In part one of our interview with the developers of Witchy Life Story, we got had an insightful personal discussion with studio founder and lead designer Allie Ast, programmer Aubrey Scott and artist Sara Hagstrom, on why character creators are important to both developers and the audience, highlighting their impact on self-expression, identity, and inclusion. In part two, we talk more with Scott and Hagstrom about the technical depth of the character creator in terms of how they developed its visual cohesion while making the process fluid and time efficient. In it, they detail the process of layering the separate components of the creator’s character options, how the facial expression and body type features were implemented, and how to design for freedom of expression, among other things. Here's how they managed to streamline the process and stay faithful to their design values while managing the character creator's myriad permutations.
Game Developer: What is your name and role in the development of Witchy Life Story? How did you become a part of the project?
Aubrey Scott: My name is Aubrey Scott, and I’m an engineer on Witchy Life Story. I had met Allie at a previous GDC, and we had kept in touch about the projects we were working on. During one of our chats, she mentioned a need for a programmer to create a custom character creator for Witchy Life Story. I let her know I had done some inclusive character creator stuff before, and after chatting a bit, it seemed like a good fit, so we signed some contracts and began collaborating.
Sara Hagstrom: My name is Sara Hagstrom, and I'm one of two artists working on Witchy Life Story. I focused on character art and background design. I became part of this project through the
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