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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Week #002: Introducing "Cheryl"

As you may have noticed, oh, right about now, I'll be making my posts between monday night and tuesday morning, at most, a full day prior to the main Sam & Dan Games blog's dedicated tuesday HTD post.

This means two things. One, that Sam and Dan will be able to easily summarize what's going on here in the tuesday evening posts, for those who don't yet follow both blogs (or simply don't want to). This will especially be helpful when we start holding more community-interaction polls.

Two, it means that if you follow KXN@HTD as well, that you'll be getting that weekly fix a day early! If that isn't incentive to tune in, I don't know what is.

Now, speaking of polls, I was a little surprised at how many people were interested in seeing stuff I do in my free time. Joke's on you, since I'm pretty much all HTD all the time lately. However, I went ahead and added a link to my deviantArt to the side area there, for those interested. Don't forget that this poll will be open for another week yet.

Oh man, just shut up, Kevin. We want to see the art! Okay, okay. Without further ado, this is HTD's human female player character, code name "Cheryl".

Images represent a game currently in development.
Sam and Dan really have me hooked on the idea of community interaction, so what I'd like to do for the first community input poll (CIP..?) is decide on Cheryl's initially available hairstyles. I could just throw together a few choices and have you guys vote on them, but I feel like we can do better than that.

I want the community to help pick the options for the poll itself, too! Just include your ideas in your comments. The more clear details you offer, the better chance you'll have of getting your idea picked. References are also welcome, even if they're just images of a certain character's hairstyle you really like. You don't have to be an artist to contribute! After I gather the ideas up and post some mock-up sketches, I'll open a poll to decide which of the hairstyles will be initially included in the game.

Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with. See you next week!

25 comments:

  1. Pigtails. because pigtails are cool, it could be an option, obviously you have the pony tail, maybe a side ponytail or a 3 pigtail deal. Short hair might make the girl look like a guy in game so that might not work out all too well.

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  2. Long hair flowing down her back,and maybe a shorter bob-like one, and be sure to add colours!
    I think that if you have black, blonde and brunette then that should make people happy.(possibly add ginger/redhead)
    I'm sure that you won't see it most of the time, 'cos of the helmet, but i think this is one of the small details that people will seriously argue about if it is slacked off on.

    And, on a different note, I am seriously impressed with all your stuff on Deviantart!!!
    Well done with all your work( could you please call the male character Anthony!!!!! It's the coolest name ever!!!)
    Also, Second!

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  3. hey kevin
    whell i got some ideas, i m sort of artist but wont be drawing this time xD i found a cool picture on internet that you can use as example
    http://man.shorthaircutsx.com/long-hair-for-guys/long-hair-for-guys
    i think its wild and cool so its nice for the game, i hope we'll have more hairstyles to choose from but this is the best by me

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  4. I know this doesn't have to do with art but do you have an account for PTD???

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  5. Well I don't know if you want to go with a hairstyle that looks incredible awesome, or more realistic. Because, the ponytail thing you have going on in the sketch there looks cool, but that implies at least one hole in the back of her helmet which never seems like a good idea. :P
    I don't actually have ideas, just thought I'd add in stuff to consider.

    And I notice a maybe on the "to heels" part. Personally, I say nay to the heels. It looks awkward with the heavy armor and it would seem such a burden for the female to have so much weight on her while walking around the various terrains in heels, even the shortest and thickest of heels. It will look just as good, and possibly better, if the female character kicks butt in flat bottomed boots.

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  6. Awesome stuff mate, specially the unarmored Cheryl =D

    the 1st one of this set seems sweet: http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/81086/81086,1171564108,3/stock-vector-illustration-of-female-hair-styles-with-different-colors-2690478.jpg

    This would probably be a pain to make but its really cool specially with "tiny" armor (and you can make the tone changes with overlayer so it aplies to all the colours ;p)
    http://cdnimg.visualizeus.com/thumbs/70/e1/blue,blue,hair,catgirl,character,design,darkstalkers,fanart,felicia,female,video,games-70e1c710f6cce9dd525cb403ca956b6e_m.jpg

    Cool one also (the skull thiny could vary with the race -> win!)
    http://mitarn.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/cataclysm-female-goblin.jpg

    And the best for last, really cool hair and divine armor =) if you make female casters use armor like this you are my hero lol
    http://bestgamewallpapers.com/files/exalted/savant-sorcerer.jpg

    ps: for reeeeeeealy cool ARMOR ideas check pathfinder core rulebook (yes, in the topic hair there aren't the best...)

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  7. oh and I'll have to desagree with Sly on the heel part. At least I like 'em with high heels =) they are heroes after all, its common that female heroes can save the world and fight the evil forces with their make up always nice (unless there is a cry scene, BUT its fixed imidiatly after lol), nice hair and their high heels =D

    Oh and I forgot something like this with a large braiding on the back(i think its the right word)
    http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSewbjaC8-tff8v3NuJOGXUCbTH-0h4Oj32ZW5PcAO_fHmRAZdFdaEWO4Juuw

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  8. I would like a mowhawk, like ororo monroe`s.
    I would also think multiple braids would look cool, like in avatar (cameron's).
    http://www.google.es/imgres?q=avatar+james+cameron&um=1&hl=es&biw=1364&bih=653&tbm=isch&tbnid=N_Z4B305mCCr6M:&imgrefurl=http://nestux.com/blog/para-crear-avatar-se-usaron-4-000-servidores-con-gnulinux&docid=mAGFy_IRbcaDHM&w=1031&h=580&ei=mIiMTuiGKoKu8gOdg8nIBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=341&vpy=373&dur=2030&hovh=168&hovw=299&tx=198&ty=76&page=1&tbnh=108&tbnw=172&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0

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  9. lol at the 1st comment scoreboard.

    Great work once again Kevin

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  10. @ NinjutsuMaster - We sympathize and plan for a helm toggle like in World of Warcraft and other MMOs, in case anyone really prefers the look of hair over helms. After all, it would really suck to put all of this into hairstyle choices just for them to be covered up right away.

    The human male's codename is Max! But I'll keep this request in mind in case he gets a significant redesign before release. Either way, these names are just my own codenames and I'm sure players will be able to name them themselves.

    @ Anonymous (6:34 PM) - I do, but I have trouble finding time to play.

    @ Sly Kamaui - Hair and helms probably won't play together at all, it'll be one or the other at player choice. I think it would be cool to have tails stick out the back of helms like that, and I intend to experiment with making it happen, but I don't want to make promises.

    @ Gon - I like the idea of having bits of a style vary between races, but chances are different races will have completely unique hairstyle choices anyway.

    Cloth and leather armor will definitely be more revealing than plate, but I don't know about making anything quite THAT revealing. On such small units it might wind up looking a little silly.

    The inclusion of heels is tricky, since there seems to be an equal split on how people feel about those. I agree that there's nothing wrong with a female hero looking good while kicking ass, but I can also agree that strutting around in high heels all the time is a bit unrealistic. I'm planning to experiment with flat-soled boots to see if they don't look too awkward trying to cover up that heel height. I'd much rather keep both options open if I can.

    @ chillie - Mohawks might be more fitting for a more savage race like the orc, eventually. Multiple braids might not work out because of how small the units are, the detail might just end up as a blob at scale. I'll probably include a single long braid, though.

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  11. yeah about the hair style variations between races was for a certain feature (like in the case I showed, the thingy on the hair). But the rest agree that makes sence to be racial ;)

    well about the revealing (lol) you know casters just use robes to cover whatever they think its needed not show (wich is relative =P) cause unlike plate, cloth doesn't give you much armor protection, but I needed to give you the least so you can pich the normal and find the mean term you think is doable ;)

    About the heels, Its a game so that chars need to look good not much realistic (they will conjure fireballs from their hands to fight dragons). Still get your point and there are other aspects that also makes female heroes look good as spoken (breasts, skin showing, hairstyle and eventually (one day) the eyes)

    keep up the good work

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  12. @Gon- Just because it is a fantasy style doesn't mean we need to dive right into the other definitions of fantasy. While there should be the stereotypical feminine outfits available for those who so desire to feast their eyes upon it(once more variations and choices are available that is), we don't all need to degrade the image of female hero with such images. These images have simply become "normal" because fantasy adventure was originated by mostly men in a man's world where man could make the women as they personally wanted. But we are now in modern times and the standard female hero does not give a crap about wearing high heels, makeup, or looking glamorous whilst vanquishing the world of evil.

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  13. @ Sly Kamaui - There doesn't need to be an argument over it or anything. There's nothing wrong with the women looking both appealing and effective. Ideally I'd like to accomplish both.

    I think I might talk more about this next week, just to clear up some questions about which direction(s) the character designs will follow, instead of trying to pack it all into a comment, though. I'll have to ask everyone to stay tuned. :)

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  14. @Sly - I understand your point of view, still its only my opinion. Making eye appealing heroes (male or female) doens't hurt anyone (at least imo), I think it does precisely the oposite, putting male and female at the same lvl ;) (The original swordsman all had fat bellies but none wants do see that do you? =P)

    Lets see how it comes

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  15. @Kevin and Gon- I apologize for my rant. It was late, I was tired, I was out of my mind. Yes, Gon, I completely agree on the eyes, eyes can always be appreciated. :) Haha well chubsters have the right to be heroes too. :P (ps: not a chubster myself, just saying :P)

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  16. @ Gon - I'm all about the idea of a tubbo race. Can't really say anything other than that right now since we're still discussing options and it's a long way off, but I definitely want to pack the races with both diversity and originality.

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  17. @Sly - No worries ;)

    @Kevin - I do hope so =D (not humans, but other humanoid races). I had this conversation in rl and I was precesely defending the fat goblins/ogres/etc (mostly the "greenskin") while on the other hand "ideal" humans, slim elves/halflings/etc

    oh and chubby dwarves!!! =D

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  18. i want "down to the floor long hair" blonde/ginger. body tight armor maybe? am i 20th ?

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  19. also i like her look in the top left

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  20. could you add a "follow by email" similar to the main blog.

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  21. If there is a dwarf race, they MUST use massive, over-the-top hammers, with, like a HUGE squeezy hammer(one that makes a noise when you hit things)

    And, if we 'unlock' races, can you please be accurate and have Orks/Goblins/Ogres in some kind of cave, Elves in a forest setting, and dwarves have got to be in a massive underground forge, or something similar!

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  22. @ Anonymous (11:33 AM) - Done.

    @ NinjutsuMaster - I really hated how World of Warcraft DIDN'T do this. Weapon sizes weren't consistant, they scaled with the size of the character, which was ridiculous. So gnomes got stuck with novelty cheese knife versions of all of the weapons. Needless to say, I won't be following their example. Small characters with enormous weapons for the win.

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