After giving it some thought, and getting ideas from Haruspex, I have decided it would be a worthwhile project, for everyone, to start a book club on here.
I know that there are people of many different ages on here, and not all books will be appropriate for a younger audience, so I intend read any book before I recommend it here, and supply what age groups I think it would be appropriate for.
The plan would be to pick a book, give a specified time to read it, and then plan a chat event about it, as well as discussing it here in threads. Perhaps if we ever get savii contests up and running we could theme some around the books we read here.
The books I choose will be more literature than junk best sellers that will be forgotten in a few years. I'd like to have a large variety of books covering many topics.
I'm reading "All Quiet on the Western Front," by Erich Maria Remarque right now, and hope to use it as the first book, but I plan to finish it first and see what age groups it would be appropriate for.
Please feel free to post below what your favorite books are, or which you would like to see us cover. =)
It means you've used your 10 free slots, you can get more. 10 slots cost 10 savii bucks, and have to be bought in increments of 10. 10 savii bucks is about $1. Or you can go trade points for bucks at the auction house. Good luck!
Welcome to the Savii Creator! To start let me give you a little information about Saviis. The web application and savii creator are the work of HullBreach. Almost all of the art is made by me (Savant Inamorata). This has been a difficult project for 2 people to complete in about the one month we have had to compile it. We both hope that you enjoy the saviis, and please feel free to leave us feedback and future requests on the BBs!
Please note that over time new add-ons, and likely new free items, will be added. We aim to have new content available weekly. Because of this, there may be new subcategories added, which may not immediately be given an explanation here. If this occurs, we will update this guide… eventually. Please remember we are quite busy!
Gender Selection
The first page of the savii creator will ask you to choose a gender.
[Blue Arrow] - This is the male symbol, select this to make a male savii.
[Pink Mirror] - This is the female symbol, select this to make a female savii.
The differences between the 2 genders, for saviis, are not vast. Males have broader shoulders, and bigger chins than females. That’s about it. Note that they do have different selectors for clothes.
Face Shape and Skin Tone
The next thing you will select is facial shape and skin tone. It does not matter in which order you do this. There are 80 skin tones available on the slider, and 6 facial shapes which come as primary content (that is, they are free, and available to every account using the Savii Creator). Please use the arrows on the bottom of the savii to switch between facial shapes. Any add-on facial shapes will appear after clicking through these original six. Once you are content with your skin tone and facial shape, click "Next". (Please note that you can come back at any time during savii creation and alter the shape or skin tone, without having to start over on the savii you’ve been designing.)
Clothes
This next page is for selecting an outfit. Don’t feel that you have to pick your final outfit right away, after changing the face you can always go back here and change the clothing, edit the colors, etc. On the right of the screen you should see little icons (subcategories) and below this 4 color sliders. All clothing will use at least 1 color slider, some use 2, some even use all 4. As you click around on the sliders you will see which part of the outfit changes. At this point, clicking through the arrows below the savii will navigate you through the first subcategory.
Since I cannot insert images into this thread I will describe the subcategories as follows:
[1] [2] [3]
[4] [5] [6]
[7] [8] [9]
So number 1 will correspond with the subcat on the top left, 9 with the subcat on the bottom right, etc.
1. Casual - Clothes here will be shirts, jackets, etc, which fall under modern standards of casual. Things one would wear out with friends, or lounging around the home.
2. T-Shirts - Anything that fits better as an actual T-shirt, rather than casual attire, will fit here.
3. Professional - These outfits will range from police uniforms, to business suits, to doctor’s scrubs. Anything worn in the work place goes here.
4. Warm - Winter clothing goes here, mainly turtlenecks, jackets, tops with scarves, that type of thing.
5. Fancy - Formal attire, or clothing suitable for parties or special occasions go here, many elaborate dress type tops for women will be found here.
6. Seasonal - This subcategory will contain shirts with seasonal décor on them, such as shirts with pumpkins or bats for Halloween, and shirts with gifts or reindeer for Christmas. These are NOT costumes.
7. Costumes - Here is where your fantasy can run wild, from video game princess gowns, to vampires, to zombies, if it’s something worn for dress up in modern times, that is not a cultural item, or armor, it is found here.
8. Cultural - This is for items worn in parts of the world that you wouldn’t commonly see in the West. This will also have historical items such as togas, geisha robes, and tribal attire.
9. Armor - Chainmail, scalemail, or suits of iron, if you're going to war, check here.
To see the items from a subcategory just click the corresponding icon. Whichever item you were viewing when you clicked the icon will be added to the cycle of items from the new subcategory. Click through the arrows below the savii to see the different selections. Take your time and feel free to experiment with the color sliders on the different pieces of clothing. When you are satisfied with your selection, or if you just want to go finish the face first, click “Next.”
The Savii Hub
This next page is the hub where you will be able to customize your savii’s face. You can start with any feature you choose. You can also go back to this main hub at any time and edit whichever feature you would like. Please note that the default setting for hair and eyebrows is “bald.” Here is an explanation of the icons:
Eyebrows, here, range from a little facial hair, to a lot of facial hair, usually some skin shading, and some include a second slider for a second color. Some of the eyebrows may conflict with some of the eyes. If the eye is especially large, and the eyebrows especially big, the brows may overlap the eye some. If you can use this to your creative advantage, go for it… but it might look silly!
1. Thin Eyebrows - I would mainly look here for feminine eyes, though you are in no way restricted to it. These brows tend to be on the feminine side.
2. Thick Eyebrows - Bushy, thick, unibrow… here they are!
3. Other Eyebrows - Multicolored, or strangely plucked eyebrows, can be found here.
Eyebrows of different expressions, from angry, to surprised, to confused, can be found throughout the various subcategories. When you are content with your eyebrow selection, click “Done.”
Noses
Savii noses range from tiny lines, to giant honkers. There are even costume selections, like whiskers, and a clown nose. As with other features, some noses may conflict with some lips, if it looks dumb, don’t use it, that’s all I can really say about it.
1. Lines- These noses are tiny, literally just a few pixels. They mainly came to be when I made anime features, so if you need a cartoonish look, here you go!
2. Small Noses - I would mainly use these for females, some are pretty small, some include the nose bridge all the way up to the eyes.
3. Large Noses - These are pretty much the same as small noses… only large.
4. Costume Noses - Here anything that requires a color slider will likely be found. Whiskers, animal noses, clown noses, etc, can be found here.
When you are happy with your nose, click “Done.”
Hair
Hair, my personal favorite. You will find a large selection of hairstyles from bald, to afros here. Note that all hairstyles can be worn by both genders… though some may look quite silly!
1. Short & Tame - For the most part this hair will not extend past the cheekbones. Many styles will include more than 1 color slider, and some may have artificial colors available, so don’t let the “tame” part fool you.
2. Short & Wild - This hair may go past the cheekbones, but it, in general, will be denser than the previous category.
3. Medium Length - Most styles will not go past the shoulders.
4. Long Hair - Hair going past shoulder length, some in front of the chest, some down the back, some with both, will be found here. This will be hair that does not use a color slider for hair bands or scrunchies.
5. Casual Updos - Ponytails, pigtails, casual buns, etc. Hair here will usually include the third slider for a scrunchie or hair band.
6. Hair Band Styles - These styles have hair bands, instead of scrunchies, or are mostly open styles. Most will be long.
7. Fancy Updos - Styles here are updos meant more for formal occasions than street wear. Hair for weddings, or prom, may be found here.
8. Costume - Pirate hair-dos, princess styles with crowns, even animal heads, can be found here. Anything you can imagine for Halloween, here is a good place to try.
9. Cultural Hair - This encompasses cultural as well as historical styles. Geisha hair, medieval updos, ancient Egyptian hair styles, and more, can be found here.
Hair styles may overlap some eyebrows, eyes, clothes, etc. Some accessories will also look silly on certain hairstyles because of overlap. If this bothers you, use something different.
Eyes
When I first started making saviis I focused mainly on realistic eyes, but I soon found that people would have fun with cartoon eyes, monster eyes, etc. The first slider for eyes will determine eye color, the 2nd and 3rd, make up.
1. Eyes With Make Up - These are mainly realistic looking eyes, and they all have at least 1 make up slider.
2. Plain Eyes - Eyes here will have no make up bar.
3. Cartoon/Anime Eyes - Don't expect to find anything realistic here...
4. Monster Eyes - Fun for Halloween and your imagination.
5. Cultural Eyes - I felt kind of odd making this subcategory, but I didn't know where else to put some eyes. By cultural I mean that the make up is applied in a way common a culture different than our own.
When you are finished selecting eyes click "Done."
Mouths
Like with eyes, a broad range of styles can be found for mouths.
1. Lips with Make Up - These are mainly feminine lips, although you could use some for a guy if you apply a shade of lipstick similar to the skin tone.
2. Plain Lips - No make up, and not much coloring, to be found here.
3. Cartoon/Anime Mouths - Realllly small closed... ridiculously large when open.. ya that's here.
4. Costume Mouths - Fangs, hill billy teeth, anything fun for Halloween resides here.
5. Cultural Lips - Right now this is mainly geisha lips, but in time other cultures should be added too.
When you are content with your mouth, click "Done."
Facial
At the time of this post, this category contains mustaches and beards. I do hope to expand this to scars, moles, and freckles eventually too.
1. Mustaches - Facial hair above the mouth
2. Beards - Facial hair below, sometimes above, or around, the mouth...or all of these.
Click "Done" when you are happy with your savii.
You should be back at the Savii hub now, click "Next" to continue on.
Lower Accessories
Accessories here are layered below the hair. So if you choose something from here and your savii has bangs, the bangs will fall in front of your selection.
1. Glasses - Not much to explain here, you use them to see better.
2. Costume - Eye patches, blindfolds, some comic book hero masks, and more are here.
3. Circlets - They're basically necklaces for your forehead, and a lot of fun for medieval stuff.
Please realize you may only pick 1 item here, so you can't have a circlet and glasses for example. When you are content click "Next."
Upper Accessories
This will be the highest layer of all the savii features, so it covers everything under it.
1. Crowns - Crowns, tiaras, fun things like that are here.
2. Costume - Witch hats, comic book hero helmets,basically fun things for Halloween reside here.
3. Animal Ears - Check here for bunny ears and alien antennas!
4. Casual Hats - Baseball caps, and other casual hats are here.
5. Warm Stuff - Wintery hats and scarves mainly
6. Veils - From bridal to cultural, even some belly dancer veils
7. Helmets - Armor for the head, fit for battle!
Click "Next" when you are ready to move on to the next screen.
Backgrounds
At the moment this is very limited, we do plan to let you use your own paintings as backgrounds soon, but have not gotten to add that yet. For now click through the arrows beneath the savii to see your options.
Bio
Tell us a little about who your savii is and give them a name!
Writing this has been quite time consuming, but I thought a step-by-step guide may eliminate some confusion. Enjoy, and feel free to post any Savii-Creator related questions below. =)
The icon that you clicked with Link's shirt is the icon representing the costume subcategory. The reason you can't find the shirt is bc it's add on content you can get through the marketplace. For hair, the first 2 to 3 subcategories have a bunch of male hair, click through those. =) I should get my "How To" guide for saviis up soon, it seems like a lot of people are trouble with the subcats. If you have any other questions let me know. =)
It's nice to see some honest feedback. How would you like to see the design improved? Keep in mind, it's not an app, it runs in the browser, on the dsi, so we are somewhat limited.
Thank you everyone who attended the opening party! Our record high for a chat was reached, 78 people! Now that the creator is out I want to let you know what to expect.
Marketplace: There will be new content added here frequently, we already have lots of eyes, mouths, etc, that are complete, but we haven't had time to add yet. So don't spend all your points or bucks in 1 place!
Creator: You will be able to use your own paintings as backgrounds soon, hopefully within the week.
Contests: No exact ETA for these yet, but this month should see the start of weekly contests.
Points: Currently it's hard to earn points, this weekend HB will add points for most aspects of the site, like rating paintings, etc, he just has not had the time yet.
Avatars: This weekend ou should be able to use your saviis as profile pictures, and for blog comments, etc. They will not be usable as avatars in the chatrooms.
Bucks: Admins who get paid bucks weekly, we haven't set it up yet, its coming, hopefully this weekend.
Library: Sometime this month the library will be out, and you will be able to use saviis as authors or characters in your stories.
HB Online: Sometime this month saviis will be available to use as pilots in HB online.
This is just a short summary, the possibilities for saviis are endless. I hope you all enjoy them, and remember, much more content is coming soon!
Lucas - the way I imagine it it'll be roughly 10 points = 1 buck, but, since you won't be able to trade bucks for points through us (just other members), the market will go, well I dont know where.
Hero - That could be rough, I was planning on like maybe 6 or 7 pm eastern, what time is that for you?
Mouse, honestly, we haven't decided yet, I mean it will be just 1 or 2 hours, but when exactly, not sure. I will find out and let you guys know though.
Magnus, you will start off with 0 bucks or points. The reason for this is that people would make alt accts and send themselves the points. Bucks are only obtainable by purchasing, trading for with other members, or as weekly pay to our admins. Please do not that on release, so sometime on the evening of Oct. 1st (a Friday) we will be having a release party and if you attend you will receive a certain number of free savii points. =)
Zel - I hadn't even thought about that, but I asked HB and he says "why not" to them adding to the awesomeness level. There will be a gallery, there ought to be a spot for it in the previews page that doesn't have a link yet.
Kip Kap - I'm not sure about gameshows, those will not be redone at savii launch anyway, but as for like BB posts, comments, etc you will be able to choose between the pre made ones, your paintings, or your savii.
I have a lot of other short hairstyles that will be coming free with the savii creator, but I like the bad hair day idea, and I will try to make more in depth short hair styles for the marketplace. =)
Saviis release in under 3 weeks. I am basically the entire design team for them, and would like to know what kind if of things YOU would like see.
When adding a request, please note, these are the categories for savii add-ons:
-Face Shape
-Hair Style (all hair styles have 80 or more color selections)
-Eye Brows
-Eyes (eyes have customizable colors and, for some, make up shades)
-Noses
-Lips (many have customizable lip stick colors)
-Facial Accessories (this ranges from beards and mustaches, to moles and freckles)
-Clothing (this is only the top of the shirt, like a yearbook photo)
-Upper Accessory (hats, hairbands, crowns, etc)
-Lower Accessory (glasses, circlets, masks... anything below the hairline)
-Backgrounds (you will be able to use your own from dsipaint paintings, but I will have some pre-made ones as well)
Please note, generic items are preferable, for example: I can make a red baseball cap, I cannot use the trademarked "M" for Mario on it.
When you trade a savii it is the entire savii, so if you trade for a savii with, say, a hairstyle you don't have, you can still display that savii, but if you go to edit it and click past that hair, then you won't be able to get the style back if you save the savii.
Savii points will likely start coming out a week before the release date, and will start fresh then. So they will start being awarded then and won't count for things submitted prior to that date.
We haven't decided yet how you will be alerted when you gain points, but something will surely happen.
If you get a bunch of savii points from an admin, it means you're doing something right in the chats, it may raise your chances I guess, but it really depends on the circumstances.
I hope that answered all your questions, if you have any more feel free to post them!
Trey, no one has to spend real money, if you reread that FAQ you will see you can still get savii bucks by trading points for them with other members. That way, I feel, its fair for everyone.
1. What are Saviis?
- Saviis are avatars that can be used for a variety of purposes on dsipaint.com. They will be visible in profiles, eligible to enter weekly Savii contests, insertable in blogs to represent story characters, uploadable to be the pilots in hullbreach online, and tradable to other players via savii coins or bucks. Please keep in mind, this is just the goal for launch, the possibilities for saviis are endless, and within the next few months we are planning to completely redesign gameshows so each contestant may be represented by a savii. After that, who knows what else we will integrate them into!
2. Are Saviis free?
- The basic program for saviis, the Savii Creator, will be free for members of dsipaint.com. It will come with free content. Each account will also get 10 slots for saviis. Additional slots will be available at 1 savii buck each (10 cents), and there is no limit to how many you can have.
3. Is there add on content?
- Yes, there will be a rich variety of add-ons and unlockable items available for saviis. We realize that most dsipaint.com members are not over 18, and do not expect everyone to be able to pay for savii items, and we definitely want everyone to have a chance at enjoying saviis, so there will be multiple ways to unlock add on content.
a. Savii Points- Savii points can be earned by members by being active on the site, please refer to the chart below on how savii points can be earned.
b. Savii Bucks- Savii bucks will be purchasable at 10 savii bucks, for 1 US dollar via the web site. They will not be sold in increments of less than 10. Savii bucks will also be given to admins at 2 savii bucks, per admin power, per week. Also, certain contests may give savii bucks as rewards.
c. Achievements- These will be special unlockable items you can earn for your acct by completing certain tasks on the web site (beating OverlorDS for example) will unlock these items for you. Note that this may not available by launch, but will come in the not too distant future.
4. How does the Savii auction house work?
- The auction house is designed to let users who cannot pay for savii bucks, trade with other members for savii points. This way if someone wants to unlock a lot of content fast, they can purchase a fair amount of savii bucks, and trade some for savii points to be able to access those items as well.
5. How does the Savii creator work?
- The process should be fairly self explainable once one accesses the creator. You will be able to choose either male or female. Then you will choose a skin tone (80 to choose from), and a face shape. Next it will take you to the facial features hub where you may choose from a large variety of hair styles, eyebrows, eyes, noses, mouths, and accessories (such as beards or moles). Please note that all features here will be available for both genders. After this you will be able to select clothing for your savii, male and female clothes will vary. Then you may pick up to 2 accessories for your savii, such as glasses, or a hat. After this you will get to a background page where you can either select a premade background, or use one of your own dsipaintings! Lastly you will reach the bio page where you may give your savii a name and write them a bio.
- Please note, as you unlock features they will become available to you in the savii creator under the subcategory of unlocked items.
6. How will contests work?
- Contests for saviis will happen once a week, perhaps bigger ones at times too. Weekly contests will have a mission to design a savii of a certain theme, such as “a vampire, Santa Claus, a pirate, etc.” Submissions will be accepted for 3 days, after this, members will be able to vote on the winners for 3 days, on the 7th day the winners will be revealed, and awarded their points.
7. What are the galleries?
- The galleries will contain all the saviis members create, searchable by name, or keywords.
8. How will saviis be displayed in my profile?
- All your saviis will show up in your profile. Additional slots you buy will be added under the existing ones. Members will be able to click on your saviis, and leave comments about them, as each savii will have its own comment section under the bio.
Savii Points (How to Earn them):
Via DsiPaint: Get a rating of 3 stars or better on a painting, with 25 votes from different users, using different IP addresses (3) | -Vote on 20 different paintings, limit of 5 points per day (1)
Via DsiSpriter:Get a rating of 3 stars or better on a spriter, with 25 votes from different users, using different IP addresses (3) | -Vote on 20 different spriters, limit of 1 point per day. (1)
Via Blogs: Get a blog accepted as news (5)
Via Chats: Each chat admin may give out 1 savii point a day to a non-admin who has impressed them (1)
Via Contests: Get 1st place in a weekly savii contest (100) | Get 2nd place in a weekly savii contest (50) | Get 3rd place in a weekly savii contest (30) | Submit a savii in a weekly contest (10) | Vote in a weekly contest (3)
Via BBs: Get a thread stickied (20)
Via Web Hosting: Buy a gold web hosting package (100 monthly) | Buy a silver web hosting package (50 monthly)
Via Game Shows: Get 1st place in a gameshow hosted by an overlord (30) | Get 2nd place in a gameshow hosted by an overlord (20) | Get 3rd place in a gameshow hosted by an overlord (10)
I hope that this explains most of your questions, please feel free to ask anything else below.
**Please Note: None of this is written in stone, prices, and earning points are subject to change at my, or HB's discretion. Also, savii bucks and points are not redeemable for real money.**
I was thinking it might be fun to have a scheduled daily time where we can play either SSBB or MK Wii together. Maybe evenings at like 9pm Eastern? That'd be great for me, I think it would be a lot of fun. So if anyone is interested, I propose meeting in the "Game" chatroom at 9pm on any weekday, and then we can see about playing together some. =) I will get my Friend Codes and post them here too, so feel free to add me.
