This is my interpretation of Cecil and Carlos from the podcast Welcome to Night Vale!

That's what I think Carlo loooks like, but Cecil I imagine to look a lot like the voice actor.

The trouble with making a sim of Cecil is, that a large part of the appeal for many audience members is that he could look like anything. Absolutely anything. He could be a cyclopean octopus, or a classic gray or green alien, or a robot. Or, for that matter, he could look like Angelina Jolie. (Remember that this is a town in which a large, independent male hand is is recognized by everyone as a little girl.) The only fixed external things about him are his name, his gender (as opposed to his sex), and his voice.

Giving form to characters whose concept is that they are protean and absolutely open to audience interpretation cannot, by its nature, be successful. It is impossible to argue with your interpretation of Cecil - but it is equally impossible to nod and say: "Yeah, that's exactly right," or even to suggest revisions.

I would like to think that suggestions on completely "open to interpretation" characters (like Night Vale characters) would be very similar to suggestions found on original characters.
In other words, the critiques and revisions are completely possible, but are undergone in a different light compared to sims based on characters with agreed physical forms.

I had forgotten altogether about Cecil's third eye. Are you still looking for suggestions? Because only if you are, I'd suggest tinkering a wee bit to make him more smiley and innocent. If not, he's really cute.

Peni, I don't think that The Ulvanger producing their idea of Cecil and Carlos is at odds with the things you bring up: of course we all imagine these guys in our own ways. But it can be fun to share our ideas about it.

But in this context, how can we possibly critique him? The point of creator feedback is to get suggestions for how best to fulfill a concept within the confines of the game. How is it possible to do that with Cecil? We can't see how you imagine him to look, so we don't know how to help you make him look more like that.

If you cannot grasp the concept of giving feedback in this situation, don't worry about it.



Yes, I'm still looking for any suggestion! I'll try maybe altering his smile and eyebrows for that innocent look. I'll post a pic of the results.

Peni, that's an interesting question, and it comes up a lot for example in critiquing writing. How do you help people do a thing when you can't know exactly what that thing is? Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. In this case apparently The Ulvanger and I are close enough in our visions of Cecil that I'm able to say something at least a little bit relevant. In another case, maybe not.

If a person asks for feedback, they are at least a bit willing to think about other people's vision relative to their project. Whether the other person's vision turns out to be useful to them or not is always an open question.

I tried to make his appearance more whimsy. Perhaps too much change? I am also shifting wildly between hair styles. Any opinion on which hair looks better?

I think you've got my vision of Cecil about perfect. I especially like the way, when I look at him in the thumbnail, he looks jaded, and when I look at him up close, he looks sweet and innocent. Exactly how I think of him.