During the development of Capcom's sci-fi adventure game Pragmata, the development team explored a surprising cost-saving measure: giving the android character Diana a bob haircut. This decision was driven by the significant resources required to render Diana's voluminous hair.
Pragmata features Hugh, an engineer, and Diana, a child-like android, on a mission on the Moon. The game utilizes Capcom's RE Engine to meticulously animate Diana's hair, with nearly half a million points dedicated to its rendering. As noted in Famitsu and reported by Automaton Media, the complexity of Diana's hair, especially as she rides piggyback with Hugh, presented a challenge for development across multiple platforms and specifications.
Developers acknowledged this issue early in the concept art phase. The constant presence and movement of Diana's hair served as a technical showcase for the RE Engine but also a strain on system resources. Presentations at CEDEC revealed that the team considered simpler hairstyles, such as a bob, which could have masked the intricate hair rendering. Ultimately, the developers opted to retain Diana's more elaborate hairstyle, believing it was crucial for conveying a sense of her character and her life on the Moon. The decision meant that the RE Engine would need to handle the complex hair simulation, rather than resorting to a simpler, less expressive design. While this choice added to the game's technical demands, Capcom proceeded with the original vision, a move that has contributed to the game's critical and commercial success.