Female Gnome Avatars

[Domi]

BioWARE really hated gnomes. None of gnomes animations uses its own avatars, but female gnome mages got the shortest end of the stick imaginable. They got defaulted to Male Dwarven avatars, not halfling female counterpart like thieves and clerics and fighters did, but male damn dwarves. With beards and all.

 

So, seeing I changed Peony's avatar to the elven one I figured that gnomish female mages are mistreated in comparison, beard and all.

 

So, would you want the female gnome mages PC get the pweety avatars or would you rather stick with the dwarven males if you ever make un'?

[Kulyok]

Voted 'no'. I'd prefer even Peony with a gnomish avatar, to be honest, whether a female cleric gnome, or the original male dwarf one. If I wanted to romance an elf, I'd romance an elf. And if I romance a gnome, my male gnome PC will take her for what she is, a plump body, a gnomish avatar and a gorgeous nose, not some long-limbed pansy(not to mention that she'll be much taller than him). So, I'd prefer elven avatars for gnomish mage PC's and Peony as an optional component only, if it is possible.

[berelinde]

I'm with Kulyok on this one. I wouldn't object to Peony or any other female gnome wizard using a halfling cleric or a halfing cleric or thief animation, but I find it really jarring for a gnomish female to be represented by the most slender and graceful looking animation in the game, not to mention being as tall as a human female avatar. She's got her own style, and her own form of gracefulness, but it was really jarring for her to be referred to as petite and see her towering over her halfling suitor, the PC.

[Miloch]

Voted no too - the female gnome thief avatar would be more appropriate (it's a short hooded female animation). See my post here. I've already fixed this for Tutu in "Gnomes." I'd be interested in seeing how you handle it for PCs - maybe I'll swipe the code .

[Eleima]

I'm going to have to agree with Kulyok and Berelinde, for the reasons they stated. Height-wise, a female elf avatar just doesn't compute to me, I guess.

[MrsCake]

I accidentaly hit 'Yep' on the poll because small, two button polls confuse me, but I'd also prefer her not have the elven avatar.

[Jenova]

She can have an elven avatar but please make it an optional component if it really must be done.

I voted 'no' because I prefer to see her as a bearded man than an elf, it's just the size matter, really. But on the other hand a halfling avatar would suit her perfectly I think.

 

And there is one more thing - I have a hunch she will be have a far to appealing personality to care about her looks, I'm sure my 'manly' cast of optional heroes won't care

[Domi]

Unfortunately her looks are really-really-really bad, and it shows quite strongly on the inventory page, where you have a close up of the avatar. You have to see it to believe that no amount of personality would make a fat, bald, bearded dwarf into a playful female gnome.

 

If someone could possibly scale female elven avatras 30% and use say Sarevok's handle that is totally unnecessary in IWD2, which I agree would be a huge job (!) that would have been an ideal solution. I don't think I can do that, though, so I have to go with what I have. And the deafult avatar is absolutely unacceptable - trust me on this one.

 

Kelsey uses an elven avatar, and I see no one asking to do this optional.

 

My problem with using halflings avatars: they are distinctively halfling, with huge arms and feet, and they do not have mages' animations for cloaks etc, which the elven ones do.

 

Height-wise gnomes are between elves and halflings, and according to my Player Handbook, page 13, there is nothing short and stocky about them. They are simply smaller version of the elves, with wider faces from that drawing; not at all like the dwarves, who are indeed noticeably stocky.

 

The other problem is that hooded halfling avatar does not show her hair color which is reffered to a number of times in the mod.

 

I'd be interested in seeing how you handle it for PCs - maybe I'll swipe the code

 

There is nothing really to it. Check that PC is a female gnome mage and cast the appropriate spell. IWD2 being IWD2, I also add a small piece of code to recast the same spell every time the character is ressurected, as it switches the avatar to the bearded dwarf.

[berelinde]

You can always change the avatar of a saved game using DaleKeeper2. Unfortunately, that would only work for Peony.

 

I'd really rather not have every gnome or even every gnomish female mage looking like an elf. If this were done at all, I would prefer it to be a separate component, or even a standalone mod.

 

In my admittedly biased opinion, the difference in the size of the hands and feet is far less noticeable than the difference of a foot and a half of height.

 

Also, folks, you need to keep in mind that IWD2 is not BG2. In IWD2, the "paperdoll" is nothing more than the avatar against a dark grey background. It is no larger or more detailed than the in-game avatar. It's still a 1/2" to 3/4" high sprite, depending on the size of your monitor.

[Domi]

No, every gnomish female wouldn't. If people don't want it for their female PCs, I am not including it, optional or not. But Peony is another matter, and she's not a male dwarf.

[berelinde]

Not a biggie. Peony can be changed with DaleKeeper2. Not everybody minds short ladies

[Domi]

That's for those who haven't seen the travesty that BioWARE made. That's how your female gnome mage looks like:

 

http://members.shaw.ca/domi/gnomeav1.jpg

 

Only BioWARE in its drive to cut the costs could have f'd up so badly as to call *this* a LADY. Yeah, I know, Gaider hates gnomes, but that's with all due respect is a tad too much.

[Jenova]

Gnomes may be between halflings and elfs but still are more like the first ones in my opinion.

 

As berelinde said, big feet don't ldraw so much attention as a taller avatar, but the choice is yours of course Domi, your the boss

[berelinde]

I don't think that there was ever any question about whether or not dwarvish male avatars are ugly. And I can definitely see not wanting to use them for a gnomish female that you'd like to make romanceable.

 

But you didn't post a picture of a halfling avatar, which I recall as being rather nice. It's petite, and it's most decidedly female.

 

And you're the one doing the CRE files, so you if you want a 5'5", long legged gnome, that's certainly your prerogative, but it did make me scratch my head a bit when we got to a certain LT that references the disparity in size between the human and the gnome, because there wasn't enough to notice.

 

I'd like to explain my viewpoint, because it really does look like I'm trolling. I'm not. I got all excited when I saw that there was going to be a romanceable female from one of the short races, maybe get a little face-time for one of the lesser-played races and classes, but then, the avatar was just another elf, which was a bit of a let-down, because with her blue hair, it really does highlight just how tall the avatar is. But this thread isn't about what's going to happen with Peony, because she's your baby, and she comes out of the box with whatever makes you happy.

 

Now, if only they could do something to keep the human females from looking like pale half-orcs, we'd be good. Who knew they all played for the NFL?

[Domi]

But you didn't post a picture of a halfling avatar, which I recall as being rather nice. It's petite, and it's most decidedly female.

 

They don't have the wizardly animations for cloaks etc, and the only one that could have been suitable with no distinctive huge feet and muscular arms, has an unremovable hood that will close off her hair. That's my logic behind it.

 

As I said, if someone scales down elven female wizard avatars 30-40%, I'll dance a happy dance and include them for Peony.

 

I love the idea of short races as romanceable. Yes, in hindsight, I should have made Peony a halfling, and Nikosh - a gnome, to make the avatars fit better, but it so happened that Nikosh background was written and embedded before I wrote Peony. I forgot that I have to take into account the avatars availability.

 

I want Peony to look petite, fragile, pleasently plump and have a nice bulbous nose. But the only sets of female avatars with all the appropriate animations and which do not permanently cover her hair are elven or human, and elven are shorter.