The Joy of Character Creation Modes in Gaming

Monday, August 18, 2008

Whenever I see a truly robust character creation mode in a game, I usually end up fiddling around with it more than the actual game itself. The best one I've used to date is in WWE's Smackdown vs. Raw series. There are plenty of ways to manipulate clothing, physical attributes and most importantly, the characters' movesets/animations. There's certain puzzle element to these modes as well because they never have the exact parts you need. You have to get a little creative with the existing ones at your disposal. As much as I like coming up with original creations when writing or drawing, I'd rather try to recreate existing characters/people in these game modes. I think it comes back to the puzzle element because I know they have to look a certain way. There's an actual objective and criteria to match against. The best part comes from watching the created characters exist in the game engine. If they transition seamlessly into it, then I know I've succeeded. Not only does a character have to look like whatever it's supposed to be, but it should also possess the same behaviors.

The latest one I've been using can be found in Soul Calibur IV. It's relatively new, so not that many instructions have been made online. There's still a sense of discovery when creating characters. The pictures below are ones I made using Soul Calibur IV's Create-a-Soul mode. I'm proud to say I made them without looking at any existing instructions online, only reference pictures from the source material:


Xena vs. Gabrielle


Mugen vs. Jin


Kim Wu vs. Zealot


Tusk vs. Maya


Jago vs. Fulgore


Orchid vs. Combo


Riptor vs. Sabrewulf


Thunder vs. Spinal


Glacius vs. Cinder


Ryo vs. Lady Kayura


Rowen vs. Anubis


Sage vs. Cale


Kento vs. Dais


Cye vs. Cale

2 comments:

I was woundering how you made the Killer Instinct Charcters in soul Calibur IV

Spo1982 said...
5:09 AM  

making killer instinct and ronin warrior characters is brilliant.
they look great.

Anonymous said...
9:40 AM  

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