Not important to me in the slightest. This isn’t a visual medium. More often than not, your choice of hair/eye color won’t matter, and may not even be mentioned. So, there’s not much point in it being there.
If the author has a legitimate plot reason for giving you that choice, or at the very least has occasional varied reactions from your choices, I’d understand that. But, if it’s just there for flavoring, I’d rather not be bothered with it.
To give a few examples of how appearance can be an actual variable:
So many good ways! When writing games I like to make the player have some options about this. I’ll be sure to remember all of these (especially the small window one). Genius!
Generally unimportant, though preferably by not addressing it (and thus letting me picture my character as I wish).
It’s one of my least favorite things to have to decide, and rarely adds to the story to spend much effort on - plus I tend to play ordinary looking people anyway, so the fun of customizing is lost on me.
Not a huge fan. Often enough, introductions are long enough as they are. Like others here I’d rather they not be drawn out further with meaningless choices. But if somehow the color of my character’s eyes, hair or skin turns out to later affect the gameplay, then count me in! I’d love to play a game that takes appearance in consideration and makes something out of it.
Otherwise, I’d much prefer appearances to be left to my imagination.
Games in general? I love it when I can do it. I can spend an hour in a modded Skyrim char creator. But I do it because I care about the character as a whole, looks and personality…making them breathe life. Custom looks are certainly never a requirement though. A good game, and I’d play a set character.
Of course, Choice games are not visual. The feeling is a lot different. I can’t see my avatar. If the writer never brings up my appearance, I might even forget what I picked thanks to bad memory.
So, it can go either way to me.
I can appreciate and give a thumbs up to writers who let me pick things that are actually brought up later. “Your black hair is dirty…” Coding is hard yo, I should be grateful to them.
On the other hand, I am not going to complain if custom appearence isn’t there. Coding is hard, yo and I am fine imagining visuals in my head.
Tge importance of character customization varies a lot. For example if you put an extensive customization system at the beginning but it only changes one or two lines in the whole game then there was no point to it.
On the other hand if the characters appearance matters in the story (ie he has elvish ears and therefore this or that happens) then unless you plan on javing a story that branches out based on things of that nature just have a preset character look and maybe just give the ability to select a name and gender.
Also there are many storygames that have a character that is completly predefined but the characters is represented well enough that it dosent acctually affect the gameplay nor the story.
So in conclusion, it depends on the situation
If this detail reinforces immersion, do it. If it destroys immersion, don’t do it.
Players/people like when whatever is chosen has a tiny impact later on.
“You might look good with a blond hair but doesn’t change that you got no brain”
Woaah! He talked about my hair color!
The brain automatically assumes an appearance if nothing is mentioned. (If we just say “cop” we usually assume it’s a male, if we just say “nurse” we usually assume it’s a female) but in this case, you (the game master)…
If I imagine my character very hairy on the chest, but you didn’t ask about it, you can’t add “What? You look like a monkey!” when the players takes the shirt off at the pool.
A solution to keep it immersive and letting the player choose is when an event needs the information;
"Sarah burst out laughing! She noticed
*choice
#your very hairy back
[comment about him looking like a monkey]
#your smiley tattoo on your back
[says your tattoo doesn't match your grumpy face]
#how much you shake because you're cold
[calls you a chicken]
Not the perfect example but good enough. This works for other game decisions as well, not just appearance.
I’m a customisation freak, whenever I play a game I Need to have custimisation or I feel out of character, but I do understand there are people who don’t care for it, I think to achieve max happiness is to include a I don’t care for my looks option, witch skips customising parts.
This seems like the right place for this question.
I have an idea for a CS game where near the start of the story you’re ripped out of your body and trapped inside the body of a stranger. A large part of the rest of the story is about you trying to get back into your body.
My question is how would you feel if you were allowed to customize the body you start with, but not the body you spend most of the game actually in?
Bonus question how would you feel if you weren’t able to choose the gender of the body you become trapped in?
I don’t mind if there is not character appearance options if the character’s appearance is never mentioned, but 100 times out of 100 if the MC’s hair or eyes or skin or whatever is being mentioned, I want it to be a variable I selected.
@Camille622 For me personally (and I’m probably an outlier for how much this matters to me) I’d want to have control over the appearance of the body the MC would be stuck in too. Obviously not having control over it creates more of that feeling of ‘this isn’t your body’, but purely speaking for me, I’d trade that extra feeling for customization (or appearance in general jus tnotnbeing brought up)
Yeah that’s exactly why I’m torn. If the story pushes the player into a body that’s not the one the player chose it might create a strong parallel between what the character and player are feeling. On the other hand it might just annoy players
Maybe there’s a compromise. The two bodies will always have the same gender and hair color, but their eye color and heights will always be different… or something along those lines.
I think not being able to choose the body the player is trapped in heightens the theme and plot of the story, so I think that sense of helplessness and desperation would be apt! However, I do think the gender of the new body will create some more complexity for you: a woman being suddenly trapped in a man’s body (new penis and all) will certainly have a much more different reaction than a woman who becomes trapped in another woman’s body. And vice-versa!
Yeah, I think you’re right about the genders. Dealing with the shock of suddenly changing genders might completely derail what would hopefully be a fun quick paced adventure.
I think that you’re missing out on a huge opportunity for investment in the story of you let them customise the stranger’s appearance. CS is pretty much the only game system around that can actually give you the drive to get back inside your own body because that body is yours and this one is not. It would be a shame to dance around that and never commit.
I would not want to spend any amount of time customizing a placeholder body that I’m never gonna see after the character creator section. If I went into the story knowing about the body swap, I’d be thinking ‘get on with the action!’ If I didn’t know about the swap… Well, I just spent ten minutes creating a character that basically doesn’t exist.
@Hazel took the words right outta my… fingers.
I think I would be more upset wasting time customizing a character that I will only see less than a few times than using a pre-made character.
If I couldn’t choose the gender of the body I become trapped in, I would personally stop playing the game. The only reason being would be because I absolutely hate gender-locked games.
I think this option might be better than having everything changed.
I second Rinari. Is the theme absolutely central to your story? If not and its more of stats juggling type game I say i wouldnt mind.
But the potential of many possibilities for personal physical and mental conflict with gender identity and discomfort (or acceptance), Id say keep it in since it sounds like a rather unique and compelling narrative dilema!
I mean you might not like gender locked games but that would be the entire raison d’être of this particular game. So … I guess you wouldn’t be the target demographic?
Watering down the idea to allow you some degree of control over your new body would weaken this premise considerably. For someone who would be fully invested in the premise, they’d go from a 100 to a 30, while you’d go from a 0 to a 30. I’d rather have one 100 and one 0 than have two 30s.
i pefer to customize the MC and have it affect the story.gender lock stuff is fine i just like to customize the apperance