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[AyaisMUsikWhore]

Thank You 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Black men have very vibrant hairstyles in which cornrows are everything short of extinct, but it might as well be. It's so corny and the dead need to stop this

 

[Zakalwe]

They could start by adding more black options before they take them away tbh

This.

Hair options in most character builders are usually really lacking, I'd much rather they bring all character types to an equal amount than remove options.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

Please, I want some bantus, at least two kinds of dreads, and a pony hawk.

 

[Brannon]

You know how there are code jams or game jams where programmers and devs just go hog wild and make a bunch of code and games for a couple of days straight for the hell of it?

There should be a 'Hair Jam', where devs just go hog wild and make a bunch of black hair styles in the most popular engines and hand them out for free or a very small price. In a couple of days you'd have a plethora of hairstyles to choose from. This could totally work!

 

[Icyflamez96]

hit me up with that shadow fade fam

 

[Lime]

Reminds me of Evan Narcisse's excellent The Natural article from some years ago.

Invisibility Blues also had a good analysis of character customization options in terms of race

And some Swedish university students did a study on hair as well from a somewhat technical perspective:

 

[DAHGAMING]

Arnt you happy witha slick wet look combover complete with side parting?

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Black hairstyles are lacking in just about every game it seems.

For my part, I'd love the super long, down-to-the-backside hair like mine. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is the only one with this option that I've found.

I always laugh when the "long" hair option is like, a puny ponytail or unbound but barely past the shoulders. Bitch please, that ain't long hair!

 

[TheSun]

Like, cornrows are the last haircut I thought I'll ever see in a Pokémon game.

I mean, if they have that then at least they must have a buzz cut option.

Nope. Just cornrows.

Here's hoping for character creators to have more options available .

 

[udivision]

Black hair is the only racially unique hair. Developers make hair, and then they have to make "black" hair. It's kind of weird to think about. I guess cornrows are the go-to because they have to make sure the option screams "yes, this is for black people."

Ironically enough, I don't think the poofy, curly hairstyle that was popular among young white guys in the 2000's has ever shown up in a video game. It'd be a rendering nightmare I guess.

 

[Warablo]

I feel for people everytime I try and make a white guy in Nba 2k.

 

[Data West]

I feel like video games are the only place I see cornrows anymore in 2017

 

[Goose_Se7en]

As a caramel skin Afro-Latino these devs also need to include different types of skin colors. When making my character in Ghost Recon Wildlands I had to go with the brother variant because there was no character with my skin tone or a close proximity to my facial features. The Division was the worst, the Hispanic choice looked Mexican and I'm like, I don't fucking look like that.

I don't mind when a narrative driven game has a character that does not look like me, but I do find it annoying when a game has a character creation tool (especially one in which you have to choose from pre-made characters) and they do not have a model to properly represent you. White folks don't have this issue. Latinos should not either.

 

[MaximumSpider]

Am I Kawhi Leonard? No! It's 2017 man. Cornrows are not a popular black hairstyle. Developers stop putting this shit into games.

I mean is this shit easy to render or what? Do developers just forget and then they're like oh shit black people I forgot...

You know how much maintenance cornrows take? Who's taking that shit into combat?

God damn.

Looking at you Pokemon.
Baby steps I guess...

 

[Aizen.S.Kennedy]

Real talk I just want dreads that aren't extra short or long but look like their all connected. I'd pay good money to have my dreads dangle separately and blow in the wind.

 

[RedSwirl]

What would happen if a game had some kind of "curlyness scale" where you could just take any hair style and scale it with totally straight on one end of the spectrum and afro curly on the other end of the scale?

 

[Nephtes]

Things are getting better, but there are a few technical limits still.

I think this will stop being an issue when the PS5 is out, similar to how curly styles will also be more plentiful.

Though some of this is definitely just a lack of developers caring to even try.

This has been my beef with character creators in games...
No curly hair options....Or at least not ones that are an accurate representation of curly/wavey hair...

The whole reason I played Mass Effect as Fem Shep in the first place was because I tried to make an accurate space me... And couldn't find a hair style that came close to the way my hair looks.

"Fuck it! I can't be me? I'm going be a lady!" D:

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

Please, I want some bantus, at least two kinds of dreads, and a pony hawk.

for reference devs:

I threw in a bonus head wrap for hat options.

 

[zelas]

Can we also get more than two skin options too? Black people come in lots of varieties between vaguely ethnic and literal black.

 

[Brannon]

As a caramel skin Afro-Latino these devs also need to include different types of skin colors. When making my character in Ghost Recon Wildlands I had to go with the brother variant because there was no character with my skin tone or a close proximity to my facial features.

This also. It's such an easy solution too; just give a color slider/palette. There are millions of skin tones but the devs in their infinite wisdom think that offering only 4.

Out of FUCKING MILLIONS.

Is the greatest choice. They're freaking artists; they should know better.

 

[JusDoIt]

Nah. I wanna see more black hair options, not less.

 

[Cleve]

How else am I going to play Wildlands as Riff Raff?

Kidding aside, if you're going to sell character creation as a game feature, you really should put more effort in to it than most AAA gaming. More options are needed, not less.

 

[Jocund]

Preach

 

[RiverKwai]

Not to "me too" this shit, but asian faces are also in dire need of an upgrade. I generally try to get pretty close to myself in games, and most of the time that isn't real possible. I'm not Dracula.

 

[Con_Smith]

I'm tired of the only black skin options being a choice between Wesley Snipes and Micheal Blackston.

 

[TetraGenesis]

Arnt you happy witha slick wet look combover complete with side parting?

Oh god, I cringed just visualizing that. Hahaha

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Cornrows with no hangtime is a black create a character classic.

lol...you ain't lying.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

Speaking of skin, it's a shame how the white people in Horizon: Zero Dawn look fine, but the skin on the black people looks waxy as hell.
https://youtu.be/wwzmInYpPdA?t=70

Actually, looking back at it, that Asian man's skin has that same waxy look to it too.

 

[Jocund]

Not to "me too" this shit, but asian faces are also in dire need of an upgrade. I generally try to get pretty close to myself in games, and most of the time that isn't real possible. I'm not Dracula.

By all means, "me too" it. Games have a problem with faithfully representing any race that isn't white.

 

[grimmiq]

Remember when they gave Barrett from FF7 cornrows?

When were Cornrows popular? I vaguely recall a surge of white people with Cornrows in the mid 2000s, so I assume late 90s/early 2000s?

 

[Brannon]

Speaking of skin, it's a shame how the white people in Horizon: Zero Dawn look fine, but the skin on the black people looks waxy as hell.
https://youtu.be/wwzmInYpPdA?t=70

Actually, looking back at it, that Asian man's skin has that same waxy look to it too.

Soul Glo brah.

 

[Leafhopper]

I do agree with you man. I say a few times "We don't all have that same hair style, at least give more options."

That said in more recent (kinda recent) characters, I do like funky student from P4.

 

[PSqueak]

Eh no they should keep it. Just add more hairstyles. I was wearing braids every now and then 2 years ago when my hair was way longer.

Yep, this is it, more options is always better than less.

 

[disappeared]

Another reason why hair mods in Bethesda games are always a welcome addition.

 

[DirgeExtinction]

Why not, instead of removing black hair options, you add more? BOOM.

 

[NeonBlack]

And add more then the unkempt dreadlock choice.They always look horrid.

 

[Sou Da]

I'd say things are getting better on this front. Saw a dude in Horizon with a really good style of dreads and with MEA Bioware finally has passable afro hair.

 

[R0ckman]

Go easy on the devs, our people seem to quickly move on with whats in. They may have a hard time keeping up.

 

[Lime]

Speaking of skin, it's a shame how the white people in Horizon: Zero Dawn look fine, but the skin on the black people looks waxy as hell.
https://youtu.be/wwzmInYpPdA?t=70

Actually, looking back at it, that Asian man's skin has that same waxy look to it too.

The hair tech is really impressive and something that would be amazing to see in other games with black hair.

I really wish Aloy would've been something other than white, although that might run into the whole 'native with bow' thing.

 

[dakun]

but how else would i be able to play as Allen Iverson in every game??

But seriously. I love how Cornrows look. Not everyone can pull it off, but i'd prefer it to still be one of my options.
And yes more hair diversity for all races and genders would be great.

 

[Dabanton]

GTAV online has some good black female hair options.

In fact the female hairstyles are better than any of the male ones.

 

[Lime]

Imagine if this was the baseline in terms of quality

:O

 

[EDarkness]

Am I Kawhi Leonard? No! It's 2017 man. Cornrows are not a popular black hairstyle. Developers stop putting this shit into games.

I mean is this shit easy to render or what? Do developers just forget and then they're like oh shit black people I forgot...

You know how much maintenance cornrows take? Who's taking that shit into combat?

God damn.

Damn, I'm glad someone said it. Pisses me off that there are few options for black characters in the first place, and then one of the options we have is cornrows. Ugh.

 

[michaelius]

I think the root of the problem is that while graphics and technology have advanced, hair rendering still looks weird.

I wonder what will be the game that finally nails the way hair looks.

Hair simulation is extremely computation heavy. Witcher 3/Tomb Raider takes around 20% fps hit just for main character.

 

[Ivan 3414]

Cornrows with no hangtime is a black create a character classic.

Lmao. That's so true

 

[bobbychalkers]

Imagine if this was the baseline in terms of quality

:O

Her hair physics tho.....
Bruh

 

[Archaix]

You know how much maintenance cornrows take? Who's taking that shit into combat?

These days?

Mostly white girls.

 

[AtomskEater]

1.Cornrows
2. Completely round afro
3. Bald (or some form of fade)
Every damn time. I sometimes see devs boasting of hair polymorphism superphotorealistic polygon shader vortex tech, but I haven't really seen an increase in curly/kinky styles. Mostly it's just used to make straight hair extra shiny and flow about in the breeze nicely.

Meh, I just go for the waviest style I can find.

Edit: Oh shit can I get that Uncharted 4 hair in some character creators?

Yup, pretty much. That and afros. Other types of black hair are a little harder to pull off effectively without it seeming like just wavy hair.

Funnily enough most of the afros I see today are not the perfectly round things in game creators (or as seen in clown costume sets). Most of the ones I see out and about would probably be more time intensive to make.

 

[DemWalls]

Black hair is the only racially unique hair. Developers make hair, and then they have to make "black" hair.

Yeah, I think that's the main reason. They can make "generic" hairstyles that work well for basically any other race, but for black characters they would have to do something almost "exclusive" to them. I suppose they think it's not worth it (yet?).

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

Imagine if this was the baseline in terms of quality

:O

Naughty Kings know how to make a WOC 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

When will anyone elses faves?