Summary

As a Lead TA on APB my main role was developing the critically acclaimed Character Customisation System.

I worked closely with the programmers involved in the creation of the system and designed its core functionalities and tools  (e.g. body and face morphing system, skin tone changes, clothing layering, etc.).

I supported the character team with technical help and pipeline needs, writing max and photoshop scripts to help streamline and simplify the workflow for the artists.

As the Senior Character Artist I have modelled and textured the male and female base anatomical assets (i.e. skin textures, body shapes, face morphs, high res meshes for normal maps generation, etc.), contact characters and some clothing assets . Scroll down to see a video of the customisation system.

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Base Character Assets

Here are some of the assets I made for the male and female characters which are used to create the characters in APB

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These are the results of combining some of the assets I have worked on, using the APB Character Customisation System (images are from in-game shots)

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Other Character Work

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Character Customisation System

The video below shows the character customisation system in action.

  • There are around 100 morph targets and normal maps per gender (of which I made the majority) that are used to customise body and face of the character.
  • There are also many other textures I worked on: skin tone, moles, freckles, skin ageing, eyebrows, irises, etc…

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These characters were created using the APB Character Customisation System

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Quotes from reviews about the APB Character Customisation

“…a brilliant customisation suite. With tools that give you power over every aspect of your persona – cars, clothes, tattoos, shape, logos, victory jingles and even the tunes pumped out of your stereo”

Edge

“It’s hugely impressive to be able to craft a character of not just any height, race, gender or size (apart from, curiously, a fat woman), but of various exact facial features, hairstyles, piercings and fashion styles. The interface is powerful but intuitive”

Play

“The customization options available to players are some of the most flexible we’ve ever encountered – from facial structure to age, makeup, weight, height, muscularity, freckles, wrinkles, and even tattoos (which, with some very careful shaping, you can create from scratch), the character customization suite alone is extremely impressive.”

IGN

“The customisation in APB (as you may already have seen) is excellent. Simple to use yet very powerful tools for creation and design”

Criticalgamer

“The one great success of the game is the customisation tools, which are superb. They allow a level of control over the look of your character and their belongings (including vehicles later on) that is absolutely peerless.”

Metro.co.uk

“One aspect of APB which has received almost unqualified praise is its player customisation, and that’s certainly the high point of the game. There’s an enormous range of customisation possible for your character’s physical appearance, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg – as you progress you unlock options for clothing, vehicles, decals and even the ability to compose theme tunes that play when you defeat an enemy.”

eurogamer.net

“Customisation forms a major part of APB, and it’s the driving force behind the game’s economy. There are dozens of different items of clothing to purchase for your character, all of which can be recoloured and retextured as much as you like, then further modified by adding decals and insignias. If you think along the lines of Forza 3’s insanely deep car customisation, you’re getting there. APB lets you sell off your custom designs in its auction house, where you can also buy designs that other players have made, though there are unlockable presets available for most items. Your car can be outfitted in much the same way, and you have extremely broad scope when it comes to designing your character, too, so it’s easy to make a very distinctive-looking individual.”

gameshard.net

“the tools for customising your character, clothes, cars and such are indisputably incredible in every respect”

nowgamer.com

“When it comes to customization, no games in this, or any other genre come close to accomplishing what Realtime Worlds has. It starts off with an in-depth character creation system that allows players to tweak every element of their characters’ bodies. While this element is fairly routine, it simply continues to get bigger and better as the game goes on.”

gamervision.com

“Without a doubt, APB’s customization is its most impressive feature. Not only is there a plethora of options for clothing, accessories, equipment, weapons, cars, and characters, but nearly all of it is further customizable down to size, placement, color, and details”

cheatcc.com