Good evening, my fellow Kindred,

Today is my favourite day of writing a new dev diary for you, and we will continue a topic we started last month.

We discussed character creation from both their story and a psychological standpoint. Since NPCs and PCs are meant to be living people in your setting, it's an important part of their creation. But there is also another equally important part - how they look. Generally, for TTRPG sessions, there is only one rule you have to remember - to have fun with your character! Looks are no exception. Having the character ready on paper also makes it easier to choose from nearly endless possibilities that fashion presents. Looks often come from character, general background, and preferences. You also have to stay in line with the general setting. It would be weird to have a knight in a t-shirt in medieval fantasy, for example. Some settings, of course, are more open - post-apocalyptic gives not only freedom to choose, but also freedom to design all those intricate details from different objects that one would normally be surprised can work as clothing. Fantasy settings also give a lot of freedom, because as long as it looks like it could be fashionable during the presented era, you can do as you please.

Blood & Vice is a really interesting case, because the action takes place in 1986. The fashion was similar to today's one, but if we were to overstep some guidelines - which, let me tell you, are often really blurred - we may get a too modern look. The 80s were really interesting time when a lot of subcultures were emerging and a lot of people identified with them, laying the foundations to what we know today. Like goth fashion or punk fashion. Even skate or hip-hop. On top of that, we also have so-called "Las Vegas fashion" - a term often reserved for more flamboyant performers in the city itself. Why is that important? Well, it allows us to categorize a given person basing it on their look (but remember, those may often be deceiving!). Not only is clothing important too - even such small details as hairstyle or accessories may tell a lot about someone before they even say anything. Looks are an important tool to show, not tell. It also stimulates imagination.

Okay, but what about character creation for video games?

It's a little more complicated. Clothing is difficult and expensive to make and look good. For certain camera angles, some details may not even be visible. Most games use narrowed options and combinations to save time and funds for other aspects of the development, or the project characteristics enforce certain solutions. 

The first step is coming up with a general design made by concept artists who create several options to choose from based on the provided guidelines. Usually, the pipeline consists of several steps, with 1st being a silhouette that blocks the general shape of the character without any detail yet. If a character has to be memorable, the silhouette needs to look unique. The best example is the old game that a lot of people may remember from the Pokémon series, where the screen shows a black silhouette of a Pokémon with a question which Pokémon it is. All of them have unique shapes, and most of the time, people who are familiar with the series can tell, only from the silhouette, which Pokémon it is. In games like Warcraft and LoL, or other similar RTS and MOBA, it is important to recognize a given unit at only a glance to react quickly to a rapidly changing situation. In other genres with slower action, it's not as important - this is a reason why this stage may be purely optional.

The next stage is a basic sketch of how the character may look. This stage may be different for different workflows. Usually, it's several simple sketches that are brainstormed. Let's call it the 1st iteration. Some versions may be discarded, some may be mashed together using the best ideas from other versions. This stage may take several takes - especially if the team can't settle on one look. When this stage is closed, the next one is creating a color palette. Colors are important. You can't have too many of them. As a rule of thumb, it should consist of max 3 different main colors (of course, color shades are acceptable). Sometimes there may be more. Too many colors make it difficult to identify the character. It's also where color psychology comes in. You can raise certain emotions through the use of colors that may tell a lot about a given person's character. Either through their symbolism or our unconscious reaction to those. Then, artists create the rendered sketch.

When the color palette is done, the next phase is the creation of a 3-angle sketch. It's important for a character artist who take from there. Since they operate in 3 dimensions, they need a look from the front, side, and back to get it correctly. Sometimes details are made as separate sketches to get them in detail. Sketches from earlier steps are also important for the character artist in texturing, because different fabrics and materials react differently when interacting with light, and they need to recreate this look. Sometimes this step takes several iterations too, because the presented concept may not look good when translated into 3 dimensions. When the character artist is done, the character may be implemented into the game.

As you can see, it's a long process and sometimes in smaller studios all these steps are made by one person (!). But it is really important part of the design that fills the game world with interesting people and crowds to blend in. In Blood & Vice, we intend to recreate the colorful world of fashion of the 80s, with all its intricate subcultures and quirks. Do you have any questions? Or maybe you want to share how your character looks? Feel free to do it on our Discord server!

Remember, in the 80s, especially in Las Vegas, fashion was everything! Particularly in places you'll want to go, so stay tuned for the next month's diary, because we'll talk about them. And you don't want to be dressed not for the occasion.