Some players can spend hours in the character editor to customize the nose, hairstyle, and body shape of their avatars to their liking. The developers of Sea of Thieves want to take a different approach and forgo this form of character creation. And it still sounds quite interesting!
While you won’t have sliders and color rings available for character creation in Sea of Thieves, there will be a mode that the developers call the “Boundless Pirate Generator.” What this entails, we will reveal here.
The Glorious Eight
At the beginning of the game, the player is presented with a rotation of eight randomly generated pirates. Aspects such as skin and hair color, body shape, and gender are all mixed up, and you have no influence over that. You can pan the camera as you wish and look at the characters and their animations to see which one appeals to you the most.
From these eight pirates, you can then choose your avatar – or not. This process can be repeated as many times as you like. Ultimately, however, it remains the case: the player does not create the avatar, but rather the game. “We want to give players the feeling that this is their very own pirate created by Rare,” said Rare’s Studio Director Craig Duncan to Eurogamer.
No Two Should Be Alike
The pool from which the pirates are generated is gigantic, allowing for millions of different characters. This is particularly important as the avatar should be in focus with their adventures in Sea of Thieves – not a standard skin that many players would instinctively fall back on.
“It will encourage players to choose characters they normally wouldn’t have created. After all, it’s not about creating ourselves.”
You are meant to encounter other characters that do not all resemble each other, making the world feel more unique and full. Additionally, the developers want to keep a few backdoors open. Features not yet implemented, such as fountain of youth or certain potions, are supposed to be able to change the appearance of the hero throughout the game. This is made easier with the pirate generator developed by Rare.
Nevertheless, adjustments in detail, such as beards, hairstyles, and accessories, will still be possible later in the game. What do you think about the “Boundless Pirate Generator”? Exciting thing or lame editor replacement?
