Splatoon 3 features some reasonably extensive customisation options for its characters, allowing players to choose any combination of hairstyle and clothing items they desire, regardless of gender identity.
It turns out, however, that Nintendo once considered implementing facial features to the game beyond eye and eyebrow customisation, such as freckles and scars. This comes via Automaton, which reports that files discovered in Ver. 1.0 of the game contains clear evidence of textures used to create freckles and scars. Twitter user @thebigsadkad has uploaded the files on Twitter as evidence of the inclusion:
A further Twitter user by the handle of @DiamCreeper23 has loaded the textures into the game to display what these would look like on an Octoling boy. The images can be viewed below, but you'll need to enlarge them, as the freckles and scars are a little difficult to spot!
It appears that the data itself only exists within Ver. 1.0 of the game, with Ver. 1.1.0 - released one day prior to the game's global launch - apparently deleting the files. Ver 1.0 comes with retail copies of the game, but since the game will need updating to allow for online play, it's unlikely that many people will still have access to it.
It's also been noted that during Nintendo's 'Ask the Developer' series focused on Splatoon 3, concept art showcased for the game clearly showed an Inkling character with freckles, lending further evidence that this is something Nintendo wanted to implement at some point during development.
Some people online have now expressed a desire for these features to return to the game via a future update or DLC pack:
What do you think of these cut features from Splatoon 3? Are you bothered about the lack of freckles and scars, or do you prefer your Inkling and Octoling to be blemish-free? Let us know!
[source automaton-media.com]
Comments 32
It’s a weird thing to not have included from the get-go. Freckles and scars are pretty standard in a character creator.
I hope they will bring it back, I need options!
the more options the better, shame it got dropped
It's not really needed. Nobody is gonna notice characters freckles in a fast paced action game.
i would prefer an option for regular gyro controls + stick controls (like BotW for example). It's the third entry and no option for that again! my biggest flaw of the games since the first one
@Clyde_Radcliffe
Splatoon isn't just a fast-paced action game. Splatoon is also a "wonder around the hub city and see artwork made by people who are much more artistically talented than I'll ever be" game too.
uNfInShIsH3D g@m3
@GreenFlash I'm not quite sure what you mean here, the game already has options to use stick controls instead of gyro? Unless i misunderstood you?
@GreenFlash Obviously they designed the game with a specific control method in mind from the start of the franchise. I'm not sure why you'd expect things to change. Your preferred control method was deemed uncomfortable for the play style or less efficient as the final product. A company as big as Nintendo, you can't really believe that they haven't tested this out already extensively. They didn't forget, or do it by accident, or incompetence, they chose this control method because it plays better this way.
@Zeldinion
When using motion controls, the up/down camera movement is disabled, so the player is required to use motion controls to look up and down. What GreenFlash wants is full camera control with the right stick and being able to use motion controls at the same time.
@Nintendo_Thumb
Yes and no. Nintendo has definitely seen the potential flaws if sticks were given y-axis movement, but most other games seem to do the complete opposite and not provide the option to lock the stick to the x directions.
Nintendo is officially frecklephobic, those with freckles are now unable to play the game to its fullest with no direct representation.
-1/10 game, will fire somebody protest!
EDIT: Apparently hitting enter on my phone published the post before I'm done randomly.
Anyway, I can see why they opted not for the options. You're likely to be the only person who'd ever see them and you won't 80% of the time. And you're going to be hard pressed to notice them when you have such vibrant colors surrounding it.
I physically swooned when I saw that scar for the first time. You don't understand how badly I want to trauma dump my player character with it.
@Zeldinion no i mean both. gyro and stick at the same time (like BotW).
@Nintendo_Thumb
if that's true what u say, then... why is there an option for stick controls only?
it's just another option... can't be that difficult to implement.
Oohhhh they should have left in the scars!! Would have looked cool with the split eyebrow
@GreenFlash Monster Hunter Rise also lets you use full Gyro and Stick controls at the same time, I find it very useful as a Bow main
Freckles make sense to me. I think they can make them look clear enough.
First off they need to fix the servers theres been way too many crashes as of late during matches.
Since you can't see them during actual gameplay other than when your character is standing still in the lobbies, there really isn't much point in having it. It was most likely scrapped and deleted for sake of minimizing memory space.
@Clyde_Radcliffe You think people notice anything about their characters under layers of armor in Dark Souls, The Elder Scrolls, or Fallout? No, but it's still an option.
@GreenFlash I mean in splatoon it’s not really a big deal as you generally want to use motion controls for everything that doesn’t require breaking your wrists to do and you probably never really need that much vertical camera control, however it would be a nice option
You see each of the members of the winning team at the end of every single match. You would see the freckles or scars a lot. Dunno why people think you wouldn’t see it at all.
Salmon run too but everyone is a bit smaller
@GreenFlash They chose not to implement that, if they had wanted it implemented they would have given players that option. It's not about how hard it is to do, Nintendo isn't some indie company, and Splatoon isn't some throwaway franchise they rushed to release. The design decisions were quite intentional. Sorry your preferred play style didn't make the cut.
I wish ARMS had Little Mac, but I'm not going to go around acting like they forgot to put him in...or that it "can't be that difficult to implement" as if that was ever a problem for a billion dollar company. They just decided to make the game in a way different than I would, and there's nothing wrong with that.
#FreckleGate
No Freckles, No Peace!
I need those scars. The split eyebrow doesn't accurately represent the damage my messed up little agent is supposed to have.
@GreenFlash imma have to agree gyro + analog was sort of nessesary but it didn't happen i guess
@Nintendo_Thumb I feel that example is unfair. ARMS having Little Mac would be cool, but it's not something that would really come to mind as a flaw in the game, just a cool addition. If a game doesn't control in a way that feels natural and would potentially feel better if it controlled differently, that's a fair critique I would say.
In terms of accessibility and settings, Nintendo has always been lacking. I don't think they're immune to criticism just because they chose to make a game a certain way. Bad game design decisions can exist. Not saying this is one necessarily, as I haven't played the game. I do like how gyro + analog works in BoTW and the 3DS Zeldas, so I think it would be nice to have as an option.
I wouldn't be surprised if this rolled out in a future patch. I do hope that being a live entry, Nintendo constantly keeps the game fresh and evolving for years to come unlike Smash or Splatoon 2.
@KingDunsparce "would potentially feel better"...that's only a potential to the users who are in the dark making guesses how that would feel. Nintendo, the creators of the game know for a fact if it would feel better or worse, because they've obviously already tested the standard control method and they decided that what they included was superior.
And how hard is it to tilt the controller up slightly? Are gamers really this lazy?
@Nintendo_Thumb So you're saying that because Nintendo chose that control scheme, it was automatically correct and perfect? Have you played Star Fox Zero and Kid Icarus: Uprising? I do like Uprising, but both of these games were critically panned for their controls.
And I'm not the one arguing that Splatoon needs gyro + analog, but I do generally like to use it when it's there. It just helped for precision aiming in BotW for me (micro adjustments with gyro). I don't think that makes me lazy?
Really the reason I commented at all was because I feel like you were shutting down a commenter who was being respectful and stating their preference. Sure, they can't prove that slight changes to the controls would improve it, but Nintendo making a decision isn't proof in the other direction imo.
You can see it as a flaw, games have flaws, the issue is that they said "can't be that difficult to implement.", as if it was a problem because they were some tiny company rushing the product out the door, and they're so inexperienced and stupid that they don't know how to do it. As if this wasn't all intentional.
If they wanted GreenFlash's preferred control method, they would have implented it from the beginning, or at the least patched it into the 1st game a little while after launch; we're on the 3rd game now, 8 years later, it's obviously not happening. They don't need more time or a bigger team or bigger budget or to git gud, this is the game, get used to it or play something else. Expecting it to change, when nobody said it would, is just a waste of energy.
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