Tips on making character not look stupid

[Diabeetus_X 10]

Title basically says it xdd, ive been trying to make "cool" looking characters but i can never make them look "cool".. even if i have copied someones cool outfit it wont look cool when i do it..

 

pls send help!!

 

[vsb 6171]

i’d love to tell you the secret but there isn’t one tbh

 

it just takes a lot of practice/trial and error, mostly due to the different shaders inside and outside the character kiosk causing potentially massive differences

 

i guess the biggest tip is don’t be afraid to use symbols to emphasize facial features, that will generally be the difference between a character that looks good in the kiosk and a character that looks good in every district

[Intake 27]

It's easy

 

Step 1 - Less is more

Step 2 - Perfection looks wrong

 

So, basically, fuck tattoos, they are ultra-passé, and while I'm on the topic of out of date fashion crimes, anything less than skinny jeans is basically a sin.

 

You want some texture and definition on the skin, makeup, like eyeshadow, and face-paint can give a relatively 'tired' look - that's what you're aiming for... within reason.

 

Wrinkles rarely look good however - age markings, and freckles look pretty gucci tho

 

Overall though, as far as outfits are concerned, armour and accessories should be done in a relatively realistic way - too much armour makes you look like a tool, this isn't Call of Duty. As far as designs go, on shirts, yeah maybe, on trousers / coats yeah no.

 

smh salt much

Edited May 15, 2019 by Intake

[LittleMoneyFirst 66]

It comes within being good. Can't help you here.

[Fortune Runner 796]

1 hour ago, Moxxi said:

Title basically says it xdd, ive been trying to make "cool" looking characters but i can never make them look "cool".. even if i have copied someones cool outfit it wont look cool when i do it..

 

pls send help!!

 

lots of videos on youtube. some are easier than others to dig up.

[Flaws 1033]

Here's an universal tip that tends to help out everyone who's asked me: Turn everything that has "Detail" in it's name all the way down to 0 in the character (persona) editor. Also get rid of all the skin stuff unless you want freckles (those can look nice on some characters if you're into that).

[Intake 27]

2 minutes ago, Flaws said:

Here's an universal tip that tends to help out everyone who's asked me: Turn everything that has "Detail" in it's name all the way down to 0 in the character (persona) editor. Also get rid of all the skin stuff unless you want freckles (those can look nice on some characters if you're into that).

Thing is... some of the detail makes absolutely massive differences to making a character look believable.

 

Cheek / Forehead detail is mad helpful to make a face gaunt, rather than some overfed spastic

 

I mean, also... like I said anyways, age marks are literally the go-to to make a character look real, rather than fake

[AxeTurboAgresor 268]

Everybody looks the same to me. Everybody tries to be so original, and perfect that they fall with everybody else. Every damn female character has Faith Connors from Mirrors Edge shaped face. U know whats cool? Making ur everyday outfit. Making ur characters face and body look not perfect nor smart, but flawed in some way.

Flannel shirt, dirty jeans, or a fat biker with a leather jacket, and bandana with a skulls, or some poor black gangster from the hood, or fat angry ugly arse mama from the prison. How many characters like that u see in the game?

Edited May 7, 2019 by AxeTurboAgresor

[Yeedman 134]

just wear a gasmask like me

[illgot 379]

how about making your character look terrifying?

 

[Fenton 210]

Depends on the look you're going for. There's some really well done stuff out there, but the best has a core theme or style to it.

 

What is your character, who are they and why are they wearing what they do?

 

Do they wear a uniform? If so, what type and where from?

 

Are they a biker, or part of an MC?

 

Perhaps they're from an anime?

 

Or just love Tasty Burger?

 

Perhaps they have a terrible taste in shirts?

[Moeko 1]

It really all has to do with taste.  Like what Fenton said, go with a central theme that suits you.  APB is all about factions, figure out what you want to represent with your character and go with that.  Unfortunately if you're going to want more customization, you're going to need premium or someone with premium to help you.

[Diabeetus_X 10]

Thank you everyone for the amazing tips! but keep them coming if you have some! 

 

[Mozie 54]

So disregard what most people said, put down thousands of hours into the designer.

 

I've worked on my char since 2011 ;);).

[Diabeetus_X 10]

i might have found peace right now!!! i bought diffrent pants and shit looks good suddenly! now im waiting for that friday free premium so i can remove some tattoos!

[BrandonBranderson 672]

Just make Crash Bandicoot. You'll never have to worry about whether people might think you look stupid, because you'll know for sure that they do.

 

[EchoPixi 13]

Get your hands on non-free clothing and you'll see how your character gets super-duper-cool-swag even without any customization.
Most of free clothing elements are crap and it's not a secret, so customization will not help you.  Please note, I'm not talking about those freeloader's that instead of wearing shit just draw it with symbols on themselves

 

aggressive DIY commentators incoming, I can feel them

[nndrei 129]

smoll tip, Tattoos 70% 80% opacity

[Flight 239]

If you make yourself look like Sonic you can run so fast that people won't be able to make out any details on your character design. Just never stop running.

 

In all seriousness there are some good tips in here.

The one I use the most is detailing my characters' faces by making symbols appear like freckles or additional blush.

One way to make this look more natural is by using opacity. For a more detailed approach use the gradient looking symbols with the masking effect applied to them. This will allow you to fade out your symbols in a more natural looking way. These symbols can also be used to fake shadows. Fake it 'till you make it!

[Fortune Runner 796]

17 hours ago, illgot said:

how about making your character look terrifying?

 

thats not terrifying....thats a San Fransisco alien person we see every day there

[Diabeetus_X 10]

XD i kinda like this 

but might get some hand tattoos

  

  hmmm

[Lord Cashpoint 269]

If you're looking for tips on your character's face, this very old video from one of APB's original Principal Artists Jack Oakman might help:

 

[Amaineko 20]

can give u tips in private

[NotZombieBiscuit 3146]

A few of the top of my head.

 

Don't use a blank expression. Have their natural face at least moving towards some kind of expression, such as resting fuzzy bunny face.

Less is more but not in the way of doing less, but in the way of more subtle features will add up to something greater.

Be unique and have character in your look.

A unique ugly looking face that has character to it is going to be better than a bland run of the mill pretty face.

It is an iterative process that should be done in revision like stages over time if you want to really polish and perfect something.

Learn the tricks of the creation systems like the back of your hand.

Don't throw away things like wrinkles, age marks, freckles, spots, etc just because your character is young. On low opacity they can age a huge amount of texture to your skin and still look young. (People saying to turn those details to 0 are wrong and will make you look flat like 95% of the population)

Flaws and imperfections add details and a story to your character.

 

90% of the APB population all look the same so if you can at least attempt some of these, even if you are still perfecting them, you can set yourself apart from most.

 

 

[Intake 27]

Just wanted to illustrate my point regarding detail - using both my characters - the above is without detail, and skin features, the lower has skin features, details, and makeup used to achieve a better effect.

 

While I get that some people want to have a plastic-doll looking character (I don't know why), if you want to make one that looks realistic, detail is your friend.

 

Also, how do we do spoilers on the new forum? (even if it's not new any more) :thinking:

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2019 by Intake
Thanks bro, xd