Any plans for different skins/models for Zag?

[Weeping "Italian"]

So, as much as i love the base model for Zag, i feel like we should be able to change up his clothing/appearance to some degree. Could be simple reskins to complete overhauls. Would love to run around the underworld rocking some Hoplite inspired armor.

Is this something we could see in the future? Is it something people apart from me would like to see?

[kid_zomb]

Hey, thank you for the feedback here. TL;DR This isn't something we have plans for.

If you're interested, I'm happy to provide a more detailed explanation as to why. I know such explanations can end up sounding an awful lot like 'wah wah it's too much work' excuse-making; but I will trust you to not interpret this that way, and will take my chances knowing folks out there may be interested to know more about our development process.

Hades is a 2D game with no real-time 3D rendering. That means every single frame of Zagreus animation exists as a unique image.

For example, when Zagreus shoots his bow (the standard attack), it's a 104-frame animation rendered at 32 angles. So that's 3,328 frames for that one short animation. We also have two alternate Weapon Aspects (and later will add another), bringing that number up to 9,984 since our Weapon Aspects are 'reskins' of each weapon.

The idea of an alternate 'skin' for Zagreus would mean dramatically compounding these types of large frame counts, having big implications on the game's file size and other technical aspects such as the memory requirement. In other words, if we had 'skins' for Zagreus it would mean having to multiply our entire already-substantial animation set. On top of that we would have to redraw all of Zagreus' character portraits during story scenes. And this would be for just one alternate 'skin'.

I think what players want out of systems like this is full customization, e.g. changing outfits piece by piece, adjusting colors, hats, pauldrons, ankle guards, you name it. This is the sort of thing that's quite feasible in 3D engines because you can just swap out a different 3D mesh/texture while reusing the same animation data. It's also possible in 2D games with less animation content (e.g. the classic Diablo games did it). In our game, though, it's the sort of thing that's beyond the capacity of our small team, at least not without making huge sacrifices to other parts of the game.

We love our proprietary engine and tools, which helps gives Hades its crisp responsive feel and graphic novel look; we have no plans to switch to different tech, since our tech is so good at letting us create many types of content efficiently. So this is one of those trade-offs for everything else our tech does well.

I get why this type of feature is desirable as many action RPGs have it. Hopefully in the context of Hades, it's reasonable that a character like Zagreus has his signature outfit and isn't worried about changing out of it.

[Sigvuld]

That was probably the most thorough and reasonable response I could possibly imagine to explain the lack of customizations for Zag. Kudos to the team for the clear communication. Providing all those numbers for the amount of frames, etc. was really eye-opening.

My appreciation for the talent and team effort making Hades happen has just skyrocketed!

[Weeping "Italian"]

Thanks for the in-depth reply. While its kind of disappointing, i cant really complain. You guys have made a thoroughly entertaining game as it is, so keep up the hard work.

[Jacobella]

I want a Dionysus skin with the description "Lush"

[TheSuit]

Originally posted by kid_zomb:

t a character like Zagreus has his signature outfit and isn't worried about changing out of it.

I think it would be funny if you had some sort of Commentary about it in game.
Like Hades Adopted mother asking him,

"Son, don't you think it's time to change your clothes? How many times have you died in it?"
Reply "........"

[Morton Koopa Jr.]

Originally posted by Sigvuld:

That was probably the most thorough and reasonable response I could possibly imagine to explain the lack of customizations for Zag. Kudos to the team for the clear communication. Providing all those numbers for the amount of frames, etc. was really eye-opening.

My appreciation for the talent and team effort making Hades happen has just skyrocketed!

Holy crap. I'm happy someone necroed this so I could read it.

[rufuspig]

Yeah that was really interesting. Supergiant obviously puts so much effort into their games, and I've never been disappointed by one. They are such complete, satisfying packages that encapsulate what I tend to like about video games.

And the fact that the devs lurk the forums for frickin' months after release to answer questions in detail and engage with fans in really wholesome ways is just another show of that effort.

[Jadelor]

Holy crap, it's all sprites? I didn't realize that.

[Jacobella]

Originally posted by Jadelor:

Holy crap, it's all sprites? I didn't realize that.

Which is unfortunate because I now realize the amount of work it would take to make Zag (and his Dad) not be barefoot