The third avatar that we have reviewed from Conjoh Komine, the Chihuahua takes advantage of the form-factor used in their Tiny Tiger avatar to produce this domesticated canine. Love or hate this particular breed of dog, Conjoh Komine has managed to make a fun interpretation that could be considered far cuter than the real-world counterpart.
Out of the Box:
- Multiple Eye Colours
- Muzzle Talking Function
- Tongue In/Out Toggle
- Bum-hole Show/Hide
- Poo Animation
- Paw Prints (Various Colours and Brightness)
- Full Animation Overrider with jumps, runs, digging, etc.
- Complimentary Blue Parka
| Measurement | Value |
|---|---|
| Script Time / Memory (With HUD) | ~0.05ms / TBD |
| Script Time / Memory (without HUD) | Not applicable because the AO is included in HUD. |
| Avatar Rendering Cost (Scale Here) | ~375-430 (Depends on if wearing parka) |
| Modify? | Yes |
| Copy? | Yes |
| Transferable? | No |
Attachments:
Build and Texture Quality:
This avatar is smaller than the average anthropomorphic avatar, so a large variety of shrunken prims were employed. As such, this avatar relies heavily on its animation overrider to keep the shapes and sculpts together. Despite this, the build quality of the avatar is of a standard level; clean with no wrinkling whatsoever over prim surfaces. Texture-wise the avatar is fairly simple, requiring not much in terms of complexity as much as variation in tones to ensure a dimensional look. This aim has been met, with the avatar coming in a variety of different tones; including brown, white, and black. The accompanying photos show how these colours express themselves in the avatar. Usually the body is made up of a main coat colour, with a white underbelly and facial features.
Body:
Being quad, the avatar’s default stance is on all four feet. The paws themselves are small and dainty, complete with pink, canine-style paw-pads. Users are provided with the option as to whether they would like to leave texture paw-prints behind. The forelegs and hindlegs follow suit, both sets sculpted considerably well enough to appear smooth despite their only being one prim for the enter leg-foot structure. The hindlegs differ from the front mostly in that there is more bulk and size in the haunches.
We shouldn’t neglect to mention that like the avatars we have reviewed before it, the creator has gone through some pains to include an anus texture for the hindquarters. It isn’t obscene in any way, but does suggest that the avatar aims for realism. Users are able to enable or disable this texture through clicking on the body and selecting the Show/Hide* button. As usual, users are able to poop with this avatar; an animation causes the avatar to lean forward a slight and shimmy before a small, brown steaming lump is rezzed on the ground.
The body itself is conical in overall shape, but not so much to the point that there is no canine-like curves. To counterbalance the large rear thighs, the bulk of the body lies towards the front, between the forelegs. The tail itself is fairly slim; made up of a flexible prim reflecting the main body colour. Users are able to choose settings on the tail orientation as well as its actions. One of the only major criticisms for this avatar is actually directed towards the tail. The way it has been constructed means that it basically looks like a flexible cylinder was placed directly on the hindquarters. Some work could have been done to smoothen the tip of the tail; whether through semi-transparent prims or multiple tail prim layers.
Head:
The head is the centerpiece for this avatar. There are two areas where the features stand out; in particular, the eyes and the ears. Starting with the eyes, they’re simply the regular textured eyes, but have been done in a way that they’re large, dark and beady. Yet, they’ve been painted in a way that exudes cuteness. Users are able to decide whether they wish the eyes to remain open or to close as if the chihuahua were asleep. The next trait of the face that stands out is the ears. They perch at the side of the head in a distinctive shape, coloured pink on the interior. They do not move, unfortunately; but a little bit of twitching and some ear poses would have added some extra cute-factor to the avatar. Users with a decent understanding of prims and scripts may be able to get this to work by itself.
The last major feature to the face is the muzzle; tipped with a dark black sculpted nose. When closed, the muzzle looks far simpler than it truly is. However, when the user opens the muzzle, they can see the full compliment of ordinary teeth and canines granted to the yappy little dog. In a way, when the muzzle is open, the dog almost seems to be grinning. Either way, the tongue can be held inside the muzzle, or hang out slightly.
Features and Heads-Up Display (HUD):
The HUD and every single one of its options has been replicated in the Tiger avatar, so the following explanation is based off the prior review.
Many of the features are controllable through the included HUD, but some of the options are available only through clicking specific body points. The system for getting to options one desires is a little complex and confusing, so we’ll try to simplify and summarise as best as we can.
Typing Anim – Toggle On/Off- TP to Box – TP to the Creator’s Store
- Rand/Seq – Choose whether you want the Stand Animations to Cycle Randomly or in Sequence
- PawPrint – Turn the Paw Prints On or Off
- Tail – Start/Stop the Tail Wag, Angle Tail Up or Down
- Walk – Choose Walk A or B
- Sit – Choose from 5 default Sits
- Stand time – Change the amount of time between stands
Users are also able to click different parts of the avatar itself to access different options. The following is taken from the texture offered with the avatar which acts as a bit of a guidance manual. Beware that because of invisible prims, it may be difficult to click certain parts of the body; you might find you’ve clicked the ‘chest’ instead of the head or the tail prims. Clicking the very tip of the tail or the very top of the head or ears helps bypass this problem.
Clothing:
This avatar comes with a little blue hoodie as an extra. This hoodie is modifiable, so users will be able to tint or retexture it to their heart’s content. A photo of the avatar wearing the hoodie follows:
Animations:
As a tiny avatar with a very small and simple, but cute structure, a lot of work has gone into the animations. The animations are indeed what gives the avatar its poses, attitude, and actions. To this end, the avatar comes with a large variety of animations. Each has been done well, with alternative animations that take into account if the avatar is just playing a sitting animation or if it is actually sitting on an object. As with other Conjoh Komine avatars before it, the animation overrider is found in the HUD, so taking it off renders the avatar useless. Fortunately, it is not too intrusive and can be put at the corner of the screen. Users will find animations from lying, jumping, praying, digging, growling, and pooping.
Customisation:
This avatar comes as modifiable and copiable, so users should be able to modify it easily. HOWEVER, the textures that come as the instruction manuals are NOT copiable. Therefore, the first time you rez these manuals, you only get one copy. If you lose these copies, you will have to go to find a way to retrieve them.
Conclusion:
The Conjoh Komine Chihuahua is a complete package of an avatar with a fun compliment of features and attitude. Despite being a small and relatively simple-built avatar, this Chihuahua does well at reconstructing the real world animal in Second Life as a wearable avatar. Through the combination of animations, sculpting, textures, and other small features, a large degree of realism helps the avatar stand out. Yappy lapdog lovers would easily be satisfied with this Chihuahua.
