Capcom's upcoming sci-fi action game Pragmata nearly featured a significantly altered design for its robot companion, Diana. Developers revealed during a presentation at the 2026 Computer Entertainment Developers Conference (CEDEC) that a drastic change to Diana's iconic flowing hair was considered during development.
Hair Animation Challenges
During a talk on hair and facial animations, Pragmata developers Kenji Irie and Serina Ohara explained the complex process of animating Diana's hair. Unlike many games that utilize hair cards—flat polygons with hair textures—Pragmata opted for individual hair strands for a more realistic appearance. This approach requires substantially more work and resources. While hair cards would necessitate around 22 joints for animation, the strand-based method involves approximately 430,000 animation points. Despite the increased complexity and cost, Capcom deemed the realistic hair essential for conveying a sense of life on the moon, especially with its swaying motion in the low-gravity environment.
Design Revisions and Near-Misses
At multiple points during Pragmata's development, the team explored options to reduce costs associated with Diana's hair. This included discussions about giving Diana a much shorter hairstyle, such as a bob cut. These considerations began as early as the 2D art stage, with examples of such a design being shown during the CEDEC talk. The developers also revisited the possibility of a bob cut midway through development, creating a test model to assess its potential impact on cost-saving measures.
Ultimately, the developers found ways to mitigate the expenses related to Diana's detailed hair, and she retained her flowing locks in the final design. The average number of individual strands used for Diana's model in the final game is fewer than 20,000. However, a bob haircut did make its way into the game, notably on Eight, Diana's sister, whose messy bob is presented as an indicator of her 'evil' nature and 'bad vibes'.