Are there really any differences between male bodies?

[Bowlslaw]

A friend told me that the only real difference between male bodies is marketing(and clothing support, but that's not the core of the topic).

Are they correct? Can I really get the exact same shape on, say, Gianni, Kario, Legacy, and Jake? Wouldn't it look the same with the same skins and stuff?

 

[StarlanderGoods]

43 minutes ago, Bowlslaw said:

A friend told me that the only real difference between male bodies is marketing(and clothing support, but that's not the core of the topic).

Are they correct? Can I really get the exact same shape on, say, Gianni, Kario, Legacy, and Jake? Wouldn't it look the same with the same skins and stuff?

 

All the bodies are different, just like female bodies. There will always be some generic shape that most bodies can have, but each body usually has it´s special use, Jake is never going to look like a buffed up Kario, if you want thick legs you can forget about Gianni, if you are going for the delicate look you are going to get there better with a Jake than with a Legacy, etc.

[Marianne Little]

All bodies have working demos. They respond to the sliders, so it is just to pick up demos of them and try them on with the same shape. Then you can try to increase the muscle mass of Slink to 100 and reduce the muscle mass of Kario, see if they look the same. You try that with the other bodies, reduce and increase muscle mass, width and fat.

[Ajay McDowwll]

No, they're not all alike and they don't all have the same end result with shaping.  As mentioned earlier, Gianni's legs have a smaller default than, say Belleza Jake's.  When my male alt moved to Jake, his Gianni shape had his thighs at 100 and it looked absolutely absurd on the Jake body.

Best thing to do, as Marianne said, is to just get demos of all the male bodies, try them on, adjust the sliders to make a shape you like, and get the body that works best within your personal aesthetic.

[Echelon Alcott]

Unfortunately the information your friend shared is not accurate.

It is not necessarily possible to attain the exact same look, simply adjusting the shape sliders. For instance, I have Gianni and Jake. Jake has much muscular legs and bubble butt compared to Gianni. No amount of adjusting the sliders on Gianni will get me the same look for the legs/butt that I can easily get with Jake.

Kario comes in two versions, and both of them are much more muscular compared to all others you listed.

As Marianne suggested, get demos for all the bodies and compare. The difference is noticeable. Hope this helps!

[StarlanderGoods]

Oh, and stay away from the Aesthetic, theres already way too many around. I never tested the body, but I would guess the sliders are not very responsive, because they all look the same to me.

[JeromFranzic]

1 minute ago, StarlanderGoods said:

Oh, and stay away from the Aesthetic, theres already way too many around. I never tested the body, but I would guess the sliders are not very responsive, because they all look the same to me.

Not to mention the lack of clothing support. Even the male Legacy bods have more support than Aesthetic.

[Bowlslaw]

I recently switched to Legacy Athletic, from Kario, and I can get a build that looks almost identical, except that Legacy has access to far more clothing, including my favorites, Deadwool, Hoorenbeek, Cold Ash, and Legal Insanity.

[Maitimo]

9 hours ago, Bowlslaw said:

A friend told me that the only real difference between male bodies is marketing(and clothing support, but that's not the core of the topic).

Are they correct? Can I really get the exact same shape on, say, Gianni, Kario, Legacy, and Jake? Wouldn't it look the same with the same skins and stuff?

 

Never the same, but you can get close-ish to some degree with the main three (Gianni, Legacy and Jake). Kario would not be able to get anywhere as slim as the other three can, even with its slimmer option. It's much more like Aesthetic in shape than it is to the other three.

Jake is famous for having a big bubble-butt and thick legs, you can't ever get rid of that no matter how low the sliders go (it's why I never bought it). Conversely, Gianni will always be top-heavy with slimmer legs and a bulkier upper body. Geralt was much more evenly balanced, and from what I've seen, Legacy is too.

When I had a male body I originally got Geralt because I liked the slimmer shape, but when I realised that clothing support for it was not going to happen, I switched to Gianni, and by turning body thickness and torso muscles waaay down, I could get pretty close to the shape I had with Geralt.  However the reverse would not have been true; if I'd started with a bulked-up Gianni, there's no way Geralt would ever get close to that. Jake wouldn't either but Legacy Athletic would.

[Gwin LeShelle]

Belleza Jake still has the nicest buns x3 but sadly is sooo badly supported by its own creator. My husband is only online rare times but everytime he is he  mopes about something with the hands being stuck lol 

And yes you should demo the bodies to see the quite massive differences I think it's easier to see it then to read about it. Gianni has weird nipples to me...most dudes wearing this one seem to moobs x3 but it is also veeeeery much personal taste and what people do with the bodies shape wise etc so just have fun trying ( ◜‿◝ )♡

[Blaise Glendevon]

6 hours ago, Gwin LeShelle said:

Belleza Jake still has the nicest buns x3 but sadly is sooo badly supported by its own creator. My husband is only online rare times but everytime he is he  mopes about something with the hands being stuck lol 

He can use Slink hands and feet - and honestly they're better looking. Most skin brands have a BOM glove to match up Slink hands and feet to the rest of the body.

[Maitimo]

10 minutes ago, Blaise Glendevon said:

He can use Slink hands and feet - and honestly they're better looking. Most skin brands have a BOM glove to match up Slink hands and feet to the rest of the body.

Its the animations (or lack of them) thats the problem with Jake, but all that's needed is a Bento AO - most newer AOs already are bento but if not, then just get a separate one for just the hands. They are much cheaper than a set of slink hands.

[Echelon Alcott]

7 hours ago, Gwin LeShelle said:

Belleza Jake still has the nicest buns x3 but sadly is sooo badly supported by its own creator. My husband is only online rare times but everytime he is he  mopes about something with the hands being stuck lol 

The newer AOs from Vista and Body Language have Bento animations, which will take care of the starfish hands from the Belleza Jake body. In case your husband does not feel inclined to spend the money buying a new AO, an inexpensive fix is to buy a hand AO, such as this one [link], which is inexpensive and will "unstuck" the hands.

[Janet Voxel]

8 hours ago, Gwin LeShelle said:

Belleza Jake still has the nicest buns x3 but sadly is sooo badly supported by its own creator. My husband is only online rare times but everytime he is he  mopes about something with the hands being stuck lol 

A bento AO will solve that problem.

[Gwin LeShelle]

1 hour ago, Janet Voxel said:

A bento AO will solve that problem.

He of course has a bento AO but Jakes hands sometimes get stuck it's a known thing x3 even the creator told him that, you need to toggle and detoggle the hand animation in the body HUD to make them work again like normal bento hands. 

He has several from SLC and Vista x3 and yes his body is up to date. But it's just a little inconvenience so I guess he mopes a little and I can has the nice buns x3 

Edited January 24, 2022 by Gwin LeShelle

[Maitimo]

6 hours ago, Gwin LeShelle said:

He of course has a bento AO but Jakes hands sometimes get stuck it's a known thing x3 even the creator told him that, you need to toggle and detoggle the hand animation in the body HUD to make them work again like normal bento hands. 

He has several from SLC and Vista x3 and yes his body is up to date. But it's just a little inconvenience so I guess he mopes a little and I can has the nice buns x3 

As long as the bento AO has more than one stand in it, and they're set to cycle, the switching from one stand to another will automatically unstick the hands without any need to mess with the body hud. 

[Nalates Urriah]

@Bowlslaw Now you know... your friend that told they are all the same is an idiot.

[Orion Pastorelli]

@Bowlslaw

If this is your FIRST time buying a mesh body, I would seriously recommend you consider the Belleza Jake body.

First, at the moment, I believe it is still on sale for %50 off.  While normally L$ 3k, you can pick it up for L$ 1,500. The other two top bodies are in the L$ 4k to L$ 5k range.

Second, it has significant third-party support, so you will have no problem finding skins and clothing that fit it.

Third, it is pretty easy to use. You just put on the BOM version and you are pretty much set. In addition, the HUD is also straight forward.

ONE caveat though, it MUST be pared with either a fully BENTO AO  or  a BENTO Hand Animator that is used together with an older, Non-BENTO AO. This is important to avoid a hand animation glitch that often affect the Jake body.

As others have said, however, ALWAYS try out the DEMOs first; no matter the item. This is, by far, the MOST sound advice you will ever get on Second Life.

[Maitimo]

23 minutes ago, Orion Pastorelli said:

 

Third, it is pretty easy to use. You just put on the BOM version and you are pretty much set. In addition, the HUD is also straight forward.

 

One thing you must do with Jake when putting on the BOM body and hud is go to the Skins tab and, right at the top next to the BOM button, click the Mode button until it shows MASKED (not NONE or BLENDED). This will ensure that your system alpha layers will work properly.

The same applies to Belleza's female bodies too.

[Bowlslaw]

8 hours ago, Orion Pastorelli said:

@Bowlslaw

If this is your FIRST time buying a mesh body, I would seriously recommend you consider the Belleza Jake body.

First, at the moment, I believe it is still on sale for %50 off.  While normally L$ 3k, you can pick it up for L$ 1,500. The other two top bodies are in the L$ 4k to L$ 5k range.

Second, it has significant third-party support, so you will have no problem finding skins and clothing that fit it.

Third, it is pretty easy to use. You just put on the BOM version and you are pretty much set. In addition, the HUD is also straight forward.

ONE caveat though, it MUST be pared with either a fully BENTO AO  or  a BENTO Hand Animator that is used together with an older, Non-BENTO AO. This is important to avoid a hand animation glitch that often affect the Jake body.

As others have said, however, ALWAYS try out the DEMOs first; no matter the item. This is, by far, the MOST sound advice you will ever get on Second Life.

Interesting. What do you think of Legacy Athletic vs Belleza Jake? Putting price aside for a moment. 

[Maitimo]

9 hours ago, Bowlslaw said:

Interesting. What do you think of Legacy Athletic vs Belleza Jake? Putting price aside for a moment. 

Putting aside price AND complexity of the mesh, I would say Legacy (either of them) is a project for the advanced SL resident, not a newbie. That hud is awful, and the requirement to have media enabled and auto-playing in order to use it is a total pain in the proverbial. The bodies themselves are lovely though, and had I been still in a male body I would probably have bought it by now (the standard one, not Athletic).

I demo'd the female one last week and I like it enough to consider getting it the next time they have a sale. 

[Marianne Little]

23 minutes ago, Maitimo said:

Putting aside price AND complexity of the mesh, I would say Legacy (either of them) is a project for the advanced SL resident, not a newbie. That hud is awful, and the requirement to have media enabled and auto-playing in order to use it is a total pain in the proverbial. The bodies themselves are lovely though, and had I been still in a male body I would probably have bought it by now (the standard one, not Athletic).

I demo'd the female one last week and I like it enough to consider getting it the next time they have a sale. 

I do not agree 100% with what you say about the HUD. Yes, it looks complicated, and you need to have media on when you wear it the first time. But if you use BoM skin and tattoos, you find where to turn it on and then you do not need media anymore. Bloggers like Skell Dagger show exactly where to turn on BoM, it is almost impossible to find it on your own.

This is the difficult step.

With BoM activated, you add and take off your layers, without wearing the HUD and have media on. And you hide what need to be hidden if some clothes does not cover the body perfectly, without media. The alpha part of the HUD is pretty straightforward.

Legacy is better looking. In my opinion. Only you can decide if it is worth it.

Legacy Athletic is not so well supported as either Legacy or Belleza. You can find plenty mainstream clothes like sweatpants and flannel shirts for it. But if you want something different, let us say you want cyberwear, the Shinobi pants from A&Y only comes in Signature Gianni and Belleza Jake size.

For many outfits you solve the problem by hiding the body under the clothes. The problem is where the clothes stops, if you will show your skin on some parts of the body, you need to have the alpha cut follow the edge perfect, or it will be a gap or clipping.

 

[Orion Pastorelli]

15 hours ago, Bowlslaw said:

Interesting. What do you think of Legacy Athletic vs Belleza Jake? Putting price aside for a moment. 

So I am just going to echo everything that @Maitimo said.

The Legacy HUD is a pain in the ass to use. There SL veterans who have a hard time with it. When I first got it, I spent an hour looking for the "Activate BOM" button only to have to go watch a tutorial video. 

That said... I LOVE the geometry of Legacy body. In my opinion, it is currently the best looking, most realistic and well proportioned Male Mesh Body on SL.

I own and use both the regular male Legacy body and the Athletic. They are currently my favorite bodies.

I picked them up about 2 years ago, when they went on sale for %50 off during a Christmas sale. I also picked up the Legacy Athletic for my secret sex alt. He is usually nude so I don't really have to worry about clothing support. If I am being honest, though, if not for that sale, I would still be using the Belleza Jake body. L$5K is a steep price.

I partially agree with @Marianne Little . Once you get BOM activated, you rarely have to go back to the main "EDIT" HUD. If you want to customize your Materials, however, there is a separate HUD for that. I dread using that one as well.

The Belleza Jake, on the other hand, is still a great looking body and  it's HUD is much, much easier to use than that of the Legacy body. At the current price point (%50 percent off sale), its also a much better overall value.

At this point, you need to pick up DEMOs of all the bodies you're interested in and play with them and their HUDs for a few days.

Edited January 26, 2022 by Orion Pastorelli

[Ajay McDowwll]

Signing on to the Jake body's ease of use.  It's currently my male alt's preferred body.  He owns Gianni, Jake, Kario, and Legacy (both the original and Athletic)... and he ends up defaulting to Jake mostly because of a) creator support, b) ability to shape it how I like, and c) the hud.

Legacy is absolutely a beautiful body, but both the complexity of the body itself as well as the hud keep me from making it his default.  That hud makes me want to eat glass.

Edited January 26, 2022 by Ajay McDowwll
The Redundant Department of Redundancy flagged my post.

[Bowlslaw]

1 hour ago, Ajay McDowwll said:

Signing on to the Jake body's ease of use.  It's currently my male alt's preferred body.  He owns Gianni, Jake, Kario, and Legacy (both the original and Athletic)... and he ends up defaulting to Jake mostly because of a) creator support, b) ability to shape it how I like, and c) the hud.

Legacy is absolutely a beautiful body, but both the complexity of the body itself as well as the hud keep me from making it his default.  That hud makes me want to eat glass.

I got Legacy Athletic, and the only use the HUD for 1) Turning on BoM and 2) Alphas, sometimes. Other than that, I have basically no use for the HUD, so its poor design doesn't bother me.