Character Costme Design

[Saltwater Croc 115]

How much thought do we really put in to the costume design of our characters? How much "real-world" logic are we going to allow into our game(s)?

 

What are your personal methods? Do you give that one chick gravity-defying hair, knowing fully well that hair doesn't work that way IRL? Or do you give the island native barely anything at all, knowing fully well that he must be hella cold under that island loin cloth?
I'm curious... when designing costumes, what makes YOU tick? Do YOU apply real-world logic to your outfits?

 

Why or why not?

 

Talk to me! (x posted)

[markA 9]

I'm mostly okay with not following the "real-world" logic because for me it doesn't really affect me. Also I'm all for crazy hair. It gives a lot of personality to a character, especially in the rpg maker game where the hair and the clothing is usually the only different thing in their sprites.

[xoferew 261]

I think changing clothing graphics when you go to a snowy place/hot place/want to blend in with a culture that wears something different is a fairly easy way to add a lot to the realism in the game.  (Your definition of "easy" may vary - I just have one major character so I can give him various outfits without fuss.)  But I don't care too much about seeing the different weapons/armor.  I think the tinier and simpler the sprites are, the more designers need to make hair or clothes that really stand out, and leave out minor confusing details, so we can quickly distinguish who is who.  So from that point of view gamers are accepting of giant ponytails or purple hair or whatever.  In a game with large characters and lots of graphical detail I prefer my characters to be more realistic while still being of course spectacularly beautiful. 

[EpicFILE 200]

I think weird hairstyles and some eccentric style of fashion can give characters more personality.

But it still depends on the overall design choice.

 

If the game is full of important characters with eccentric fashion...

The people with normal fashion will not "powerful" enough to stand out.

Perhaps they'll end up becoming NPC.

 

If the majority of important characters use the more realistic and simpler clothing...

The people with eccentric fashion can be kinda out of place.

(It'd be like seeing Naruto in GTA games. That's kinda funny xD)

 

 

For games that can handle high amount of graphical details, both are equally good.

It just have to be consistent.

But for sprite-based games I think eccentric fashion is definitely better. 

[lonequeso 1,921]

I'm a terrible artist so everything about my character sprites is from the Character Generator. If I could draw, I'd probably have 

characters with gravity defying hair. I like the way it looks. I'd love to change my sprites based on what equipment they have equipped, but if I add every little thing I want to have, I'll never finish my game. I do like having a fair amount of realism to my characters. Two exceptions that come to mind are the aforementioned hair and wielding weapons they don't have the upper body to wield. A scrawny guy swing a longsword around with one hand like it's a dagger is scary. 

[Yuugami 252]

Often times I think about culture, history, and personality when I design characters. Of course, my drawing ability is not really up to par, but I still write down all the details on a piece of paper. I, for one, don't care much for gravity defying hair. I do, however, like messy hairstyles, because depending on how you handle the rest of the character's appearance, you can make him/her come off as a complete slob or just someone whose hair will never stay down, which is a huge concern for his/her image.

 

Rather than realism, I'd say that character design should be a complete expression of the artist's imagination. I think fashion statements are also incredibly important, and speaks a lot about the art designer: http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/fairy-fencer-f/images/9/95/Harler.png/revision/latest?cb=20140322221715 Using Harley from  Fairy Fencer F, her design came from Yoshitaka Amano, who was famous for his art in the Vampire Hunter D novels and the older Final Fantasy games. Although it was Tsunako who ultimately drew her, Harley's design oozes Amano - the adventurer look and the strange taste in how the clothes are handled. 

 

Not only that, the costume design ultimately molds the character - Harley is the sort of person who is fanatical about the things that catches her interest, and she'll easily strip off her jacket, pants, and shirt if she finds it too hot. I feel that there should be an intention to the design of the character, and as a result, if realism has to be sacrificed for that, I think that is perfectly fine: after all, these are fantasies, and should remain as such.

[Tsarmina 2,612]

I love fantasy character costume design, not necessarily anything really crazy but just something that you probably wouldn't see regular people with--or is fairly impossible to actually have. I love how more anime-styled characters have impossible hair that somehow manages to look realistic in their world (well....depending on what you're looking at....lol). I think that might be because everything is made for ideal in game art. We can't actually have these things ourselves, so we make them on a semi-realistic character!

 

I guess for example, game girls with super long swirly hair (I am soooo guilty of this). I have pretty long hair myself IRL (touches my bum now) and I can tell you, it doesn't flow or magically stay super shiny in thick tresses. XD And my hair is already very manageable by standard!

 

But yeah, just using that as an example. I don't like super-skimpy stuff when it comes to designing costumes/outfits/armours, and I prefer something only slightly modified from civilian clothing as a result. ^^ I suppose I don't take my ideas too far, but they aren't the sorts of things people walk around in, either.

[Kayzee 4,032]

I haven't really designed many characters as such because I can't really draw, but I do dabble in it from time to time.

 

I tend to think in terms of individual objects. Think of it like taking this character shopping in your head. What do they need to ware and/or carry with them? What kind of things are they likely to be drawn to? What colors or combinations off colors do they like? It helps have one of those sprite generator tools like the one built into VX Ace so you have a set of premade objects to choose from, but you could just pick any object from any source or make your own. It might be a good idea to even make multiple outfits.

 

And before you think this is only about their outfit, their body could be built the same way. What color eyes would they like and what does it say about them, or their hair, or their body type? Maybe they can't choose this things, but you might as well think of it as if they could, if not willingly then by their actions, or their background, or their genetics. Don't rely on stereotypes either, seriously think about if a particular choice implies anything about them, and if it doesn't imply anything, choose what you like or just roll a dice and choose randomly if you want. Don't be afraid to make characters who totally break any common stereotypes in weird ways, like a chubby catgirl thief mage.

[lonequeso 1,921]

@Killozapit- I just realized do a lot of what you just described completely subconsciously. I just shape their look and personality on instinct. As far as character classes go, all my characters have 3 classes to choose from. Some are classic archetypes and others that are mold breakers. All of them have unique personalities. Writing dialogue for them is a ton of fun, 

[Rezanta 373]

Really, I feel as if clothing doesn't need a change as long as you can implement their meaning. Is that character wearing armor? He must be a knight from somewhere.

 

Otherwise, changing to meet the surrounding is around the only full thing I can see worthwhile when it comes to this kind of subject. Though, I could be missing out on creativity and taste... :wacko:

[Whiona 310]

I guess my character designs would lie somewhere in-between. Some aspects of the character will be realistic, but then others won't be. Adding just one or two strange or even impossible features (in our world, at least) to a character can help them stand out without making them look completely ridiculous. I think art style has to do with it, too - I draw anime, so brightly-coloured eyes and gravity-defying hair don't look out of place. If I had a more realistic art style, some aspects of my characters' designs would definitely not work so well.

 

EpicFILE makes a great point about overall design choice, too. It's a good idea to stay consistent with how you design characters. If most of them look like everyday people you'd see walking down the street, but then one character has neon pink hair and skimpy armour...well, they're going to stand out, and not in a good way. But on the flip side, if you have a cast full of outlandish-looking characters and one person just wears a t-shirt and jeans, they'll look boring by comparison. (The exception to this would be if you want a character to look weird or boring, of course, but in general it's a good idea to have some kind of standard.)

 

Setting definitely has an influence on my character designs as well. If the story is supposed to take place in our world as we know it, then I'll keep the designs more conservative and realistic. If it takes place in a fantasy realm, on the other hand, I'll go wild. I think it's more fun if I don't have any constraints when designing characters. Maybe that's why I like fantasy settings so much.