Valor MMO · The character creator

The character creator: six steps to a character of your own

Making a character is the first thing a new player does, so it has to be understood in seconds by someone who has never seen it. Ours runs in six numbered steps with a live 3D preview on the left that can be turned and zoomed. Every choice is named as it is made, and the one choice that cannot be undone says so.

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Step one of six: a 3D character stands in a castle courtyard at sunset beside three cards for choosing a Human, Elven or Undead character. — Step 1, Ancestry.

1. Ancestry: say what a choice means

Three cards, three peoples. Each card says in a sentence who they are, and the hardcore choice spells out its consequence in red: death is permanent. A line under the cards says that ancestry cannot be changed later.

Step three of six: a close view of a blonde character beside pickers for hairstyle, hair color, face, skin tone and eye color. — Step 3, Customize, for a human.

3. Customize: every option has a name

Hairstyle, hair color, face, skin tone and eye color. The current choice is written beside each row, Swept back, Honey blonde, so the screen does not rely on color alone and a player can describe what they picked.

Step three of six for an elven character with a long silver braid, showing the same pickers with different hairstyles and amber eyes selected. — The same step for an elf.

One layout for every people

The same screen serves an elf, with different hair and the same controls in the same places. Learning the screen once is enough.

Step four of six: eight portraits of the character in different outfit colors, with Crimson selected. — Step 4, Colors.

4. Colors: pick by looking

Eight starting outfits shown on the player’s own character, not as abstract swatches. A note says clothing can be crafted and changed later in the world, so nobody agonises over it.

Step five of six: a name field containing Elara with the message Name is available, above a short summary titled Your path is yours. — Step 5, Name.

5. Name: checked as you type

The rules for a name are written under the field, and the game says whether a name is free before the player moves on, not after they press the last button.

Step six of six: a review list of the character’s name, ancestry, body, appearance and outfit color, each with an Edit link, a picture of the starting location, and a Create Character button. — Step 6, Review.

6. Review: everything on one screen, each line editable

The last step lists every choice with an Edit link beside it, shows where the character will start, and repeats the one permanent decision before the Create Character button.

More of the project

The rest of Valor

The game

A shared medieval world: a town, keeps to fight through, the sea, and tavern games.
The launcher

A Windows application we wrote to install, update and start the game.
Interface design

The title screen, character windows, conversations and mini-game screens.
The website

valormmo.com: guides, patch notes, accounts and a live server status.
Fifteen languages

The game, the launcher and the website, translated and checked, including Arabic.
Technology

What Valor is built with, from the game engine to the web server.