[edit] Considering that the option 'would' not be active by default and some of the arguments bellow, I see no reason to not have this kind of customization. To some disclaimers; did you boycott the game because their are an easy and an hard mode in it and not only 'core rules'? Is that really game breaking for you to know that you can actually play in windows mode instead of full screen? Did you know that you can change the default script of khalid to make him act like a bloodthirsty berserker with no fear? That what I judge invalid.
If you consider that this is the job of modder and that the player interface is already overcrowded of options or that you want beamdog to fix bugs before considering anything else.. I completely support your opposition, that make sense at least.
I can think of one very good reason not to implement it. Time and effort involved in putting it in could be better spent on other more important things.
Not saying don't do it, merely responding to the comment above.
Option to remove helmets just for 'the looks' is pretty damn useless. There's plenty of good egg-helmets that you can put on your head and they don't add anything to your paperdoll's head. Social looks in a game that isn't even remotely social, as it's mostly Singleplayer, is really silly. If it were a MMO, I could understand that, but even then - it would conceal your true gear, hiding your true skill.
No offense, but there are really more important things to focus on in the game, the last of which should be character looks.
I wouldn't mind if there was an option, since options are always nice and roughly half the playerbase on here wants to have it. However, I'd rather they fixed more important stuff or added new kits before options like this (especially seeing as it's already moddable) are being worked on.
Naw, it's MMOish. I want gritty realism, with a big helm ^^
Maybe, for gritty realism purposes, gold should have an appearance. Every gold piece you pick up should be represented on your character.
But seriously, I wouldn't mind even an option to have the helmet show up on the paperdoll but not on the character as he/she walks around in the world.
@GoodSteve: must I remind you that hats, Stones, circlets, cloaks are invisible? @Elminster: this is about an esthetic option, there are no reason what so ever to suffer any penalty to customize to look of our toon (do the game force you to use the color of your avatar on your char?). If taking off the helm give +200f of detection radius, ok, but, that make no sense considering that there are no bonus for taking off the helm. @Mortianna: yes, that what I use usually, even if critical hit protection is a lot better. @the_spyder: with the exception that we are talking about a game, a quick slot item option can be a good idea. @DJKajuru: negative, there are a lot of nice helmet that I would love to equip to my toon, unfortunately, none of them are in the game.
@smeagolheart: thanks, I will use something like that for now, the vanilla helms were great, since TosC, they are horrible.
[edit] Considering that the option 'would' not be active by default and some of the arguments bellow, I see no reason to not have this kind of customization. To some disclaimers; did you boycott the game because their are an easy and an hard mode in it and not only 'core rules'? Is that really game breaking for you to know that you can actually play in windows mode instead of full screen? Did you know that you can change the default script of khalid to make him act like a bloodthirsty berserker with no fear? That what I judge invalid.
If you consider that this is the job of modder and that the player interface is already overcrowded of options or that you want beamdog to fix bugs before considering anything else.. I completely support your opposition, that make sense at least.
@Twilight_Fox Yes those items are invisible and the conesensus seems to be that is a bad thing, why would we want to add more items that don't show up on the character?
I see plenty of reasons not to have this customization: 1. It's a waste of the devolopers time. They should be focusing on adding new content and ironing out bugs, not making non-invisible helmts invisible. 2. It's ludacris. You want the effects of an item but you don't want to actually buy or wear the item? Why don't the developers make an option so that you can just gain the benefits of all the items in the game right from the start? I mean that way people who don't want to actually see the item or take the time to find or the money to buy the item don't have to... I mean if you want to see/find/buy the item just don't click this option, gaw! 3. From a roleplaying perspective how do you explain not getting killed by getting smashed in your soft vulnerable head when you have the non-showing helmet equipped? It's invisible? No, it isn't... it isn't even magical it's just a helmet. 4. Bacon Monkey.
I see plenty of reasons not to have this customization: 1. It's a waste of the devolopers time. They should be focusing on adding new content and ironing out bugs, not making non-invisible helmts invisible. 2. It's ludacris. You want the effects of an item but you don't want to actually buy or wear the item? Why don't the developers make an option so that you can just gain the benefits of all the items in the game right from the start? I mean that way people who don't want to actually see the item or take the time to find or the money to buy the item don't have to... I mean if you want to see/find/buy the item just don't click this option, gaw! 3. From a roleplaying perspective how do you explain not getting killed by getting smashed in your soft vulnerable head when you have the non-showing helmet equipped? It's invisible? No, it isn't... it isn't even magical it's just a helmet. 4. Bacon Monkey.
1. Totally agree. This alone should be a thread winner in my mind 2. Agree in principal. I think you pushed the metaphor a bit, but generally if they want to wear an item, they should actually have to be seen wearing it. It is like I said above, if you want to be fashion, you are going to get wet. If you don't want to get wet, you are going to look like a dork in your rain slicker. It's life. Deal with it. 3. Here I think someone could easily say "Mage armor". Plus, I think what the proponents are trying to say is they probably don't walk around everywhere wearing their helmet and only put them on during combat. Only there isn't a mechanic to do that in the game. To that, I think the answer is "Imagination". The graphics aren't exactly picture quality anyway. Just imagine that they take the helmets off and save the DEVS from spending any effort at all on this. 4. ????
If I say, purchased this 'bacon monkey' from you @GoodSteve - would it be trained in fetching me free bacon? I would pay good £ for this kind of bacon-bringing servant.
To be completely honest if were discussing character models, I'm far more annoyed with Mincse and his mop top hair cut, blatantly contradicting the character portrait, especially seeing as they already took the time to adjust Rasaad to look bald, That's been bothering me for 15 years.... granted I'm aware it doesn't really matter but it still raises some OCD flags.
If I say, purchased this 'bacon monkey' from you @GoodSteve - would it be trained in fetching me free bacon? I would pay good £ for this kind of bacon-bringing servant.
If you send me 1 million euros to my off shore Cayman Islands bank account I'll be sure to send the little bugger your way.
So you want to replace the ~20ish pixels you can see of your character's helmet with the ~20ish pixels of your character's head?
I might see the point of this if you could actually see the detail on your character's head/face, but this seems like a waste of time in my opinion since you see a tiny blob whether on or off.
There is a lot of games that allows the same. Guild Wars 2, in example, allows you to hide Helmet and Shoulder for just stylish, not really caring about "game immersion" or otherwise.
I DO agree with those who voted "no" on this poll: I think that showing the helm is part of the price you pay for desired protection. BUT I want to think I respect those who care NOT for game immersion and just want to see their character as fashion and fine-looking as they wish. So, if you are a roleplayer like me who thinks the helm MUST be shown even when you don't want it, then DONT USE THE FEATURE THAT HIDES IT.
Alas, this feature is not like some of the modded solution, that makes EVERY helmet invisible. It should be toggled on character equipment, so you can choose who should or should not be showing a Helm as desired by the player.
EDIT: I was wondering how many people that voted NO could vote YES as well as I did, I can't see an argument by saying somehting should not exist if its OPTIONAL... If you were saying to me that EVERY helmet would be invisible then i sould say no, but that does not seem to be the case here.
@Itomon - This is Baldur's Gate, not Guild Wars. Who would we be trying to impress in Baldur's Gate? I'm sure Viconia doesn't care that you have a metal bin on your noggin. I really didn't think fashion mattered so much to people in BG until this thread. I mean I normally try and keep armour colours similar at least - but it's only 8 pixels of face that is visible - does it truly matter about what helmets look like? If you don't like them, then you don't have to wear them.
It's a pointless 'optional' addition because it makes absolutely no sense to put it in the game. Why would the dev's give up their time to allow players to 'optionally' remove somebodies work? which by the way, I assume was pretty difficult getting all the different styles into the game in the first place.
Nobody that voted yes has yet to make a valid argument other than "I want immunity to critical hits and an AC bonus but I do NOT want to wear a helmet to get it."
Would you really want the dev's to spend time doing this rather than working on new material? new kits? new quests?
@Belgarathmth: Tweaks offers the ability to hide all helmets in the game or none. There is no option to only hide specified helmets.
@EntropyXII: My valid argument is that you don't get to decide how I should play or what I should care about. I'm sorry if my priorities bother you, but I honestly couldn't care less. I would like a hide helmet option, assuming it doesn't take a lot of time and effort from the devs. As I've said before, if this would actually be difficult, they shouldn't bother. If it's this or a new major sidequest, I'd rather have the sidequest.
Immersion breaking... first off, it's really a single player game., if you don't like the feature, don't use it. Why do you care if someone is playing their version of the game with 'invisible helmets'. It certainly isn't game breaking, as the item slot is taken up. It's not 'granting' them special powers simply because it's not animated opposed to those a character that shows it. I'm quite certain the enemies run by the game engine know you still got that helmet, assuming they're conscious of independent thought. Remember, it's a game, it is suppose to be fun. If someone doesn't like the look of a character, they can always change the damn portrait. Maybe it's just me, but I think that option isn't really a bug. So unanimated helmets? Get over it.
But honestly, mods can and already do this. Maybe not to the extent you wish. But they do and this isn't needed in the feature request section. This is a job for a modder. So my answer is no on features, yes on modding.
@Jarrakul: As far as I know, mods that deal with this alter the helmet item files (they put altered item file in the override folder). So if you want some helmets to have the animation, than remove those altered item files from the override. You can do this anytime, you don't need to start a new game for these changes to take effect. You can find item file names here: http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Baldur's_Gate_II_Item_Codes
@elminster Changing one's paperdoll has no effect on helmet animations whatsoever. Well, other than occasional clipping - helmets may sometimes look slightly weird on characters that were not originally intended to wear them. To prevent a helmet from appearing on the paperdoll, the helmet's paperdoll animation has to be altered. That can be easily done in DLTCEP, for instance.
Invisible helmets? No.
I just tried it with a human male wizard slayer character in ToB. I went through every helmet available (thanks to CLUA console) and none of them caused my character (who now of course had the thief human male appearance) to show that he was wearing a helmet. I mean he has the default short hair look. The downside with this is that it really doesn't show most types of armor beyond studded leather very well, but hey its an easy way to stop seeing those helmets.
@Itomon - This is Baldur's Gate, not Guild Wars. Who would we be trying to impress in Baldur's Gate? I'm sure Viconia doesn't care that you have a metal bin on your noggin. I really didn't think fashion mattered so much to people in BG until this thread. I mean I normally try and keep armour colours similar at least - but it's only 8 pixels of face that is visible - does it truly matter about what helmets look like? If you don't like them, then you don't have to wear them.
It's a pointless 'optional' addition because it makes absolutely no sense to put it in the game. Why would the dev's give up their time to allow players to 'optionally' remove somebodies work? which by the way, I assume was pretty difficult getting all the different styles into the game in the first place.
Nobody that voted yes has yet to make a valid argument other than "I want immunity to critical hits and an AC bonus but I do NOT want to wear a helmet to get it."
Would you really want the dev's to spend time doing this rather than working on new material? new kits? new quests?
They are not removing someone's work. They are allowing players to have fun manipulating the game, something mods can achieve - but then this part of the fun is restricted to those who know about modding.
As far as I know, removing helmets is something mods can only achieve in drastic manner: or you make ALL helms invisible, or just leave it as it is. I -do- want something else: choosing specific characters who will show their face, and those who work as usual.
Maybe BGEE engine is old, but we aren't. New players are coming and I like them. I want to befriend with then, and I want my favorite game to be friendly to them as well, so everyone can enjoy BGEE along with myself.
If this takes time from the Devs to do something else that people would enjoy BEST, then it's not my fault, or that poll's - its just a bad option for them. I just don't see a point that, because I like banters and quests, I would refuse everything else - it sounds selfish, in fact. I don't like seeing people getting into someone request's way just to have their own requests getting more attention than this one. But that's just me.
So, just to note: my valid argument about this request is: people like visual and fashion and the like. BGEE is far from it, and seems not to be getting better anytime soon. So, any feature that might please people and help into having they play this game in pleasant ways, then I'm with them.
Thats because I want BGEE comunnity to grow, and I hope that BGEE catches more ppl to enjoy as I did and do - but not [u]THE EXACTLY WAY[/u] I do. This is why PnP RPG are so neat - they can be something else, something special for you and your group, even when in other table its very different - and still, very special for that other group.
This request probably isn't feasible within the game's engine, at least on a per-character basis. In order to disable the animation for a given item you'd have to disable the item itself, which wouldn't be good either.
What's more feasible is a game-level option to not use helmet animations, but from the sounds of it that's not quite what people are looking for either.
Comments
Not saying don't do it, merely responding to the comment above.
No offense, but there are really more important things to focus on in the game, the last of which should be character looks.
But seriously, I wouldn't mind even an option to have the helmet show up on the paperdoll but not on the character as he/she walks around in the world.
I see plenty of reasons not to have this customization:
1. It's a waste of the devolopers time. They should be focusing on adding new content and ironing out bugs, not making non-invisible helmts invisible.
2. It's ludacris. You want the effects of an item but you don't want to actually buy or wear the item? Why don't the developers make an option so that you can just gain the benefits of all the items in the game right from the start? I mean that way people who don't want to actually see the item or take the time to find or the money to buy the item don't have to... I mean if you want to see/find/buy the item just don't click this option, gaw!
3. From a roleplaying perspective how do you explain not getting killed by getting smashed in your soft vulnerable head when you have the non-showing helmet equipped? It's invisible? No, it isn't... it isn't even magical it's just a helmet.
4. Bacon Monkey.
2. Agree in principal. I think you pushed the metaphor a bit, but generally if they want to wear an item, they should actually have to be seen wearing it. It is like I said above, if you want to be fashion, you are going to get wet. If you don't want to get wet, you are going to look like a dork in your rain slicker. It's life. Deal with it.
3. Here I think someone could easily say "Mage armor". Plus, I think what the proponents are trying to say is they probably don't walk around everywhere wearing their helmet and only put them on during combat. Only there isn't a mechanic to do that in the game. To that, I think the answer is "Imagination". The graphics aren't exactly picture quality anyway. Just imagine that they take the helmets off and save the DEVS from spending any effort at all on this.
4. ????
I might see the point of this if you could actually see the detail on your character's head/face, but this seems like a waste of time in my opinion since you see a tiny blob whether on or off.
I DO agree with those who voted "no" on this poll: I think that showing the helm is part of the price you pay for desired protection. BUT I want to think I respect those who care NOT for game immersion and just want to see their character as fashion and fine-looking as they wish. So, if you are a roleplayer like me who thinks the helm MUST be shown even when you don't want it, then DONT USE THE FEATURE THAT HIDES IT.
Alas, this feature is not like some of the modded solution, that makes EVERY helmet invisible. It should be toggled on character equipment, so you can choose who should or should not be showing a Helm as desired by the player.
EDIT: I was wondering how many people that voted NO could vote YES as well as I did, I can't see an argument by saying somehting should not exist if its OPTIONAL... If you were saying to me that EVERY helmet would be invisible then i sould say no, but that does not seem to be the case here.
It's a pointless 'optional' addition because it makes absolutely no sense to put it in the game. Why would the dev's give up their time to allow players to 'optionally' remove somebodies work? which by the way, I assume was pretty difficult getting all the different styles into the game in the first place.
Nobody that voted yes has yet to make a valid argument other than "I want immunity to critical hits and an AC bonus but I do NOT want to wear a helmet to get it."
Would you really want the dev's to spend time doing this rather than working on new material? new kits? new quests?
Carry on.
@EntropyXII: My valid argument is that you don't get to decide how I should play or what I should care about. I'm sorry if my priorities bother you, but I honestly couldn't care less. I would like a hide helmet option, assuming it doesn't take a lot of time and effort from the devs. As I've said before, if this would actually be difficult, they shouldn't bother. If it's this or a new major sidequest, I'd rather have the sidequest.
But honestly, mods can and already do this. Maybe not to the extent you wish. But they do and this isn't needed in the feature request section. This is a job for a modder. So my answer is no on features, yes on modding.
As far as I know, removing helmets is something mods can only achieve in drastic manner: or you make ALL helms invisible, or just leave it as it is. I -do- want something else: choosing specific characters who will show their face, and those who work as usual.
Maybe BGEE engine is old, but we aren't. New players are coming and I like them. I want to befriend with then, and I want my favorite game to be friendly to them as well, so everyone can enjoy BGEE along with myself.
If this takes time from the Devs to do something else that people would enjoy BEST, then it's not my fault, or that poll's - its just a bad option for them. I just don't see a point that, because I like banters and quests, I would refuse everything else - it sounds selfish, in fact. I don't like seeing people getting into someone request's way just to have their own requests getting more attention than this one. But that's just me.
So, just to note: my valid argument about this request is: people like visual and fashion and the like. BGEE is far from it, and seems not to be getting better anytime soon. So, any feature that might please people and help into having they play this game in pleasant ways, then I'm with them.
Thats because I want BGEE comunnity to grow, and I hope that BGEE catches more ppl to enjoy as I did and do - but not [u]THE EXACTLY WAY[/u] I do. This is why PnP RPG are so neat - they can be something else, something special for you and your group, even when in other table its very different - and still, very special for that other group.
What's more feasible is a game-level option to not use helmet animations, but from the sounds of it that's not quite what people are looking for either.