Today, we welcome Jian Alcott in her SLARF debut review! A favoured pet of Salvador Dali and native to Southern and Central America, these dwarven leopards are not to be taken lightly, though small in stature, they’re known to be fierce little fighters. In this review we take a glimpse at DSD’s most recent avatar offering; the Ocelot!

This avatar is absolutely crammed to the brim with features and extras, so I’m going to give as many of these a mention as possible. Despite my best efforts, if I have indeed missed any fundamental elements in this review, please don’t hesitate to add a comment!

Out of the Box:

Observations:

Build and Skin:

– The Ocelot comes in a wide range of colourations, varying from its natural tan to inverted and rainbow variants. The sheer level of detail that has gone into the avatar skin is little short of impeccable. Overall the textures and skin are incredibly well considered and sympathetic to the actual species. The patterning on the fur links the edges of the arms, neck and torso seamlessly, blending together with no obvious ‘jolt’ between each separate section. The shading for both genders is gentle enough to give the suggestions of form without being too harsh. The attachable parts for this avatar are textured to the same standard as the skin, keeping uniformity in the overall avatar. It is clear that the textures for each section have been created purposefully – every position of every mark has been planned and executed to a high standard. Both male and female skins are included with this avatar, covering both PG and Mature types. (WARNING. LINK IS RATED MATURE. Click HERE to see the Mature Skins)

- The avatar is built using solely sculpted primitives, save for the multiple flexi-cones that form the tail. Each sculpted part has been completed to a great standard. Each individual section appears to look entirely resolved, with no evidence of wrinkling and textures that blend amicably with the rest of the body.

Body:

– Continuing with DSD’s approach to customisability and variety within their avatars, the Ocelot comes with two different feet: digitigrade feet that closely reference the lower extremities of the real-world feline, and plantigrade feet. Since the feet used also mean variants in the legs used, these will be discussed separately:

- Digitigrade:  These feet are well proportioned, with four wide toes supported by a rounded foot-base. The pawpads are large, and can be tinted with either a grey or pink, red, black or white hue and each toe is accentuated with a claw. The claws can be recoloured and retracted via the HUD in the same way as the toes and pawpads. Each of these modifications and colourations can be done independently of one another save for each individual claw, making for a reliable mix-and-match effect.

- Plantigrade: Considering the populous of those who use furry avatars in SL, it goes without saying that everyone has different preferences. digitigrade legs, whilst they help to accentuate the more ‘feral’ characteristics of the animals that they represent – a fair proportion of discerning avatar shoppers would rather keep their bodies much more humanoid and SL-clothing friendly. Herein lies the answer to this issue in the form of these humanoid feet. They require no other transitioning prims on the ankles and blend into the overall style of the avatar with the same high quality textures. The feet are slender, and for all intents and purposes are distinctly humanoid aside from mirroring the pawpads and claws at the end of each toe as seen in the digitigrade version.

- The standard digitigrade legs offer a long, slender and smooth transition between the knee and ankle. The heel is placed quite high in the leg, giving the impression of added height without any extra modifications to the default shapes.

- In the accessories folder for the Ocelot, ‘leg – type 1′ can also be found. These digitigrade legs are very reminiscent of the original DSD Fennec legs, with emphasized calf muscles and a low heel. In a side-by-side comparison with the default digirade legs, they do appear to take some height away from the avatar, but they do not detract from the quality.

- The Ocelot tail is deceptive in its simplicity: Far more than a flexi-cylinder or two, the tail is built from a set of cones, textured with semi-transparent layers of fur. This method of building creates a ‘fluffier’ effect to the tail. The patterning echoes the quality of the skin. As crammed with features as the feet, the tail has a wide variety of HUD settings to alter the length, fluffiness, movement and flexi-types to your heart’s content.

- The hand-paws of the Ocelot are similar to the feet in regards to their features, and are also controlled by the HUD. The hand consists of four fingers and a thumb, stylized with nuances of feline characteristics. The hands blend at the wrists, meaning that there is no requirement for transitional prims on the forearms. This means that the avatar retains it’s slender, sleek qualities without overloading the avatar body with extra objects.

Head:

-  The focal point of this avatar leaves little to be disappointed over. The overall shape of the combined sculpted prims make for a striking and expressive feline head accurately modeled on it’s species down to the rounded, twitching ears. The face is completely symmetrical in its build and texturing, which in turn remains accurate and in harmony with the rest of the build. The patterning on the cheeks blends easily into the fur on the jaw line, continuing the effect with no real interruption or awkward seams. The short, rounded muzzle is topped off with the detail of very fine whiskers, which are in turn recolourable through the HUD. The mouth remains simple externally, but houses a set of fully sculpted and textured teeth, along with a tongue with toggle settings that allow the tongue to be in various positions. The jaw will move upon typing or speaking if the wearer desires, and there is a set of adjustable mouth expressions.

- Through careful illustration, the eyes are accentuated by dark and striking eyelines. The Ocelot eyeballs are recolourable, as one would expect. Using a colour dropper-like function, the user is able to select two colours for each eye, which are independant of one another depending on the chosen option. The pupils are also customisable, with preset shapes and an option to vary the dilation of the pupils. The user can also adjust the eye and ear expressions in much the same way. The avatar also comes with male and female hair, which is coloured to fit in nicely with the general shading and hue of the individual avatar.

- It may also be worth noting that whilst the Ocelot has a prim head, the human default head shape has also been textured to reflect that of a feline. This is good news to those that may also like to use this avatar using a fully humanoid shape without the prim head. You will need to apply your own shapes in order to do this effectively, however, as the default shapes for this avatar keep the head small to accommodate the sculpts.

Features and Heads-Up Display (HUD):

– The HUD is very user-friendly, with one click to tidy it away or expose the options in their entirety. Each function is shown via subheadings, and includes the options for toggling invisiprims, footprints and general customisation options.

-  The Ocelot, much like other avatars released under this company comes with a set of extra pierced ears, and a head which has also been adorned with piercings.

-  As an added accessory (Just in case you thought we were done with the legs!) The Ocelot also comes with a pair of digitigrade socks, with separate parts for the feet in case the wearer would prefer to use them as legwarmers.

Customisation:

– This avatar makes use of alpha layers, not only in the legs, but in the head. In doing this, the maker has not needed to enlarge the head to hide any of the shape underneath. This coupled with the naturally rounded shape of the head means that applying third-party hair to the avatar requires little to no effort or adjustment. The selection of leg types also makes for ease of use when wearing standard SL clothing, as mentioned previously – Not to mention the exhaustive list of customisations within the HUD.

Conclusion:

- Personally, I am struggling to find any glaring faults or reasons not to find the DSD Ocelot appealing whether or not you are a fan of felines. The addition of options, features and accessories really do help to make these loveable critters as interesting as possible and highly individual without too much effort from the wearer.

Editor’s Note

And so concludes our second new Staff Writer’s review. Please give Jian Alcott a warm welcome to SLARF; I hope that you’re enjoying our growing team of great writers.

Regards,

Forepawz Golem