To make a long story as short as possible, I have a lot of characters that need art. Or more accurately put, I have a lot of characters that need designs. Previously, I had used the character creator for the MMO Black Desert (which has a very nice and robust creation system) and it had worked to great effect. This morning, however, when I went to open the program, it locked me out. It turns out the free creation package they had advertised was only for a short event that ended quite a few months ago. I've tried to look up any kind of hack I could find in order to use it anyway, to no avail.
I'm not asking for free art or commission references. I don't like going to an artist without some kind of visual reference, and BD was perfect for that sort of thing. What I'm asking for is any kind of alternative that I could use for character body types and facial features.
I'd go the simple route of just drawing it myself but, I'm still trying to get past the hurdle of "making my pencil match what I meant to do". It's certainly something I'll attempt in the future, but for now, I'll wait until my skill is more to my liking.
P.S. Mods, I'm sorry if I put this in the wrong sub-forum. I figured that since I wasn't advertising or asking for art, it wouldn't fit in A&C.
I'm not asking for free art or commission references. I don't like going to an artist without some kind of visual reference, and BD was perfect for that sort of thing. What I'm asking for is any kind of alternative that I could use for character body types and facial features.
I'd go the simple route of just drawing it myself but, I'm still trying to get past the hurdle of "making my pencil match what I meant to do". It's certainly something I'll attempt in the future, but for now, I'll wait until my skill is more to my liking.
P.S. Mods, I'm sorry if I put this in the wrong sub-forum. I figured that since I wasn't advertising or asking for art, it wouldn't fit in A&C.
Sometimes I use IMVU for my creating characters.
Warning:
This is a useful "game", but it also has adult chatrooms. I usually just go into the store and try stuff on the character.
Warning:
This is a useful "game", but it also has adult chatrooms. I usually just go into the store and try stuff on the character.
I have used Skyrim and the Sims in the past for creating character references.
I know Hero Forge creates custom miniatures, but they're colorless for as far as I can tell. However, I'm sure you'd be able to overlay colors in Photoshop to fix that up! They have massive customization options there.
I know Hero Forge creates custom miniatures, but they're colorless for as far as I can tell. However, I'm sure you'd be able to overlay colors in Photoshop to fix that up! They have massive customization options there.
InsaneShadow wrote:
Sometimes I use IMVU for my creating characters.
Warning:
This is a useful "game", but it also has adult chatrooms. I usually just go into the store and try stuff on the character.
Warning:
This is a useful "game", but it also has adult chatrooms. I usually just go into the store and try stuff on the character.
I used to use IMVU a long, long time ago, but I'm not sure if that's exactly what I'm looking for. From what I recall, almost all of the customization options available are user-created. Using that would be a rights nightmare. @_@
Sanne wrote:
I have used Skyrim and the Sims in the past for creating character references.
I know Hero Forge creates custom miniatures, but they're colorless for as far as I can tell. However, I'm sure you'd be able to overlay colors in Photoshop to fix that up! They have massive customization options there.
I know Hero Forge creates custom miniatures, but they're colorless for as far as I can tell. However, I'm sure you'd be able to overlay colors in Photoshop to fix that up! They have massive customization options there.
Although...it's a bit limited for a proper reference. I can't help that Sims 3 is on sale on Steam...maybe I'll try that, for now.However, if anyone knows of a free alternative! I know that art theft thread a few weeks ago had some references, but I think they also mentioned Black Desert, and I don't want someone else to make the same mistake as I did.
In the past, I'd used some of the older versions of Fabrica de Herois (The 2009 version has a simpler interface), which is a great tool. The site is in Portugese, but look for a little button that looks like the American Flag and it will translate the interface to English.
There's Hero Machine. It takes some getting used to, but it's a more western comic alternative to most dollmakers out there. I generally prefer HM3. It's not spiffy 3D stuff, though.
Quote:
Although...it's a bit limited for a proper reference. I can't help that Sims 3 is on sale on Steam...maybe I'll try that, for now.
However, the Sims 3 is an excellent resource if you have the patience to slog through the hundreds of thousands of free custom content out there. (There's not much content shipped with the base game, so custom content is absolutely your best bet. The best stuff is 100% free, and most creators have very permissive terms of use.)
I'd recommend checking out Mysims3blog as it was the granddaddy of "custom content" sites for years, aggregating content from different creators -- though it stopped being updated past 2014. For more recent content, Sssvitlans took up the mantle and is constantly being updated.
With mods, the Sims 3 outclasses Black Desert on customization options by far. There's humans from all walks of life, period costumes, supernatural stuff, different races, animals, etc.
Toreth wrote:
Quote:
Although...it's a bit limited for a proper reference. I can't help that Sims 3 is on sale on Steam...maybe I'll try that, for now.
However, the Sims 3 is an excellent resource if you have the patience to slog through the hundreds of thousands of free custom content out there. (There's not much content shipped with the base game, so custom content is absolutely your best bet. The best stuff is 100% free, and most creators have very permissive terms of use.)
I'd recommend checking out Mysims3blog as it was the granddaddy of "custom content" sites for years, aggregating content from different creators -- though it stopped being updated past 2014. For more recent content, Sssvitlans took up the mantle and is constantly being updated.
With mods, the Sims 3 outclasses Black Desert on customization options by far. There's humans from all walks of life, period costumes, supernatural stuff, different races, animals, etc.
Given the fact that the Steam summer sale has it very cheap right now, I'm seriously considering it. However, I do have one concern. Is the Sims 3 like the previous entries when it comes to extra content? I recall with 1 and 2 that in order to use the newer expansion/content pack, you needed to have all the previous ones as well. I really don't want to spend that much money when all I want is one or two packs.
If you're talking about the official expansion packs/DLC, then no -- each one is standalone and you can pick and choose to your heart's content. 
I was mostly referring to player-created content in my previous comment, though. A lot of player-created content is standalone and can be used even if you only have the base game, especially if it's cosmetic stuff (i.e. everything you'd find in the character creation screen), but a small portion of them do require you to have X dlc. Hopefully that answers your question!
I was mostly referring to player-created content in my previous comment, though. A lot of player-created content is standalone and can be used even if you only have the base game, especially if it's cosmetic stuff (i.e. everything you'd find in the character creation screen), but a small portion of them do require you to have X dlc. Hopefully that answers your question!
Great! I guess I know what I'm using for now.
InsaneShadow wrote:
Sometimes I use IMVU for my creating characters.
Warning:
This is a useful "game", but it also has adult chatrooms. I usually just go into the store and try stuff on the character.
Warning:
This is a useful "game", but it also has adult chatrooms. I usually just go into the store and try stuff on the character.
Imvu
I personally use the various doll makers found on www.dolldivine.com, www.azaleadolls.com, and www.rinmarugames.com to make all of my characters. A lot of the characters my end up looking more anime-like, but there is a wide selection of different makers so you still have a lot of options.
Best Hero Forge Alternative: You can design and create your favorite miniature by using the best alternatives of Hero forge. This technology helps you to create 3D modeling tabletop customize miniatures. It offers you a very wide selection regarding expressions like face, battle, gender, hairstyle, and many more. It has been a very exciting service. In this service, all you have to do is to select the substance that you want to print and the size you want to have. However, if you are not satisfied with the qualities and working of this technology then you can try the best alternatives of Hero Forge To create 3D miniatures.
The best I can recommend is dollmakers and pinterest / google mixed together; Having an artistic reference ala dollmaker with some realistic references ala pinterest board / google images can be a big help if / when commissioning pieces later down the line, if that's the 'end' goal!
Edit: Didn't realize how old this forum thread was WHOOPSIE
Edit: Didn't realize how old this forum thread was WHOOPSIE
You are on: Forums » Smalltalk » Character Design Alternatives?
Moderators: Mina, Keke, Cass, Claine, Sanne, Dragonfire, Ilmarinen, Darth_Angelus