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How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby Jaykobell » 04/07/2017 8:55 AM

Hey all. I was considering putting this under feedback buuuut it's more like a discussion, so.

How do you come up with custom ideas and designs? That includes breedables too, although I'm asking more in terms of non-breedable pets since they're more versatile (i.e. can have custom markings).

Is it from liking something specific like a gemstone or an animal; is it usually as the result of having a character that needs a form? Is it something completely different?

I love customs and I want to have a hoard of them but I never know where to start. I usually only use my items when I have character ideas, but then I end up rarely using them at all. OTL

So what's your process? Any examples from your current customs on how some came to be?
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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby Freezair » 04/07/2017 12:48 PM

Most of my customs that I've personally designed tend to be based on one of two things: Either things that are important to me personally or characters I like, I.E. "cospets." I'm actually pretty versatile when it comes to giving characters to pets, so if I have a neat idea for an RP character, I'm usually happy with just slapping it on a freebie pet or one I have lying around. So I see customs as a way for me to pay tribute to things I like, be they my favorite pieces of media or pieces of myself.

I actually have a LOT of Evelon customs who are based off of characters of mine from outside Evelon, usually very, very old characters from my childhood. I'm really attached to a lot of my old characters, and not just because of nostalgia. I tend to see them as the earliest examples of my creativity, and I'm proud of them in that regard. Plus, as a writer, I like to think there's no such thing as a truly dead project, just one that's hibernating. I like bringing my ancient characters to Evelon in one way or another because it lets them live on in this way.

Some of them are based on more recent characters, though. That... is probably just writer bragging. XD

I'm so cool (too bad I'm a loser).
I'm so smart (too bad I can't get anything figured out)!
I'm so brave (too bad I'm a baby).
I'm so fly
That's probably why it feels just like I'm falling for the first time!

I'm so green (it's really amazing).
I'm so clean (too bad I can't get all the dirt off of me)!
I'm so sane (It's driving me crazy)!
It's so strange
I can't believe I'm falling for the first time!

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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby zapdragon555 » 04/07/2017 12:51 PM

Usually yeah my customs as of late are Cosplay pets, of already-existing characters, like the wockee in my signature. I do think that just finding color schemes also works, if we're talking regular ol customs with no edits, but if it's going to have edits I usually like to have a character in mind before I make the custom. As a result they're usually of my own characters so like, I already have kind of an idea for color schemes and edits and such.

Otherwise, basing customs off of real life animals or things is always a good way to go! And honestly sometimes just slapping down colors that go together until they look right is kind of nice, too.



But there will come a time
You'll see, with no more tears
And love will not break your heart
But dismiss your fears
Get over your hill and see
What you find there
With grace in your heart
And flowers in your hair



"Tomorrow will be a good day."


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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby ToxicShadow » 04/07/2017 2:51 PM

My customs are sort of all of a mixed bunch though, these days, a number of them are based on older characters of mine that I am finally bringing over to Evelon. Although, keep in mind, I DID just doodle, try colors together, and decide on their colors and markings on a whim, once upon a time, when I started developing the idea for the characters. I used to design characters AND their appearances at the same time, but that's not always the case now. Pets like those are Sweka, Rhosey, Cheshire, and War. My boy, Iota, was created in the same way. I had an idea for the character when I was listening to a particular song, and decided that he would be primarily black and red at the time ideas started brewing. His markings were just me doodling and figuring out what I liked. (So, well, sometimes, songs inspire ideas for characters/customs.)

A number of other pets are "cosplay pets," to a certain extent. I don't usually follow an existing character closely, I give them my own twist. Like Kuroro is a demon cat that appears in one episode of the anime Inuyasha (and is similar to the cat that is one of the main characters, Kirara), but... I pretty much kept that aspect, and that she protected a small human village, and decided that she ended up banding together with my set of characters that are demon hunters, even while being part demon or demon themselves. Or one of my newest, this Skwyrm based on the Blue Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland. But, aside from being blue, I just did what I wanted. I gave her "eye shadow," markings because, well, my character is female, where-as the Blue Caterpillar seems to be more male in its media apperances. I haven't even quite decided what she's actually called yet, although it might just be, "Blue," or "Bleu." It's also shown in media forms that the Blue Caterpillar uses hookah, so I decided that mine is actually a total party girl that likes to drink, smoke, and go dancing.

Most of my Pokemon based customs that I have been getting lately, though, fall between these two categories. In a time before Evelon, I was a member of a few Pokemon-based roleplay forums, and I ran one for a little while more recently, bringing those old characters there. And, now, I am bringing them here. So, although some are Pokemon, while some are human/Pokemon combos and can transform back and forth, they mostly have decent characters.

It's a rarer occasion now, but I have just gone and thrown together colors that I liked, like with this Suncheeka, and gave it a character afterwards. That's actually what happened with my my first Lucain, too.  I haven't ordered many random pets, but, I haven't had bad luck with those, either, and they usually amount to the same as me throwing together colors that I like. They usually work out for me, but there is always the risk of getting something you wont like.

I started basing customs on other things, too, like Iris, whom is based on an anvil of darkness fragrant tall bearded iris. Aka, an iris that I just happened to think was pretty. Sometimes, I base things on real animals, too, but basing designs on other objects is just as well. If there wasn't already the Mouse Maus pet, I'd have based on a custom on my desktop's mouse, for example.

When it comes to add-ons, those are usually decided once I've given a pet a character, but not always. I ordered a Lucain with horns, fangs, a glowing aura, and a cross necklace before, just because I liked those things and thought it would be interesting. His character was decided later.
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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby Middy » 04/07/2017 2:52 PM

A lot of mine are cosplay pets too, but that just comes down to my obsessive behavior in general. Some of them I really need to think hard on in terms of markings or colors, but for the most part I have a good base to go off of.

Otherwise my tastes are strongly towards space stuff, what with working on getting my degree in astrophysics. So space is a huge part of my life, and always has been since childhood.

I also drag some of my other characters over, but so many of them have in depth lore to them. Or in the case of my demon princes, I have a color set for them and work off it. Then I just base customs off things I'm attached to, like my plush blanket that Silv made a kuhna of for me. I intend to get an asexual flag garudor too, since I embrace that part of me. Then I have my little vice or ailment pets like my OCD one. For that one I made it blue because blue is my favorite color, so why not have a shadow in the same hue?

That's all I have for now. Most of mine seems to be based on characters, cosplay or original, and a range of colors to pick from and go from there. There is also palettes to look at too.
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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby Thunder » 04/08/2017 3:00 AM

The vast majority of mine are also cosplay pets xD Some in the sense that they are more like "true" cosplays, where they are made to resemble a character who's not actually my intellectual property, while others are "cosplays" of characters I've had previously and wanted to bring to Evelon, like my super wolf team based on characters I made when I was little.

But others like this boy I came up with because Evelon gave me inspiration. In this case it's a little bit of aesthetic appeal and a little bit of vague character inspiration (for him I saw the new mechanical Gon wings and suddenly really wanted to make a squad of mecha Gons). And then a handful, like this guy and this guy, are inspired by characters who appeared in my dreams. So those are actually more products of my subconscious than my conscious o3o
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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby Mojave » 04/08/2017 4:54 AM

My answer is pretty much the same as other people. They're a mix of randoms that I liked so kept and slapped a character on, based on OCs and other pets from other websites, based on certain things like animals, or cosplays.
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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby Jaykobell » 04/08/2017 8:54 AM

Hmm yeah I figured the answers would be in that range. o wo

What about deciding what gets made into a custom and what gets thrown into your wish list? And do you tend to design customs on new revamped lines or so you also like the older pets?
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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby Mojave » 04/08/2017 12:59 PM

High priority, as in I NEED this character ASAP, get ordered first. However I have put high priority customs on my wishlist under extenuating circumstances.

For example, everyone always recommended Kreepy and/or Silverin for pets based on real animals with complex patterns. So, I've held off ordering customs because I didn't want to stress them out or add something else to their workloads.

There's also the issue of funds and if sales are even open. I have quite a few breedables on my wishlist, but even though Baal is taking orders, I don't have the funds to blow on pixels lol. Or when I have the money, breedable customs are closed. But now that I have a large (imo) list of customs I want, when I do get money, I have to decide which one(s) I want more.

In the case of my Dramatical Murder cosplays, I wanted to order Aoba, Koujaku, Noiz, and Clear together so they stayed on there until I could order most of them. But I was impatient so ordered who I could, leaving Noiz alone on my wishlist.
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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby Middy » 04/08/2017 3:51 PM

Well... with palette potions being a thing I can breed a lot of pets on my wishlist, unless they have new parts/markings. For normal customs, whichever one I think I will use more gets ordered first, or have a more special meaning.

I can't spend much on here anymore, with college, medical bills, and my business, so I really need to pick and choose which one I REALLY want. There are two cosplay pets I want, since one is one of my favorite characters and the other guy is just awesome in general (despite the game they came from having a HORRIBLE story in the 3rd and 4th games. Frankly, I will always go by the second game, but keep the background lore there.)

Otherwise... I let a lot of pets rot in my wishlist unless I have some kind of inspiration to RP them. Even then I don't find it worth it these days since my time on here is sparce at best.

I might grab a fenling since I like the new lines MUCH better, since I do like the crisp quality of the new ones. I might get a spacey one, or one based on our moon. Maybe even something based on a planet or whatnot, since space is more than pretty galaxies and stellar nurseries.
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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby Freezair » 04/09/2017 2:15 PM

I... just slap everything on my wishlist, more or less. I'm actually pretty happy with most of the stuff I own and I don't wanna go out of my way to buy more. XD But it's fun to dream up designs (or pay other people to design stuff based on things I like :P) and just collect 'em all for somedays.

I'm so cool (too bad I'm a loser).
I'm so smart (too bad I can't get anything figured out)!
I'm so brave (too bad I'm a baby).
I'm so fly
That's probably why it feels just like I'm falling for the first time!

I'm so green (it's really amazing).
I'm so clean (too bad I can't get all the dirt off of me)!
I'm so sane (It's driving me crazy)!
It's so strange
I can't believe I'm falling for the first time!

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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby zapdragon555 » 04/09/2017 2:20 PM

Certainly I like to go ahead and grab the things that I have character ideas for, haha. Sometimes if it's a cosplay pet, I'll probably be obsessed with it at the time, so I'll rush for that one--I kind of throw myself into fandoms sometimes LOL. But yeah, basically, if it has a character, or if it's cosplay pet, or if I think it's the bomb diggety dot com, I'll get it fast. Otherwise, if it's just kind of a passing fancy or just sorta neat, it goes on the wishlist!



But there will come a time
You'll see, with no more tears
And love will not break your heart
But dismiss your fears
Get over your hill and see
What you find there
With grace in your heart
And flowers in your hair



"Tomorrow will be a good day."


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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby ToxicShadow » 04/09/2017 2:32 PM

For me, it often comes down to which pet, out of the ones that have set characters for, do I want to write about the most, at the given time. It's very circumstantial, honestly, and often just comes down to my random whims. Occasionally, if the character is part of a plot with others, too, I'll focus on trying to get all of the characters in one plot. But, again, it's majorly dependent on how I am feeling. There are times when I want to see a pet I have an idea for just become reality, just because it's visually appealing, or what-have-you.

I got the Draculi I showed in my earlier post, the one based on Kuroro from Inuyasha, on a whim because I had just recently watched the episode with the character and then won the custom slot. So, even though I had other custom plans sitting in my wish list, I went with my whim, before I forgot all about how cute Kuroro is, once again. (Because every time I saw that episode, I'd just love Kuroro.)

If I'm planning to get a particular cosplay pet, I may do that as soon as possible, when the idea comes to me. There are not rules forbidding different users making the same cosplay pet on the same species, but ordering them quickly may allow you to at least get the design that you like best without looking TOO similar to what someone else has done.

Freshly revamped pets MAY effect what I buy, but that really depends on if I fancy them or not. I'm not going to choose a revamped pet JUST because they are revamped. There are new and old pets, alike, that I am fond of, but if I find that a freshly revamped pet fits perfectly for a character or design I have in mind, that's great. With my Espeon Fenling, I had been debating about what pet to use, and figured that I'd just go with a Kuhna, since nothing else seemed suitable. But, with the Fenling revamped, its adorable fluffiness and forehead gem seemed appropriate. (And, you know, Eevee and its evolutions are fox-like, so picking a fox pet makes sense.)

But, yeah, all in all, my decisions are made pretty randomly, with just whatever I feel at the time. There are lots of things I want, to varying degrees, so most just get thrown into my wish list until I finally get around to choosing something or another. As I also make a point of spending very little actual cash on Evelon, unless I REALLY have the money to spare, my purchases also depend on how much GT I have obtained (for breedables, mostly), and how much KS I can spare (for custom tokens).
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Re: How Do You Design / Come Up With Your Customs?

Postby Kylo » 04/18/2017 1:24 AM

I design my customs based mostly on character design. I don't usually heavily concern myself with color schemes anymore and go for more what looks like the characters I have. I used to be super critical of markings and what would best mean what, but I've gotten really laid back now with designs over the years and just...kinda wing based on what feels right for the character. Like my current example of what I plan to order soon for a custom is Orion's demon form which is based off a chinchilla monster I designed for him.
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I didn't want to make him too complex with markings as I wanted him to look like most natural chinchillas traditional markings which is just a solid top coat with a lighter (white) underbelly. So I guess you could say I'm simplifying my designs more lately? I have another one planned for a Symona with natural serval markings. So I'm gearing more towards natural markings and looks now?


You can't wake up, this is not a dream
You're part of a machine, you are not a human being
With your face all made up, living on a screen
Low on self-esteem, so you run on gasoline

I think there's a flaw in my code
(Oh, ooh-oh, ooh-oh, oh)
These voices won't leave me alone
Well, my heart is gold and my hands are cold

Are you deranged like me?
Are you strange like me?
Lighting matches just to swallow up the flame like me?
Do you call yourself a fucking hurricane like me?
Pointing fingers 'cause you'll never take the blame like me?
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