A couple of pics and thoughts

[Wolfschadowe]

So...the game hasn't made much progress lately, technology has changed, and some discussions I've had in other threads got me thinking about the Characters in BEW. Some of the characters are nearly perfect to my vision (Faith) and others are completely wrong (Azumi). I thought I'd share a couple of things I've been playing around with. One is updating characters to modern technologies which reduces the time it takes me to make an image by about 70%.

As a result of that, I've upgraded Faith, and tweaked her a bit to be a lot closer to my vision of her. What do you think?

Faith 2019

spoiler: show

Faith 2019.png

The other aspect is the character that I'm really not happy with. From some prompting in another thread, I worked up my true vision of Azumi, dressed in a familiar outfit. Thoughts?

Azumi 2.0

spoiler: show

Azumi2.0.png

There aren't really any plans for Azumi 2.0 right now but I'm interested in thoughts.

[dutch]

I think perhaps a little more muscle tone in Azumi. She is suppose to be very strong. The Faith image I'm not sure on with only one frame, but I might lean towards the earlier style? Sorry just my thoughts, don't get upset everyone!

[infiniteignorance]

I think you need to be happy with the characters since you're doing all of the work. I'm going to like the game no matter what you decide. Having said that, Faith is a redhead so she should probably have visible freckles. I never knew a real redhead that didn't.

[Wolfschadowe]

I think perhaps a little more muscle tone in Azumi.

I thought about it, but it's supposed to be a subtle strength, but what the hell. Here are comparisons for original and toned.


Original

spoiler: show

Azumi2.0.png

Toned

spoiler: show

Azumi2Strong.png

Watch here and I'll link Coy and Nude versions in upper forums.

Faith is a redhead so she should probably have visible freckles. I never knew a real redhead that didn't.

She does, they just aren't apparent in the dim bar light. The skin texture for Faith hasn't changed at all. All her former freckles are exactly where we left them.

Wait a bit longer and I'll put Faith in the same room. These renders take about 2 minutes on my current rig so, not that big of a deal.

EDIT:
Link to Coffee & Beer forum coy pics: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=810
Link to Lunch & Dinner forum nude pics: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=811

[JFR]

Frankly, I like her better without the 6-pack. I do like the new face.

[dutch]

I'd vote for the more muscular version.

[infiniteignorance]

There aren't a whole lot of muscular Asian women running around. Their frames just don't support muscle mass. The Chinese women's Olympic power lifting team just isn't my idea of sexy. I tend to agree with JFR here.

[dutch]

I didn't say a thing about power lifting, but careful about the racist statements on Chinese women who can't tone muscles! What I was getting to was seeing definition in her legs and arms. Muscles where muscles belong. a dancer should be well toned with definition in her muscles.

Now it may be a dead issue. If the game God has no real plans for her developing into a major character then she could be drawn as a stick figure. I think there is much more value in her that should be developed but what do I know?

[JFR]

An honest disagreement does not mean anyone is calling you out.

[MJLHistory]

I've always interpreted Azumi as being either a Form of Vampire or Succubus.
and her strength being of that nature, i could be wrong buts that hows it felt in the strip club sceens

[Wolfschadowe]

What I was getting to was seeing definition in her legs and arms.

I don't like the added definition to the stomach as much, but I did add definition to the arms and a bit to the legs as well. Most of that is in the calves below the image though. If we disregard the toned torso, what are the thoughts on the arms. Can anyone even see the difference?

I've always interpreted Azumi as being either a Form of Vampire or Succubus.
and her strength being of that nature, i could be wrong buts that hows it felt in the strip club scenes

This is a valid point and observation made by MJLHistory. Azumi's strength is intended to be based on speed and being "wirey" and not bulky, but at the same time, dutch has a point that the strength should be evident. I'm considering just saying "fuck it" and swapping Azumi 1.0 for Azumi 2.0 for everything going forward, kind of like Swapping Rhodes between Iron Man 1 and 2. Episode 8 is going to be such a mess of render styles anyway. So the feedback I get here is valuable. The main thing about the character design is that the toning doesn't have to be all or nothing. It can be enhanced, lessened, focused only in certain areas, and etc... So everyone let me know what you think.

Also, Faith isn't being cooperative about getting in front of the camera. Her color tones are all out of whack,and her freckles are washed out as was pointed out earlier in the thread, and I'm trying to find the balance. Currently she's looking like a plastic doll, all washed out, but I should get that solved soon and get some better images of her up.

[Cabin Fever]

For Faith 2.0, personally I think the heavy eye makeup makes her look older. Also, is the jaw more square in 2.0?

For Azumi, at first the toned version threw me off a bit because I thought she looked like a giant compared to 2.0. Then I realized it's an optical illusion because the toned picture is bigger to begin with.

Still, I think the original 2.0 is more appealing to me because she seems more feminine. I don't mine a some muscles but the toned version seem to border on Amazon-ish. Maybe dial it back a little bit?

The biggest problem with Azumi 1.0 to me isn't so much how she looks per se but the inconsistency in how she looks. In most renders she has more narrow eyes, but in some of the scenes, (for example when she was freaked out about Brad during the dance scene) her eyes are cartoonishly big.

[Wolfschadowe]

For Faith 2.0, personally I think the heavy eye makeup makes her look older. Also, is the jaw more square in 2.0?

She isn't really a Faith 2.0. Just a model upgrade with the same morphs. There may be some slight differences, and I made a couple small tweaks in general, but all in all, she's pretty much the same.

For Faith 2.0, personally I think the heavy eye makeup makes her look older.

Think of the makeup as clothing, and not the model. The shape and overall skin tone is the base model, everything else (makeup, hairstyle, clothes, etc..) can change based on the day or even scene. She is in her Thursday Night outfit in the image I shared.

he biggest problem with Azumi 1.0 to me isn't so much how she looks per se but the inconsistency in how she looks. In most renders she has more narrow eyes, but in some of the scenes, (for example when she was freaked out about Brad during the dance scene) her eyes are cartoonishly big.

I tend to agree. That's why I disliked the Azumi model. She's the only character model I don't like, and feel a made a mistake with at the beginning. initially she wasn't a full love interest character, so I decided to live with it, but now that she's a main love interest due to the inclusion vote, it's really be grating on me.

[dutch]

I'm going to try once more to give an opinion and not wake the troll. In my view Asumi is in a unique position. She could well be the bad girl or a touch to the evil side or she could be the damsel in distress depending on how the story plays out. Right now her character has a wide arc for development. Now here's a another thing to consider. Auzmi doesn't and likely shouldn't have well defined muscles all the time. But if she gets angry, scared or even in a tough physical workout the body should show the muscles better. There's a scene which I'll refer to where she starts to come to Nats rescue but Brad beats her too it. The scene of her coming in she should be jacked. Think of yourself getting ready for a fight, every muscle gets tight and ready for action. At that moment you don't look the same way you do when you're on the couch eating popcorn and watching a movie. Changes happen. So even though it would mean more work letting the characters morph to the needs of the situation makes more sense.

[xsandman78]

Yeah not really a fan of muscly azumi. 2.0 original looks good though.