{"id":11671,"date":"2024-06-29T17:35:48","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T17:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=11671"},"modified":"2024-06-29T17:35:48","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T17:35:48","slug":"dragon-age-the-veilguards-character-creator-is-biowares-most-robust-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=11671","title":{"rendered":"Dragon Age: The Veilguard\u2019s Character Creator Is BioWare\u2019s Most Robust Yet"},"content":{"rendered":"


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As BioWare prepared to show me the character creator for Dragon Age: The Veilguard in its Edmonton, Canada, offices, I expected something robust \u2013 it’s 2024, character creators have come a long way, and Bioware has a rich history of good customization. Despite my expectations, I was not prepared for how robust it actually is in Veilguard. Robust enough, even, that BioWare used it to create most of the NPCs in the game, save for mainline characters like companions. Setting hyperbole aside, it is a staggeringly rich creation system, and I look forward to seeing player-created near-replicas of celebrities and monstrous creations that’d be more at home in a horror game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I’m also looking forward to the community’s reaction to the Dragon Age series’ best character creator yet. At the heart of it is inclusivity, Veilguard game director Corinne Busche tells me before letting me guide her through creating my own character.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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As is usual, there are four races to choose from: Elves, Qunari, Humans, and Dwarves. After selecting Qunari, Busche pages through various presets, explaining the game allows for more detailed looks at each and the ability to choose pronouns with she\/her, he\/him, and they\/them separately from gender, select different body types, and more. You can view your character, referred to as Rook in-game, in four different lighting scenes at any time, including The Veilguard’s keynote purple hue, a bright and sunny tropical day, and a gothic night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I joke with the team that after spending upwards of an hour creating my Dragon Age: Inquisition character in 2014, I immediately restarted the game after seeing him in the first cutscene; the in-game lighting made my hair color look terrible amongst other issues I had with my Inquisitor. Veilguard creative director John Epler says the team is aware of countless stories like that with Inquisition and its green-hued character creator, adding BioWare worked hard to squash that concern in Veilguard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Head and body presets can be selected individually and customized to your liking with 40 different complexions that include smooth, rugged, youthful, and freckled skin tones, skin hues ranging from cool to neutral to warm, undertones to those skin tones, and even a melanin slider. Busche tells me BioWare relied on consultation to represent all people authentically. There’s a Vitiligo slider (where you can adjust the intensity and amount of it) and sliders for your forehead, brow, cheeks, jaw, chin, larynx, and scalp. You can select your undergarments, with nudity as well because “this is a mature RPG,” Busche adds, and use the “Body Morpher” to select three presets for each corner of a triangle and then move a cursor within it to morph your body or head into a mix of these presets. It’s an impressive technology I’d like to see adopted in other games.\u00a0<\/p>\n