Character customization - any plans?

[IMBACORE]

I think this is a missed opportunity that XCOM: Enemy Unknown fully capitalized upon. Seven months before Firaxis' game released I wrote this about UFO: AI:

For a military game wherein statistics play an important role, I’m surprised that the game developers haven’t introduced systems for players to immediately recognize who is who at a glance in large maps. I’ve taken it upon myself to use the game’s (non-functional) camouflage scheme to clothe soldiers in different uniforms to spot who is who; hence in my games, elites go out in arctic garb, rookies in urban, and competent and proficient troopers in jungle and desert camo respectively.

If the developers had implemented a system wherein players could apply color schemes or rank stripes to the soldiers’ armor it would have been so much better. I suppose this is asking too much as this game is freeware but think about what THQ is doing with its Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine video game---the skin DLCs aren’t selling like pancakes but they are selling! Customization appeals strongly to a wide player base, not just strategy gamers. I’m very confident that capitalizing on customization would give this game a solid boost in terms of gameplay and user-friendliness.

I think adding various doodads like different helmets or torso armor would go a long way to improving this game.

Of course I'm not a programmer so I don't know how feasible this is. I'm just throwing this out there because the devs might be interested in tackling this aspect.

[Sandro]

Adding different helmets and armors requires new 3D artwork, and we are VERY short on 3D artists. Adding new paint schemes for existing armor is simpler; basically, you just have to recolor existing skin into something else. Programming job is already done for that.