An XML specification to describe your virtual personae. This is not associated with VastPark's project of the same name (http://vastpark.org/projects/1/wiki/OpenAvatar), but they're welcome to incorporate it if they like. :)
Avatar here is a word used to describe the physical characteristics of player character (or "toon") in a video game or other environment in which a virtual persona would prove beneficial. It does not refer to a user icon, as one might see on a blogging site, or through something like Gravatar or Libravatar.
My long-term goal for this project is for major players in the video game field to adopt this technology into their own products, allowing their users to easily import/export their characters to/from the game, allowing players to transfer a likeness of their character to a new game without too much overhead.
If you would like to join this project, please contact one of its members.
In the text below, if an attribute value is rendered in CAPS, it is the default value. In the case of a discrepancy between the documentation and the software, please file an issue, but take note that the specifications in the documentation reflect the desired behavior, and as such, the code will typically be adjusted to reflect the behavior described here.
If you feel that the document should be amended, please write an issue as well describing your concern.
The OAML tag is the main tag. It contains the OpenAvatar Markup that describes the character.
Tags
NAME, BODY
Attributes
none
The NAME tag contains the name of the avatar. This could be used to attempt to automatically name the character if that name is not already registered.
Tags
text
Attributes
none
The BODY tag contains all the pieces of the character's body. It also describes certain physical properties of the character itself.
Tags
HEAD, SKIN, ARMS, LEGS
Attributes
gender {REQUIRED} (male|female|other|unknown)
The character's gender. Can be used to specify certain physiological traits on the character.
build (LEAN|fat|muscular)
The character's build. Can be used to make more muscular or more fat characters.
shape (v|hourglass|apple|pear|STRAIGHT)
The character's body shape. Can be used to determine distribution of girth.
height (short|AVERAGE|tall)
The character's height. Can be used to make them taller or shorter.
weight (light|AVERAGE|heavy)
The character's weight. Can be used to make them skinnier or thicker.
The HEAD tag contains the description of the character's head.
Tags
HAIR, EYES, EARS, MOUTH, NOSE
Attributes
none
The SKIN tag describes the character's skin.
Tags
none
Attributes
color (CDATA)
The color of the character's skin. Can use standard ways of specifying color in an XML document.
tone (pale|light|AVERAGE|tan|dark)
A modifier for skin tone. Can be used to adjust lightness or darkness atop specified color.
The ARMS tag contains a description for the arms of the character.
Tags
ARM{*}
Attributes
length (none|short|AVERAGE|long)
The length of the arms.
count (CDATA)
The number of arms the character has. The default value is 2.
The LEGS tag contains a description for the legs of the character.
Tags
LEG{*}
Attributes
length (none|short|AVERAGE|long)
The length of the legs.
count (CDATA:2)
The number of legs the character has. The default value is 2.
The HAIR tag describes the hair of the character.
Tags
none
Attributes
color (CDATA)
The preferred hair color.
length (none|short|AVERAGE|long)
The preferred hair length. None is bald.
The EYES tag describes the character's eyes.
Tags
EYE{*}
Attributes
color (CDATA)
The preferred eye color (the iris).
shape (narrow|AVERAGE|wide)
The preferred shape of the eye.
vergence (cross|AVERAGE|wall)
Which way the eyes are looking (straight ahead, at each other, or away from each other)
size (small|AVERAGE|large)
The size of the eyes.
count (CDATA:2)
The number of eyes. Default 2.
The EARS tag describes the ears of the character.
Tags
EAR{*}
Attributes
shape (ROUNDED|pointed)
The preferred shape of the ears: human or elvish.
size (small|AVERAGE|large)
The size of the ears.
count (CDATA:2)
How many ears? Default 2.
The MOUTH tag describes the character's mouth.
Tags
none
Attributes
shape (narrow|AVERAGE|wide)
The shape of the character's mouth.
size (small|AVERAGE|large)
The size of the character's mouth.
type (smile|NEUTRAL|frown)
Is the character smiling, frowning, or keeping straight-faced?
The NOSE tag describes the character's nose.
Tags
none
Attributes
size (none|small|AVERAGE|large)
The size of the character's nose.
The ARM tag is used to describe a particular arm of the character.
Tags
HAND
Attributes
side {REQUIRED} (left|right)
Which side is the arm on?
length (none|short|AVERAGE|long)
The length of the arm.
The LEG tag describes a particular leg of the character.
Tags
FOOT
Attributes
side {REQUIRED} (left|right)
Which side is the leg on?
length (none|short|AVERAGE|long)
The length of the leg.
The EYE tag describes a particular eye of the chracter.
Tags
IRIS, PUPIL, SCLERA
Attributes
side {REQUIRED} (left|right|middle)
Which side is the eye on?
color (CDATA)
What color is the eye (iris)?
shape (narrow|AVERAGE|wide)
The shape of the eye.
vergence (cross|AVERAGE|wall)
The way the eye is pointing.
size (none|small|AVERAGE|large)
The size of the eye.
The EAR tag describes a particular ear of the character.
Tags
none
Attributes
side {REQUIRED} (left|right)
What side is the ear on?
shape (RONDED|pointed)
Is the ear rounded or pointed?
size (none|small|AVERAGE|large)
The size of the ear.
The HAND tag describes a particular hand of the character.
Tags
FINGERS
Attributes
side {REQUIRED} (left|right)
What side is the hand on?
size (none|small|AVERAGE|large)
The size of the hand.
The FOOT tag describes a particular foot of the character.
Tags
TOES
Attributes
side {REQUIRED} (left|right)
What side is the foot on?
size (none|small|AVERAGE|large)
The size of the foot.
The IRIS tag describes a particular iris (the colored part of the eye) of the character.
Tags
none
Attributes
color (CDATA)
The preferred eye color.
size (none|small|AVERAGE|large)
The size of the iris.
The PUPIL tag describes a particular pupil (the black part of the eye) of the character.
Tags
none
Attributes
color (CDATA:black)
The color of the pupil. Default black.
size (none|small|AVERAGE|large)
The size of the pupil.
shape (slit|CIRCLE|camera)
The shape of the pupil. Slit are like cat pupils. Camera are like octopus pupils.
The SCLERA tag describes a particular sclera (the white part of the eye) of the character.
Tags
none
Attributes
color (CDATA:white)
The color of the sclera. Default white.
The FINGERS tag describes a collection of fingers of the character.
Tags
FINGER{*}
Attributes
count (CDATA:5)
How many fingers? Default 5.
length (none|short|AVERAGE|long)
The length of the fingers.
The TOES tag describes a collection of toess of the character.
Tags
TOE{*}
Attributes
count (CDATA:5)
How many toes? Default 5.
length (none|short|AVERAGE|long)
The length of the toes.
The FINGER tag describes a particular finger of the character.
Tags
none
Attributes
index {REQUIRED} (CDATA)
The index of the finger (zero-indexed).
length (none|short|AVERAGE|long)
The length of the finger.
The TOE tag describes a particular toe of the character.
Tags
none
Attributes
index {REQUIRED} (CDATA)
The index of the toe (zero-indexed).
length (none|short|AVERAGE|long)
The length of the toe.