Garry writes for The Guardian: Why my videogame chooses your character’s race and gender for you
277 replies, posted
[QUOTE=elowin;50125652]It is sometimes. There have been multiple times where fairly important setting have been left out of the settings menus, despite being as easy as an ini file edit.[/QUOTE]
If it's as simple as an ini file edit then they didn't exclude the button because of difficulty, it was for some other reason.
[QUOTE=RichyZ;50127257]Garry, add microtransaction gambles to roll for the top prizes, strong aryan male or strong busty aryan female
Youll be too rich[/QUOTE]
Technically this is already a thing since you can make a new steam account and buy a second copy, hoping you roll for a more satisfactory SteamID seed.
I bought it and returned it to see my character. I was a black guy with disproportionately short arms and a smaller than average penis.
whatever happened to choice though? what am I missing here?
[QUOTE=TeamEnternode;50126995]Someone make a forum where your username and avatar are randomly selected.
Your username will coenside with a randomly selected gender (Male, Female, Special Snowflake) and your avatar will be a random 128x128 image chosen from a random search query on Google Images.
Oh and you get banned if your avatar contains porn.[/QUOTE]
Wow hold the phone! Does Rust ban you for having a large porn cock? If so Garry should fix that before I invest into the game! (What if I roll a porn cock!!)
Your forum example is absolute trash. From my understanding Rust only randomizes your player model.. Not the name that is visible to the rest of the community (in game). So in essence (going by forum example) your avatar is randomly picked based on your username... That sounds like Identicons -- already used by quite a few communities online (eg github).
And guess what: no one cares.
As for Rust, I haven't played the game (yet, am following the development) so can't say much (don't know how the community acts in game when it comes to random player models). But it does seem like a big non issue...
If garry caves and adds character customization, I have a few things I need added to make my life not miserable:
-An acne slider. If I can't represent my ACTUAL amount of acne (a lot) ingame, then I feel it hinders my ability to try and deal with having bad skin in my real life. This is a problem.
-An innie/outie check box for belly buttons. I'm normal, and obviously have had an innie, but I really feel like my character has an outie and it's part of his whole persona.
-Which-toe-on-your-foot-sticks-out-furthest selection. Every time I look down at my feet and see the big toe sticking out ahead of the one next to it, I get really upset. Makes me feel like a caveman or something.
As far as I'm concerned, those things are just as important as being able to choose your gender/skin color.
Also while he's at it I want to customize the individual spacing of hair follicles.
[QUOTE=Ltp0wer;50127669]If garry caves and adds character customization, I have a few things I need added to make my life not miserable:
-An acne slider. If I can't represent my ACTUAL amount of acne (a lot) ingame, then I feel it hinders my ability to try and deal with having bad skin in my real life. This is a problem.
-An innie/outie check box for belly buttons. I'm normal, and obviously have had an innie, but I really feel like my character has an outie and it's part of his whole persona.
-Which-toe-on-your-foot-sticks-out-furthest selection. Every time I look down at my feet and see the big toe sticking out ahead of the one next to it, I get really upset. Makes me feel like a caveman or something.
As far as I'm concerned, those things are just as important as being able to choose your gender/skin color.
Also while he's at it I want to customize the individual spacing of hair follicles.[/QUOTE]
Don't forget an option for whether or not your character likes asparagus.
[QUOTE=Zenreon117;50127674]Don't forget an option for whether or not your character likes asparagus.[/QUOTE]
it should really be a slider to fully represent the spectrum of opinions on asparagus
[QUOTE=Grenadiac;50127691]it should really be a slider to fully represent the spectrum of opinions on asparagus[/QUOTE]
And it's a very important option as well
you don't want your pee to smell from the asparagus
I was never really bothered about Rust but this is pretty cool. I'm super vain and love creating characters in most games, but there's something so [I]interesting[/I] about only getting one appearance. You can call it lazy if you want, and maybe it is, but it's a cool decision nonetheless.
I like Garry's system because it's pretty damn accurate to real life. Do you get to choose your gender, race, height, or anything like that? No, you don't choose anything of that sort at birth.
I would argue that from a design perspective it's perfectly acceptable to force player gender and skin color.
whatever, I dislike Rust for different reasons. I don't like multiplayer survival games in general because holy shit, they make people into gigantic assholes. I don't need reminding of how vicious we'd all be to each other when the apocalypse eventually occurs
edit: the only thing I dislike about the way characters look is that they're all bald
[QUOTE=StrawberryClock;50126076]I'm male but frankly she's not unpleasant to look at so I don't mind it so much.
[URL="http://i.imgur.com/jgVFM8a.png"]NSFW[/URL][/QUOTE]
Fair play. I wasn't gonna go on a moral crusade btw, I was genuinely curious.
I was an Asian dude last time I played. I wish I had a PC good enough to run Unity games so I could see what gender I am now.
[QUOTE=Kylel999;50125390]Its funny how I was talking with someone before about how kids today don't know how to lose/just deal with something that they can't change and this is case in point
Kids gotta learn to be told they're not in charge eventually
[/quote]
I think this is a dishonest argument because there's generally a fair expectation that you have a measure of control over a product you pay for.
[QUOTE=geel9;50127897]I think this is a dishonest argument because there's generally a fair expectation that you have a measure of control over a product you pay for.[/QUOTE]
What's a "Measure of control"? I just ask because it's vague.
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;50127915]What's a "Measure of control"? I just ask because it's vague.[/QUOTE]
Framing people who expect a product to have a standard set of features after you pay for it as "kids" isn't really fair. I don't particularly care either way about this design choice but it's silly to say that because someone is upset by the way a product they paid for is going they're "children."
[QUOTE=sgman91;50125858]We'll just have to agree to disagree, then. It seems obvious to me that having an avatar that's sole purpose is to visually represent an individual in a game world should, therefore, be controlled by the person who's being represented.[/QUOTE]
That's such bullshit. A character in a game, even an avatar, is simply a vessel for which the player plays the game. It does not have to actually represent the player in any way shape or form. If that was the truth, then why do games with linear storylines and an identifiable protagonist such as Halo or Half Life exist?
Customization can make a game good, but too much of it can hurt a game. A good game developer understands that some set or randomized variables can help a game, as it forces the player to change and evolve around those. If someone has a problem with not having the same gender or skin color as they are, then they must get around their idiotic pre-concieved notions and learn to adapt to the circumstances. Or they could just go play another game.
[QUOTE=matt000024;50125475]tbh this feature actually makes me want to try rust, but unfortunately i'm still a cheap bastard[/QUOTE]
I have zero interest in playing Rust, but I want to buy the game just to see what my character would look like.
[QUOTE=geel9;50127929]Framing people who expect a product to have a standard set of features after you pay for it as "kids" isn't really fair. I don't particularly care either way about this design choice but it's silly to say that because someone is upset by the way a product they paid for is going they're "children."[/QUOTE]
And that's a fair argument in it's own right.
However, I'd say that they're not "Children" for complaining that their product isn't exactly what they wanted. They are simply shortsighted though. And I would find it hard to argue against that. It's a blatantly early access title, things change all the time in them and this is just another instance of that.
I don't think people are children for being upset by it. I think they're only acting in bad faith if they have gotten wildly upset by this when they've already gotten a few hundred hours out of it. At that point, you got your moneys worth out of it(IMO obviously) and demanding changes is the childish action at that point.
[QUOTE=TeamEnternode;50126995]Someone make a forum where your username and avatar are randomly selected.
Your username will coenside with a randomly selected gender (Male, Female, Special Snowflake) and your avatar will be a random 128x128 image chosen from a random search query on Google Images.
Oh and you get banned if your avatar contains porn.[/QUOTE]
4chan Did this for April fools. They changed the theme to represent social network sites, and instead of Anonymous everyone got a randomized, realistic name. It was funny, despite the theme being (intentionally) obnoxious. Instead of post number get threads, you had threads with people trying to find famous names. I remember "Gabe Newell" and "Anthony Birch", posting on /v/. /tv/ Had quite a few good ones as well. It was a lot of fun. Best April fools in a while.
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;50128059]And that's a fair argument in it's own right.
However, I'd say that they're not "Children" for complaining that their product isn't exactly what they wanted. They are simply shortsighted though. And I would find it hard to argue against that. It's a blatantly early access title, things change all the time in them and this is just another instance of that.
I don't think people are children for being upset by it. I think they're only acting in bad faith if they have gotten wildly upset by this when they've already gotten a few hundred hours out of it. At that point, you got your moneys worth out of it(IMO obviously) and demanding changes is the childish action at that point.[/QUOTE]
I never said you felt this way.
[QUOTE=geel9;50128164]I never said you felt this way.[/QUOTE]
No i know you didn't, sorry if it seemed I did
I'm more arguing with the nebulous concept you presented as a "devils avocado"
[QUOTE=geel9;50127929]Framing people who expect a product to have a standard set of features after you pay for it as "kids" isn't really fair. I don't particularly care either way about this design choice but it's silly to say that because someone is upset by the way a product they paid for is going they're "children."[/QUOTE]
The game is still in development, so they're not actually buying a finished product. The game could become a tree-planting sim and there's nothing they could do about it. Garry hasn't promised anything to anyone, and there's no reason for these people to expect this game to not undergo drastic changes, since it's not even a complete product yet.
[QUOTE=BigJoeyLemons;50128218]The game is still in development, so they're not actually buying a finished product. The game could become a tree-planting sim and there's nothing they could do about it. Garry hasn't promised anything to anyone, and there's no reason for these people to expect this game to not undergo drastic changes, since it's not even a complete product yet.[/QUOTE]
Well just because there's nothing they can do about it doesn't mean that you can't be unhappy about how it's progressing, and voice those opinions.
[QUOTE=BigJoeyLemons;50128218]The game could become a tree-planting sim and there's nothing they could do about it.[/QUOTE]
I would play that. It sounds infinitely more interesting than yet another post apocalyptic zombie survival game.
[QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;50128229]Well just because there's nothing they can do about it doesn't mean that you can't be unhappy about how it's progressing, and voice those opinions.[/QUOTE]
Right. I see that I sound a little dickish in that regard. The change is akin to the constant UI changes that plague today's social media sites. People complain about them for weeks, but the company doesn't do shit about it and everyone kind of forgets after a while.
[QUOTE=phygon;50125448]It's actually not
[code]
int raceGender(SteamID){
//0=WM 1 = WW 2 = BW 3 = BM
return math.randomSeed(SteamID)(0, 3);
}[/code]
This is my first and only attempt at anything related to Lua but from some cursory google searching it's that easy[/QUOTE]
Unfamiliar with Lua but program in other languages, assuming this is all it requires then it is easy, but I have a feeling the programmer needs to have a say in the randomSeed method.
[QUOTE=TomoAlien;50125406]I think that coding a system that sets up the race and gender and other appearance-related things based on your steamid is more complicated than making a menu that allows you to choose these things.[/QUOTE]
I don't think so. Let's say you've got 10 different models, 0-4 are different races of men, and 5-9 are different races of women. you put everybody's steamid through something called a hash function which produces theoretically unique input for every output. It doesn't need to be a good hash, just a fast one or one with as few collisions as possible, like md5.
You then get that hashes remainder when divided by 5 to give you some number between 0-4. To determine gender, you get the same hashes remainded when divided by 2, multiply that number by five, and add it to the first number, so:
model # = md5(steamid) % 5 + (md5(steamid) % 2 * 5)
The first part is the race modifier, the second part is the gender modifier, assuming the races are in order between each gender. Even then it doesn't really matter since the player gets no say.
This is literally a single line of code.
[QUOTE=proboardslol;50128491]This is literally a single line of code.[/QUOTE]
Worth pointing out that this is compared to programming a full character customization setup that includes facial and body morphing sliders that aren't too easy to abuse, hairstyles, and whatever other crap people want, all packed tightly in a nice attractive GUI. These kids essentially want a Skyrim-esque character creator that a company like Facepunch doesn't have the time or resources to pull off, nor do they give enough of a fuck to try anything like that in the first place.
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