At the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference (CEDEC) 2026, Kenji Irie and Serina Ohara from Capcom presented a detailed analysis of the character modeling process for Pragmata, focusing on hair and facial expression animations (source: Famitsu). Initially, the developers had envisioned Diana with a shorter hairstyle to keep development costs manageable, but her final design features hair nearly as long as her entire height.
Pragmata distinguishes itself by rendering each hair strand individually instead of using the common technique of hair cards—flat polygons with textured hair. This approach produces hyper-realistic hair that moves and bends organically. The developers noted that while hair cards would require 22 joints for Diana’s hair, animating each strand separately needed a staggering 430,000 animation points.
Given the complexity of rendering such long hair, the production costs for assets, simulations, and processing were projected to be substantial. This led to hesitation during the early stages of development, including discussions about switching to a bob cut. Capcom even produced a test model with the shorter hairstyle to assess whether it would mitigate cost concerns.
Ultimately, the team decided that Diana’s signature blond locks were essential for “conveying a sense of life on the moon” and for reflecting her character as an innocent girl thrust into an unexpected adventure. Since the back of her head is frequently visible during gameplay, the dynamic animations of her long hair were also intended to maintain player engagement over longer sessions.
The development team faced numerous challenges, including balancing asset production costs, overcoming simulation hurdles, and optimizing GPU loads across various PC and console platforms to ensure smooth performance with Diana’s animated hair.
Although a typical human head has around 100,000 hair strands, Diana’s in-game hair consists of fewer than 20,000 strands, which were carefully styled and thickened to appear more natural. This design choice aligns with her cheerful and occasionally untamed personality.
Pragmata is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam), and Nintendo Switch 2.
Related: