Dragon Age Character Creator

[BladeVenom]

Their character creator and social network both came out today.
http://dragonage.bioware.com/

 

[Mide]

Nice, DL now.

 

[s44]

You apparently get a little free DLC tidbit for registering and uploading your character pic.

 

[coloumb]

Awesome!!

fyi, the character creator executable is 318mb

direct link to the file:

http://files.bioware.com/drago...haracterCreator_en.exe

Edited: LOL - move the portrait expression slider all the way to the right if you make a male avatar.

And yes..the Cinematic is AWESOME - Blizzard could learn a few things from Bioware.

 

[9mak9]

Definitely going to give this a try

 

[Schfifty Five]

Dude, that cinematic video was freakin' awesome!

 

[TheVrolok]

Do want.

 

[ZzZGuy]

From the character creation page:

***UPDATE***
Servers are melting? if you are looking for other download spots try here:

LOL is all I got to say. I'm lucky atm if I hit 100 kb/s.

 

[datalink7]

The trailer was awesome!

This is on pre-order for me.

 

[Terzo]

It was kind of cool but I felt underwhelmed. It was fun looking at the different choices, but without knowing the gameplay mechanics I felt it was more of a show case for the graphics. I would rather take a look at the game manual...has that been released per chance?

 

[mwmorph]

2 things:

1. Low poly head models. I'm sure it won't be a big deal in game, but in the character creator, it was hard to design a head that looks natural without sharp edges

2. I can't design a head that looks like me at all. At least in Mass Effect I could get close (Actually looked a lot like my father, so... say a 50 year old version of me, though the character was supposed to be something like 29), but not in DA, it forces you into the Caucasian sunken eyes, extremely prominent brow ridges which is not indicative of many (most?) Eastern Asians.

 

[alcoholbob]

Yeah you don't have options for dark skin either; it's basically "somewhat tan" at the end of the spectrum.

Damn it I was gonna make Halibel from Bleach!

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: Astrallite
Yeah you don't have options for dark skin either; it's basically "somewhat tan" at the end of the spectrum.

Damn it I was gonna make Halibel from Bleach!

That was a issue addressed before specifically about lack of truly dynamic, real black characters in games.

http://www.escapistmagazine.co...if-the-Player-is-Black

Was it because I was racist? Was it because the people on my team were racist? No. It was because the characters in the games were an accidental reflection of the world in which the developers lived and worked. There were no black people in the game for the same reason there were no white people in the paper that day in Barbados. I paused to wonder, "Where are all the great and powerful black wizards?"

When game diversity evolved, and it sort of did, it did so rather tragically with the invention of the "brown slider." Using the brown slider, you could turn any white character into a person that was enigmatically brown. The diversity problem had been solved. Light brown = Asian, medium brown = Latino, dark brown = black. Everyone went for it except people who actually were a shade of brown. Not surprisingly, they didn't feel a kinship with these new darkly tinted white characters. Next came the enigmatically brown characters with indistinct facial features that probably are not white but don't belong to any other race either. It met with about as much success.

The last good, fully fleshed out, believable characters(actually integral to a plot) I can remember that are black were Alex and Eli Vance from 2004's Half Life 2 and I play plenty of games. That's just how it is with video games, usually a bunch of stereotypes thrown in for the afterthought that is a story.

 

[ja1484]

Originally posted by: Terzo
It was kind of cool but I felt underwhelmed. It was fun looking at the different choices, but without knowing the gameplay mechanics I felt it was more of a show case for the graphics. I would rather take a look at the game manual...has that been released per chance?

Same thought. Looks incredibly generic from the opening cinematic.

"Ancient Evil" + "Upstanding Group of Dudes" + "Unite a Bunch of Armies" = WRPG.

This as opposed to the typical JRPG formula of:

"Turn based combat" + "absurdly bigass swords" + "Is that a dude or a chick?"


I think the Witcher ruined me on pretty much all other RPGs. I really really want to buy this day one - I hope something happens between now and then that convinces me I should.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: ja1484

Originally posted by: Terzo
It was kind of cool but I felt underwhelmed. It was fun looking at the different choices, but without knowing the gameplay mechanics I felt it was more of a show case for the graphics. I would rather take a look at the game manual...has that been released per chance?

Same thought. Looks incredibly generic from the opening cinematic.

"Ancient Evil" + "Upstanding Group of Dudes" + "Unite a Bunch of Armies" = WRPG.

This as opposed to the typical JRPG formula of:

"Turn based combat" + "absurdly bigass swords" + "Is that a dude or a chick?"


I think the Witcher ruined me on pretty much all other RPGs. I really really want to buy this day one - I hope something happens between now and then that convinces me I should.

I have hope in Bioware to make a great story out of it. Mass Effect was by and large derivative also. Previous projects were based on existing IPs or also relied on some cliches, but Bioware can always tie them up into a cohesive, satisfying experience.

I found the Witcher very nice, but I have to be honest, the story wowed me less than Mass Effect. After The Witcher I though ok, good game, after Mass Effect, KOTOR and to a lesser extent Jade Empire, I just stat there and thought wow, that story was epic, when the credits rolled.

 

[ja1484]

Originally posted by: mwmorph

Originally posted by: ja1484

Originally posted by: Terzo
It was kind of cool but I felt underwhelmed. It was fun looking at the different choices, but without knowing the gameplay mechanics I felt it was more of a show case for the graphics. I would rather take a look at the game manual...has that been released per chance?

Same thought. Looks incredibly generic from the opening cinematic.

"Ancient Evil" + "Upstanding Group of Dudes" + "Unite a Bunch of Armies" = WRPG.

This as opposed to the typical JRPG formula of:

"Turn based combat" + "absurdly bigass swords" + "Is that a dude or a chick?"


I think the Witcher ruined me on pretty much all other RPGs. I really really want to buy this day one - I hope something happens between now and then that convinces me I should.

I have hope in Bioware to make a great story out of it. Mass Effect was by and large derivative also. Previous projects were based on existing IPs or also relied on some cliches, but Bioware can always tie them up into a cohesive, satisfying experience.

I found the Witcher very nice, but I have to be honest, the story wowed me less than Mass Effect. After The Witcher I though ok, good game, after Mass Effect, KOTOR and to a lesser extent Jade Empire, I just stat there and thought wow, that story was epic, when the credits rolled.

BioWare can usually come up with compelling characters, which is why I'll still most likely give it a chance.

Mass Effect and KotOR had the same story, only in KotOR you had to go inside the evil space station to kill the dude running it. KotOR triumphed because I liked hearing Canderous bitch at the wookiee and such. I was there for the characters much more than anything else. If they are able to put similar personalities in place for Dragon Age, it should be worth the price of admission even if we're just saving ancient England from an evil horde...again.

What got me high on the Witcher was how non-derivative it was...in fact, it poached a lot more from the modern world than typical fantasy realms and I liked that. There was a drive-by crossbowing of a cocaine dealer in the local pub in the second act. I don't think it's possible to not get behind a game with those kinds of shenanigans.

I also really liked the fact that you weren't some champion of fate finding artifact X to save mankind from an ancient evil. You just wanted to find out who fucked with your boys. It was a much more personal story, and the humility won me over.

 

[s44]

Originally posted by: ja1484
What got me high on the Witcher was how non-derivative it was..

Uh, you mean except for the part where the whole thing is based on a guy's book series?

 

[ja1484]

Originally posted by: s44

Originally posted by: ja1484
What got me high on the Witcher was how non-derivative it was..

Uh, you mean except for the part where the whole thing is based on a guy's book series?

That aside, yeah.

I meant in the "typical fantasy RPG cliches" derivatives category.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Damn, I was really looking forward to DA: O. Now I don't think I'll bother.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: coloumb
And yes..the Cinematic is AWESOME - Blizzard could learn a few things from Bioware.

Originally posted by: Schfifty Five
Dude, that cinematic video was freakin' awesome!

Originally posted by: datalink7
The trailer was awesome!

Can I have some of what you guys are smoking? Aside from the absolutely appalling HL1-era graphics, the cinematic was cliche and dull. The animation and the voice over were below average. I would have been ashamed to release that cinematic if I worked at Bioware. The character creation system offers nothing we haven't seen before. What a disappointment.

 

[ja1484]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Can I have some of what you guys are smoking? Aside from the absolutely appalling HL1-era graphics, the cinematic was cliche and dull. The animation and the voice over were below average. I would have been ashamed to release that cinematic if I worked at Bioware. The character creation system offers nothing we haven't seen before. What a disappointment.

You and I? We could get along. I don't know that I'd've been "ashamed" to release it, but at this point I am wondering what took so damn long? It certainly wasn't graphical complexity, and the character system appears to be a direct lift from BioWare's D&D games with the Head Customizer? from Mass Effect thrown in.

Also, it seems like EVERY DA video I've seen has had the gamma way cranked up. What's up with that?

 

[QuantumPion]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer

Originally posted by: coloumb
And yes..the Cinematic is AWESOME - Blizzard could learn a few things from Bioware.

Originally posted by: Schfifty Five
Dude, that cinematic video was freakin' awesome!

Originally posted by: datalink7
The trailer was awesome!

Can I have some of what you guys are smoking? Aside from the absolutely appalling HL1-era graphics, the cinematic was cliche and dull. The animation and the voice over were below average. I would have been ashamed to release that cinematic if I worked at Bioware. The character creation system offers nothing we haven't seen before. What a disappointment.

Was the first video game you ever owned Crysis? I could see how that would spoil you to any other computer game's graphics.

NWN2 came out in 2007 and was pretty state-of-the-art at the time. This has far better graphics and its only 2ish years later.

Now get off my lawn. /goes back to playing MoM and X-com.

 

[nanobreath]

Screw graphics. Screw cinematics. Same with animations, voice etc etc etc. Give me damn good gameplay, with a believable story, or a damn good story with acceptable, proven gameplay. You can give me sprites for all I care, I just want a good game. Now, I don't know if Dragon Age has any of this, full reviews aren't out yet. I don't see why other people are salivating over it yet, but at the same time it's hardly a dissapointment...yet.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
The last good, fully fleshed out, believable characters(actually integral to a plot) I can remember that are black were Alex and Eli Vance from 2004's Half Life 2 and I play plenty of games. That's just how it is with video games, usually a bunch of stereotypes thrown in for the afterthought that is a story.

Without thinking more than 2 seconds I thought of Res Evil 5 where your partner throughout the whole game, Sheva Alomar, is African. Mercenaries 2 also comes to mind. Oh, and GTA4. and GTA:SA. This is a pointless exercise.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: nanobreath
Screw graphics. Screw cinematics. Same with animations, voice etc etc etc. Give me damn good gameplay, with a believable story, or a damn good story with acceptable, proven gameplay. You can give me sprites for all I care, I just want a good game. Now, I don't know if Dragon Age has any of this, full reviews aren't out yet. I don't see why other people are salivating over it yet, but at the same time it's hardly a dissapointment...yet.

probably because that's all people can do until the game actually gets released.