Making a lizard/reptilian avatar

[Missy Starchild]

I want to make my first non-human avatar and I've decided I want to make a humanoid lizard person. Where do I start with her? Are there specific head/tail/body brands? Can I keep using my ebody? I'd love to hear some tutorials or recommendations!

[Ayashe Ninetails]

You've got quite a few options. Depends on what kind of lizard/reptile you're going for.

For heads, there's BeSpoke's Crocodile (on sale currently at Furchanted for 1500L - SLURL). You'd also need to get additional skins, if you want more, from that store (one comes included already) as it uses a custom UV map for the head.

There are also crocs at Anima - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/ANIMA-Nile-Crocodile-Head/23757918, Babyfang - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/babyfangs-Bento-Gator-Head-Tail/20375959, and Happy Paw - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Happy-Paw-Reptile-head/17458091. I think you might also find some skins and mods for the Sugar Cult Fairy Dragon to go into a more reptilian route, but definitely double-check that before buying - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/SG-Fairy-Dragon-Head/24850923. 

Kits (skins and mods) can be found at Horkus Porkus - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/117876 and plenty of other stores, honestly. You can check the above Furchanted link to see if there are any stores at that event that have something you like. Kits are everywhere. Check the marketplace thoroughly.

There are also dinosaurs. Umm... I'm going to have to go back through some of the past recent furry events to get the store names for those. There were a few.

For feets, try Anima's Travelers - there are quite a few versions and what you get may depend on your skin mods. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/244580. There are also other options. Your chosen skins/mods will generally determine what addons you pick.

Tails, same as the feet - you'll have to see which tails are supported by your skin kit. Tail/ear/mouth/etc. textures are often included with skins and you'll have to manually add them to your parts, so they're generally pretty good about specifying what parts you can use with it.

For the body, you CAN use eBody sure, but check and see what your kits and mods specify. Anima Travelers do support eBody. If you pick different feet, you'll want to check that, too.

Lemme check on those dinos and I'll link some stores for those.

Edited July 25, 2023 by Ayashe Ninetails
Fixing stuffs

[Missy Starchild]

My vision for this avatar is more dino/Argonian like so that is much appreciated. I'll be checking out a lot of these stores when I get home. Looks like I have a lot of research to do! Thanks for your help!

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Very welcome! Found a couple more general options:

Snorka Snake - uses a custom body, though, so clothes shopping may be difficult. Not sure if you can wear it without that. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Orange-Nova-Snokra-Snake/13541472

Anima Chameleon - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/ANIMA-Chroma-Chameleon/23625104

 

Dinos n dragons n stuffs:

..Shukuchi.. Draconis head - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/SHU-Draconis-Head-v103/24851842

..Shukuchi.. Stalker head - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Shukuchi-Stalker-Head/24546373

Fluffy Kreations had a head at the last Abnormality event (Parasour), but it could've been a limited edition. I'm not seeing it on the MP, but maybe check and see if there's a mainstore. They also sell kits that can fit other heads on the list above (Happy Paw, Anima, etc.) -  https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/192932 and their Flickr - 

Ghosted&Ruf had a gorgeous Dilophosaurus head at Abnormality, but it might also be gone gone. Definitely worth asking around for! You can see it here on Flickr.

 

Also, some mods for Draconis:

 https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Y3Sl-PRIMAL-FISH-TROPICAL/24855150

 https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/AR-SETHEWIT-Red-FemFbMaleBoM/24869758

 

There's a LOT, really, lol. Hit up Furchanted and see if there's anything there. Also, it might help to thumb through the Abnormality event Flickr photos, even though it's over now. You might get some good leads on additional stores for skins and tails and things - 

 

Hope that helps!

Edited July 25, 2023 by Ayashe Ninetails
Added stuffs

[Psyche Starling]

There is a creator called Prehistorica that does dino and dragon avatars. 

[Lucia Nightfire]

3 hours ago, BookishMelinoe said:

There is a creator called Prehistorica that does dino and dragon avatars. 

They only do ferals, not anthros.

[Missy Starchild]

I have bought the SG Fairy Dragon head and this kit https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/UMBRAStrawberrySmoothie/24791861

I cannot seem to understand why the BOM option in the HUD does not work? And neither does the Discord help or marketplace links work either? Maybe I just haven't equipped a head texture (it remains red) but I don't see an obvious one in this kit beyond head shine. I'm kind of lost here.

EDIT: Nevermind I am an idiot, I was wearing an alpha to remove my head while demoing the Stalker head and forgot about it. D'oh.

There does seem to be a strange neck seam wearing this head with Ebody and the classic avatar. Is this normal?

Edited July 26, 2023 by Missy Starchild

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Oh, the SG Fairy Dragon is SO CUTE. I love that head, and it looks like there's a lot of content being made for it now (makeup and things). Good pick!

As for the neck line, I'm not entirely sure. I use Maitreya, but I'm pretty sure I haven't had issues with neck lines and furry heads. Most seem to follow the SLUV standard. 

You can check the usual things - putting the body skin on first, then the head (if they're separate - they may not be). Check to see if you're in a flat even windlight/EEP setting like CalWL. Double check to make sure you haven't tinted anything.

If all else fails, grab a demo of Legacy Perky and try the whole kit on with that. The mod creator says she only tested it with that body and the Legacy VTech addon (for flat chests) and no other bodies, so that could also be the issue.

Edit: Wait! I lied. I do see a line on my own fairy dragon. I wear an entirely different kit (from MARZ - the Wish Dragon set) and I dismissed my line because I tend to wear a bunch of overlay layers for things like body stars and shine/shimmer. I also live at 3,000m in the sky, so mesh glitches are just a thing for me. Figured all that was doing it. But when I just took my layers off, I still saw a very faint line on the neck. Nothing is tinted. I just checked. Oops. 

Perhaps it's from the head itself after all.

Edited July 26, 2023 by Ayashe Ninetails
Added stuffs

[Missy Starchild]

I just ended up putting a necklace in that spot to hide it, and it looks cute and fits her well.

Do you have any recommendations for eyes? I know I'm asking a lot, but I've genuinely struggled to find eyes for my Fairy Dragon head. I don't know if they have to be specifically made FOR this head (I didn't yet get to test if others I have work).

She is coming together well and I'm finally getting to a look I am happy with, but it's still not quite there yet. Even when I finish I know I'm going to keep adding to and editing her an insane amount lol.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Don't worry, you're not asking a lot! 

Eyes are a whoooooole wide open world. They take BOM, so you can do whatever you like. Play around with lots of demos. I personally love Gloom, so I'm using those for now. The little white stars are an additional overlay that came with my Wish Dragon kit.

 

There are also some creators who make fairy dragon-specific eyes, if you want something more themed. Here's one set - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Oxana-Fantasy-Eyes-Fairy-Dragon/25033829

If you want to wear two different eyes, grab this freebie, too - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Ducks-Fairy-Dragon-Eyes/24840898

 

1 hour ago, Missy Starchild said:

She is coming together well and I'm finally getting to a look I am happy with, but it's still not quite there yet. Even when I finish I know I'm going to keep adding to and editing her an insane amount lol.

LOL, that's a whole mood. The fairy dragon lends itself to a LOT of tinkering because creators really jumped onboard and made a lot of addons and content during its release. Speaking of which, check these out if you want some extra face layers to play with (eyeshadow, eyebrows, blush, lipstick, freckles, and eyeliner) - https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/FH-Tintable-Essentials-SG-Fairy-Dragon-ADD-ME/24779519

Edited July 27, 2023 by Ayashe Ninetails
Added stuffs

[Missy Starchild]

So I got my avatar somewhere where I quite like her. Still undecided on pink eyes or blue eyes, but I went with the blue for now. I took freckles and made them white so they would look like coloured spots adorning her skin. Thank you so much for your help, Miss Ninetails! Without you I would have had no idea where to start lol.

Edited July 28, 2023 by Missy Starchild

[Ayashe Ninetails]

6 minutes ago, Missy Starchild said:

So I got my avatar somewhere where I quite like her. Still undecided on pink eyes or blue eyes, but I went with the blue for now. I took freckles and made them white so they would look like coloured spots adorning her skin. Thank you so much for your help, Miss Ninetails! Without you I would have had no idea where to start lol.

You're very welcome! ❤️

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH she's so cute!!!!!!!!! You did a fantastic job! The freckles are perfect, too.

This knowledge is dangerous, btw. It won't be long before you're making a whole range of new avatars. 🤣 It's so addictive!

[cariboustag]

1 hour ago, Missy Starchild said:

 

 

9 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

 

 

Popping in here to say, these looks are adorable, guys. Love them!

(Also, Missy, I think the blue eyes add a cute contrast to the pink, but either would work!)

[Ayashe Ninetails]

9 minutes ago, cariboustag said:

Popping in here to say, these looks are adorable, guys. Love them!

Thank you so much!