A word from the author

ThismodisacompilationofredesignedcharactersforDragonAge.ThisprojectbegansinceNovember
of2009.Itcontainsvariousfixesanddesignchangessothateachcharacterfitsbetterwiththe
atmosphereofDragonAge.
JustasIdidinFallout3ProjectBeautyHD,Ididmybesttofocusonvariousaspectswhenredesigning
charactersforDragonAge.

The Three Versions

You'llnoticethattherearethreeversionstochoosefrom.Iwillexplainthemtoyouinmoredetail.

EnhancedLoreEdition

ThemaingoalofthisversionwastorecreateDragonAgeascloselytothewayBiowareintendedforitto
beplayedaspossible.Therefore,there'saminimumofdrastictweaksandnoarbitraryadditions(critical
fixesonly).Insomecases,Imadechangestomakethecharacterfitabitbetter..ieBranka.

Manyofthechangesaresubtlebuteffective.IonlymadedrasticchangesondesignsthatIfeltneededa
differentstance.Thesedesignspreservemuchoftheinitialcharacterdesign.

BecauseIwantedtomoveDragonAgeRedesignedtowardsanewdirection,thisparticularversionhas
minimalbeautification.ItsstrictlythewayBiowarewanteditbutwithmystylemixedinit.

Section2:Aesthetics

The"Aesthetics"settingsarefocusedalittlebitmoretowardsbeautyandproportions.UnliketheLore
Versionitcontainsabitmoreflair.ThesituationwithstickingtoBiowaresformulaisthatyouare
limitedtothatpersonsvision.Iwantedtocreatemyownvision.BecausemyviewsandBiowaresviews
differquitegreatly,thisparticularversionmayormaynotcoincidewiththeloreofDragonAge.

Oneofthethingsyoullnoticerightawayisthedifferentwaysthatelvesareredesignedinthe
Aestheticsversion.IunderstandBiowaresgoalswhentheymadetheirrenditionsofelves.ButI
personallywantedtomakeelvesmorelikethoseinworksbyJ.R.RTolkienandotherfantasylore.

TheCrowsusuallyemployelvesbecausehumansoftenfindthemattractive,

givingthemanadvantageovertheirtarget.

AnotherdifferencebetweentheAestheticsversionandtheLoreVersionisthatthewomeninDragon
Ageareredesignedabitdifferently.Forexample,althoughitisnotexplicitlystated,yougetthe
impressionthatIsabelaorGheynamightfittheirroleabitbetteriftheywerephysicallyattractive.SoI
tooksomestepstochangetheirappearance.ThesechangesareonlyintheAestheticsandthe
Recommendedversion.

Section3:RecommendedSettings

The"Recommended"settingsarethebestbalanceofLoreandAesthetics.Iwouldstrongly
recommendthisversion.IbasicallylookedateverycharacterIveredesignedoverthecourseofthe
projectandIchosethedesignsthatIfeltwerethebestwithineachversion.Obviouslyeveryonehas
differenttastesbutforthemostpart,theRecommendedversionhasagreatcombinationofboth
versions.

Herearesomeofthefeaturesoftherecommendedsettings

1. ItcontainsallfemaleandmaleelfrenditionsinAesthetics.
2. ItcontainsdistinctdifferencesbetweenCityElvesandDalishElves.
3. ItcontainsmoreofthegrittierandrealisticrenditionsoftheLoreversiontokeepeverything
consistentwiththeloreofDragonAge.
4. ItcontainscertaindesignswhicharenotinAestheticsorinLorebutdesignsthatIfeltworked
betterthananyofthetwoversions.
5. Itcontainsdesignswhichmatchthevoiceactorandfitthedialogueandcinematics.
6. Charactersfitthelightingsituations,ie.RedlightinginOrzammar,bluelightingintheMage
circle,whitelightinginDenerim,yellowlightingintheKokariforest,etc.

Installation

Uninstallation

Theuninstallprocessisverysimple.Simplylocatetheuninstalleronyour:

MyDocuments\BioWare\DragonAge\packages\core\override

Whenyouclickuninstall,allcharacterdesignswillberemoved.

Ifyouwilluninstall,besuretoREMOVEthe"Uninstaller"fromtheoverrideAFTERyouhaveuninstalled
thefiles.

ThiswillremoveallofthedesignsandmakeaCLEANuninstall.

New Eye Textures

InVersion6.6,Itookituponmyselftobegincreatingneweyetextures.Iwantedtomakeneweye
texturesthatwereclosertotheblues,greens,brownsthatyouseeinreallife.Theyarentflashybut
theylllookmoreliketheeyesthatyouseeinaneverydaymundanelife.

Herearetheinstructionsonhowtousethem.Firstinstallthemod,DragonAgeRedesignedfromthe
NoncompanionsfolderandchooseDracomiesTrueEyesmod.Thenopenupthetoolsetandopen
yourcreatedcharacter.

Thesewillnotbeavailableintheingamecreatorbecausetheyarenotrecolorsbutactual
retextures.Theycanonlybeaccessedthroughthetoolset.

OpentheObjectInspector.Thenopenup
Section2:PartSelection.ThengototheEye
Texturesection.Hereyoucanchoose
betweenvariouseyecolorsforyouravatar.

OnethingtokeepinmindisthatthewayIhavenamedtheeyesmaynotexactlypertaintothecolor
chosen.TherecameapointwhereIdidntknowexactlyhowtonameeachcolor.Soyoujustsortof
havetopickandchooseandseehowitlooksingame.

ThereareacoupleflashytexturesIaddedforthosewhomightbeinterested,butforthemostpart,
thecolorsthatIchosearebasedonthegreens,thebluesandthebrownsthatyouseeineverydaylife.

Idorealizeitisnotasmuchcolorsasmanyothereyemodswhichareavailablebutthecolorswere
chosenwithmuchtimeandcarefulthought.Thechallengeinmakingrealisticeyesisnotthetexture.
Anybodycanmakeatexture.Thechallengeisinchoosingtherightcolor,therightshade,theright
amountofcontrast,etc.

Inversion6.8,Ichangedacouplethingswiththeeyessothatyoudonthavetotinkerwiththecornea
settingasmuchanymore.Butjustincase,youcancontourtheeyesbetterbyadjustingthecornea
settinginthetoolset.

New Makeup Textures

TherearenownewmakeuptexturesthatyoucanuseinDragonAge.Itcontainsnearly216lipmakeup
colors.Nowwhenyoulookatthefilesprovided,youonlysee8files.
Butthesituationisthis.Withthisnewmakeuptexture,youcanblendthecolorswithBiowareslip
makeupaswell.Biowarehas27differentmakeupcolorsforthelips.AndIhaveabout8basestouse,
whichessentiallygivesyou216makeupcolorsforthelipsandthatsexcludingthedegreeofglossused,
etc.
Iwillteachyouhowtousethetextures.
Sothefirstthingyouwanttodoisopenupyourcharacterinthetoolset.Keepinmindthesemakeup
texturesareoptimizedforfemalehumans.Theydosortofworkforfemaleelvesandfemaledwarves,
buttheyaremeanttobemeanttousedforfemalehumans.
Hereshowyoudoit.
Thisishowthefacelookswithstandardlipmakeup.

Nowyouneedtoaddabase.Imade8differentbasecolors.ImembarrassedtosaythatIactuallywent
throughanddidsomeresearchtofigureoutwhichlipmakeupcolorswerepopularandcommonlyused
amongwomen.

SowhatyouneedtodoisgoinyourtoolsetandclickBASESKINTEXTURE.
Fromhere,chooseabase.Generally,ifyourelookingforalightershade,gofortheSalmoncolor.If
yourelookingforastandardredcolor,chooseglossyred,etc.

Onceyouchooseabase,youwillnowhavealipgloss
effectonthelips.
Butitmayormaynotbetherightamountofcolor.So
hereshowyoutweakittomakeitlookbetter.

GotoLipMakeupcolorandthenchooseacolor.TheseareBiowareslipcolorsandyoucanactually
blendthemwiththebase.Soyoucanprettymuchmakeanycoloryouwant.

HereiswhattheBiowarelipsmean,soyoullknowwhichcolorstochoose.
ThisguideisfromBeerfishExcelutilities.


Onceyouvedonethat,thenyouchangetheLipMakeupOpacitytomakeadjustmentstothelipstick
color.

Tinkeraroundwithitandyoullfindtherearealotofoptionsandcolorstochoosefrom.