At one point I think the plan was that, if you take over an existing NPC character, you would just be them. There wouldn't be any character creation step because they already exist - now, I don't know if that's changed with the recent updates; it's certainly possible, although it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to me. It seems strange that, for example, somebody who's been the mayor of a town for 15 years would suddenly look different because now they've been "inhabited" by a player. I guess it's really a balance between "realism" and allowing people to fully choose who they want to be and what they want that person to look like. In the end though, every character is going to get old and ugly eventually... if they even live that long. :P

They have stated a few time that there will be no customization of NTC's Name, appearance etc.

That's the trade off for getting a character that's already "leveled up"

Why not just allow an optional customization screen for your offspring? Of course that screen would need to show them as adult, not as an infant. It would allow continuity while also allowing customization of your next possible character.

Well here is my concern. During Expositition where many if not most players will jump into a NTC there will be no little to no customization of the NTC available. And the children have already been produced so there is not chance to customize there either. So multiple generations down the line there is still zero chance to customize a character at all, and all this just because you pledged a higher tier. I think 'never' being able to customize a character is way to harsh of a punishment for participating in the Exposition and going with the NTC.

I would assume when they start the Exposition they get to create the look of their main person and the others would be based off of it. They may not get the age they want but can pick characteristics wanted.

That IS the trade off. If you want to jump in without doing "the work" you don't get to pick what the character looks like.

Risk vs Reward. Everything will have an up side and a down side. If people got to customize NTC's nobody would play a 15 year old that actually has to learn skills.

Non traditional character.

I assume you can alter the looks of any additional children you have, so if you start off as a mayor with a look you don't like seek out a new spouse that does have the looks you want and have some more kids. Then choose one of those kids as your heir.

All of us that will participate in Expo will influence how our future families look through Pre-alpha experience.

As for hoards of people jumping into NTC's, that can't possibly be the case on launch day as those people will not have any story points with which to take over an NTC. They can either be a ward of the state, which I assume will have extensive customization options, or deciding a family and perhaps being allowed to tweak small things on the teen you are taking over. Call it puberty or something idk lol.

Posted By Kaynadin at 07:05 AM - Tue Mar 28 2017

I assume you can alter the looks of any additional children you have, so if you start off as a mayor with a look you don't like seek out a new spouse that does have the looks you want and have some more kids. Then choose one of those kids as your heir.

As far as I'm aware we haven't heard anything about being able to customise the appearance of our children, but I hope it will be the case. Especially as it will be more like than not that we'd have to choose to jump into an heir outside of the narrow 3 year "standard character selection" window where customisation is allowed.

And if it's not I'd be mighty curious to see how well the game handles making sure all your children all don't look like clones of each other - because if the default is setting all the sliders exactly halfway between each parent then that's exactly what's gonna happen (unless you make a point of having a different mother/father for each child).

And even if they randomised the sliders to avoid that both scenarios still come with the nightmare situation known all too well by anyone who has ever played The Sims 2 or up - the unavoidance of fugly offspring. Randomisers have the uncanny knack of finding just the right way to combine the features of two utterly beautiful characters , to make the most butt-ugly child possible.

Posted By McClane at 3:54 PM - Sun Aug 21 2016

They have stated a few time that there will be no customization of NTC's Name, appearance etc.

Untrue we do in fact get too choose our names. at least the expo people do. as far as appearence goes and other things that hasnt been revealed and probably not decided on. As yes we get to be "advanced" but were also going to be starting the game at this point so continuity isnt broken if they change appearance becuase no time has passed to be broken|

excuse my spelling im shit at typing

I never thought about it that way. I assumed character creation would be handled in three different ways(NTC, ChildCode, and Ward).

NTCs would already be established within the world, so players jumping into them would just pick up where the NPC script let off. Their genetics would be set, but their cosmetic looks could be changed through play.

ChildCoders would have a limited amount of genetic customization (such as eye color, height, skin tone, etc) based upon the foundation of the parent's genetics. So while not giving full customization, players would have some input.

Last would be Wards, where the ambiguity of their parental genetics would allow the players to have the widest range of customization, while only being limited by the genetics of the Tribe/race/whatever of their character.

So a question the OP asks is: are ChildCode starts considered NTC starts? I remember SBS saying they weren't a while ago, but remembered some kind of discussion on the matter, so I'm not entirely sure. My guess is there are the three different starts, but I could be wrong.

However, I'm pretty sure expo start will be different from release start, as the purpose is to flesh out the world and establish the players within the history.

Posted By Sharielane at 06:02 AM - Tue Mar 28 2017

Posted By Kaynadin at 07:05 AM - Tue Mar 28 2017

I assume you can alter the looks of any additional children you have, so if you start off as a mayor with a look you don't like seek out a new spouse that does have the looks you want and have some more kids. Then choose one of those kids as your heir.

As far as I'm aware we haven't heard anything about being able to customise the appearance of our children, but I hope it will be the case. Especially as it will be more like than not that we'd have to choose to jump into an heir outside of the narrow 3 year "standard character selection" window where customisation is allowed.

And if it's not I'd be mighty curious to see how well the game handles making sure all your children all don't look like clones of each other - because if the default is setting all the sliders exactly halfway between each parent then that's exactly what's gonna happen (unless you make a point of having a different mother/father for each child).

And even if they randomised the sliders to avoid that both scenarios still come with the nightmare situation known all too well by anyone who has ever played The Sims 2 or up - the unavoidance of fugly offspring. Randomisers have the uncanny knack of finding just the right way to combine the features of two utterly beautiful characters , to make the most butt-ugly child possible.

Well they have shown the character customization screenshots that show sliders to choose whether a feature is more like your mother or more like your father. So I'd have to assume that is used somewhere in game, and it isn't for the orphan crowd that gets to look however they want to.

Posted By SirGalahad at 9:05 PM - Tue Mar 28 2017

Posted By McClane at 3:54 PM - Sun Aug 21 2016

They have stated a few time that there will be no customization of NTC's Name, appearance etc.

Untrue we do in fact get too choose our names. at least the expo people do. as far as appearence goes and other things that hasnt been revealed and probably not decided on. As yes we get to be "advanced" but were also going to be starting the game at this point so continuity isnt broken if they change appearance becuase no time has passed to be broken|

There's a difference though between what goes down in Expo and how the game will normally play after Launch. What happens during Expo isn't really relevant here at all, especially as the OP is referring to starting as an NTC during regular gameplay, not the special circumstances surrounding Expo.

With the recent inclusion of NTC characters, will there be any customization of that character before you take over? I know during the rebirth with the new spark of life, there will be some customization available but I don't know about taking over a NTC. I hope there will be.

This is the way I see it;

Standard/Typical Start: Start young with family support and limited customisation, but in exchange of minimal skills and assets because of your youth.

Ward: Start younger giving you a head start on working on your skills and a greater range of customisation, but in exchange of lack of initial family support.

NTC: Choose a mature character already equipped with relevant skill/knowledge, a trade, assets and a family - possibly even with some heirs ready-made giving you a head-start in insuring your legacy, but in exchange of any customisation whatsoever - other than which is available within the game-world itself (from what I understand it's possible to change your name, I'm assuming your first name, at the courthouse).

^^^As you can see the lack of customisation is the one downside that balances out all the advantages that you get when choosing a NTC. It's really a rather fair exchange, considering you'll only have to put up with the look of your character for that one life-time only as you can control the look of your Heir by choosing to child-contract with someone with a look you prefer. It's really all about choosing the options that is more important to you. If customisation is more important, then go Standard or even Ward.