BioWare developers have recently held a livestream showcasing the depth of javelin customisation in their upcoming looter shooter Anthem. Players will be able to change appearance, colours, decals and even materials of their power suits.
Anthem's javelins will have several areas players can customise with different colours, materials and patterns, but they will not be handled like in traditional MMORPGs. Javelins don't seem to have distinct armour parts, and are treated as one full suit when it comes to colour and material customisation.
That approach didn't prevent BioWare from adding depth to the system though, as players can individually manipulate six different parts of the suit at any given time. They will be presented with three hard surfaces of the suit and three soft ones, at least in the case of the Ranger javelin.
The hard surfaces are not what you would entirely expect - they can be metallic or alloy bits of armour that are supposed to protect the suit and its wearer as the name suggests, but fabrics and other soft materials can be picked in their place as well.
Players get to choose which material each of these three zones is made of, and the choice of materials is rather plentiful. Some of them have different patterns, which can add more character to players' customisation options. You can preview the developers fiddling with the materials at 5:12 mark in the video above. They also mention the freedom of choosing odd materials for certain parts, such as using metals for the Storm's cape. It's possible, but it looks weird to see metals bending and flying in the wind.
While players can do many things with customisation, putting up custom images on the suits is not one of them. There will be plenty of vinyl options in that customisation slot though, including the N7 one everyone was buzzing about recently. They are all fixed and their colour cannot be changed.
BioWare
There will be several models for suit parts players will be able to customise too, and you can see a glimpse of headgear and arms options at 11:05 in the video. Sections that will be changeable seem to be head, arms, chest and legs so far. Bear in mind that only helmet is entirely switchable, while other parts will always have the base looks - but you can keep adding attachments that alter their appearance.
Interestingly enough, players can also choose whether their suit is in mint condition or if it's seen battle wear. More interestingly, players can alter animations of the suit, which is quite new in the customisation department.
There is a bit of customisation on a different javelin shown, the Storm, which starts at 30:12 mark.
Anthem, action RPG shooter by BioWare and Electronic Arts
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