User blog comment:SniperGhost/Warhammer 40000: Spacemarine/@comment-1257337-20100928011257/@comment-1022794-20100929142920

SniperGhost: Most games nowadays tend to use a wildcard system when it comes to their player models. The way that I understand it, there are three primary ways that these are used.

1st way: The game selects a present NPC model at random, and generates it for the player to face. Usually has certain restrictions placed in the code so the player won't be facing, say, 10 of the exact same models, but this may not always be the case. A good example of this system was the original dead rising.

2nd way: The game picks from a relatively low selection of 'base' models, and then changes certain aspects of them. This way you have the player versing or encountering models who make look the same, but may be running different hair style/color, clothing, etc.

3rd way: The game uses an advanced customization system where each model is built up completely from scratch. A way to basically explain it; The game system notices that the player enters a certain area, and spawns enemies. The game engine has these presets stocked: 7 different body types to use, 6 types of footwear, 12 different pants, 18 different shirts, 4 overcoats *as a variable feature*, 8 different hair styles, and 5 basic hair colors.
 * From there, each foe spawned will have the system pick one each of these options at random, and use this to build up the enemy. To try and get your head around it further;

Enemy one has these options chosen: Body Type 4 * Footwear 3 * Leggings 6 * Shirt 12 * Overcoat 1, Hair 8 * Color 1. Enemy two has these options chosen: Body Type 7 * Footwear 1 * Leggings 3 * Shirt 17 * N/A Overcoat * Hair 2 * Color 4. And so on and so forth until the game has enough models spawned. Those selection choices alone allow for 580, 608 different models. Pretty epic, eh? It's not used very often I don't think though, due to it having a tendency to decrease performance and result in tons of lag. (Enough, at times, to crash a game).

Other game engines may run unique model creation ways, but those are the most common in modern games. Lack of model variety tends to become noticeable if you play the game enough, unless it is so immersive that you tend to not notice it. If your a casual player it probably won't make a difference, if your checking quality standards or a repetitive gamer though, it will be aesthetically detracting. Hope I've given you an understanding of models, although this will probably become a wall of text once I post it.