CCT Update and Improvements
A superpowered alien hero in the SoH character creation tool (CCT).
Players have enormous power to customize their avatars. Lipstick is one of the newest additions.
We still have the selection of cool eyes from our newsletter “Eyes on Development”.
We are continuously upgrading our CCT so that our player community can create completely unique avatars for Ship of Heroes. Since the last time we showed our progress, we’ve reduced our morph counts to a more reasonable level, and we even added a few new morphs in response to community feedback we received after the CCT Alpha. We’ve also increased skin options and added new and improved hair models, including facial hair. One of the biggest changes of all is that players now have a series of randomizer buttons to enable them to play with the options more effectively. Now that it’s all in place, we’re ready for a CCT Beta test.
A hero who’s decided to go with a full beard and mustache contemplates how itchy facial hair can be.
Here’s a headshot of the exact same character with two different expressions and a recolored costume.
Players can affect facial the expression that their characters show through the use of morphs. Another alternative is a selection of base, preset faces. These presets can be modified as usual to make whatever face is desired – we don’t believe in taking away players’ ability to make a unique character! But for those among our supporters who don’t wish to spend three days crafting the exact look they want, we think these face options will help make the character creation process more enjoyable. Camera zoom is controlled from the bottom right of the CCT screen for those who want a closer look.
Four similar versions of another character, but with different preset faces.
Ultimately the first thing a player needs to do is to select one of the three character models: male, female, or big guy. At that point he can begin choosing features and applying morphs, or he can hit one of the randomizer choices and see what happens. It’s possible to go back and change previous decisions at any time, and the CCT will attempt to remember choices on later screens as appropriate.
A character with alien skin, our improved hair, and one of our signature eyes. This is the expression of someone who’s going to miss the Beta, by the way.
Before the CCT Beta we will be showing a video of the power of the randomizer buttons as well. Stay tuned! And remember, we’re a small team, many of whom are volunteers, so donations are really helpful. Let us know what you think about this newsletter on the forums!
Technical Notes
⦁ All characters shown were created in the CCT, and none are retouched in any way. Camera angles are built into the CCT.
⦁ While we wait on a TrueSKY solution, we’re working on adding a slider to set facial morphs for a small set of particular expressions.
⦁ The randomizer does not show all options equally often. The technical arrangement of skin colors would make blue, red, yellow and green skin overwhelmingly frequent otherwise, and there’s a similar concern with facial expressions.
⦁ The hair models in the CCT are new and improved, and have mostly not been shown to the community in the past.
⦁ We intend to add clothing and costume options, more hair models, etc. over time to expand the options players can make use of. But we think we have enough options now to use the current CCT when we launch SoH.