Female designs and lack of variety

[Immortal]

Probably more practical and realistic reason for almost the same body type for all females(and males to a degree) have everything to do with animations for streamlining the process and consistency.

All of them uses probably the same 1-2 skeleton/rigging for all the animations which in turn is used for all those flashy Fatalities, Brutalities and Fatal Blows. It's much easier and faster to do it once and have it done for all than do it for every single one. In a game of this size its a huge time saving for the company.

Efficiency and time(money) saving is the name of the game(business).

 

[DDutchguy]

Probably more practical and realistic reason for almost the same body type for all females(and males to a degree) have everything to do with animations for streamlining the process and consistency.

All of them uses probably the same 1-2 skeleton/rigging for all the animations which in turn is used for all those flashy Fatalities, Brutalities and Fatal Blows. It's much easier and faster to do it once and have it done for all than do it for every single one. In a game of this size its a huge time saving for the company.

Efficiency and time(money) saving is the name of the game(business).

Really interesting game dev insight, thanks Immortal! Makes a lot of sense that they'd do it that way, especially with all the fatalities and such

 

[1man3letters]

We have 6 playable female characters revealed so far, with only one left to be revealed Nitara.
My main question is why are all the females having very similar looking bodysuits and toes revealing heels? The only different and kinda unique looking female we got so far is Ashrah. Yes, she has a bodysuit too but at least she has normal shoes. Sindel, Li Mei, Kitana and Mileena look pretty much the same. Their facial features are very, very similar. It's weird because we have a lot of variety when it comes to the male part of the roster, but why are all the females having shoes that reveal their feet and why are they all wearing samey bodysuits? It's getting weird...

With sindel, mileena and kitanas facial features looking very smiliar they are sindels daughters so thats not a strange thing

I dont li mei looks similar to them to be honest.

On the default costumes all having toes out, maybe that the royal style lol as why there costumes similar but do get why would think some sus foot fetish stuff at work.
Sure they be costumes/gear to change things up aswell

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Along with what others have said, they seem to be trying to make the characters within a faction look more similar. Scorpion, Smoke, and Sub-Zero are pallet swaps. Scorpion and Sub-Zero are also brothers and Smoke was raised with them as a brother, not to mention they received similar training.

Sindel is Kitana and Mileena’s mom, who are twin sisters, so them looking and dressing the same tracks. Tanya and Li Mei are also part of the same faction. Why they have identical body types though, probably due to convenience like @Immortal says.

Its boring but if there’s no female hitbox bullshit then I’m cool with it.

 

[lusca_bueno]

trying to provide an explanation, 3 of them are the same royal family and one is former royal guard.

the lin kuei members look no less similar than outworlds royality.

This is a reasonable observation to be honest.

I do hope alternates will deliver different silhouettes, cause right now they're all giving the very same skin-tight/nude one. I miss costumes like primary MK11 Sindel, with more fabric structure, sashes, etc.

 

[Cicada 5]

Maybe some of the female outfits for 1(2) could be better. That said, the heels look really awkward. Especially on Li Mei and Tanya.

 

[NoCharge]

Queen Sindel is here...

Nope, THIS is Queen Sindel.

 

[chrisisnice]

I wish they would stop putting shitty looking head pieces on all of them.

It is probably part of the reason I like Li Mei's design.

 

[theotherguy]

Hoping to see more outfits like Kitana's summer heat, or her MKX tournament alternate.

The skintight onesies are really bland, and throwing a cape over one shoulder is about as lazy as you can get. See half of MK11 costumes.

Really not a fan of her MK1 default.

 

[Benlo]

Nope, THIS is Queen Sindel.
View attachment 20706

I kinda have the feeling MK11 Sindel woud have been different if she was base roster and not dlc.

 

[Raider]

Queen Sindel is here...

How is this an Empress exactly? Empress with this plain bodysuit!? She needed something regal, something fitting for the Empress! What is this exactly? Also what is going on with her tiny arms? Where are her guns? She had them in MK11. Why are all the females having same, tiny body type but big heads that don't fit the rest of the proportions??

 

[NoCharge]

How is this an Empress exactly? Empress with this plain bodysuit!? She needed something regal, something fitting for the Empress! What is this exactly? Also what is going on with her tiny arms? Where are her guns? She had them in MK1. Why are all the females having same, tiny body type but big heads that don't fit the rest of the proportions??

Relax dawg, women with tiny arms and grannies in their 80' can pack a punch. Game sez so.

 

[Crimea]

Nope, THIS is Queen Sindel.
View attachment 20706

Yes this is Mortal Kombat Sindel. And the other one is from Injustice

 

[NeonGroovyGator]

I hate the headpieces (Tanya's and Sindel's specifically), and the story mode costumes do look a little plain, but I get where they're coming from. It makes sense that the royal family's outfits are similar between characters. It makes sense for the Lin Kuei guys, too.

I'm really hoping it's just a story mode thing and the alternate costumes are a bit more out there. We should at the very least get some classic costumes, which is always neat.

Also, I'm not sure they'll ever top MK11 Sindel, it's one of my favorite NRS designs ever. I NEED an alternate skin for her that looks like MK11's, especially the hair/makeup.

My favorite MK1 design is probably still Tanya. While the other ladies look a little bland on story mode, her model feels like it's got so many little details and care put into it. It's weird considering she's the character I'm the most attached to (and it's rough seeing so many changes for characters we care a lot about) but I just love it. Just lose the dumb headpiece and she's perfect imo.

Also, it's definitely not unprecedented for characters to change their looks as the story mode goes on. We've probably seen very little past the first 20-25% of the story. I'm sure many characters will look different by the end.

 

[lusca_bueno]

I hate the headpieces (Tanya's and Sindel's specifically), and the story mode costumes do look a little plain, but I get where they're coming from. It makes sense that the royal family's outfits are similar between characters. It makes sense for the Lin Kuei guys, too.

I'm really hoping it's just a story mode thing and the alternate costumes are a bit more out there. We should at the very least get some classic costumes, which is always neat.

Also, I'm not sure they'll ever top MK11 Sindel, it's one of my favorite NRS designs ever. I NEED an alternate skin for her that looks like MK11's, especially the hair/makeup.

My favorite MK1 design is probably still Tanya. While the other ladies look a little bland on story mode, her model feels like it's got so many little details and care put into it. It's weird considering she's the character I'm the most attached to (and it's rough seeing so many changes for characters we care a lot about) but I just love it. Just lose the dumb headpiece and she's perfect imo.

Also, it's definitely not unprecedented for characters to change their looks as the story mode goes on. We've probably seen very little past the first 20-25% of the story. I'm sure many characters will look different by the end.

Yep, I really like the structures in the new Tanya costume, the belts, the fringes, it looks like an interesting new take on her MKX one.

About the MK11 Sindel costume, I really want NRS to reinvent some of the older costumes for MK1, I'll never forget that beautiful Mileena MKD concept art from MK11 not being implemented lol

 

[zerosebaz]

Sindel, Millena, Tonya, I get the heels on them, it kinda fits their personality, but I do really think it's stupid Kitana, and specially, Li Mei, are wearing High Hills. Hate it.


Pd: Also, MK9 granny Sindel is best sindel, and if you don't agree you are a bunch of aegists.
This is her when she sees the other versions of herself:

 

[Tony at Home]

Yeah pretty much every character seems to be average sized humanoid except Shao. Geras isn't quite there.

 

[Revy]

Apparently In Italy, not Outworld..

Wasn't this Sheeva's whole purpose? Well they did make Sheeva less ripped in MK11 than she was from MK3-to-MK9 like they were afraid of women having abs along with boobs,

Why no women with bigger boobs? They do exist too.

Can't exist anymore in NRS or people bitch but if you go East:
Iroha (Samurai Shodown)
Angel, Shermie & Mai (King of Fighters)
Honoka, Rachel, Tina & Helena (Dead or Alive)
Ivy Valentine & Taki (SoulCalibur)
Litchi, Mai & Konoe (BlazBlue)
Juri, R.Mika, Chun-Li, Laura & Ibuki (Street Fighter)
Morrigan (Darkstalkers)
Baiken (Guilty Gear)
Josie & Katarina (Tekken 7)

I think @Vslayer said it best,

It's 2023. Women can't look sexy anymore, because you can't be sexy and strong (according to idiots). While men can still be shirtless and it's not considered sexy. Let's not forget 'battle appropriate clothing' for women, aka, a ton of totally not encumbering layers coupled with wedges and heals. Yeah, that probably works GREAT for martial arts fights.

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Queen Sindel is here...

I just can't stand the beige, it should be black & the design would have been so much better.

 

[Son ov Timett]

Why no women with bigger boobs? They do exist too.

These broads need some Brazilian Butt Lifts as well. Can't forward 3 to this.

 

[Mikemetroid]

ITT: individuals who want horny designs but keep dodging around it. Just admit it already lmao like @ghostwriteous

 

[Darth-Nero]

Its boring but if there’s no female hitbox bullshit then I’m cool with it.

This. If the lack of diversity in women's aesthetics means that the obnoxious female hitboxes are gone, then i'll gladly accept that sacrifice too.

Definitely not something like THIS:

These broads need some Brazilian Butt Lifts as well. Can't forward 3 to this.

 

[Digestia]

Probably more practical and realistic reason for almost the same body type for all females(and males to a degree) have everything to do with animations for streamlining the process and consistency.

All of them uses probably the same 1-2 skeleton/rigging for all the animations which in turn is used for all those flashy Fatalities, Brutalities and Fatal Blows. It's much easier and faster to do it once and have it done for all than do it for every single one. In a game of this size its a huge time saving for the company.

Efficiency and time(money) saving is the name of the game(business).

Not body type-related, but could they not warp some normal maps for muscle and stuff like that? Like I understand skeletal animation setup is time-consuming but there are many things that go into a character.

Also, isn't there a whole system in Unreal that allows pretty easy skeleton retargeting for animation?

 

[Gito666]

While I've really liked the character designs in this game so far, I DO wish NRS weren't afraid to show at least a little bit of skin

I get that they're going for more realistic designs, and I'm not asking for MK9 or DOA levels of ridiculousness... but come on. How you gonna have characters as hot as Sindel, Smoke, Li Mei, and Reptile, yet COMPLETELY cover up their assets? Is it so wrong to want just a little sex appeal in a fighting game?! Ffs, we haven't even seen Liu Kang topless, and that's like his whole thing!

 

[Immortal]

Not body type-related, but could they not warp some normal maps for muscle and stuff like that? Like I understand skeletal animation setup is time-consuming but there are many things that go into a character.

Also, isn't there a whole system in Unreal that allows pretty easy skeleton retargeting for animation?

You're asking a very broad questions and i'm not sure i can answer it in full, i will try thou.

First off all - the question in game dev isn't what can you do but what can you do within the time constraints. You can do anything given enough time but you rarely(never) have enough of it to do it the best way.

Also keep in mind that there is hardware limitations at play here, neither PS5 or X1 is powerfull enough to even do half of the things you can do in modern UE. So you double down on fast(time wise) and cheap(hardware wise) and looking "good enough".

Unreal Engine have many great tools but using them in a way that fits your project workflow and suits your needs is something entirely different. Also i'm not even sure what version of UE are they using now but whatever version it is - it's probably heavily customized to fit their needs.

So to answer you question directly - sure they can do a lot of things with muscle, textures, objects etc... It all boils down to time(money). Every and any deviation from the streamlined process costs and introduces complications futher down the line which often lead to the need of changing/fixing other things as a result. Again... that costs time/money.

That being said to be clear - i'm not an animator nor 3D artist, i'm a project lead and before that i was head of programing in which i have a master degree, so while i interact with art department on daily basis and have good idea how things work there i'm in no shape or form an expert in animations or 3D art.

 

[StormGoddess]

With sindel, mileena and kitanas facial features looking very smiliar they are sindels daughters so thats not a strange thing

I dont li mei looks similar to them to be honest.

On the default costumes all having toes out, maybe that the royal style lol as why there costumes similar but do get why would think some sus foot fetish stuff at work.
Sure they be costumes/gear to change things up aswell

That's a valid point. It seems like Nitara's involvement will determine the outcome of this debate. She's the only non-royal female cast member, and if she wears a bodysuit and open-toe heels, ¯_ (ツ)_/¯ . However, the fact that Sonya and the Earth realm ladies are absent highlights the lack of fashion diversity in the female cast.