Having released both an Eastern and a Western Version, Kinzart brings another new dragon to the mix, but this time an even more fuzzy version with a stocky build. In this review, we check out the new dragon and what makes it unique.

Out of the Box:

• Male and Female Shapes and Skins
• Folding and Unfolding Feet/Wings with HUD Overrider
• 7 Hand Positions
• 12 Horn Types
• Talking Jaw with HUD Overrider
• Change Colour/Glow/Brightness with HUD
  • Horns, Claws, Pawpads, Mouth, Eye Colour, and Mane
• Solid Tail with Up and Down Poses
• Optional Mane Design
• Optional Sculpted Thighs
• Flapping Animation Overrider
• Decorative Collective Egg

Measurement	Value
Script Time with HUD	~0.800
Script Time without HUD	~0.623
Avatar Rendering Cost	~1754

Build and Skin:

The Skin on this avatar is more on the simple side, with no real patterns, (save for special versions like the Magma Dragon). For the most part, the avatars are a flat colour with variations across the belly and chest to represent the furriness of the body. All of the detail has gone into the attachments, so the skin is not a big deal. The avatar comes with both the male and female shapes and skins as well as a Mature female skin.

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

Right off from the start, users can see that this avatar is a squat and stocky creature with a slightly pudgy belly.  The attachments reflect a generally bulky feeling, even moreso with the addition of sculpted prim thighs. These help round out the body shape even more, and allow for thicker digitigrade legs and foot attachments. Over much of the avatar, there is a considerable amount of sculpted fluff over many of the attachments.  Whether it’s on the legs, backs of the arms, or a large mane, the fluff adds to the thick and fluffy presence of the avatars. The foot-paws are wide and meaty, perhaps for walking on ice.

The tail itself is long and thin, but the sculpts hanging on the underside and the end of the tail make the tail look much larger and fluffier. The trail of thick hair meets the hindquarters and the sculpted thighs to frame the rump-cheeks nicely. Another common detail to the avatar are the series of textured plates that move their way up the tail to just between the shoulders.

The hand attachments are the usual for Kinzart, with 5 individual fingers that can be put into any 7 of any hand positions. The texture-work that went into the hand-paws is appreciable in that it further differentiates the hands from the feet with the same plates as found on the tail and the back. Like the shins and feet, there is a lighter colour on the arms and hands.

The upper body maintains the fluff prims both on the backs of the arms and in the form of a spiky mane that merges with the mane-fur atop of the head. The hair prims remain a focal point on and around the head because of the lion-like nature of the mane. Without the mane, the avatar looks a touch more like a Ram, especially with the right horns being worn. Thus, some peers had questioned if the avatar is more dragon-ish or more of a Goat/Ram. Either way, the entire avatar remains a unique and interesting creature onto itself. Otherwise, the bluntness of the muzzle, the sharp teeth, and the straight ears give the head a more dragonic edge.

The face is put into an enigmatic expression which adds character to the avatar’s presence, especially when the eyes are pointed at the viewer. The eyes utilise the same new styling as the Serval to create a wholly bright and engaging gaze. Contrary to the body, the head’s textures are streamlined and toned with detail to make it look more organic. The usage of sculpted fuzz prims gives the head some further character and size, mostly through their position on the goatee, sideburns, and on the horns.

Heads-Up Display (HUD) and Features:

The HUD that comes with this avatar is one of the best that Kinzart has released to date. The options on it are clear and succint, and the major options are split into two sub-menus. Adorned with a Chibi-ish version of the Northern Dragon, users are able to modify the hand signs, Wing States (Open/Closed/Automatic when flying), Beard (Show/Hide), Eye State (Calm, Squint, etc.), Tongue (In/Out), Tail (Up/Down), and the choose from the various 12 horns. The horn options are all distinct and like with many other avatars, ups the ability for users to customise themselves.

A new difference on this HUD is that rather than utilising the same old graphic slider image when users choose mouth-wideness, there is a shadow of a Northern Dragon that users hold down and click on to change the mouth width. As users do so, the mouth opens wider. This is a neat graphical touch, but it takes a few minutes to understand how to use it if you haven’t used a Kinzart HUD before.

The other menu is the Colour/Glow/FullBright Option Panel. Contrary to earlier avatars, this HUD splits the options for ‘Glow’ off on its own Gradient from the Colour Panel, which makes it much more user friendly. Here, users can modify both eye colours, as well as the colours of the claws, horns, paw-pads, mouth, and hair.

Customisation:

The avatar is completely mod-copy as with all Kinzart avatars, so users can modify and customise the avatar to their heart’s content. In terms of hair replacements, the top of the head is flatter than most other avatars, so there may be a slight bit of difficulty getting a hair to fit. However, users should be able to manage.

Conclusion:

The Northern Dragon is a unique avatar in that like most fictional-creature based avatars before it,  it has managed to take a legend and reincarnate it in a new form. Additionally, given that research has shown that the further north an animal goes, the stockier it becomes; this avatar gives an uncommonly used body-type a new life. Users should be able to enjoy playing with the avatar as a whole.