3D Person Designer

I envy you.

This is a phrase many of us use a lot in life. We envy money, clothes, status, happiness and an endless list of other things that we all feel will help make our lives complete. Since the advent of games like Second Life, people having been spending their time (and money) creating the lives they'd like to have and then living them online.

The notion of creating a fictional version of yourself and then interacting with others might seem strange to some. What could be enjoyable about creating a virtual existence when there's a whole world out there with far more real possibilities waiting for you? It's understandable that the very idea of joining a site with even a passing resemblance to sites like Second Life might put a lot of people off trying something different.

Don't fear though. IMVU is not like those other sites. IMVU is more like a chat room with a difference. A big difference. It's way more interactive, has far more avenues for fun and it allows you to create a unique way to introduce yourself to other members. It's not about living in a dream world and playing out the life you want, it's about designing a look for yourself and meeting new people.

For a monthly subscription fee you can join a fast growing community of thousands of like-minded people who don't just want to chat, but want to create and interact in a totally new way.

IMVU. It's a conversation starter.

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So how do you get going?

Once you've chosen your user name and added a few essential pieces of information it's time to start building your avatar. Don't be concerned about decision making: even once you have selected your generic avatar you can just about change every inch of them! The program guides you very nicely through several components such as the shop and your own room so that you can get a feel for the site very quickly. Things might look a bit barren at first, but once you hit the chat rooms that will all change! You'll be able to update some basic info to your profile such as age, gender, sexuality as well as your reason for being on IMVU (chatting, making friends etc.) Once you've done this it's time to get going.

In the "dress up" section you'll see how many things there are to do to your avatar. In fact, "dress up" is slightly under selling it as you can change so many things. Most of them are obvious, such as what your avatar wears and what hair style they have. But there are also many more things to customise such as eyes, skin tone and even "actions". These are physical actions that your avatar will perform in chat. The range is huge with sexy walks, hip hop moves to thousands of more ways to build a unique character. As you'll see in the shopping section, IMVU has an almost limitless selection of clothes and accessories for your character. In fact, the hardest thing to do is keep track of all the things you've bought and filled your wardrobe with! You'll see as well that the categories of items are broken down very well. Most are self-explanatory and easy to use.

Your avatar will appear before you and you can zoom in and out to see how well your clothes are matching up. The graphics are not out-of-this-world-amazing, but they are pretty good. Some things work better than others. For example, the hairstyles look really good whereas the jewellery can look very 2D and dated. Also, when you select an action you'll see your character undertake a mini demonstration in front of you. Some of them work really well, but others less so! Many are deliberately silly and unrealistic, but others are designed to look real and work well. Anyone who has played The Sims will see a lot of similarities in the actions of the avatar.

Once you've combined your outfits and actions you can save your new look to your wardrobe. This just means that every time you go into dress up you can select from all the outfits you've been customising. You can really play around in dress up for a long time. However, a new member might be left feeling like they're wardrobe is pretty bare to begin with. This is true but IMVU gives you a good selection of outfits/actions/skins to start building your avatar. They even include a selection of kooky looking pets you can get to accompany you!

Note* Under 18's and Over 18's are separated into different chat rooms and worlds to ensure the safety of kids who wish to play.

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