Sneak Peek at the New Sliders & Character Editing in Paralives
Hey everyone!
We're sharing a public Patreon post today to showcase one of the new tools we recently added to the Paramaker.
With this new feature, you can use our handy diagrams to quickly customize the shape, size and rotation of different parts of your Para. You can edit a wide variety of sliders for important body and facial features and tweak the smallest little details. For those who like to fine tune, the sliders are also displayed in a more traditional fashion below the diagram where you can enter exact numbers and even copy-paste them between Parafolks.
You may be wondering whether or not the game still has the option to push and pull the characters directly to edit their body. Unfortunately, the answer is no. We decided to remove that feature because we learned that it is protected by a patent. This is entirely our fault for not researching the existing patents before starting the development of the Paramaker and we would like to apologize for that. We believe that software property rights are important and must be respected.
With that said, we still wanted to find an alternative that would be easy to use and understand. A classic list of sliders felt a little bland and overwhelming on screen due to their number. After many iterations, we decided to go with this diagram approach and we are really pleased with the result. We believe it's intuitive and fun to play with! This new slider interface is now pretty solid and will allow everyone to create all kinds of Parafolks quickly and easily. We’re looking forward to putting it in your hands and seeing what you will create!
Cheers,
Alex
Comments (116)
random question, is the pelvis roatateable like the chest?
Ok guys, I'm amazed by the amount of work and detail you're putting into this! So I'm going to just go ahead and ask: one thing I've never seen before (not even in custom made content!) is a slider for that tiny bit between the nose and the mouth, it's called philtrum, some people have it more arched inwards, others outwards (is this a real word? Sorry, not English mothertongue ahah), if you get what I mean? I would love for this tiny bit to be editable too!
Nice slider
Also for hair will we have a density slider? for how voluminous hair will be regardless of hair style
THese are fantastic :)
This works for me! I can’t wait! Great job guys ❤️
I also agree that you should patent that grid slider!! This interface feels very logical/intuitive
Background music is great, little clicks sound effects are so satisfying :-) not too loud or harsh at all!!! feels perfectly in place with the art style :)
I love the sounds!!!!!!!!!
Certainly property rights must be respected. But don't blame yourself, because you tried to bring something interesting to the game.
The toenails look too white to me. This is a detail that bothers me sorry but otherwise it's a very good job <3
Ya know what. At first i was unsure on the new art style for the character. But now, after seeing it in action with this amazingly designed paramaker, its grown on me alot. 10/10 cant wait to make some characters on this
I had this same thought !!
Great job! Thank you for sharing this progress. It really looks cool, now the game will be more advanced and more addictive as well!
I love this one so much more than push and pull! Thank you for all your hard work🥰
It’s so detailed I’m so excited!
I Love this, played the video more than 5000 Times lol. I Love the att style. And the guy is cute
OMG you gave us the nose bump, yes!
The slider system is great! Of course! But I'd love to give a particular shout out to the music! I love it!! The style is perfect. Love the simplicity of the piano!
Omg It looks so more intuitive and easier to use than the sims version !! I much prefer this idea, good job guys!
One thing, the white toenails, I don't think they are painted, but were very unfitting for me, looks like painted, I hope we can just have it skin color.
This is amazing!
Very glad you guys are taking your time. This looks so much more polished than what we first saw it in the maggie reveal video. Thank you for not rushing. Every aspect of the game (Build, Paramaker, Live) is important and needs full attention to detail <3
YES! The diagram system is awesomeeee
Love, looking so good. I really like the sliders. Would love some extended limit potential perhaps, as is fun to mess around and also I love recreating people/characters and it’s cool to have the limits be able to match any style :) Love all that y’all are doing!!!!!
The grid system is very cool! Please keep it!
One last thing, I’ve seen someone else say it but y’all should patent that grid slider 👀
Amazing character sliders, very intuitive, i simply cannot wait to play this!!!
This game is going to be worth the wait
Wait what !?!??!? This is an insane level of customisation I am dumbfounded !!!! Like wow wow wow !!!!!!
This is so cool!! I can't even believe how brilliant the Paralives team is! You are all really talented!! Can't wait to see even more in the future!! 💕
Honestly, that's ALREADY better than in Sims 4 and I know it's not even finished. <3 On top of that it shows you exactly, which parts can be modified and which not. Making it more put together and not a mess to try and find out, how to do it.
I appreciate the booty sliders. ^_^
Honestly I think this is the best system. You get to see all the points you can manipulate, and you can get even more specific with the sliders and numbers. I hope you get to keep this system running and improve on it even more. It’s turning out wonderfully!
That nose slider is the best! I've got quite the bump on my nose and I've never been able to really put it in that other game. Just seeing that in the video got me so excited.
I love this so much! I have a question! Does this mean when random townies are generated, that they will each get a random number for each slider value? that is an AMAZING system in my opinion compared to random townies being generated with the same basic presets. that way each random sim can look completely unique and it will be more of a surprise to see who generates? is this guess/idea what you guys are planning? I'd still love to see presets for different features but yeah, the idea of townies being generated with random numbers would be AWESOME!!! love this so much, great work guys!
Thank you! We still have to design how Parafolk randomization will work but your idea is interesting, we will have to look into all that!
This looks amazing! I think it appears easy to use and gives a lot of options
Honestly the current system is as good as the pull/push method, it's an happy accident I would say. And it make the game unique and not just a copy of the Sims. I'm pleased with the music too, very cosy and calming! The design's starting to grow on me also, I wait to see them in live mode to really have an idea :) great work thank u for your commitment !
Hi Alex and team, this is looking really awesome. Are there also still the overall presets for features like noses, eyes, mouths etc that we can choose as a starting point?
Loving the Sims 1 build/buy vibes from this music!! The jazzy new age piano is exactly the kind of music I am hoping to have when we design our Paras—hopefully this teaser is an indication of the direction you're thinking for the Paramaker!
These sliders are AMAZING
A brilliant solution, well done! 🤩
I am officially deceased. This is incredible!
It looks great! I really think this is the best of both worlds. It might be fun if there's the option to make the sliders a little bit more extreme, to allow players to make caricature characters if they so choose, (but personally, I'd rather not have the NPCs be caricatures :) ).
Wow! I love this so much! I can't wait to create paras with this method. Honestly it seems super fun. Plus it's so much easier to tell what I can actually change and move than with dragging on the body.
oh my literal god *screams*
Honestly - i'm just thru. Like my man doesn't even play simulation games... but he keeps asking me to show him new Paralives updates and keep him posted. As for me, completely impressed. Won't lie I got nervous with that one show you guys did on character design as it was too aggressive but I g you were just showing ... if we wanted that look we. An achieve that TOO. Respect that. Your hard work is really apparent. Thanks for including us, how you have. It's ni e to at least feel like a company cares somewhat about what the player / consumer would like in a product. It's probably easier to just do only what you want... but your team is engaged with its audience and is trying to find a middle ground. That's more than we have recieved for elsewhere... anyway thanks.
Pssh, this is way better than pull/push method. This game is gonna be good good huh?
Bravo ! 👏
This is awesome, well done team!!
It is honestly ridiculous that EA has managed to patent the direct modification feature. No hard feelings on that please! You guys are doing amazing creative work and this method actually shows that you can improve on them easily with your innovation!
Wait it was cause of EA that we can't do it?
This is amazing! To me, this has the most detailed options & the best interface of any game, not just sim games. It reminds me of Second Life, but updated and much more user-friendly. Since it's so intuitive I won't miss dragging the body parts and I'm so happy to have a numerical record of the positions!
Wow! I really never liked the pull and push -method, so I'm good with this. :)
Ahhh yes this is what I've been waiting for! We hadn't seen any of the granular slider options so for a minute I was worried all parafolk may end up looking similar. This seems to suggest otherwise! Also while I initially was disappointed by no push pull method, I've realized this method actually has better advantages with none of the disadvantages, as others have mentioned. I love that you guys said "oh we can't do that, well we'll come up with something even better". LOL. Thats an innovation I didn't see coming but it's good to see Paralives developing into its own thing! And the music ..😭 Great job as always!
I love this! I would've loved to have sliders and click/pull to alternate between but I've never had a problem with sliders and there are plenty to help make the perfect para so I'm good. Great job! I can't wait to see the finished Paramaker! 🤩
Please patent your sliders because that grid action y'all slid in is going to be such a huge help in getting my Para the look I want. And WOW! THE CUSTOMIZATION ABILITY MAKES ME FEEL GODLY.
I’m so excited for the number input part. I’m going to have so much fun with a random number generator to make diverse (and potentially crazy) looking paras
I like the sliders better anyways, you have more control 😁 Also that grid slider is so cool! I’ve never seen that before! I’m actually happy it was patented, it allowed you guys to be more creative and develop a system that works even better than pull and drag. It also sets you apart more. Honestly everything is coming together nicely, the parafolk are looking great too! I think the design choice you guys went with was great.
I love that it has the numerical values with it, can't say how many times I've been fussing with the Sims 4 "sliders" always feeling like I've gone too far in either direction and can't hit the middle spot I want.
Honestly don't even worry about not having the pull/push method...like this is better, original and absolutely remarkable. When you put your hearth and soul in what you do you this is the result! Thank you for caring, thank you for your hard-work, thank you for listening to us and thank you for allowing us to experience this journey with you. Very proud <3
I actually love it. I don't think I'd miss the push and pull!
Soo cool this 200 times beat sims
I feel like this is a good alternative to the push pull method. Less sculpting, and easier to pay attention to detail
Omg this looks so cool! I love the diagram because you can actually see where on the body the sliders will have an effect! I haven’t played much of Sims 4 so I don’t consider the push/pull method a loss. I feel like what you’ve attained is more than enough! It’s not too clunky or confusing to use. I’ve even grown use to the new skin. Can’t wait to see what other skin tones will look like in the game as well.
At first glance, I wasn't sure if I liked it, but seeing it in action has two major advantages (that I can immediately think of) over a push-pull of the Para themselves that I think makes this a far better solution. For one, you can easily see exactly each place you can manipulate instead of just grabbing and hoping, and two, you can see the actual ranges and limits of how and where those parts can be moved. I second (or third, etc.) the others in this conversation that say you should maybe consider getting a patent for this new system, it's quite brilliant. One improvement might be, on the whole body diagram, more clearly indicating which parts of the body you can zoom in on, like the brow in the demo video.
OMG IM READY FOR GAMEPLAY ASAP
This is so amazing !!! The level of customization is real. Can’t wait 🤗
Honestly I prefer this to simple dragging parts of the paras' bodies. In the Sims 4 it can be tricky to figure out which slider does what. I do hope you add some additional sliders or presets for the nose, though, so people with flatter/less defined nose bridges can be represented.
I am simply awed, guys! I love this!! SOOO many ways to customize the character that my head is simply spinning!! I also agree on the patent, btw. YOU ALL ROCK!!
Stupid patents! You've came up with an extremely novel way to handle it tho and I honestly like it a lot! The artwork on the sliders really fits into the game I think.
This is better honestly. I love this!
Omg this is Beautiful
I'd be filing the patent for this before someone else with other patents finds it and files themselves... win the battle and not the war and all that. But also to protect yourselves so something else doesn't need to be figured out. Whilst patents in this case only can new creations, it also pushes new innovation and I have to say I like this. Means you can make changes whilst seeing the whole body so you can check proportions constantly and I'm loving the fact you can see the bigger picture.
I AGREE!
Nice workaround! Seems like a better system overall, too! However, is there a way to tone down the "sunburn" on the Paras, though?
Thank you! Yes, this is customizable with the skin tone options
I was hoping for direct dragging on body parts at first, but this should work wonderfully as well! I appreciate being able to see all the points you can change instead of having to feel around like with the direct dragging, but it's still more intuitive and clear than only bar sliders (which can be hard to tell what you're changing by name alone) it looks good!!
Also I don’t know if this is in the game or not but it would be very cool to see sliders for leg height and foot rotation too!😋
WOW! I agree that it was intimidating at first sight, but when you started messing with specific sliders I was blown away. This feels much more intuitive than click-and-drag. That patent issue was a blessing in disguise.
I totally agree. Looked complicated at first but I picked it up super quickly. Should be easy for new players to learn.
Okay seriously....the fact that the para has a bulge cracks me up! No doubt a modder will add an extra slider to change the size of it 🤣
I wonder if it will already be a slider? Or at least an on/off thing. Trans male Paras wouldn't have a bulge.
I love this! The diagrams are awesome!
This will be great!!! Very excited!
Visually it's a bit intimidating at first, but watching the video it feels intuitive still. The white arrows on white lines are maybe slightly contributing to the confusion, but overall I think it works well and it wouldn't be too hard to get used to ! And I like that we can see both the extreme details we're adjusting AND how it looks overall on the whole body.
Can’t wait!
this is so awesome!! I can’t wait😍🎉
Honestly I really like the feel of the diagram more than the push and pull tactic. One thing that came to mind when I was watching the video was some modders for the sims will create custom sliders to make more realistic (or not so realistic) body proportions, but many times I'd never be able to find the darn spot for the slider because it was smaller than expected and eventually I just gave up. This will make those kinds of mods so much easier to use as well as take a lot of the mystery out that I felt the push and pull tactic did. So well done! I love it!
I can't wait! This looks great!
I prefer this to be honest!!! It looks amazing and easy to use😍😍
I’m so so excited!! 🥰🥰🥳
I’m so excited 😊
What a bummer on the patent but this is beyond amazing too!! It’s still easy to work with and has lots of customization! Keep it up!
This is the best character creator I've ever seen and this is only pre alpha 😱 I'm so impressed! And I love how the model looks, the style and shading is perfect. The only thing I'd add is a slider for eyebrow distance from each other because I have close together eyebrows which is usually hard to recreate in a simulator.
Thank you so much! It's actually possible to bring the eyebrows closer already! If you look closely at the Eyebrow Position at 0:31 in the video, you can change the distance. In the video, we only separate the eyebrows a bit more but if you look at the small grid there, there is still some allowance to bring the eyebrows closer. :)
I like the push/pull but this is better. Easier to fine tune. 👏 love ❤ it🤗
Sad about the patent issue but the alternative method still looks super easy to use and may actually be better! Thanks for all your hard work!
Gosh I’m so excited for this game.
I love this so much
This is beyond awesome, also the sound the slider makes is really satisfying to me haha
Actually, this is way easier. Cause now you can change things without the para moving or accidentally pulling the wrong thing! Could the part you're changing light up or something?
Good question! Right now body parts will be highlighted when hovering them to show that you can click on them for more detailed editing. Perhaps there could be a different kind of highlight when hovering the sliders! I'll report the idea to the team see what they think about this idea! Thanks for sharing!
Oh yes y’all are serving with this 🔥
Oh my god I am OBSESSED with the numbers, you can recreate things exactly with that, my perfectionist brain is satisfied 🙌🏻😍
Glad to hear this!
INSANE. exceeded expectations.
Very creative fix! I like it a lot
Okay, but actually, this is way more detailed than if you just tried to drag the body directly. I love this! Good work, guys.
Right? It's so CLEAR, you know exactly what is being changed by this. I love it.
This is so cool! It looks so detailed!
This is beyond anything I could’ve imagined, so good!!
Whoa, a Tuesday update? Unexpected, but happy!
wow this is so good!!!! im so excited!
I’m beyond shook.