Right now, each player in EVE creates a headshot when they begin the game, but these avatars are rather ancient, stylized and not at all consistent with the visual style of Ambulation. For these reasons, players will need to create new avatars when Ambulation launches. They chose not to invest time in porting the old avatars automatically into the new system, as technically, the two creation engines are so radically different, it would have been an unnecessary time investment, when likely players can accomplish the same feat themselves with minimal effort.
Like everything else in EVE Online, when it comes time to dress the characters, players need to rely on a player driven economy. The first launch of Ambulation will be very minimalist in terms of options. Players will have to go out and learn how to make fancier outfits, hairstyles and accessories for players and then buy them from each other.
The outfits they showed at Fanfest were extremely grounded in reality, so much so they had an actual costume designer create the clothing designs. As part of their ongoing effort to achieve realism and broaden their appeal, they hired a woman to do the work - they joked that if they hadn't there might have been a bit too much latex in the world - and she came back with clearly science-fiction designs, but ones that had plausible stitching and could actually be worn by someone not at a sci-fi convention (at least in Europe, joked artist Ben Mathis).
Each of the designs conforms to real life and could actually easily be sewn. However, they don't yet have plans to launch a real EVE clothing line. And that is likely a good thing. Their avatars are very realistic and not, shall we say absurdly exaggerated. Still, the average person doesn't look like them and there were a few tops, especially on the women, which most people couldn't pull off. In fact, each sketch we saw looked distinctly like a model on a runway. It's all realistic, but idealized reality might be more accurate.
CCP extended the drive for reality to their architecture. The first designs of station interiors were done by a veteran level designer from a variety of FPS projects. Unfortunately, they came out perfectly set up for running, crouching and shooting. So, they went back and created this iterative process where concept artists create an ideal room, then work with an actual architect to bring that room to life. The designers then take the room and build a rough version so people can test travel times, camera obstruction, etc. Between the three of them, they hammer away so the rooms combine artistic vision, architectural plausibility and good gameplay. Finally, once they settle on a layout, the concept artist goes back in and re-sketches the room, so everything fits. Only then, do they texture it.
Typical MMO pipelines dictate that an artist create a concept, a 3D modeler make it realistic, a texture artist decorate it and a level designer fit it all into the world. The collaboration at each stage from so many sources should set EVE up well for solid levels that fit what they hope to accomplish.
"I really hate virtual worlds where you cannot do anything," Olafsson added. "[Another game] was basically a glorified IRC channel." That changes in Ambulation as well. They've designed the environments so objects within the world can be manipulated. If a player owns a room, they'll be able to move the tables and chairs, sit down, stand up, etc. They don't want their stations to be museums, and players will own a lot of the space indoors.
Aside from the shops, mentioned previously, they also intend to create corporation halls. These areas can include private and common areas and allow people to put out NPCs who can not only recruit for a corporation, but pass on messages to specific players or even give out rudimentary missions the players themselves create. Behind closed doors, each corporation will want an office, complete with a 3D tactical map. There, leaders can stay behind and coordinate a fleet battle. Scouts in the field will have the ability to send in updates and information in real time, while the commander makes decisions in a collaborative, visual environment. They can set way points and plan the entire battle in real time, right from the corporation office.
Like other features, the office we saw was rather small to begin, but over time should expand. Corporations will get the ability to - for a price - buy larger offices. However, for the initial launch, they're going with the starter rooms.
