Agenda
Hair's the Problem: Why Hair in Video Games is *Still* Terrible – And How to Fix It
A.M. Darke (Founder, Open Source Afro Hair Library)
Pass Type:
Academic Pass, Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass, Indie Pass, Start-Up Pass -
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Track:
Visual Art, Culture & Sustainability
Audience Level:
All
Format:
Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
Character creators in recent AAA games are shipping more hair options than ever, and the results are getting worse, not better. Weird silhouettes, mismatched textures, and modular components that don't hold together. This isn't a resource or technology problem. It's a cultural and visual literacy problem.
In this session, A.M. Darke, Open Source Afro Hair Library founder and co-author of the first algorithms to simulate afro-textured hair, replaces the unstructured chaos of recent hair designs with a comprehensive taxonomy of four independent design variables artists can implement immediately. Through live visual analysis from recent AAA games as well as her own projects, Darke gives designers the tools to recognize strong design from weak design, and to innovate in the space rather than replicate the same tired tropes.
In this session, A.M. Darke, Open Source Afro Hair Library founder and co-author of the first algorithms to simulate afro-textured hair, replaces the unstructured chaos of recent hair designs with a comprehensive taxonomy of four independent design variables artists can implement immediately. Through live visual analysis from recent AAA games as well as her own projects, Darke gives designers the tools to recognize strong design from weak design, and to innovate in the space rather than replicate the same tired tropes.
Takeaway
Attendees leave with a framework for diagnosing hair design at any level of realism or stylization, the visual literacy to identify why current hair options fail, and a new way of seeing that lets them evaluate references, spot gaps in their own work, and design styles that feel intentional, not random.
Intended Audience
This session benefits artists, designers, art directors, producers, students, and educators–anyone doing character work. Attendees gain a comprehensive, culturally literate understanding of hair as a form of storytelling, and a practical framework they can apply to their own work. No technical prerequisites.