In this review, we go back to cover one of EXL’s more real-world based avatars. This wolf is one of the more conventional species that EXL has interpreted, so it is interesting to see how they’ve recreated it in their style.

Out of the Box:

• Over 20 Eye colours
• Blink Toggle
• 2 male skins (Adult/PG)
• 3 female skins (Adult/PG/Multi)
• Random eye/tail/ear movement
  • Eye Position Control
• Tongue In/Out
• Mouth Open/Closed
• Muzzle Talking System
• 7 tail positions and wag
• 5 ear positions

Build and Skin:

As is a trend with EXL (with the exception of the Androgynous Alphyn), Male and Female variations are sexually dimorphic; with visual differences between sexes of the avatar. The first place we see this is in the skins. The males are a good degree more buff and defined than the curvaceous, slightly soft female shapes and textures. The avatars are usually two-colour, with the lighter colours or tones on the belly and other areas of the body as are seen in the photos. The textures on the avatar as a whole are simple and organic to give the avatar a good presence.

As EXL is a mature-content based company, they bring not only a degree of male-female differences between avatars, but include anatomical correctness with their avatars. As such, females receive Mature Skins with either 2 or 6 nipples and female genitals. Males on the other hand are given masculine nipples as well as two NON-functional Male genitalia attachments (i.e. Flaccid and Erect). As usual, the nipple textures are covered a slight with texture fur so that they do not look like they were merely stuck atop the fur.

Take Notice: The pictures under this link are rated Mature – Click here to view the Male and Female Adult Skins

The feet and legs are thickly built to hold up a less-than-twiggy body shape. The feet and digitigrade legs are along the lines of what we expect from EXL, particularly with a meaty, slightly exaggerated structure that works really well for the avatar. Rather than the feet standing out as separate from the leg, they look very much as part of the digitigrade leg thanks to how the leg attaches to the back of the foot rather than the top.  The sculpted fluff in various places on the legs and feet, as well as the soft fur highlights further accentuate the cartoon-based quality of the avatar.

In regards to the hand-paw attachments, they are very similar to the feet. However, they are a good cross between paw and hand, with 4-meaty finger-digits with claws arranged into a hand-like state. The tail on this avatar is one of the flexible fashion, designed to appear poofy and soft; but otherwise doesn’t really have too much out of the ordinary about it.

At last, we discuss the head. One significant marker of the head are the eyes; with this new generation of avatars, we see expressive, cartoon-ish eyes that clearly identify EXL products. For both the male and female avatars, we again have a blasé, somewhat disinterested look. A specific touch to the female avatars has been a feminisation of the eyelids with the application of eye shadow.

The muzzle is definitely canine, so it passes very well as a wolf’s face, but like many canine avatars,has a somewhat generic quality that allows users to pass modifications to the avatar as another canine species. As you can see in the accompanying EXL Doberman avatar review, a few modifications by the creators have produced a wholly different species of canine that stands on its own.

The interior of the mouth is, as usual, impeccably made and textured, right down to the dark discoloured spots on the tongue and slightly yellowed teeth. The entire interior of the mouth comes across as wet, especially when wide open and the tongue is partly out of the muzzle. The jaw differs for females and males as well. Males receive a masculine goatee, while females receive a thick and pouty bottom lip.

The Ears are not too particularly notable, but have a deep concave shape that compliments the face on the avatar very well. Finally, the avatar comes with hair-styles that are unique to which each sex. The male hair is much better than the female version, but as is to be expected, users will likely use third-party hairs on their avatars.

Heads-Up Display (HUD) and Features:

This avatar is not as feature-filled as the newer avatars in EXL’s catalogue. However, there does exist the most basic fundamentals that most people would require in the HUD. It is particularly interesting to watch the evolution of the HUD (which has maintained the same appearance across avatars), from an earlier avatar like this wolf to the more recent Alphyn.

The HUD therefore controls the following:

• Ears: Relaxed, Perked, Down, Forward, or Back for One or Both Ears
• Eyes: Toggle Blink, Change Eye State (Open, Mid-way, Closed), Eye Position, Eye Colour for One or Both Eyes
• Mouth: Open/Close Mouth, Toggle Tongue
• Tail: Tucked, Relaxed, Right, Left, Up, Upper Left, Upper Right

The only issue with the HUD in each EXL avatar that I keep forgetting to mention is the Toggling of the Random Eye Movement. When users turn this off by clicking the eyeball to point the pupils forward, there is no way to turn on Random Eye Movement other than to detach then re-attach the head. This is a very small issue, but is easily worked around as just mentioned.

Customisation:

The ears twitch and move on their own, despite being attached to the head itself rather than being separate attachments. This is a mixed blessing as it frees up the ear attachment points, but means that users cannot actually link accessories to the ears themselves. Users should be able to manage with some degree of fiddling. Otherwise, the avatar is modifiable and copiable, so there should not be much of an issue getting any modifications done. The head shape is very spherical, so users may need to fiddle with third-party hairs.

Conclusion:

EXL has produced a competent and fun Wolf avatar with attitude. Additionally, they have managed to create a rendition of the avatar that is unique and very likely unlike any other wolf in Second Life. The build quality remains clean and simple, while remaining visually aesthetic. EXL, alongside other creators continue to show that sometimes a little cartoon-ish style can go a long way in an avatar.