Alex Massé, developer of the PC social simulation game Paralives shared new footage of the game's character creator this week, revealing that players will be able to utilize a color wheel when customizing their characters - a popular feature from between Paralives and The Sims franchise, with some calling Paralives a potential competitor for the long-running series. While The Sims has largely dominated the simulation game market for decades, the extensive customization options in Paralives may give the new title a fighting chance.
Paralives was first announced in 2019, billing itself as an extremely customizable simulation game. Development has been headed by Alex Massé, head of new indie developer Paralives Studio. The game has attracted the attention of many Sims fans who are hungry for games that build on what The Sims 4 has to offer - The Sims 4 has less content than previous entries, and many detailed customization options offered in the previous installment are absent. In The Sims 3, players could utilize a tool called Create a Style, where players use a color wheel to create custom blends of colors and patterns for everything from Sim outfits and hair to furniture. The Sims 4 also removed the sliders players could use to customize the facial features and body proportions of their Sims, instead having players click and drag features to adjust them. While some players found this more intuitive, many found it made it hard to be precise when it came to character design.
house building mechanics in Paralives, and it looks like they've included just as much detail when it comes to creating characters. The video shows many features of the Paramaker, including a color wheel and a large amount of detailed sliders. The color wheel can be used for both clothing and skin tone, alongside what PCGamesN refers to as "custom patterns," implying even more comprehensive options besides color are available. The slider usage in the video demonstrates how the player can control every aspect when it comes to their character's body and face - facial shape, muscle definition, height and more can all be adjusted. Other customization options include tattoos, mole and freckle placement, and body hair.
A lot of the features presented in this video are ones Sims 4 players have wanted since the release of the game. EA did recently The Sims 4 that added many new color options to the game's build mode, but new options for creating a Sim remain to be seen. Lots of players miss The Sims 3 color wheel and the customization it allowed for - many complain that only being able to utilize the color variations provided by EA makes creating color-coordinated outfits difficult and limits creativity.
It's no wonder why the possibilities presented in the latest Paralives video have piqued the interest of many Sims fans. Fans of The Sims franchise love it because it allows them to create characters and narratives any way they like, and lack of control over important things like height and color can be a a real detriment to players' enjoyment. While it's still unknown what the full Paralives experience will be like, it looks like it may offer a lot of players exactly what they're looking for.
Source: PCGamesN
