OpenArena Message Boards

From user's standpoint:  :shifty:

The one area of OA that feels *really* dated is its character creation screen.
I mean, you choose a skin, with color variations, and that's all. Would be enough, but:

- While currently changing the head is possible, it's a complex task. I only see Grady! really use this.
- You cannot rotate your character to check how it looks from behind.
- You cannot check your character's taunt animation and voice.
- To see animations you have to go back to settings - controls.

I suggest reworking that screen to:
1. Add a heads selector band: default + all heads of all other skins. Frankensteining made easy.
2. Add a voice selector: default + all voices of all other skins
3. Add buttons "play random animation" and "play random sound"
4. Make the character follow the mouse pointer with its aiming (currently you can observe how it looks while aiming vertically by going to settings - controls - look - look up/down).

Is this even doable?
What are your opinions?

P.S. I hope you could preserve the fabulous Penguin at least as a variation of the Common Everydude skin. I love his voice  ::)

P.P.S. Also, Quake 3 had that nifty mirror to check yourself right at the start of the very first arena in single player.

Some things may be doable (e.g. mirror in introduction map, ways to better see your character while selecting it).... but I don't know how much frankensteining should be made easy. Sometimes results are really ugly.

With some OA 0.8.x characters changing head does not even work as expected as a few models do have the head as a single thing with the body (maybe with a second head hidden inside the body)... however I think official OA3 characters will not use that trick anymore.