Character Profile Menu / Customization Menu!

[LexiiO]

Character Profile Menu / Customization Menu!

Alas! Another question that comes to my mind while thinking about the game.

How, do you guys think, should the very first thing of the game, that we probably see, be handled - the character creation menu? We're talking about accessability, clarity, look, and what not.

You can think of me what you want, but I think the way Dark Souls handled that aspect, was perfect. Just perfect. You had quick access to all the relevant information you had to set up before starting a new game. Also, Dark Souls' Level Up-System. Simply perfect. (That they don't explain to you how it works, so that you have to find out yourself, is less cool, but still.)

Also, what do think about start bonuses: I'm talking of that list of little extra gimmicks you can pick one from before you start the game. Should there be certain gimmicks for certain classes (Hell no if you ask me) or should it be like in Dark Souls, where you have the choice?

And of what kind should these gimmicks be? A bad quality cyber limb, okay for the first hours? Some old Netrunner device or sth like that? Or maybe just some very swaggy pink leopard dress or some other piece of clothing (You know what I'm talking about)?

Another question is, the menu itself where you dress your character and pimp him/her up with new gear during the game? How should that be designed? But for now, use this thread mainly for ideas about the profile creator menu in the beginning of the game.

Discuss.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

I think there would be a certain charm to creating a character through a digitised vesrion of the PnP method. Some sort of 'holographic' menu depicting the steps taken to choose the gender, the role, the age, assign stat points ( - which could also be linked to the difficulty rating of the playthrough by changing the number of points available to assign,) assign skill points and develop a lifepath.

By 'start bonus' and 'gimmick', I assume you mean a starting equipment package. I for one would like to maintain the PnP methodoogy here also. You get a lump sum to begin with and you can buy items from a menu so that you have access early on from key equipment. Obviously, this would be be realitvely limited, (no .50 cal machine guns, RPG-A's or C6 flatfire from day one.) This should include snazzy clothing, cyberware, armour, vehicles, tools and all the other types of goodies.

I already posted a crude version of my vision of how the in game character inventory should be presented, (in the How Many Weapons Do You Want To Carry? thread.)

There is also a sizeable amount of discussion about character customisation methods in the Related Thread.

 

[Lolssi83.811]

Well yeah I'd definately wanna see tips how the stat /skil/etc affects me when I move mouse over it.
About gimmicks and start bonuses I'd like it to be as close to the PnP (which I don't really know that much : )

 

[miya-chan]

i would like the diversity of the APB or the eve online character creation system.

those are the best character creators imo.


example of APB:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHpMy60h3vc


example of eve online:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo9L8d-5x20


Saints row 3 is second place with sims 3 taking third place.

 

[Tir_Eoghan]

As simple and clean as possible (that does not mean dumbing down character choices), as likely you'll be spending a lot of time in that section remaking characters (if like me you prefer perma-death).

 

[primephreak]

Opening menu scene: Night time, Raining, View is hovering over an empty but lit street with a few people walking up and down and a cop car parked in front of a police office.
Options: New, Load, Options. (each selection with take you to a building in the street via fly camera and offer a new menu)

<select new game> : view flies down to the police office and focuses on a deputies holo screen with one question "Sex?" the two options being Male or Female.
Once that question is answered a randomly created person of the sex designated walks in front of a mugshot camera (full body can bee seen on screen)
Next questions on the holo screen offer up basic character customization, and basic cyber options (more advanced options are either illegal or too expensive for a starter character) as you change options the person standing morphs and changes. When you accept the changes the person gets their mug shot taken and is told to sit down in front of the Cop.

Then you go through a dialog tree answering questions from the cop to determine your history and background,(friends enemies, big wins, big losses, from the PnP game) While also setting Stat values.

Once done you can review all the collected info. If you choose to reject the character he is hauled off to jail (with a small percentage of returning in game as a side boss) and the "Sex" question restarts the cycle.

If you choose to keep the character you are told you where arrested for being in the area during a lock down and are now being released and may be contacted again later for questioning.

 

[Lolssi83.811]

Opening menu scene: Night time, Raining, View is hovering over an empty but lit street with a few people walking up and down and a cop car parked in front of a police office.
Options: New, Load, Options. (each selection with take you to a building in the street via fly camera and offer a new menu)

<select new game> : view flies down to the police office and focuses on a deputies holo screen with one question "Sex?" the two options being Male or Female.
Once that question is answered a randomly created person of the sex designated walks in front of a mugshot camera (full body can bee seen on screen)
Next questions on the holo screen offer up basic character customization, and basic cyber options (more advanced options are either illegal or too expensive for a starter character) as you change options the person standing morphs and changes. When you accept the changes the person gets their mug shot taken and is told to sit down in front of the Cop.

Then you go through a dialog tree answering questions from the cop to determine your history and background,(friends enemies, big wins, big losses, from the PnP game) While also setting Stat values.

Once done you can review all the collected info. If you choose to reject the character he is hauled off to jail (with a small percentage of returning in game as a side boss) and the "Sex" question restarts the cycle.

If you choose to keep the character you are told you where arrested for being in the area during a lock down and are now being released and may be contacted again later for questioning.

Just..awesome! Really liked that side boss part.

 

[primephreak]

Thank you, It always kinda bugged me that in games with mountains of customization that the rejected ones you still liked enough to go through hours of menu fidgeting, just get tossed. Id love to see that joker clone i made come back and start wrecking my shit in game. XD

The rest. Its only concept for Character gen. But along those lines i think we should have more immersive menus in the game in general. Fallout's menu system was built into your Pipboy. Dead space used lights on your suit for health and projected a hologram for your menu, in Borderlands when you looked at an item on the ground the stats floated above it in the world its self not just in your hud. With all this Cyber stuff around and some 50 years advancement (between the 2020PnP game and 2077) Maybe Cell phones are more common. allowing people to have some non intrusive medtek (stats/ skill management) Fashion Apps (cloths and cyber management) Basic GPS, ect, ect.

 

[Ghost_Machine]

Opening menu scene: Night time, Raining, View is hovering over an empty but lit street with a few people walking up and down and a cop car parked in front of a police office.
Options: New, Load, Options. (each selection with take you to a building in the street via fly camera and offer a new menu)

<select new game> : view flies down to the police office and focuses on a deputies holo screen with one question "Sex?" the two options being Male or Female.
Once that question is answered a randomly created person of the sex designated walks in front of a mugshot camera (full body can bee seen on screen)
Next questions on the holo screen offer up basic character customization, and basic cyber options (more advanced options are either illegal or too expensive for a starter character) as you change options the person standing morphs and changes. When you accept the changes the person gets their mug shot taken and is told to sit down in front of the Cop.

Then you go through a dialog tree answering questions from the cop to determine your history and background,(friends enemies, big wins, big losses, from the PnP game) While also setting Stat values.

Once done you can review all the collected info. If you choose to reject the character he is hauled off to jail (with a small percentage of returning in game as a side boss) and the "Sex" question restarts the cycle.

If you choose to keep the character you are told you where arrested for being in the area during a lock down and are now being released and may be contacted again later for questioning.

I'm really hoping someone on the dev team sees this post. I don't think I've ever seen a character builder like this, and I really want one now.

 

[JeromAsdert]

For the first playthrough I would like a highly thematized in game reason to fill out all those characteristics, similar to the way fallout 3/NV did it. Imagine you are a new cop recruit or applying for job as a corp. In game you'd walk around talk to people and be asked to fill out your personal information, your strengths and weakness followed by personal interview to flash out your personality. It would like that as nothing is more immersion breaking as starting at the character creation menu for 40 minutes at the start of every RPG. The in game character creation/tutorial would accomplish both introduction to the mechanics for the new players and get you invested in the setting. However in the subsequent play through I'd like an ability to skip all that and just play with a sliders for 2 minutes and be out there playing the game instead of following the tutorial.

 

[primephreak]

I agree doing what i described would get boring after a while. Im all for a skip button, But for RP fans being able to go over your story background in an in game setting would have a lot of weight. In the PnP game a good GM/Ref would weave the players life path into the narrative of the game. That enemy you made when you where 16 is now the head of a major Corporation and is bearing down on you. I can only hope that that is held true for 2077 in some aspect.

Also my walk through does not incorporate roles (cop, media, rockerboy, ect) As from what I have heard it would not be unnatural to assume that you will pick your role through game play choices and not just a box you tick off. So With my method you would just be figuring out what you want.. You want to be a cop, walk back into the station and apply. You want to be a media, grab a camera and record the events around you.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

Persoanlly, I like the idea of using the characters "Lifepath" as a custom tutorial. I don't think that's ever been done before.

As for the character creation format, I think a good 'universal' menu would be a Data-Terminal. Have our character fill out an identity protocol on their 16th birthday, because they can then genereate a lifepath from then up until their chosen playable age.

 

[LexiiO]

Persoanlly, I like the idea of using the characters "Lifepath" as a custom tutorial. I don't think that's ever been done before.

It has been done, in Mass Effect. Although not all too complex.

But, yeah, that would be a great type of tutorial.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

It has been done, in Mass Effect. Although not all too complex.

But, yeah, that would be a great type of tutorial.

Actually, I was thinking more about how Fable handled it, actually playing through your lifepath.

 

[LexiiO]

Actually, I was thinking more about how Fable handled it, actually playing through your lifepath.

I hated Fable.

Like, SO much.

Especially the second. Just when you finally had your party complete, the game was over.

Didn't even bother to play the third.

 

[chriswebb2020.736]

Second was console only so I missed that pit, and third was a bit naff, but I loved Chronicles. I must have given that a good 6 or 7 play throughs.

Bit either way, actually playing out major parts of your characters lifepath as a tutorial would also lend much more depth to the character. If that can be achieved with a customized or random lifepath, then I think the idea is a winner.

 

[LexiiO]

actually playing out major parts of your characters lifepath as a tutorial would also lend much more depth to the character.

fable proved that's not automatically the case. I never identified myself with this mute childish douchbag I played. Would be great though.

 

[J.Barzane]

Opening menu scene: Night time, Raining, View is hovering over an empty but lit street with a few people walking up and down and a cop car parked in front of a police office.
Options: New, Load, Options. (each selection with take you to a building in the street via fly camera and offer a new menu)

<select new game> : view flies down to the police office and focuses on a deputies holo screen with one question "Sex?" the two options being Male or Female.
Once that question is answered a randomly created person of the sex designated walks in front of a mugshot camera (full body can bee seen on screen)
Next questions on the holo screen offer up basic character customization, and basic cyber options (more advanced options are either illegal or too expensive for a starter character) as you change options the person standing morphs and changes. When you accept the changes the person gets their mug shot taken and is told to sit down in front of the Cop.

Then you go through a dialog tree answering questions from the cop to determine your history and background,(friends enemies, big wins, big losses, from the PnP game) While also setting Stat values.

Once done you can review all the collected info. If you choose to reject the character he is hauled off to jail (with a small percentage of returning in game as a side boss) and the "Sex" question restarts the cycle.

If you choose to keep the character you are told you where arrested for being in the area during a lock down and are now being released and may be contacted again later for questioning.

I like this. Good way to generate a new character.

 

[primephreak]

It could start you in a mid wealth area and leave several choices up to you, But whether or not you get those choices is mostly random. So Going to Fable 2. There is one point in the Tutorial/lifepath where you come across a dog and you save it no mater what. Well here, the chance the dog appears is slim and you can choose to join in beating it, ignore the crowd or save it. Another play through there is nothing there. no dog, no kids. But other events would be happening around you that didnt happen last time.

I think that would be the better way to Handle the Tutorial as lifepath.

 

[LexiiO]

Opening menu scene: Night time, Raining, View is hovering over an empty but lit street with a few people walking up and down and a cop car parked in front of a police office.
Options: New, Load, Options. (each selection with take you to a building in the street via fly camera and offer a new menu)

<select new game> : view flies down to the police office and focuses on a deputies holo screen with one question "Sex?" the two options being Male or Female.
Once that question is answered a randomly created person of the sex designated walks in front of a mugshot camera (full body can bee seen on screen)
Next questions on the holo screen offer up basic character customization, and basic cyber options (more advanced options are either illegal or too expensive for a starter character) as you change options the person standing morphs and changes. When you accept the changes the person gets their mug shot taken and is told to sit down in front of the Cop.

Then you go through a dialog tree answering questions from the cop to determine your history and background,(friends enemies, big wins, big losses, from the PnP game) While also setting Stat values.

Once done you can review all the collected info. If you choose to reject the character he is hauled off to jail (with a small percentage of returning in game as a side boss) and the "Sex" question restarts the cycle.

If you choose to keep the character you are told you where arrested for being in the area during a lock down and are now being released and may be contacted again later for questioning.

I don't like this, I love this.