For a few years now, Postal Revolutia has been releasing cute, cartoon-based avatars in one form or another from within the Northstar Community. The German Shepherd is the most recent in a series of avatars that the Polaris Factory has released in recent months that employ newer techniques in their avatar creation process.

Out of the Box:

• Blinking Eyes
• Eye Colour Changing Scripts
• Jaw Movement during Talking and Voice-Chat
• Wagging Tail
• Complementary outfit (Bandana around neck and head, Logo-ed shirt, and prim shorts)

Build and Skin

As usual, we start with the skin of the avatar. There really is not much to look at here, as the avatar is meant to be cartoony. As such, there is no huge amount of detailing akin to real fur. The avatar aims to create cartoon dog, and it reaches that goal very well with its usage of clear lines and colour in textures that line up with each other very nicely. The colours are bold and simple, which for or worse, makes the avatar stand out visually.

Starting with the feet, the avatar comes with  footpaws and digitigrade legs. Like the skin, the paws and legs are simple and cartoony, yet offer a solid impression of the domestic canine’s legs. It’s rare that the feet and the legs really add to the overall avatar, so they’re deserving of mention. In fact, while wearing this avatar, a foot fetishist acquaintance couldn’t help but fawn over the avatar’s feet. Regardles, as usual, the footpaws can be worn separately from the digitigrade legs. The hands follow suit with large and soft-looking paws which do not use any invisiprims. For some users, they may be too large, but for others, just the right size.

On a side note, the tail is decently sized, but an issue lies in the fact that the textures have a white frame around them; adding a very odd highlight to each prim on the tail which detracts from the overall quality.

Finally, we cover the head. The eyes are a focal point of the avatar with brightly textured eyes that attract attention. This German Shepherd has a smoothly contoured and oversized muzzle that adds to the head’s cuteness. The mouth opens and closes during voice-chat, which shows off the sculpted tongue and few select canine teeth that the avatar has with it.  At the base of the muzzle, it’s nice to notice that the little spot found on many German Shepherd cheeks is present. The ears are also decently done, with the option of one or both ears perked or folded.

Heads up Display (HUD)

This avatar seems intended more for display rather than for showing off features, so there is no HUD. All of the features offered with the avatar are controlled by text-based commands. These commands allow one to change the eye colour, as well as whether the eyes are open,  sleepy-looking, squinting, or closed. Finally, there are options as to whether wants the ears to be erect or folded back.

Customisation

This avatar is easy to customise. Everything is modifiable, and the avatar works well without the handpaws or the digitigrade legs or paws. One thing for modders to keep in mind is that the head is not made to be human shaped nor sized; so the hair would require the small task of size adjustment to fit on the larger head. As mentioned before, there are also the options to change eye colour, eye state, and ear movement.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for an avatar that offers a cariacture of a cartoon German shepherd, this is definitely a contender for consideration. In the same vein as Ninjaweasel, Luskwood, and Satch Flan, these avatars offer their own unique style. For some, the lack of features will disappoint, but if you’re handy, like with any avatar, it will be easy to modify and customize this avatar to your heart’s content.