In our October 20 playtest, you’ll be able to slay enemies, defeat rival Vikings, and sail to dangerous lands...as a female.
Our female player character is in the game and ready to take down Loki. Similarly to the male player character, she will have her own customizable hairstyles and tattoos. However, she’ll use the same armor, weapons, Rune powers, and god alignment benefits as the male character.
To support the game design, we had to match and accommodate, one-for-one, the armor/wardrobe and weapon systems. She can do and use everything the male player can, so our first step was to fashion all existing armor to fit her proportions. Additionally, we needed to design a new base costume for her chest, and new chest armor versions for all available torso armor.
Having a female player character was always on our battle plan and we were able to get motion capture of both male and female characters during our initial recording last year. Every animation is then hand-edited to smooth out the movement and fit the gameplay. Like most things when designing a female player character, we’ve tried to avoid a stereotypical portrayal and aimed to make her movements every bit as agile and determined as the male’s.
Our art department’s primary goal was to make certain that she was strong and capable in appearance. At the same time, we also wanted her to maintain an attractive feminine quality - a beautiful woman that can kick your ass, and then bite the head off a lizard!
We really liked the portrayal of strong women in the show Vikings. Lagertha, portrayed by actor Katheryn Winnick, and Porunn, portrayed by actor Gaia Weiss were very inspirational. From the athletic anatomy side, we referenced various female crossfit enthusiasts, and UFC athletes like Holly Holm. Her facial features were comprised of various elements inspired by Polina Chernenko, Claire Holt, Scarlett Johansson, and others who possess what’s known as facial “angel beauty,” and who also possess golden ratio facial proportions. Hairstyle inspiration came from shows like Vikings, and Game of Thrones, and numerous fans of Norse styles and Viking reenactments.
The female player character is now in testing, which means you can expect to see her in the upcoming October 20 playtest. Click here to take the oath and claim your Closed Beta key before it’s too late.