Wednesday 30 March 2005

Pic of the day: Youthful heroine. A pretty good reconstruction of one of my anime-inspired fantasy novel characters, made possible by City of Heroes Issue 4.

CoH goes anime

The massive multiplayer game "City of Heroes" has placed its fourth free expansion on the test server. The game has this policy, to every few months roll out a new free expansion with new features or new areas to play in. (Of course it is not actually free; you pay a monthly fee to play the game, after all. But this is the kind of content that some other online games sell in separate boxes. Not just online games either, come to think of it: This Sims almost certainly sold more expansion packs than the original game; but then again, you don't pay a monthly fee for that game.)

"Issue 4" -- as this expansion is called -- has two main features. The most important is the Arena, where heroes can fight each other for fun and fame, singly or in groups. I know children are often interested in this, having very strong opinions on whether Captain America could beat Batman in a fight. Personally I have no interest in this at all. But luckily for me (and some others, I hope) there is another feature as well: A greatly enhanced costume generator.

When City of Heroes was launched, its costume generator was hailed as the greatest of any game online or off-line. Actually "costume generator" is a bit misleading, as it allows you to select body types and skin as well as clothing. Aliens, reptiles and robots are all perfectly valid heroes. The number of options were stunning, the possible combinations literally astronomical. It is highly unlikely that two heroes ever look the same by accident; it is hard enough to achieve even if you try. And now it has been upgraded. In the newest expansion there are several new body types and face types. But in addition, there are sliders that let you compromise between body types or make completely new ones. You can make the faces broader or longer, you can increase or decrease the size of shoulders, chest, waist or hips, and even make the legs longer or shorter. There are limits to make sure you don't create a ridiculous parody of a hero, and for some reason you can still not make a hero actually fat. But at least the human heroes don't all look like Greek gods anymore. And it is now possible to make heroes that look like young teenagers.

In addition to the new face and body types, there are some new actual costume options. As far as I know, the vast majority of these are for women. There is also a nice selection of oriental pants and robes for men, but the women get this and so much more. There are smaller mini skirts than ever before, but also some longer pleated and plaid skirts for those who think modesty fits a hero. A couple of youthful scarves are available, as well as a shoulder kitty and a shoulder panda... small stuffed animals. Sneakers and socks are now available for a more civilian look, and a few shirts. There are also frilly baggy socks... The teen look is finally accomodated. There is even a "youthful" head shape option, as well as a couple almost childish standard faces. The problem, if any, is that we are probably going to see a lot of youthful female heroes named "Bailjait" or similar. But that risk is worth taking for the sheer decorative effect of all the new options.