Can we have the Half-Orc inventory avatar back?

RedGuard

I'm not really a big fan of the new Half-Orc inventory avatar. It looks like it might have some nods towards the old avatar, but it just looks like someone has bulked up the human avatar for the most part. Pretty underwhelming and kinda amateurish looking in my opinion. Can we have the old one back?

Dee

The old one was just a guy in a loin cloth. Is that really what you want?...

RedGuard

Aosaw said:

The old one was just a guy in a loin cloth. Is that really what you want?...

How to answer that without an innuendo. lol Though I will say that the avatar changed quite a bit depending on class and armour equiped.


In all seriousness, however you characterise it, I do prefer the old one. It had more character, was more unique and was noticeably a Half-Orc.

Dee

I'll have to look at it when I get home. I really thought half-orcs got stuck with a single avatar no matter what (which I didn't like).

Personally, I'd like to see some new paperdolls drawn by Nat and/or Mad. It'd be a lot less work than redoing the animations, too.

RedGuard

@Aosaw It's been a while since I've rolled a half-orc, but I believe the thief class is the more noticeable deviation from the standard warrior build. Not sure if the cleric deviates though (I think it may).

What I really miss about the avatar is it's Conan-like build and more noticeable Orc-like facial features and dreadlocks, both of which are hardly perceivable in the watered-down version (imo) in BG:EE.

Also, on a side note (sorta related) there are a couple of other inventory avatars I miss from BG2. The human Druid and half-elf Bard. Though I believe those two inventory avatars were shared with multiple classes, but I'd bring those back just for those classes only to keep them more unique.

RedGuard

It's been a few days, but I thought was worth illustrating the differences. Keeping in mind I didn't go to the lengths of uploading every different type of armour on each class, I'm just aiming to highlight the kinds of differences, not document them all.



Order is: Fighter, Cleric, thief and same order for the females.




Order is the same as BG2 half-orcs, only with the armoured, unarmoured versions switched.


My main reasons why I prefer the BG2 half-orc to the BG:EE versions are that they are recognisably orc-like and have the features and Conan-like build to show it. I also prefer their armour variants greatly over the new ones.

That's not to say I utterly hate the new avatars. The female BG:EE half-orcs don't have that odd hour-glass frame (though their avatars are generally the more plain ones when it comes to designs sadly).

I think the armoured fighter (middle top row) is interesting enough, but none of the new avatars have quite the style of the old ones (despite the odd nods here and there). Also, the BG2 half-orcs look to me to be of a higher quality, the BG:EE seem to have less definition and often have much less going on in terms of detail. However I think the thieves of both genders really lose out with them being the most plain of the new BG:EE half-orc avatars.

bob_veng

original male paperdolls look too orcish and not enough human, especially the head

PeteAtoms

I have no clue on how hybrid races work in the Forgotten realm setting, so I'm not sure which appearance is actually lore-friendly (this would be a simpler question in TES series ).

Would it be too much to ask for including both as an option during chargen? I have no idea on programming/developing w/ the Infinity Engine though, so i understand if that is simply beyond the current scope of the project.

EDIT: forgot to mention that if I had to choose one, I'd go with the old BG2 model

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RedGuard

bob_veng said:

original male paperdolls look too orcish and not enough human, especially the head

Seems about right to me, especially when considered next to Dorn's portrait. Both build and face seem more in keeping there. One of the main problems I have with the BG:EE paperdolls is the fact they don't really have anything that identifies them as half-orc.

PeteAtoms said:

Would it be too much to ask for including both as an option during chargen? I have no idea on programming/developing w/ the Infinity Engine though, so i understand if that is simply beyond the current scope of the project.

I wouldn't mind the ability to chose either. I think if Overhaul were to re-introduce the BG2 half-orcs in post-release then it wouldn't be asking too much to include the option since some people will prefer the BG:EE versions.

Shandyr said:

Okay I pick the second guy first row well and maybe the first in second row (in the first picture).

Yeah, the BG2 half-orc thief is a really interesting design, much better than the generic thief of BG:EE.

Shandyr said:

On topic: I prefer those dolls from RedGuard's post to the one Dorn's inventry currently shows - but in the end this is just cosmetics and it does not really matter to me

That's an interesting idea. Though if I had my way I'd argue for a unique inventory avatar for him styled after the BG2 half-orc, but with his unique armour for when he wears full plate armour (with helmet and non-helmet versions).

RedGuard

Just thought I'd bump this rather than making a thread that is essentially the 2.0 of this thread. lol

I hope that since in BG2 is where the Half-Orc inventory avatar originally came from that we will see have it back. I just don't think the BG:EE inventory avatars really do them any justice. While I think they are good for something that is fan made, I still think they pale in comparison to the original BG2 avatars (though clearly not flawless themselves), but more importantly I'd appreciate something that you can actually tell is part Orc.

Fafnir

Although the new paperdolls clash less with the fact that half-orcs otherwise use human avatars, they really lack that something the old ones had. The male thief is especially terrible and looks like it's going to fall over at any moment.