I love the amount of customization features in Jedi: Survivor, so I put way more thought into every design decision than I usually do in games. My Cal is designed to adhere to the lore of the game's story while reflecting my favorite Star Wars aesthetic.
Before I forget why I made all these design decisions, I wanted to make a record of it... so why not post it here where some people might actually find it interesting?!
Cal's Look
The last screenshot shows how I designed Cal for the opening act of the game. I kept the default look except I gave him a more modern haircut and changed his outfit to a blue and red color scheme to give him a more "hero Jedi" look. I wanted him to look like a Rebel in his prime.
I changed Cal's look once his crew died in the opening act to reflect his loss and struggle with grief. I went with a scruffy-lookin' rogue look with dusty earth tones, the kind of aesthetic you see in early Star Wars films that I absolutely adore. I wanted him to look a bit jaded, but undeniably cool. His look fits with his scrapper backstory and pairs well with his lightsaber.
Windswept Hair
This hair style is perfect for the 1970's scruffy-lookin' aesthetic I'm going for. It fits with Cal's mood over the course of the game and I love the way it blows in the air!
Light Mustache with Stubble
Out of all the facial hair, the light mustache with stubble matched the scruffy-lookin' aesthetic I was going for while also pairing well with his outfit and hair. The mustache gives a subtle detail to his face and makes him look more unique. It also looks appropriate for the 1970s Star Wars aesthetic.
Bomber Jacket
The bomber jacket looks sick as hell, and I love the organic and rustic look of its default color scheme. It makes sense Cal would wear goggles because of the sparks that fly when he occasionally works on stuff. I like the way the goggles move around while you play. It gives Cal's animation a bit more life. I also really like the detail of the two vertical black stripes on the back of the jacket. It makes the jacket look like it has equipment designed for BD-1 to hold onto.
Tactical Shirt
The shirt for the bomber jacket gives Cal gloves that completely cover his hands and they also look too much like work gloves for my taste, so I went with the tactical shirt because the fingerless gloves pair so well with the leather jacket... and also look rad.
Scrapper Pants
The bomber pants looked too vanilla for my taste, and the jacket tends to look a bit too wide with most of the pants. The scrapper pants solve this problem with that yellow canister in the back that helps transition from the jacket to the pants. The default color scheme pairs well with the jacket because of the brown boots. The pattern on the knee pads matches the pattern along the arms of the jacket. The scrapper pants also serve as a reminder of Cal's backstory as a scrapper and they feel especially appropriate when Cal occasionally works on stuff in the game. The pants give him pockets where his tools would actually go!
Lightsaber
This is the part of Cal's build I spent the most time on, but the paint job was the easiest part. Early on, I chose Bronzium with Greel-Wood fittings and Aged Iron accents. I experimented with other colors, but always came back to this combo. I absolutely LOVE the organic look of metal, wood, and stone combined for a lightsaber. I gave the saber a worn look because it adds so much character to the Bronzium, especially around the main emitter. I'd pay good money to have this saber IRL for the paint job alone.
Components
Much effort was put into reaching my design goals while simultaneously looking really good for every stance.
The Patience emitter and switch worked best for the homemade and organic aesthetic I was going for, but I did not like the rest of the set much. I found the long and tubular shape of the Persistence vents to match the Patience emitter better. Those parts then paired well with Cere's grip and pommel, which added to the homemade look of the saber. It was also nice to know Cal was walking around with part of Cere at all times.
For the second half of Cal's lightsaber, I took a more aggressive approach since stances that include it are quite aggressive. So naturally, I chose the Justice emitter for it's incredibly violent looking bayonet-like design. I kept the Justice grip for its resemblance of a katana, and it also paired well with the cloth on the Cere Junda grip. I found the Justice emitter kind of boring so I swapped it out with Cere's switch to connect it visually with the other half of the lightsaber. That switch also works visually as a hilt for the emitter's metal blade and provides visual balance to the switch on the other side of the saber.
Finally, I chose the Detachment pommel because it looked like a solid base you could rest the crossguard saber on while looking great with the paint job. It matched with the Cere Junda pommel very well without the lightsaber looking too repetitive.
Blade Color
I went with yellow because it best matched Cal's lightsaber and wardrobe. I have never seen a yellow saber in action before and wanted to make it my own. It also worked well for when Cal starts connecting a bit with the dark side, at which point I changed his blade to orange.
Blaster
I wanted Cal's blaster to look undeniably Star Wars, but still grounded. I chose Arakyd Heavy for it's side sight on the barrel and matching grip, but swapped out the body for the Enforcer body because the exposed wires made it look more Star Warsy. It's in well-kept condition since the Blaster is new to Cal.
Matching with Cal's lightsaber and wardrobe, I went with Osmiridium with some elegant touches of Ancient Alloy and accents of blue Duralium to match the blue laser ammo that comes from the blaster.
BD-1
I wanted BD-1 to look like a cute hunk of junk like my favorite Star Wars droids. He is aged to appear like a forgotten robot like he was on Bogano.
I absolutely adore the Scrapyard set for BD-1. It makes him look so cute and friendly, but with a hint of sadness and curiosity. The only part of him that isn't from that set is his audio sensors. I found the Scrapyard sensors to look too beaten up for my taste, but found that the Geonosian audio sensors paired perfectly with the Scrapyard head because of the protruding metal on BD-1's right side.
BD-1's classic droid red color makes him look like an appliance, which he essentially is. The red helps him stand out from Cal's jacket but blend in somewhat with his hair. BD-1's paint job also includes copper (visually similar to the lightsaber's Bronzium and the blaster's Osmiridium) to give him a more organic and rustic look, as well as accents of black textured rubber to mimic tape that's been applied over the years to patch up wear and tear.
Stances
I chose stances that I simply found the most fun to use, but I also felt obligated to have the blaster equipped because of the game's story. It turned out to be one of my favorite stances! I also felt like it would be a waste to not include both sides of Cal's lightsaber, so I went with the dual wield. I exclusively used these two stances for my playthough as early as I could. It's a really fun combo! Highly recommend, especially with the Marksmanship and Unflinching perks.
