The Ficticious Qwhilla avatar has been a long awaited line of avatars that has caught attention ever since the artists that make up the company began displaying artistic conceptions of the creature. Finally released, we take a look at what makes this unique (mammal?) tick, and discuss Tokushi’s first offering for 2009.
Out of the Box:
- Includes both male and female shapes
- 4 Tail types with retractable blades
- Sculpted eyelids including 4 optional states of open
- 3D moving eyes
- Random and set finger positions
- 3 Muzzle expressions
- Moving jaw with typing and speech
- Color changing eyes
- 7 eyebrow expression options
- HUD and Chat-based commands
Preface:
Before we get anywhere, I guess that since the species does not actually occur in the wild (or at least has not been discovered on Earth or in space yet), we should have a little preface covering a major question that people ask when they often see this avatar:
| What IS a Qwhilla? |
“They are… around the size of a normal Grey squirrel. They are mainly a exaggerated mix of the features from Squirrels, Australian brush tailed possums, Sugar gliders, Australian striped possum, and bower birds.
- Citation: Dirtiran http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1781635/
Qwhilla and art are © K.Pearce
Build and Skin:
To start off this review, we will discuss the texturing as usual. Tokushi has set a standard for itself in this area; one that has been met by many others avatar creators, but not neccesarily surpassed. This upholds that standard, but presses forward. The Qwhilla is coloured using very detailed and clear textures that help bring it to life, which is a neccessity for an avatar that is based on a fictitious creature. The avatar comes in a variety of different patternings and sub-species that have bases in the written background story, and the environments they are purported to come from. For example, the Desert Qwhilla would come from a desert environment which means that it would likely have a dull coat of browns that would help to camouflage it. Other variations include Parrot Qwhillas, Red (Panda) Qwhillas, Snow Leopard Qwhillas, etc. The textures are well done and consistent from head to toe, with clear lines and the drawing of fur textured. For some people, however, some of these colourations and patterns may be too detailed and confusing to the eye, so they may be happier to get a Qwhilla with more even toned patterns.
Moving onto the build of the avatar, it’s very fair to say that it expresses a build quality that one would expect from Tokushi, and perhaps exceeds the quality of previous avatars since there is a large amount of detailing and a usage of variable, unique shapes altogether in one avatar. For example, the bird-based feet, squirrel-like tail, and the lapine-like ears all together produces an eclectic, yet complete avatar.
The avian-type feet are well done and detailed; they are surrounded by an invisiprim, so the body will dissapear if the invisiprim gets into your line of sight of the body. The legs and the feet are not attached to each other, so one can detach the legs and wear normal pants. Moving to the hands, they also carry over the avian influence; and like other Tokushi avatars, include hand-expressions, (i.e. open hand, closed hand).
Before we move to the head, the tail deserves at least a note. One of the Qwhilla’s most noticeable features is its tail, which has come in four different forms (Tail up, Tail up curled (Similar to a Squirrel-tail), Tail down flat, and Tail Down curled). There are no flex-tails included, nor any flex-prims used in the tail, which means that it is made entirely of sculpted prims, which may take time to rez, given how the tail is larger than the avatar itself by a magnitude of at least 1.5 times. Additionally, the defensive tail-spikes are a wholly unexpected but fun surprise (These are retractable).
Finally, we can discuss the head. There’s not much to say about it in terms of quality, as again, it meets the self-set standards Tokushi has been meeting for a while now. The face is expressive and the eyes are bright which furthers the lively look of the avatar.
Some friends of mine have suggested that while wearing the avatar, I look like I am on crack (Illegal recreational drug in many Western countries). I suppose that would be a reference to the fact that the face is so lively that it looks crazed. The eyes also also move, which may further this effect. In regards to the rest of the head, everything is complete and well sculpted without any deformities. Rather than describing every single prim of the head, you can rely on the pictures to help you form your own opinions.
Heads up Display (HUD)
Once again, the HUD features the normal capabilities and design in the same vein as past Tokushi releases. The HUD allows users to control the functions of the avatar through tabs which house the settings of each body part. As such, the HUD houses options pages for the Head, Ears, Hands, Mouth, and Tail. Users can easily extend or retract tail spikes or change their eye colour and facial expression among other things. What is new (and old in a way,) is the offering of text-based commands independent of the HUD; so people can use commands on channel /6 to get options changed on the fly.
Customiseability
The avatar comes with both a female and a male shape included, so it’s clear that the avatar is easily adapted to any sex. The head is small enough to fit a new hairstyle on without too much modification. The avatar is modifiable and copiable, but as usual, one should make sure they keep a backup before doing anything major.
Conclusion
This is a difficult avatar to review; mostly on the basis of the fact that there really is no way to measure this avatar against a real-world counterpart. As such, the Qwhilla can only be measured against the avatars that Tokushi have released in the past and against itself. In that sense, this avatar is a complete, well textured avatar that brings a creature of imagation to life successfully, just like when Luskwood released their Jogauni avatar a few years ago. It will be interesting to see what they will release in the coming months.
