Creation Kit – On Faces

Kris Takahashi Other No Comments

One thing Bethesda did remarkably well was diversifying Skyrim’s faces.  If during the opening sequence, the guards rounded up Ulfric and his Stormcloaks for an old fashioned police lineup, you would have little trouble distinguishing Ulfric from Ralof or Lokir from the Dragonborn.  Well, maybe you might.  Yet I do think there’s an obvious distinction between NPCs of similar size and race, such as Uthgerd and Mjoll.  And you certainly wouldn’t confuse a demure lady like Ysolda with a strong Nord woman like Olfina Gray-Mane.

Although it’s a stretch to say the faces are memorable, they definitely have a uniqueness when placed side by side.  It’s quite an accomplishment considering the number of NPCs in the game, although some of the results –  *cough* Benor *cough*  – almost make you wonder if they were adjusting the facial sliders at random.

Similarly, the goal was to make the faces in the mod unique, if only upon closer examination.   When I construct a face, I really only have two rules.

1.  Choose mouths, lips, and eyes you haven’t used before.
2.  Do not make them all purty.

The first is easy.  The second, not so much.  Still, it’s important to resist any inclination to make them attractive unless it’s an essential component of their character.  The key is diversity.  Trying to create a world of beautiful people will typical result in a world of clones, because it’s very easy to fall into a subconscious trap of making all the NPCs conform to your standards of beauty.

All that being said, it’s evident I have a problem with #2, but only with women.  Compare, for instance, the sliders on the following two images for Olivia Meronin and Hjoromir.

The slider on her nose is long and high, but many of Skyrim’s nose types tend to be flat.  Her eyes, jaw, and mouth are extremely balanced, and the mouth is actually adjusted to fit better with the contour of her face.  Ultimately, little about her facial features is adventurous, yet I had no problem giving her a fancy shmancy tattoo, cat eyes, and other affectations, so clearly this wasn’t the product of laziness.

Evidently, it seems with Olivia I was hesitant to shift the bars away from the center, despite the fact that appearance factors little into her character.  She’s essentially asexual.  I had no problem going to town on poor Hjoromir, however, whose facial settings look like a small child fiddling with a graphic equalizer.

So it’s an ongoing battle.  The point isn’t to make the NPCs ugly, but rather, to create variation.  And if there’s a few Benors in the bunch, I’ll live with the results.  Lately I have tried to make a stronger emphasis on screwing around with the sliders, especially with females.  After all, It’s better to have a  few neanderthals in the group than a lineup of the usual suspects.

Character Profile – Okapi

Kris Takahashi Character Profiles 1 Comment

Misguided fools always do.  Mean well.  Yes, things in the pit do get…gory. But in the end, there’s a difference between hurt and pain.
–Okapi

Before I started the mod, one of my goals this year was to finish Infinite Jest.  Needless to say, I failed.  I want to blame the mod, but to be frank, I blame the book.  The book is a bit of a grind.  Now, while I find David Foster Wallace to be funny, thoughtful, and at times inspiring, the story itself makes me want to fling said book out the window and go back to marathoning porn.  To this day I don’t know if that represents a personal failing or the author’s, but I choose to blame it on him, seeing as he’s dead and can’t defend himself.

Given our shaky history, it would seem counter-intuitive for me to want to read one of his essays.  Essays are by nature extremely didactic(read: boring), as they’re typically sans all the witty humor and lingual acrobatics an author performs in his novels.  Still, I’m glad I picked up Consider the Lobster, because the whole thing was a fascinating read, and something to draw back on when building the character Okapi, the degenerate pit fight gambler.

The premise of the article is simple.  Is it inhumane to cook a lobster?  The argument Wallace makes is that the answer is unknowable, because the answer, er, boils down to whether a lobster feels pain.  And because it’s impossible to know whether a lobster feels pain, your answer reflects more about you than it reveals about the scruples of your local seafood buffet.

For humans, the purpose of pain is obvious.  Whether it’s a knife in the gut or a deep-seeded regret, pain more than anything else molds experience.   When athletes talk about their career, they remember the heartbreaking loss more than the glory.  When old timers reminisce about high school crushes, they’ll talk most vividly about the one that got away.  Pain cuts deeper because it’s wired deeper.  Grog knows not to eat rocks because the last time it gave him a tummy ache.  However, none of this would be applicable if not for memory and our concept of time.   Without an understanding of the past and a fear of what might happen in the future, there’s nothing to stop Grog from jugging down a bottle of drain cleaner  while petting a king cobra.

For animals, memory isn’t memory.  It’s a miasma of circadian rhythms, Pavlovian cues, and funky hormones.   The less complex the brain, the more unreliable it gets.  At some point, the act of avoiding pain isn’t so much a decision as it is a reflex.  And like a hand jumping back from a hot stove, the body works on its own.  The mind is on a need to know basis.  The pain only comes after, to forge the memory so we don’t touch the stove a second time.  This is the basis of Okapi’s argument for why the pit fights are kosher.  Animals get hurt, but they don’t feel pain. For animals, everything is a reflex.

Obviously, such an argument is relatively shallow, something a mother kitty said to assuage her child.  Wolves are not lobsters.  Moreover, feeling pain has other functions besides memory, as it plays an integral role in recuperation.  A wolf who hurts its leg may not understand it has to rest, but it will likely avoid chasing Red Riding Hoods because the pain is sharp.  It won’t remember the experience or tell its grandwolfs about it, but in that moment, it feels the pain every bit as much Okapi does after a bad day at the pits.  Having no memory doesn’t equate to no pain.  What it does mean is that an animal is far more likely to hurt itself a second time.

Which brings us full circle to the character herself.  Okapi, you see, is a gambler.  And the fundamental trait of all degenerate gamblers is an inability to learn from their mistakes.  They double down and let it ride, all the way to the poorhouse.  They spend years trying to mine their way out of the gutter, building back their bankroll only to have it collapse on a single bet.

Okapi may argue that wolves have no memory, but in the end, it’s hers that’s a cause for concern.

Meet the Actor – Arisen1 (Stephanie Young)

Kris Takahashi Meet the Actor 1 Comment

EDITOR’S NOTE: Stephanie’s schedule prevented her from finishing the role Fjona, which has since been cast by Alice Bell. Her voice will live on, however, through the NPC Alisen, and her songs will live on through the countless bards that play them.

Bards are cool.  This is an undeniable fact.  It’s mostly because they play music.  In a mod full of hundreds of thousands of words, music provides a simple yet elegant diversion.  Music does not require a PhD to unscramble complex metaphors, or even require half of your attention.  It doesn’t even require an understanding of the local language.  It transcends language.  As a wise degenerate once said, music is like, poetry for the soul, man.

There have been two such poets that have lent their talents to this mod, and together they have provided the soundtrack that sits in the column to the right.  The invaluable Arisen1 not only composed Dusk on Anvil Harbor and many of the vanilla instrumentals, but she also has voiced a handful of characters, including all of the mod’s children.  On this day, she lent her time to answer questions from yours truly, and not all of them inane.  Just most of them.

Introduce yourself. You know, name, location, belly button type, whether you snore in your sleep.
Not too much to say about me.  I’m just a young woman from the southeast corner of the USA, who happens to be interested in the arts.  I started out voice acting from back in the day when I used to make flash animations, and have kept it as a steady hobby since then.  Besides voice acting, I am into any other art, like digital and traditional art, animation, 3D modeling, writing and music composition.  It’s hard to name a favorite.  I just love them all!!

Hmm…and as for belly button type, I’m an innie, lol.  And I’ve been wondering if I’ve been a snorer for my entire life.  Maybe if I set up a recording device next time I sleep…hmm. :)

Let’s start with the music. Talk about your background and training, if any.
I’ve actually been singing since I was just a toddler.  In fact, I could make up my own harmonies at age four.  I am self taught on the piano, and have been tinkering around on it since I was little.  I feel like musical talent sort of runs in my family; even my parents first met in chorus class.
I was involved in a lot of choirs and music theaters growing up, so that’s where I honed my acting/singing skills.

Also, when I was 15, my dad introduced me to Adobe Audition.  And that was the first DAW I worked with, and the gateway for me to learn and build upon my skills as a composer.

What are some of your favorite video game music songs/soundtracks of all time?
Growing up, I loved Disney soundtracks more than anything else.  And I still do, really.  I had the pleasure of meeting my all time favorite Disney composer, Alan Menken, and almost had a heart attack after shaking his hand.  But to be honest, all I listen to are soundtracks…from pretty much everything.  However, I listen to orchestral metal from time to time too.  I’m a long time fan of the band, Nightwish.  :D

What software, instruments, cowbells and whistles did you use to make the vanilla and original music?
I used FL Studio and good ol’ Audacity to mix, record and compose all of the pieces for the mod.  And for the drum and flute, I played on a djembe and a bamboo flute.

If you could have one wish, but in exchange every piece of music you will ever hear forever is sung by Lurbuk the Orc bard, would you wish for something, or just wish this deal had never been made?
I think that poor Lurbuk’s talent is underrated, and with some proper vocal coaching, he could actually become famous!

However, in exchange, I would wish for the ability to shape-shift(because I’ve always wanted to be a shape-shifter) and I would require that I became Lurbuk’s vocal coach, to ensure he would never sing one sour note again.  :)

Talk about how difficult it was creating the accompanying instrumentals for Luaffyn’s Band, and your overall happiness with the result.
As far as performing…that was the easy part.  Luckily, I had the different parts mostly down in one take.  As far as the editing though, that is where it got a bit more complex.  Certain things like changing pitches to match the original music, and also removing unwanted sounds.  It’s a somewhat tedious process, but I am happy with the end result.  :)

For “Dusk on Anvil Harbor” I basically gave you an apple and a bag of flour and said, “Here, now you make pie.” Talk about the process of cooking this musical pie.
Well, first I studied and gathered information from an existing piece as a template.  I listened to find the BPM(beats per minute) of that piece, and then tried to replicate its overall tone using my own melodies.  Once I had the beat and base melody down, the rest of the process was very simple, and quite fun to make.

Let’s move on to acting. Everyone loves Beatrice and Urzub, but voicing a nonsensical character like Beatrice must have been challenging. Talk about what difficulties you had, and what you enjoy about her, if anything at all.
She was a very fun character to act, but at the same time, challenging.  She jumbled many words into the same sentence a few times, so it was tough bunching so many consonants together, and then trying to make it sound eloquent at the same time.  But it was a fun challenge, and I really enjoy her character.  She kind of does her own thing, and doesn’t pay attention much to what Urzub thinks about it.  Kind of like myself, actually.

Having voiced Thorolf, Henrietta, and Morrigan, I think it’s safe to say you are my go to child voice. Do you enjoy doing child characters? How is it different than performing an adult role?
Child voices are as equally enjoyable to me as the adult roles.  They allow for me to put on a voice that I never knew I had, and it really brings out the whole creative aspect of voice acting.  Besides that, it’s actually too much different from an adult role.  :)

Cats, dogs, or Dwarven spiders?
Cats, all the way. Not even dwarven spiders can compare!  I mean, it’s not even a close match.  :D

If you’ve played the mod, do you have a favorite character outside the ones you’ve voiced, and why? If you haven’t played the mod, why are you such a horrible person?
Haha!  It’s hard to name a favorite, because I really enjoy every one of them.  But, I have actually developed a nice bond with the character, Qa’Dojo.  That crazy Khajiit is one of the coolest followers I’ve had. :)

What type of character do you typically role play?
When role playing with friends, I generally go for something random, like a traveling, singing minstrel warrior, lol.

If dragons could sing, what would be the effect of a musical shout?
Oooh, that’s a tough one.  First of all, I might just die of happiness were there ever to be a singing dragon shout.  If anything, not only would it shatter glass, but it would also shatter bone…and maybe a few buildings as well.  :D

What other projects are you working on? Where else can people hear your talents?
I’ve been working on vocal for a music collaboration.  But besides that, I have a few voice acting projects, as well as a fully voiced follower mod that I’m currently working on.  So, I will have a lot of stuff to present in the near future.  For anyone who wishes to listen to my music, you can go to my Newgrounds account here or my Youtube account here.

Do you have a favorite alchemy ingredient?
I think I like jazbay grapes the best, just because of their name…sounds almost musical. :)

What do you think of the curriculum at the Bards College in Solitude?
It is just way too easy.  I think it’s because (speaks in high elf voice) they will let anyone into the Bard’s College nowadays.

Is banging your head against a desk in a slightly rhythmic manner considered music?
Only when accompanied by a few painful “ouches” that just happen to be in tune.  :)

What other instruments would you like to see in Skyrim?
Ooh…too many to count.  At the very least, we need a harp and a dulcimer.  But what I really would love to see in the game is a bagpipe!  :D

What kind of mic do you use and what difficulties did you run into making your recording environment?
I use MXL 990 condenser mics for most of my recording.  As for the environment, it took years to create a perfect recording studio environment in the basement, and most of the stuff that we have is too technologically advanced for me to use.  So for me, the recording process is quite simple.  I just plug in my computer into my mixer and I’m good to go.

What sort of character type, mod or elsewhere, would you like to voice/play next?
I hope one day to voice a sexy seductress/temptress mod.  I just love putting on that sexy temptress voice.  :)