Stray strays from trendy conventions in a single notable manner: It doesn’t assist you to customise your character—in any respect. However three days into the sport’s launch cycle, modders are already doing their damndest to set issues straight.
Developed by BlueTwelve and out this week for PlayStation and PC, Stray is a post-apocalyptic puzzle-exploration recreation about reuniting a cat together with his pack of friends, who’re additionally all cats. You’re forged as an orange tabby (the friendliest breed, by the best way, in keeping with Precise Science) however aren’t provided any choices to vary your fur. The entire different cats who seem within the recreation—albeit fleetingly—aren’t orange, which has led some gamers to surprise why their avatar is confined to 1 sample.
In Could, throughout a closed hands-off preview attended by Kotaku, BlueTwelve producer Swann Martin-Raget addressed the subject. “It was really a heated debate within the staff,” he stated, earlier than explaining that the choice to stay with an orange tabby got here down to 2 key elements: manufacturing limitations and narrative justification.
“We’re a small staff, and production-wise, it was fairly difficult to have one thing that basically was on the high quality stage we wished,” Martin-Raget stated. “But in addition … the story is sort of necessary for us, and this character—it’s actually his story. So we wished him to be recognizable and distinctive within the recreation.”
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Having performed by Stray to the credit, sure, the orange fur does lend the protagonist—who doesn’t have a reputation however is impressed by one of many studio head’s personal cats—a definite and recognizable look. However when you’re decided to play as a unique breed, you might have choices, albeit unofficially. Over the previous week, the modders of the world have flooded the tubes on websites like Nexus Mods with alfurnative choices. (Sorry, PlayStation house owners, however mods are solely out there on PC.) Right here’s a sampling:
- One mod, courtesy of Vivi, could make the cat grey or black.
- SpaceD0lphin launched a mod that features a slew of hand-painted choices
- Narwhix revealed a mod that makes the cat seem like Garfield (lasagna not included), along with one that modifications the cat’s ornamental backpack badge to point out the trans flag.
- The consumer NorskPL launched mods that flip the cat purple or black with a bit white mustache (!!!).
- GrimTech’s PatrickJr put out one mod that provides the cat white fur with orange accents.
- Sirgalahad172 has been on a tear, releasing choices for brown, crimson, white, black-and-white, white-and-gray, and—this one’s my private favourite—Siamese with blue eyes. (Sirgalahad172 additionally put out a mod that provides the cat a newsboy cap. It’s appropriate with all of the fur-change choices, too.)
Customization choices aren’t the one mods taking on the sport’s neighborhood. Already, customers have provide you with methodologys for enjoying Stray, a single-player recreation, in splitscreen multiplayer. There’s one other mod that provides Nyanners cat noises. At this price, oh no…it’s solely a matter of time earlier than somebody turns Stray into an I Can Haz Cheezburger battle royale, isn’t it?