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In my project, I'm trying to cut down on the total number of individual models that I will be using for characters, as the number of separate game entities (NPC) will easily exceed several hundred. To accomplish this, I'm planning on using two base meshes: one female and the other male.
To create a varying amount of individual looks, I want to add in the ability for me (and the player for customizing their character) the ability to adjust various aspects of the appearance of the face and body via sliders (think Create-A-Sim).
Since I have neither much working knowledge in character modeling, I have absolutely no clue how to go about such a thing, nor am I familier with how something like this can be incorporated in code (as well as the terms of such techniques.) Can anyone point me to some references to work with as well as a general means of incorporating such a thing into a game engine?