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February 18, 2005
City of Costumes
One of the coolest things about CoH is being able to design your own character's appearance. The character editor is wonderful -- indeed, it begs for copyright/trademark abuse just because you can do so many classic characters with it. But it's so wonderful that the places where it doesn't quite work are all the more irritating. Things that are missing:
- Huge Females: You can be Female, Male, or Huge. The Huge characters are actually Huge Male characters (judging from the lack of mammaries), which makes hulking female characters difficult to do -- you simply end up being beefy-but-statuesque.
- Kids: Kids (and teens) are not simply short adults -- except that's really the only option you have. Inspired by a classic side-kick? Sorry, old chum.
- Just Plain Folk: Every Male is cut. Every female is highly-bazongaed (as Jade points out). Want someone not quite as heroic in stature? You're out of luck, except to the extent that a costume (e.g., the business suit) may drape those bulging pecs.
- Civvies: You can make pretty much every kind of costume you can imagine from the classic spandex set -- but only from the classic spandex set. Try to go for more ordinary clothes -- a baggy sweatshirt, or an untucked tee, or something like that -- and the choices are much more limited. Granted, that's part of the whole Silver Age vibe of Paragon City (and it's amusing, when I'm in the sports-jacketed Psi-clone how many supers come by to "rescue" me as if I were a civilian), but a lot of comic book costuming since, say, 1985, has been much more casual, streetwear sorts of stuff. I mean, you can do some of that -- a business suit, jeans, a tank top or form-fitting T -- but it's still a lot more limited compared to the cornucopia of other uniform effects.
So, for example, K-Two has cargo pants and a black t-shirt, which isn't bad, except that the shirt looks more like a wetsuit top. Sister Chinook has as close to a sweatshirt as I could manage, which wasn't very close.
- Accoutrements: The game lacked capes when it was first issued (and even now they're a lot more limited, though there's good game-story reasons). I'm sure it's because they add a lot of complexity to rendering, and that's probably why two other obvious heroic accoutrements -- jet packs and wings -- are also missing, along with some of the specialized weaponry and gimmicks of the comic world -- Cap's shield and the Silver Surfer's board and Gambit's staff are good examples.
For that matter, weaponry other than guns, axes, swords and katanas is missing. It's a bit goofy that the bad guys can go after you with baseball bats, and the cops flip around night sticks, but you can't have either of them.
- Chest logos: Okay, there are a zillion of them, but wouldn't it be cool if you could submit designs yourself (requiring human vetting, natch). Or if NCSoft approached some organizations (sports teams and colleges come to mind) to see if some of those logos could enter the game? Heck, even if they had to charge, I'm sure there are plenty of sports buffs and alumni that would pony over to have their favorite team's logo on their hero.
The game could use a bit more flexibility with how the chest logos can be placed. Each top has defined for it the size and placement, which can vary dramatically. In some cases this makes sense -- for the business suit, the chest logo becomes a small blazer patch on the left breast above the pocket. In other cases, though, it doesn't Dealing with women's breasts seems to be a particular problem, as at least some top designs shrink the logo and place it just under the neck (e.g., Sister Chinook's maple leaf). It would be great if you could set, as a "detail," both the logo size (small, large) and its placement (either breast, centered, high, bicep).
Finally, you can put letters and numbers, but how about short words? Athletic department shirts, for example. Or a character name or trademark ("Fair Play!"). You could, if you want, enforce the obscenity filter, and I'm sure some folks would be "inappropriate" anyway, but I think those things could be worked around.
None of these are deal-killers by any means, of course. More of a wish list, along with the ability to make a (subtle, perhaps) costume change each or every other level.
Posted by Dave at February 18, 2005 9:30 AM
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Comments
Doyce said:
Huge Females:
Solution to being bothered by this:
1. Group with one of my SG-mates... goes by the name of "MacroLass."
2. Got into first-person mode.
3. Stay in that mode during a fight, when your up-down-vision gets locked into 'eye-level'. 8' tall and 4' wide is plenty huge to me.
One of the problems with the third person perspective is that, from above, everyone looks similarly sized. When I need a reminder of how little Gilly is... I go into first person, where all I see in a fight is sea of and belt buckles.
That said... are there any comic-book examples of a female character that's "huge" muscled, like the Hulk? I can't think of any.
Kids:
Yep! Issue 4 is going to include (a) more anime-style and (b) "Cool" stylish costume things (c) "teen hero" options. You'll also be able to up- and down-size various body locales... jaws, cheeks, mid-sections, et cetera.
That said, a petite female, in ultra-small size, with a baggy shirt looks pretty kid-like :)
Civvies:
It's actually pretty easy to do jeans and a t'shirt. Most everyone I know in the RP SG has a 'street clothes' set in their list of costumes... Hang Time stays in that most of the time, cuz the cape obscures my vision. Rose has been in "clubbing" attire since day one.
But... well, frankly, you're superheroes -- and you're pretty damn good looking people -- must be the mutations -- even in street clothes, why not wear something that shows off the build? :) I know when I lost about 40 pounds, I took great pleasure in buying a bunch of black t's that ... fit in non-loose fashion.
Maybe that's just me :)
Accoutrements: The game lacked capes when it was first issued
Actually, no. They had capes, then they removed them and made them one of the rewards of advancement in play. Compared to the animations from powers, capes are pretty negligible.
that’s probably why two other obvious heroic accoutrements — jet packs and wings — are also missing
Well, again... no. Winged Heroes need to fly. Having a winged hero running around on the ground for 14 levels is, frankly, stupid... so they just didn't give you the option. Now, there ARE characters who start at level 1 able to fly... the Kheldians, but you have to earn the right to play them.
Jet packs... well, I had a jet pack for awhile as part of this mission... eh. I suppose it would be nice if the "flight" for a Tech origin character looked different than everyone elses... but really, eh.
Cap’s shield and the Silver Surfer’s board and Gambit’s staff are good examples.
Yeah, I suppose the props would be nice. Right now, it's guns, katanas, broadswords, battle axes, maces, and a few of the power pools are gadget-oriented.
Problem with something like Cap's shield, though, to me, is making it viable to all Origins. How does a throwable shield match up with a mutant back ground?
Actually, better question: are there enough "shield prop" supers to qualify it as a viable 'archetype', or is it just that the few (one) shield guys we have are famous? Dunno. Generally, (Spine Scrappers the exception), the archetype choices match up with comic tropes that repeat many many times in the medium.
The game could use a bit more flexibility with how the chest logos can be placed.
Yuup.
Posted on February 18, 2005 11:15 AM
*** Dave said:
That said… are there any comic-book examples of a female character that’s “huge” muscled, like the Hulk? I can’t think of any.
The one that comes to mind was "She-Thing" (which, if you have to ask, don't, though she was an FF member for a while). I just find it an odd omission.
Having a winged hero running around on the ground for 14 levels is, frankly, stupid… so they just didn’t give you the option.
Like baby birds?
I agree, running around for 14 levels with wings but no Flight (Hover notwithstanding) would be awkward, but in theory that also means that calling yourself anything with an eye toward flight ("Sky Captain," "Falcon," "Air Boy") would be stupid, too, which cuts out a huge swath of comic archetypes.
Fact is, the transport powers are standard hero origin (or even focus) in the comics. I understand, from a gameplay perspective, why they might not grant them in CoH, but it is an archetype distortion. Heck, make "winged flight" (and choose the wings/effect) an optional power.
Problem with something like Cap’s shield, though, to me, is making it viable to all Origins. How does a throwable shield match up with a mutant back ground?
I don't know. How does a sword?
Actually, better question: are there enough “shield prop” supers to qualify it as a viable ‘archetype’, or is it just that the few (one) shield guys we have are famous? Dunno. Generally, (Spine Scrappers the exception), the archetype choices match up with comic tropes that repeat many many times in the medium.
I can think of exactly one super-character in the Marvel or DC Universes that uses an axe. And he's a bad guy. And he's dead. Ditto for a mace (except he wasn't a villain). Only a couple with swords, a couple with katanas. Deadly wepaons are miniscule compared to others.
(Conversely, staff combat of various sorts is not at all uncommon -- but not available in CoH that I've seen. Ditto bows. And, on the villain side, shuriken and thrown daggers are common. But, yes, let's not get into Spine Scrappers.)
I actually think it's kind of a design flaw, making specific objects into powers, as opposed to a power having a manifestation as an optional range of objects.
So, for example, we might have Cap's shield, Thor's hammer, DD's baton, Batman's batarang -- fundamentally similar objects (a ranged returning weapon). Rather than create four separate powers to cover each of those, it seems the design should be to have powers with different manifestations/objects available as options (power costuming).
That's all moot, though. It is what it is. And it's still pretty damned good. :-)
Posted on February 18, 2005 11:39 AM
Boulder Dude said:
Hmmm...
Hopefully they'll allow for (free) character redesign when 4 comes out.
Posted on February 18, 2005 12:30 PM
Ian said:
When did they put the maple leaf in? I'd been clamoring for one for awhile now. Must've been when I was over on WoW. Now I just have to get Roughrider Girl back up to 40 to regain that costume slot I used to make a "Crey" disguise.*
Capes and Effects were introduced in Issue 2 in mid-September. I wasn't in beta, so I can't tell you if they were ever in beta and were then removed before launch, but they definitely weren't available at any level between launch and Issue 2.
*Think of a hero, dressed like the short-skirted Crey Vigilant (suit jacket, short skirt, heels, all black). The schtick would be that any time a similarly dressed Crey showed up, I would beeline for her and beat her up, screaming, "It's just you and me, Legs!" Okay, it's a silly schtick. Most of mine are.
Speaking of tiny characters, I discovered that a 4' tall Super Strength Tanker throws a punch that's right at groin level on the average villain. So I made a cheerleader like toon called Nutcracker.
Posted on February 18, 2005 2:19 PM