Insider: Character Visualizer canceled?
- Thread starter NMcCoy
- Start date
I always thought the Visualizer was a waste of time. Most players I know spend very little time dealing with their character's appearance - not nearly enough to warrant some sort of mini-MMO style character creation thing. I'm interested in just about everything Wizards produces for D&D but I had no interest in this at all.
I was all about the character builder. With it out, I'd prefer they work on new templates or open it up to the community to create more templates. Get these fans working for you, Wizards!
I was all about the character builder. With it out, I'd prefer they work on new templates or open it up to the community to create more templates. Get these fans working for you, Wizards!
The visualizer was only so cool as it worked with the VTT, but then again... I've gotten over the 3D game table and really wish they'd just officially license (or buy) fantasy grounds with some additional rules integration as I think it better recreates the tabletop feel and allows for different levels of game automation without feeling like the game is being played for you.
Really... I'd much rather see the man hours for things like 3D game tables and character visualizers spent on something more immediately useful like a more robust template engine for the character sheets in the Character Designer, or working up a more fully fleshed out Encounter Generator that allows for the application of templates/items, printing out of modified stat blocks for whole encounters, and more.
I want a lot, and a lot of what I want is *so* doable. If only I had a say.
Really... I'd much rather see the man hours for things like 3D game tables and character visualizers spent on something more immediately useful like a more robust template engine for the character sheets in the Character Designer, or working up a more fully fleshed out Encounter Generator that allows for the application of templates/items, printing out of modified stat blocks for whole encounters, and more.
I want a lot, and a lot of what I want is *so* doable. If only I had a say.
Majoru Oakheart
Adventurer
As a side note, regarding what I said before. I believe I got the information from a couple of different places.
One is a blog post made by someone(can't remember who) who went to PAX last year and wrote about his experiences with the Game Table and Visualizer as well as the answers he received.
One is the speech given to us by WOTC at DDXP in 2008. They discussed their plans for the tools and some of the changes they had made from their original plans.
And the rest is pretty much reading the articles on DDI and some posts from the designers. Oh, and guessing wildly. But I like to think of it as "informed guessing wildly".
As for the tools. I, personally, got to play with the Visualizer at GenCon last year for a while. It seemed to work fine and just appeared to be missing some art to be complete. I was honestly expecting its release at the same time at the Character Builder.
It's probably worth noting that there is a button in the final version of the CB to launch the Visualizer. I think it's still coming. Probably soon. I'm in agreement with the people who said they just didn't want to draw attention to the things they were late doing.
One is a blog post made by someone(can't remember who) who went to PAX last year and wrote about his experiences with the Game Table and Visualizer as well as the answers he received.
One is the speech given to us by WOTC at DDXP in 2008. They discussed their plans for the tools and some of the changes they had made from their original plans.
And the rest is pretty much reading the articles on DDI and some posts from the designers. Oh, and guessing wildly. But I like to think of it as "informed guessing wildly".
As for the tools. I, personally, got to play with the Visualizer at GenCon last year for a while. It seemed to work fine and just appeared to be missing some art to be complete. I was honestly expecting its release at the same time at the Character Builder.
It's probably worth noting that there is a button in the final version of the CB to launch the Visualizer. I think it's still coming. Probably soon. I'm in agreement with the people who said they just didn't want to draw attention to the things they were late doing.
No.
I was at PAX. At the WoTC booth I asked one of the reps to demo it for me. After a few minutes the program crashed. The game table looks great but...the state that I saw it in, I could see that it was far from being finished.
Concerning software aesthetics, the game table is one of the worst programs I've seen. Tiny text, small buttons, ugly in-game character sheet, etc.
The character visualizer however looked it was in a near polished state. I got to play around with it. Cool, but I just don't like the waxy character look. However, as has been said, without the game table it is pretty useless.
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Mercule
Adventurer
I said this in another thread, but it's more topical here:
My biggest concern/issue with the value of the CV is that the output will look computer generated. Anyone capable of doing photo-realistic (or even paint/sketch quality), customizable artwork on a computer would be much better employed at ILM or the like. IMO, if you can tell it came from a computer, it's a total mood-killer for fantasy gaming and I'd rather not have a picture at all. For as great as they are, even Pixar doesn't produce images of a quality that I'd want on my character sheet -- granted, they're supposed to be cartoony. Most of the CG in the Star Wars films (think Yoda) would be fine, but then we're back to why aren't the artists working at ILM.
That, of course, is just my opinion. I'm sure there are some people who think Pink is great background music for D&D, too, but I just don't see it.
tylerthehobo
Explorer
Myself, I still prefer stick figures with beards like I used to draw on my character sheets in high school...
Verys Arkon
First Post
I can't draw. Period.
I used Neverwinter Nights 2 to create characters and then take screen captures of them for my character portraits. But I'd rather have the Visualizer. If it is as close to being finished as people are saying it is, then I'd rather they finish it up and release it.
As a counter point to some of those above, the Visualizer is the DDI piece some of my players are looking forward to the most, and couldn't care less about the VTT. I guess the relative value of different components of DDI depends if you are already playing in a face-to-face game or not.
I used Neverwinter Nights 2 to create characters and then take screen captures of them for my character portraits. But I'd rather have the Visualizer. If it is as close to being finished as people are saying it is, then I'd rather they finish it up and release it.
As a counter point to some of those above, the Visualizer is the DDI piece some of my players are looking forward to the most, and couldn't care less about the VTT. I guess the relative value of different components of DDI depends if you are already playing in a face-to-face game or not.
Zaruthustran
The tingling means it’s working!
I wonder why no one's made a mod based on an existing, finished full-featured character visualizer, such as that which can be found in Oblivion or Mount & Blade. Seems like you can simply add a screen-cap & print utility, and you'd be done.
