No female characters planned?

[Count Roland]

actually it was started because someone was worried females wouldn't be represented as sexual objects!

[Ozymandias]

Because, obviously, that's the only thing they're good for

[Endoperez]

actually it was started because someone was worried females wouldn't be represented as sexual objects!

Wow, you're right. I hadn't read it that attentively, and managed to misinterpret the whole thing. Yuck.

[Cadrega]

I for one welcome a game without oversexualised characters!
Samus Aran of Metroid fame never needed to be this absurdly hot bimbo to become an icon.
Sure, after the first few games, the various endings tend to show her without armor (and the GBA had that zero-suit), but the fact that she was a woman was just that, a fact about her that didn't change anything about the character.
Except with Other M, but the amount of hate that game recieved and it being used by many as an example of how to ruin a character just prove it.

[Aleol]

I for one welcome a game without oversexualised characters!
Samus Aran of Metroid fame never needed to be this absurdly hot bimbo to become an icon.
Sure, after the first few games, the various endings tend to show her without armor (and the GBA had that zero-suit), but the fact that she was a woman was just that, a fact about her that didn't change anything about the character.
Except with Other M, but the amount of hate that game recieved and it being used by many as an example of how to ruin a character just prove it.

It's because they fleshed her out as a character. Before that, her personality had never really been developed. I thought it made her kindof Human. :/ oh well.

In any case, There really is no room for over-sexualized characters in overgrowth. You can make a character's personality that way (ever heard a familiar phrase involving rabbits? Hint: ____ like rabbits) But that can apply to either male or Female. I like Esyntha's vision of the females in overgrowth.

[Cadrega]

Sleep deprivation doesn't help when writing.
What I meant with the example was that Samus when introduced was basically genderless, and after the reveal of her sex, it was never used as a selling point.
My comment on the latest game was actually referring to the personality, since while the dev team tried to make the character more interesting by making her participate in the story, instead of being almost a blank slate, it could have been handled a bit better. Honestly I could have probably stopped to the character appearence, thinking back.

[Cosec]

They may be able to tap into the meathead audience if they included female characters with huge boobs, but I don't think that's what they're aiming for.

[Venatir]

Only if they have big boobs, and half-naked. There must also be romance between the characters that would be so kawaii, ne? ^__- *wink* lol desu
I would love to have some furry ass bunny booty xD Sugoi! Yo!

[Whittacker]

I really believe that any female characters shouldn't be hypersexualised, BUT I think it's necessary to be able to easily distinguish between genders. The way this was done in Lugaru was kind of funny, the female characters had pink or "girly" coloured clothes, which isn't very effective. I think the way that the Wolfire team is heading with this already, slight body shape and clothing changes, but I think that breasts would greatly help to differentiate the genders. I'm not talking about huge wobblin' jubblies, just something subtle would be enough, and anyway, if the anthro creatures in Overgrowth give birth in the mammalian way, aren't breasts an essential part of the anatomy?

[Krabman318]

and anyway, if the anthro creatures in Overgrowth give birth in the mammalian way, aren't breasts an essential part of the anatomy?

First of all, all intelligent animals in OG are mammals, so of course they give birth in that way.
Also, im pretty sure humans are the only mammals with visible breasts, while the other ones just have glands.

[Endoperez]

Wikipedia agrees with Krabman, most mammals don't have human-like breasts.

Breasts work as a symbol of femininity, but it's not "an essential part of the anatomy" of a non-human humanoid.

[Whittacker]

Well, I wasn't asking if the animals were mammals, just the way I worded the post, but whatever. Ever seen a bitch after giving birth? Yeah, you don't want to be going in THAT direction for Overgrowth, it'll be horrifying.

Is there a reason that humans have more visible breasts? It could be due to our bipedal bodies, and thus it would apply to the anthro creatures in Overgrowth. But I'm to lazy to research up on this, feel free to correct me.

Really, all that is beside the main point I was trying to make, I'm not really all that bothered by realism. My point still stands that breasts are a main gender identifier, as bad as that sounds.

[Endoperez]

Is there a reason that humans have more visible breasts?

My point still stands that breasts are a main gender identifier, as bad as that sounds.

No, the purpose of breasts is a mystery. Some people have given the purpose of breasts a lot of thought. David Brin thinks it's related to neoteny.

Breasts are not a main gender identifier (depending on your definition of "main"). They're not necessary for recognizing a woman, at any rate. Someone who has breasts is probably a woman or trying to pass as one, and someone with a beard is probably a man or trying to pass as one, but a woman with small breasts is still a woman and a man with shaven chin is still a man, and most people have no problem recognizing them as one.

[Disco Science]

Is there a reason that humans have more visible breasts?

My point still stands that breasts are a main gender identifier, as bad as that sounds.

No, the purpose of breasts is a mystery. Some people have given the purpose of breasts a lot of thought. David Brin thinks it's related to neoteny.

Breasts are not a main gender identifier (depending on your definition of "main"). They're not necessary for recognizing a woman, at any rate. Someone who has breasts is probably a woman or trying to pass as one, and someone with a beard is probably a man or trying to pass as one, but a woman with small breasts is still a woman and a man with shaven chin is still a man, and most people have no problem recognizing them as one.

It's cool, I always was a small-boobs kinda guy.

All kidding aside, speaking for myself at least, breasts in particular aren't a requirement. As you alluded to, there are several differences between human genders that cue us in. One of them is facial structure, such as in the brow ridge, chin and jaw line; as far as I know, the facial dimorphism that exists in humans either isn't there in rabbits, or is perhaps different than humans are "wired" to percieve. (This kind of thing is why so many animal and alien cartoon characters' faces are given human masculine or feminine shape attributes — to make them more readily emotionally relatable to the invariably human audience.)

Fortunately, there are other things to fall back on even if there's not much difference in the face. Overall body shape and height, regardless of the breasts, can be a good clue. (They already said females would be shorter, didn't they?) Hip-to-waist ratio, fat distribution in the thighs, hips and buttocks, different upper vs. lower body strength, that sort of stuff. If human voice acting comes into play, that will be one relatively obvious differentiator.

I think the main issue here shouldn't be whether females in Overgrowth are attractive enough from a human standpoint, but whether they're distinct enough from males. IMHO, it shouldn't be made too difficult to tell a character's gender at a glance, as much as The Powers That Be may shy away from having them look too much like fur-covered humans with animal heads stuck on. Sex appeal, as intentionally toned-down as it may be, is one factor we probably can't escape, but there are other uses for recognizable genders as well, such as describing the different animal cultures by showing how many women are seen out and about, and in what roles. If the player doesn't have to work to figure out which gender is which, this becomes subliminal background information. Besides, I'd say the existing character models are pretty distinctly masculine, so it'd be only fair.

[zzwerty]

I seriousley doubt many people will really enjoy rabbits, uh, doing that sort of thing, let alone bipedal rats.