Chapter 1: Carry Systems & Attachment Logic

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Carry Systems & Attachment Logic

Carry systems are the connective tissue between character, tools, and world. Belts, packs, holsters, and attachment standards determine silhouette, animation constraints, and how players read capability at a glance. This article gives character concept artists a production‑oriented framework to design carry that is comfortable, modular, and readable across genres—plus the callouts downstream teams need to build and rig reliably.

First Principles: Load Path, Access, Safety

Every carry decision should answer three questions: where does the weight go, how fast can the user access it, and what happens if it fails. Weight lives best on the pelvis and along the axial skeleton; access aligns to the dominant hand and typical task posture; failure modes include dropped tools, snags, and self‑injury. Draw these answers as arrows on your silhouette before adding pockets or straps. A clean load path makes the difference between “stuff stuck on a costume” and a believable kit.

Anatomy of Support

  • Pelvic Belt / Hip Yoke: Primary load shelf; position over iliac crests. Split‑front belts avoid abdominal pressure and allow forward flex. Add lumbar pads and anti‑roll wings.
  • Shoulder Harness / Yoke: Transfers weight from chest/back plates or pack to belt. Position over clavicles, not neck. Cross‑chest connector prevents strap drift.
  • Sternum & Rib Avoidance: Keep buckles off sternum; route straps outside the axillary line to avoid chafe. Respect breathing volume: side elastics under rib plates.
  • Thigh / Arm Straps: Place over tendinous zones (IT band, triceps long head) to avoid muscle throttling; angle to counter tool torque.

Modularity Standards (Fictionalized but Plausible)

Use webbing ladders with regular pitch (e.g., 25/38/50 mm) as universal anchors. Slots and daisy chains on belts, packs, and yokes let pouches migrate between roles. For sci‑fi, extend to rail‑and‑tab shoes or keyed insert bays with lock buttons; for fantasy, translate to laced eyelets, frog loops, and buttoned tabs with consistent hole spacing. Whatever the standard, keep pitch, tab width, and fastener language consistent so prop kits read as a family and 3D can reuse sockets.

Belts: From Utility to Warbelts

Belts are torque battlegrounds. Tools hung off a round belt spin and bruise hips; a contoured hip yoke with a semi‑rigid inner core stops roll and spreads load. Place heavy items at 3–5 and 7–9 o’clock (near hand rests) and keep the front center clean for bending. Add keepers to trap loose strap tails and retention elastics at holsters. For stealth, soften hardware and cover snaps; for ceremonial, move weight to decorative baldrics that still land on the pelvis.

Packs: Frames, Hangs, and Access

Packs should hand weight to the belt via frame stays or exo spines; shoulder straps only stabilize. Show load lifter geometry from shoulder top to pack to prevent sway. Side access zips and clam‑shell openings allow tool retrieval without fully doffing. In fantasy, chest‑hung satchels and saddle bags follow the same physics—wide straps, low sling points, and balanced pairs. For jetpacks or battery slabs, integrate rails that dock to a backplate and cross‑load to the hip belt, not just shoulder straps.

Holsters & Sheaths: Draw Paths and Retention

Map the draw cone like a light beam: no plates, straps, or capes should intrude. Choose retention per risk: friction fit for tools; thumb‑break straps for blades; positive locks for sidearms in crowds; magnetic pads for sci‑fi scanners. Angle holsters to clear armor edges; move mounts forward on the belt for sitting or vehicle use. In fantasy, frog hangers pivot to keep sheaths vertical while walking; in sci‑fi, rotating docks align to seated cockpits.

Pouches, Pockets, and Lids

Pouches should open in the direction of use: top‑open for stand‑up reloads, side‑zip for prone/crawl, tear‑away for first aid. Bellows pleats expand volume without bulk; elastic keepers and guttered flaps shed rain. Place heavier, less‑used items posterior; frequent small items anterior or high chest. For fabrics, use bar tacks at mouth corners and bias‑bound edges to survive friction; for shells, add hinge webs and filleted cutouts.

Cable, Hose & Hose Management

Tether logic prevents snags. Route hoses along strap corridors; interrupt with retainer loops every 100–150 mm so slack cannot fall into hinge lines. Provide breakaway couplers near the neck and hip so loads don’t injury‑drag. In fantasy alchemy or magitech, convert to bead‑sealed tubes and braided cords; keep the routing discipline identical.

UI & Diegetic Interface

Carry is interface. Design status windows (battery, pressure) on stable panels; make service seams obvious with icons and color tabs. Place QR‑like glyphs or labels where a teammate would grab or scan. Med kits read via crosses and pull tabs; engineer kits via hex/cog icons. Keep emissives in continuous bands (belt ring, shoulder brow) to survive motion blur; provide stealth/off states. In fantasy, replicate with reflective enamel bands, wax seals, and talisman tabs that break on first use.

Snag, Noise & Signature Control

Everything you add can snag, rattle, glint, or print. Kill snag by tucking tails, beveling edges, and avoiding forward‑facing hooks. Kill noise with peached fabrics, covered snaps, and elastic keepers. Kill glint with matte finishes and edge rolling; kill print (under a cloak) by distributing thickness rather than stacking it on one hip.

Mobility Windows

Respect hinge corridors: leave crescents under deltoids, wedges behind knees, and a soft groin zone. Float thigh platforms from the belt on drop panels to clear hip flexion. Put cantilevered holsters on pivot mounts so they swing clear of armor in sprint. For heavy kits, add standoff between plates and pouches so gaps and overlaps remain readable and cloth‑sim doesn’t clip.

Fantasy vs Sci‑Fi Translations

Fantasy carry turns webbing ladders into laced eyelets, frog loops, and riveted strap grids. Tool physics remain: weight to hips, draw cones clear, closures appropriate to gloves and stress. Sci‑fi adds rail docks, mag‑pads, battery slabs, and insert bays with keyed retention. Both benefit from standard pitch and edge grammar (bevels, binding, rivet cadence) that unify a faction.

Wear, Weathering, and Repair Language

Carry wears fast at mouths, corners, and anchors. Belts polish at edges; pouches darken under lids; holster throats cut burnish arcs. Shell packs show stress‑whitening at hinge webs; coated fabrics crack along fold memory. Repairs: bar‑tacked webbing overlays, riveted doublers at holster slots, sewn scabs on leather, welded TPU patches on shells. Encode maintenance with inspection tags, serial plates, and stamped dates on straps.

Shader & Texture Notes

At medium distance, communicate carry through edge behavior (brightened rims, AO under flaps), hardware spec (matte vs enamel), and material contrast (soft pouch vs hard holster). Reserve weave or pore detail for close‑ups. Decouple emblem albedo from normals; avoid fake height that fights real seams. Add dirt cones beneath pouch lids and along belt underside; polish maps along hand paths.

Rigging & Cloth‑Sim Guidance

Provide collision proxies for every rigid pouch/holster and increase cloth collision thickness under them. Mark no‑sim zones under plates and packs; allow limited‑slide for floating mounts. Define belt as semi‑rigid with pelvic constraint; add witness tents between anchors to sell tension. Supply draw animations reference: arc, hand path, and clearances.

LOD & Streaming Strategy

Collapse small buckles and webbing into broad color/roughness blocks at LOD2+. Preserve silhouette contributors (hip platforms, holster outlines, battery slabs). Keep icon fields and pull tabs as single shapes. Provide a carry LOD sheet showing which pouches persist and which merge.

Packaging for Production

Deliver orthos with: 1) load path arrows and weight hierarchy, 2) attachment standard (pitch, tab width, fastener types), 3) draw cones and retention levels, 4) service seams and access zips, 5) cable routing with breakaway points, 6) rig notes (constraints, collision proxies), and 7) LOD plan. Include exploded views for belt/yoke stack, holster mount, pack frame to belt transfer, and rail/insert bay modules.

Case Studies

Field Medic (Medium, Near‑Future): Hip‑anchored belt with rear battery slab; tear‑away chest med placard; two small anterior pouches for airway and diagnostics; rear dump pouch for sharps. Draw cones clear; emissive belt ring syncs with squad UI. Wear shows glove polish on zips and disinfectant haze. Artificer Courier (Fantasy Light): Frog‑hung satchel pair to balance load, knife at 10 o’clock, scroll tube on back diagonal. Laced ladder standard across belt lets talisman tins move roles. Wax seals act as service tags; cloak keeps silhouette smooth. Salvage Rigger (Sci‑Fi Heavy): Back rail frame docks to pelvic yoke; thigh winch on pivot mount; mag‑pad tool array on chest; hose and cable runs with breakaway couplers. Pack opens clamshell; anchor clusters triangulate loads. Stress‑whitening at hinge webs and scuff halos around mag pads sell use.

Closing Thought

Carry systems are choreography you can see. When weight follows bones, access follows tasks, and attachments follow a clear standard, the kit looks credible, animates cleanly, and tells the player exactly what this character can do—before they even move.