I've warmed to the little characters. I love how they look slightly defensive like they've just walked into a room full of hostile strangers, with their arms held tightly by their sides and their shoulders all tense. I think it's actually something they're looking to fix but I'd love if we can give our characters a trait that would make that their default posture.

That's really good to hear a positive view on this. There is a certain charm to it, I was just a little worried that we wouldn't be able to change this at all. At one point the arm posture was looking better in their videos, and then I was seeing videos where it reverted. Maybe they went back to an earlier build, or maybe based on what was mentioned a few posts back, this is due to the default being narrow, and players will be able to amend individuals. I love the way the rest of it is looking, though!

Another thing that occurred to me is that Tectonic really are victims of the moment- they rushed to show LBY before Project Rene to take the wind out of EA's sails, and offering an alternative to Paralives. But then, the whole playing field was completely scuppered by Inzoi coming out of nowhere, and demonstrating what a huge budget can do. Everything looks pathetic compared to Inzoi's realism, I'm just thinking that Paralives might win on gameplay, and LBY might do well for those who love to customise. I'm sure there will be something that appeals to everyone, which is a really good place for us players to be in!

I don't really worry about the actual look (that's what CC is for) but the proportions are still really odd, the animations are still odd (the walk and the interactions; the way the guy ended the beach collecting looked like he has serious back problems and possibly a gaping wound that he was trying not to aggravate; never even mind the jumps in between movements).

If the proportions don't work, the animations will look wonky even if they improve. Combine that with sims that don't actually talk, it creates huge problems with immersion for me. And that is quite a big problem for me.

So, yes, I don't think I will buy this in Early Access.

If I need to build a new computer for a new game, it better be worth it.

Having such 3d models for a game is a big oversight in my opinion. The possibility that the animations cannot get better saddens me.

I understand that both an artistic style and an art direction are subjective which means that it is open to interpretation by the community. You can choose an art style and you can think that you made the right choice and that is perfectly fine. But, when a product, specifically a game in this case, is on the market, the public will eventually decide if the game is worthy of our time as well as the critics.

My source is a couple of rambles in his videos & interviews with Rod Humble, a few articles, Reddit, and LinkedIn. No harassment, strictly for research and science purposes for anyone interested.



one of many articles: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/n...ow-you-can-play




LinkedIn pages:


https://www.linkedin.com/company/pa...ectonic/people/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/paradox-tectonic


https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielcornish/