‘Pokemon Go’ News: Developer Niantic Labs Reveals Details About Game’s Design Before Release
Game developer Niantic Labs has released some interesting details about the design of "Pokemon Go" before its worldwide launch. One of the focused topics was the avatar that the company used in the Augmented Reality (AR) title before it got released in July 2016.
"Pokemon Go" director of interaction and visual design at Niantic Labs, Dennis Hwang, made the revelation at the recent Game Developers Conference, UploadVR reported. As what some fans may notice, the design of the avatars in the game look more western.
However, Hwang revealed at the GDC 2017 that this wasn't always the plan they had for the avatar of "Pokemon Go." As it turned out, the characters were originally given anime-style design instead of the current western look. "[In] the original IP, the trainers have a much younger look as the target audience tends to skew younger," he said, as relayed by Polygon. "But for us, the avatars, we wanted to kind of elevate them to an older generation slightly."
Hwang further noted at the GDC 2017 that Niantic Labs is planning to add more customization option in "Pokemon Go" sometime in the coming future. It includes the ability to tweak the age of the avatar as well as change the skin color to give players more immersive experience.
Unfortunately, Niantic Labs has yet to release any time frame for this "Pokemon Go" update. More news about the matter should emerge in the coming months.
Meanwhile, company Chief Executive Officer, John Hanke, recently teased the fans that Niantic Labs is planning to rework the gym feature of "Pokemon Go." During the Mobile World Congress 2017 gathering, Hanke officially announced that three updates are going to be released this year for the AR game.
As reported by Droid Report, the company is planning to change some features for the gym in "Pokemon Go." Further noting that Niantic Labs is aiming to fix the limited gameplays that this feature offer to its players. One, in particular, is how the gym works, which isn't what fans originally thought it would be.
