Image Designer Archive

Image Designer Basics: Abilities

What can an Image Designer do?

All facial/cosmetic/physical modifications available at character creation as well as:

• Additional ID-only hair/frill/lekku/horn/ridge styles


• Expanded color palettes (a Master has access to 256 colors in each palette)


• Holo-Emotes

Can I give Wookiees a fro, or remove Zabrak horns?

These cross species hairstyles were only available via an exploit that has since been disabled. Occasionally you still see people running around with hairstyles they should not have because those species who are not meant to have hair cannot be fixed.

I've seen a certain hairstyle on an NPC of my species. Will I be able to do that?

Not necessarily. Some NPC hairstyles are not available for players. In particular, zabrak females often have horn-and-hair hybrids that look like human hairstyles with horns added - most of these are unfortunately not available for players.

Can I give humans body tattoos?

Although this is requested often, it is not currently possible. It is on our wishlist.

Can I go beyond character creation limits for weight, height, bust, etc?

That is not possible. Some image designers have requested this ability, though others think it would lead to absurd results.

Can an Image Designer change gender or species?

Not at this time. We have no information on whether this may be a future ability.

Getting Started

When can I start image designing?

A novice entertainer can image design immediately, but he or she will not have access to all the features a master does.

How do I image design?

Make sure your victim - I mean client - is in your group. Then target him or her and type /image, or use the radial menu and use the "image design" option. An interface will appear that is very similar to character creation. Make a change to your client and then click "accept." Your client will then have the option to click accept.

How do I image design myself?

Type control-1 to target yourself (or /target self) and then type /image (or "/im"). You will then be able to change yourself using the interface. You can also image design yourself by clearing your current target (by pressing “escape”) and typing /image. Note you get twice as much exp if you ID someone else.

I can’t image design myself or my friend. It’s broken!

Is your friend a Wookiee or a Mon Cal? If so, you’re out of luck for now. They have no features changeable until ID2 in the entertainer tree, when you get eye color.

Tents (Salons)

What are the ID Tents for?

Currently they don't have a functional purpose. They may be a good place for customers and ID's to find each other.

Where are the ID Salons (Tents) located?

You can type “/find salon” in one of the following five cities to have a waypoint created for you.

• Theed -5130 4260 (next to the Cantina, visible from Starport area)


• Moenia 4790 -4730 (visible from the Starport and Cantina)


• Bestine -1440 -3700 (back behind the Cantina)


• Coronet -360 -4690 (near the Cantina and Shuttleport B)


• Vreni Island -5150 -6370 (next to the Cantina)

Are the tents player city placeable/architect craftable?

Not at this time, but we are told they will be one day.

Holo-Emotes

How do Holo-Emotes work?

There are 16 Holo-Emotes. They are tied to hairstyling skill. Roleplay reason for how they function as stated by our dev: tiny little generators weaved into your hair or placed sub-dermally (under your skin) that need to recharge (hence the having to wait betw each triggering). Whether you give “one” or “all” there will be 20 charges, unless you get an image-design specific actively-applied (i.e. you must ask for it) buff from a dancer, in which case you get 50 charges. Type “/holo help” in game for instructions on use. Holo-Emotes can be set off every 30 or 60 seconds, and were described by our dev as tiny generators implanted subdermally in the scalp or weaved into hair that need time to recharge between uses. Here is a list of holoemotes, with screenshots.

Skill progression and xp

So I'm novice entertainer. How do I get to novice ID?

You start off being able to image design right off the bat, but you only have certain abilities (and you may not be able to ID all species at that point). You get experience for making changes to yourself or a friend. Remember, it only gives you xp if you make a change and the person accepts. That is the way it works from novice entertainer to master image designer.

When is everything granted?

See Kwee's ID Guide for a chart of what cosmetic and body changes are granted when. As to the newer skills:

• Holo-emotes:


• Hair I gives you: Beehive, Brainstorm, Imperial, Rebel


• Hair II adds: Bubbles, Hologlitter, Holonotes, Sparky


• Hair III adds: Bullhorns, Champagne, Technokitty, Phonytail


• Hair IV adds: Blossom, Butterflies, Haunted, Hearts, and the All option


• Color palettes


• Novice Ent: old palettes


• Novice ID: all palettes have 16x6 colors


• Any Tier 1 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x8 colors


• Any Tier 2 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x10 colors


• Any Tier 3 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x12 colors


• Any Tier 4 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x14 colors


• Master ID: all palettes have 16x16 colors (=256 colors)

What lines should I go up first?

If you want to become “useful” quickly, do hair first, both because hairstyle requests are frequent and Holo-emotes are granted in that line. Any Tier 4 box, Hair or otherwise will grant you all of the colors in the various palettes, minus the Master Image Designer colors. After Hair, opinions differ on whether Face, Body or Markings are the most requested.

Where are the trainers?

In any theater, in the back room. Type /find guild:theater, they are typically in bigger NPC cities.

How much exp should I expect to get?

100 exp for cosmetic changes, 300 for physical changes. Half of that if you ID yourself. At least one change must be made to get exp. The exp does not stack, so one cosmetic plus one body change results in 300 exp.

How can I maximize my xp?

You should practice on a friend, as ID'ing yourself is half xp. You should also do the highest level change that you can, which will be body changes at 300 xp per change, starting with eye color granted at the ID 2 box in the entertainer line (except Ithorians do not have eye color and must wait until novice image designer to do any body changes). If you are actually dealing with clients, you might want to break up a session into mini-sessions to maximize xp as the client is making up his or her mind. For example, you might ask the client to accept after you finish his or her hair and then start a new session to do makeup.

Is there any other way to speed up the exp progression?

An inspiration buff from an entertainer should increase your Xp. A passive buff (one which is applied by simply watching/listening) is available from any entertainer and will result in a 10% xp increase. An image-design specific buff which is actively-applied may be requested from a novice dancer or higher. This will provide a 15% xp boost as well as additional holoemote charges (50 instead of 20).

What can Master ID’s do that non-Masters cannot?

Not much actually. What is found exclusively in the MID skill box: skin color, head size, torso (women), age, 32 extra colors in each palette.

What’s all this macro stuff I’m hearing about? I want to macro too!!

Fortunately, there is no way to completely afk macro yourself through ID. Your victim may go AFK but you may not. There is no way for you to afk-select the changes to be done, but you can automate some of the process so that you only have to select the change manually once the interface comes up.

For your victim (AFK): /ui action defaultButton; /pause 3; /ui action toolbarSlot00 (capitalization must be exact). You can adjust the /pause length to however long you want. The /ui action toolbarSlot00 means the position where you put your macro on your toolbar, with 00 being the first f1 position, 01 being f2, and so on, with the second row (shift+f1) starting with 12. This may be used afk.

For you (ATK): /im (opens the ID interface); /pause 5 (for you to select change - YOU MUST BE ATK TO DO THIS); /ui action defaultButton (accepts change); /pause 4 (waits for victim to accept); /ui action toolbarSlot01 (loops the macro - see above for explanation).

Feel free to adjust your pauses, or use a different method of looping your macro. Below are some examples of how other players use macros for ID.

Qilue's Macro:

I used this macro

/im;

/pause 3;

/ui action defaultButton;

/pause 1;

/macro ID;

Once you get to novice ID the first thing you should get is Bodyform II for the tip below to work

You can grind very quickly even on yourself if you open up the ID window and set Muscle to 0.

Position your curser over the up button for muscle and start your macro.

Every time the ID window open up. click just once on the up arrow..

I was getting about 990 Xp per 30 seconds doing this on myslef. If your going to get a dummy to work with you need to have them set the pause in there accept macro very low... a pause of 1 or 2 even to keep the xp fast..

Ani'Cul's macro

for self id (no partner)

/im

pause 5 ~this is where you make the body change

/ui action defaultButton ~this accepts change automatically

/pause 1 ~allows time for server to register

/macro self ~starts macro again

with dummie (with AFK partner)

You run "dummie" macro:

/tar [dummie name]

/im

/pause 5

/ui action defaultButton

/pause 3

/macro dummie

dummie runs "accept" macro:

/ui action defaultButton

/pause .5

/macro accept

you both run anti idle

/mood none

/pause 600

/macro idle

have a /dump key handy for when you want to chat or train

Bugs and Issues

What are the bugs?

Please see the current bug list

What are the other issues in the profession?

Check the most recent top 5 stickied above to see what our top issues are at this time

Image Designing Clients

How do I get clients?

If you run around with your tag up, you will get clients. Clients rarely use the tents anymore and now look for image designers in well-traveled cantinas. You can also join a chat channel for a city or for entertainers and often someone will ask for an ID there.

I'm concerned about messing up my client and not being able to put him or her back.

As long as your client has not hit accept, you can ALWAYS undo a change. Simply hit revert and every change will be undone. You can then return to changing the feature which your client has requested.

My client accepted and now he wants to go back the way he was. What do I do?

Unfortunately there is no "easy" way to revert the changes once the client accepts. You must manually make the changes based on your memory or that of your client.

I'm a non-master. Will I be able to undo all my changes?

What an image designer can do, the image designer has the skill to undo. The exceptions to this are (1) Upper level colors and (2) Upper level hair styles. If you are changing a color or a hairstyle, and you realize that you don't yet qualify for the color or hairstyle your client currently has, be sure to warn the client of this fact.

What if someone is a smacktard to me?

First of all, you can cancel an ID session at any time and are under no obligation to finish the service. Second, you can add him or her to your ignore list. Third, you can use the "report harassment" feature located in the holocron.

Pricing and Business Practices

What should I charge?

Some image designers set fixed prices, and others do not. Price systems might be set up based on complexity of the change (higher skill required = more expensive) or time spent on the ID session. A common approach is that sometimes ID's will charge a set fee for a stat migration, but use a tip system for aesthetic work. Here is an example of a pricing system.

Should a master ID charge more?

Some master ID's do charge more because they have access to additional colors and hairstyles. Even if the master ID is doing something a novice can do, he or she may charge more to encourage clients to seek out a novice ID for that same service, because the novice ID still needs xp.

Is there an ID pricing "union"?

Some servers have an ID union that may be well-organized or ad-hoc. Obviously you can price as you like. The danger to pricing outside the "going rate" is that you'll either get no business or get too much business and burn out. I find it beneficial to keep in contact with my fellow ID's for price-checks, and for "backup" when a particularly difficult customer challenges my prices. Some ID's have "do not serve" lists that go around the server, which are useful for avoiding problem clients.

If my server has a union, how can I find it?

Some servers have chat channels for entertainers in which you can seek advice from other entertainers and find clients. You can also contact an image designer on your server and ask about it (see the list stickied on top of the forum). A third option is to post on your galaxy forum.

Any other business tips?

Run your business the way that you see fit. You can do image design on the fly or you can use the tents. You can take appointments in advance, or do it on a first-come first-served basis. There is no right way to do it, so find what makes you comfortable.

Advanced Lessons - Aesthetics, Practical Session Advice, and Troubleshooting

My male client wants a "six pack". His weight is at minimum, his muscle is at max, and his waist just looks weird.

Strangely enough, the way to fix this is to add some weight until his waist looks less "pinched."

My client wants a smaller nose. Her nose is already at minimum and it still protrudes too much for her

Everything is proportional. The nose is balanced by the chin, so with a weak chin, the nose will always look too big. Increase the chin and see how it looks in profile.

My client wants larger breasts, but I am not sure that's the best idea. How do I give her a look she'll be happy with?

Make sure she puts on her "bustiest" top that she wears often to see how it looks. Many of the skimpier tops will make large breasts look droopy or ridiculous. She may decide to go smaller based on how she looks in that top.

My male client has a face that looks gaunt and thin. How do I fix it?

In this situation you want to increase both the jaw and cheekbone until the face fills out. It seems awkward at first because increasing just one looks weird, but increasing both in proportion works very well.

My male twi'lek client has a lighter face than the rest of his body.

Unfortunately male twi'leks tend to have lighter faces. The solution may be to pick a lighter skin color to make this less noticable.

Appendix: Useful Websites

ID Websites: Screenshots & Makeover ideas: For customers and ID's

Lightstrider Image Designs: Screenshots of ID mods, color palettes, pricing guide, & style ideas by Pani of Flurry

Image Design Stylebook: Screenshots of all ID mods by Karis of Bria

ID Hairstyles at swg.warcry.com: Screenshots of ID hairstyles by Kwee of Starsider

Holo-Emotes: Screenshots & Info

Yen Yang Imageing Solutions: Screenies of all mods, palettes, etc.

Offline Character Builder

ID Trainer Locations

List of Entertainer Channels: Stay connected to entertainers an potential customers in your galaxy

Message Edited by NJ62 on 10-11-2005 11:05 AM