A Model Citizen

We've come a long way from Block Dudes, but when we started to toy around with customization, we knew our models would need to go even further beyond. While our characters already had a robust visual design, they were not flexible enough to allow us to create new customization options and appearances rapidly. We saw this as an opportunity to improve and polish our already established design and bring more simplicity to the overall pipeline.

Our art team started by creating a base model to build off of, standardizing the size and scale of all of our characters. The main focus was to make this initial model as flexible as possible for both the art and animation teams while allowing customization options to be shared between both male and female characters with small adjustments. Much of this was accomplished by building these models with proper edge-loop flow as we knew we would need to make adjustments in the future and wanted to prepare ourselves for when this eventuality came along. This process also allowed us to consolidate both Enforcer and Defender models down to a single rig, which will make creating new assets a much simpler affair.

The silhouette of each team is now more realistic and easier to identify in the heat of battle, so characters will find themselves more at home in our environments. With all of these substantial upgrades now in place, our art and animation teams can make all kinds of different customization options at a much faster rate, for both genders, with minimal adjustments needed for unique pieces of gear. Reactions from our Alpha Testers have been overwhelmingly positive, so we’re excited to move forward! With all the technical details out of the way, let's take a look at what we've got in store for customization.