maybe.

I may sound a tad frustrated here, and I'm sorry about that. Like I said, I enjoy the game alot, and it's frustrations from multiple rpgs, not just this one.

Rosebuddies #780141 12/07/21 10:22 PM
Joined: Oct 2020
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Oct 2020
Hoping for body types too =)

Rosebuddies #780145 12/07/21 10:53 PM
Joined: Oct 2020
member
Offline
member
Joined: Oct 2020
I too would like more variety in body types in the game. Even just having the options of skinny, medium, chubby and muscular would go a long way.


Don't you just hate it when people with dumb opinions have nice avatars?
TomReneth #780146 12/07/21 11:02 PM
Joined: Jan 2021
member
Offline
member
Joined: Jan 2021
Originally Posted by TomReneth
I too would like more variety in body types in the game. Even just having the options of skinny, medium, chubby and muscular would go a long way.
It would. Sliders are nice, but they tend to get horrifically abused. A system that adjusts your fighting styles and such based on height and weight would be cumbersome and difficult to correctly code and animate (Though Dragon's Dogma did a fairly good job of this). A suggestion that I think WOULD work though, is to have your physical attributes directly affect your character's physical build. Higher strength means more muscle mass. Higher Dex means leaner physique. Higher Con means something else... larger bone structure, perhaps? ...and if you build a short, round, brainiac then you should expect to tire easily, require more food to rest, and not be very effective in melee combat.

Rosebuddies #780161 13/07/21 02:13 AM
Joined: Jun 2020
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jun 2020
I'd be perfectly happy to settle for three build choices per sex, and three height choices bounded within each race's personal brackets.

Having your character's visual appearance modified by your mechanical attributes is in the absolutely not, no, never, bad idea pile. It's a terrible idea from the outset - the whole point of character customisation is to make the character that we want to make, after all - not to have it taken out of our hands by game systems.

Last edited by Niara; 13/07/21 05:47 AM.
Joined: Nov 2020
R
apprentice
OP Offline
apprentice
R
Joined: Nov 2020
I don't think I agree with the physical attributes decides you body type. I feel like it takes some creativity out of it.

Joined: Oct 2020
Location: Down Under
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2020
Location: Down Under
Originally Posted by The_BlauerDragon
Sliders are nice, but they tend to get horrifically abused.
Well, they did work in NWN 2, at least to some extent. Although, to be honest, the overall quality of animation in that game was, how shall I put this, good for its own time (and that time has gone). For example, when I made a tall Aasimar (who were already taller than average by themselves) there was a noticeable discrepancy between the character's gait and the distance she covered with a single step.
Considering that BG3 appears to be pretty heavily investing in its visuals, such an obvious gaffe will be detrimental, and will be immediately abused as a topic of countless memes.

Personally, I feel rather divided about the physique being a derivative of stats. Building a god-like supermodel body shape with CON 8 - sure, a lot of people would prefer that I suppose, rather than a more realistic plump / unhealthy thinness. On the other hand, players are the only ones who are going to look at their characters (it's not an MMO, I mean), so let them create whatever they want. Especially considering that, for a significant part of the population, "plump" = "god-like".

Rosebuddies #780198 13/07/21 09:32 AM
Joined: Oct 2020
Location: Liberec
veteran
Online Embarrased
veteran
Joined: Oct 2020
Location: Liberec
Originally Posted by Rosebuddies
I don't think I agree with the physical attributes decides you body type. I feel like it takes some creativity out of it.
Exactly! +1


If my comments bother you, there is nothing easier than telling me to stop.
I mean ... I won't ... but it's easy to say. wink
Rosebuddies #780252 13/07/21 02:42 PM
Joined: Apr 2021
L
stranger
Offline
stranger
L
Joined: Apr 2021
I agree with everything.

Rosebuddies #780389 15/07/21 12:08 AM
Joined: Oct 2020
T
addict
Offline
addict
T
Joined: Oct 2020
I would like body types as well as more voices. I know voice acting would be expensive (assuming they pay appropriately) but it would be nice to have more than two male and two female voices. I do miss that about NWN 1&2 is the voice packs.

Thrythlind #780390 15/07/21 12:19 AM
Joined: Apr 2021
Location: Australia
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2021
Location: Australia
Originally Posted by Thrythlind
I would like body types as well as more voices. I know voice acting would be expensive (assuming they pay appropriately) but it would be nice to have more than two male and two female voices. I do miss that about NWN 1&2 is the voice packs.

There are already more datamined Tav voices - they just weren't in the game yet as they weren't finished.
Hopefully with the extra voice lines coming in Patch 5 when clicking on your character, we will see more voice options too? Not sure.

Rosebuddies #780392 15/07/21 12:56 AM
Joined: Jul 2021
S
stranger
Offline
stranger
S
Joined: Jul 2021
I agree with this. Would also love to have more gender neutral facial options. I already love that you can chose a feminine voice for a male character, or a male voice for a female character, so I would love to have the option to chose faces that aren't so overly masculine or overly feminine for most races


Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5