CoH Costume Makeover Contest

Yay! Very exciting. Your critiques are actually things I had problems with and kept changing around. The hair color in particular. I did make his hair black at one point to give it contrast and tie in the cape a bit more and then I tried red, etc. I also tried the Cape of the Four Winds and a couple other options instead of the magic pattern. I think that if I do end up using this design I'll make those changes.

Thanks!

Well done Goblin Queen, grats on the prize. This is a good contest Naz, will certainly be submitting something for the next one

While I feel discouraged about my submission, I do like the way you pick out the positives as well in the critiques. And I will definitely be participating in the future.

Thanks for the review of the costume. Guess I was not lucky with the combination of the colors (I just dislike having only two colors on a character). *shrugs* Time to do things better with a new make over

And congratulations Goblin Queen.

I personally can't wait for people to try out Shadeknight. I liked all the submissions for Ozy.

Is it ok to go wild on different colors Shadow? Or do you favor the black/grey/white?
I did get an idea for your char, but before I post I got to know about them colors. :P

Well. Hes a Batman / Dr. Strange type. ...So colors wide open, I suppose XD.

Yeah, go ahead Arete.

It was more how far off the mark I was. I tried to deviate a little and stand out, but it backfired, and I knew it.

Anyways, I made a costume for this next one, but I liked it so much I made a new character with it. >.> So back to the drawing board.

OK, so I did some digging and found some more info on what you were looking for (some other thread about this character) So I present to you 2 different designs, based on what you've said, adn what I imply.

I really wanted to keep some of the already set in place features you have, ie. Main colors and highlight colors, but also expand on them to make more of an impact.

First if the Light armor version akin to the likes of Batman.
In your bio I read that your eyes glow like a Lich's, so I wanted to pick up on that. I kept the overall feel of your first screenshot, with upgrades. I dig the new sports boots and gloves too, so I kept them as well. He has a few shades of grey along with splashes of black and the overall accent of gold. You are mystical, and evolving. Like your bio says, as you learn and grow, using such dark magic start to take away from you, it changes you. You are becoming something else, not bad, but something different from who you were when you first started. This is the "I attack from the shadows" look that lets you take some hits, but still deliver the Dark Nasty on those who stand in your way.



Next look is the more public face of Shadeknight. I played with the idea of using aura's for eyes, but more and more I liked the glowing eyes from the Mutant pack. The face lines usually bother me, but again, you are changing, it is overcoming you, you are developing and gaining strength, but at what price? You also mentioned the idea of Batman meets Dr. Strange. So I wanted to keep the cape, but add some armor and a look of change. So I dropped the full length cape for the tattered ones, which opens up the back to see alot of detail from the roman armor underneath. You are dressed, still, in white and black, but covered in Black and gold. I went with the new baggy Resistence pants for a little flair, but heavily covered it up for more impact. I kept the hood as perhaps you are not quite yet coming to terms with your dark transformation, and you want to cover up a bit, and it ties in with the other costume I gave you, hinting towards a connection, and not a total dissconnect. (Thats right, they were meant to work together!) So, here's front and back of the more iconic look, in armor, to fight off the Circle of Thorns or slay demons in...



SO yeah, there ya have it. I also think that describing my thoughts was much better for the fire breathing critiques of Naz (jk!) instead of just laying them out there for any and all interpritation.

I avoided going too light on the first look, hence the need for the black to truely show off the darker greys. Combat ready, padded up but flexible, dark face that scares the be-jebus out of the bad guys. Also, thats Exoproto on top and Valk on the bottom. Second look has more razzle dazzle without it becoming garish and overdone. Used Justice top and resistence bottoms for the leathered worked looks they give off. Note that there is a difference in the golds between the two. I used a bit darker on the top outfit so it wasnt glowing, and the bottom one went one up brighter since it has white to play off from.

Still stayed in your black, white, grey, and gold color pallete but changed them around drastically. I hope you enjoy!

edit: After I posted I went and looked again at your originals... and your accent is a bit more on the bronze side than I first remembered as I made these... ahhh, distractions, gotta lvoe em while you make costumes! Anyway, if you'd like me to change that, I could... or if the main idea is there and you like the gold, well awesomesause.
I just noticed it... my bad if you werent a fan of the gold.

K, here's mine. Like Bru Tal, i've submitted 2 costumes, but the instructions do seem to indicate this is what is required.

First one is the light armoured set. I don't really like using black so i've gone with a kind of dark teal here. Nothing too magical about it, it's more a functional set.



Next is much more magical oriented and is in answer to ShadowWings asking for a Magi-Knight type of costume in his original request, the idea being his main profession is as a demon slayer. This was my idea of a demon slaying Magi knight. The colours of both costumes aren't neccessarily following the original costume, but hey, what demon slayer wouldn't wear red armour

Loving the entries so far.

Keep them coming!

Right. I went for a little gadget (note operative word "little"), kind of merge the magic and tech thing with my entry. Thus I've included two very similar outfits.
Both to get a sort of Iconic Hero look. One with more colors (and maybe more iconic), the other to try and give the outfit a bit more... (maybe) befitting the name.

What designates the outfit as magic is the Ankh and the magic pattern on the boots. I used energy shield to give the shield a more magic feel. I decided against both more elemental or shadow shield... even though the bio did mention something about shadow... (I felt anyway to display shadow powers through a shield was wrong... for me)
Also I did not add an aura, it felt a bit wrong for this costume. However a glowing eye aura could work if it is not too strong (to prevent seeing two eyes).
Note: The shield was originally not as blue as it is now. My graphics is set for very bright, but when ever i do "Prt Scr", the screenshot gets very dark. So I adjusted the colors via another program and sadly the shield got way too much adjusted. It has more of a weak blue color with white secondary color.





Hope you at the end of the competition has found a look that you like (of several)

Wow, love the look, Arete.

Keep 'em rolling guys, got till September 4th.

Here is the first costume I came up with. I'll try to get another one uploaded at some point tomorrow.

EDIT: Uploaded pictures of a second costume. Made this one more classic and "Mage-ish."

Reminder that we only have two days left. I'll start writing up my 'reviews' tommorow.

Last day bump =D.

I'll start writing tonight and send my reviews / choice to Naz for him to post on the blog.

Hopefully it's not too late. I've been indisposed this past week.



Here is my submission. I tired to use different colors so it wasn't so Red White and Blue, but anything else I could think of looked a wee bit bland.

Edit: Spelling

I went with what would someone look like if they combined a lich with Batman? Something damned scary! Batman used bats for his symbol of fear, so I went with this costume as having skulls/skeletons being the symbol of fear.

I didn't use any true black colors in this costume. I used dark blue, gray blue and gray/white. I tried to mix a bit of modern with a bit of horror/magic and I fell in love with the Overguard pattern for this particular concept since it put three shades of color on each piece. Perfect for Shadeknight! I used Overguard not just for the shading quality but also because it seems it could have an almost modern skeletal pattern to it. The other pieces were used with that in mind as well - a skeletal resemblance.

For the shield, I went with the Energy one as it can be viewed as magical looking and had it match the lich eye glow. However, I picked a lot of my overall costume colors to match the subtle tones of color in the Dark shield in case that was a preference.

Shadeknight Light


Shadeknight Dark


Shadeknight Shield

Alright. It is closed off for new contestants as of now. I will be writing up the review on the costumes shortly and sending them, with my decision on winner, to Naz.

Hate to double post, but. Since Naz is taking a while, here we go:

Bru_Tal
Man, I loved the -look-, but not the coloring. It was the shade of yellow / gold that made it eh for me. But I loved how you took my bio to make them. I liked the explanations, and it all seemed cool. The first one was your best, I will admit. The second one? Not so much, and it ties to coloring. But I also don't like High Collar cape. The use of the mutant pack did a great job. Bad side is I don't have that pack. Also, the mix of Justice, Vanguard, and Roman was a bit off for me, perhaps 'cause I like the gauntlets for Vanguard with Vanguard boots. But to say this in wrap-up: Great job!

Henri
The light armor was great, I loved the coloring. However, an offset was the mutant pack, but aside from that...my only complaint is the helmet. It just, and recently with my gamma going down, looked out of place to me. I liked what you did, but it just wasn't for me.

The second costume was eh to me, because of the shade of red (and I know I could of changed it to fit my likings if I used it in-game) and because the different pants compared to the chest underneath. I am a picky person, so that really wasn't to my liking. But I did like what you attempted to do and the costume overall was a decent one.

Lady Arete
Hot hot damn =D. I love the combination of pieces you used with the coloring. I have only a few nitpickings and that ties to how I like my costumes usually. The first version's different chest and legs was a turn off for costume-wise matters. That was really my only complaint that was a big bother to me. The minor one was the shield because I don't like Energy Shield of the elemental ones. Other then that, A+ work there.

Matt King
Well. I have to say, I loved both costumes, armor and spandex. I honestly can't nitpick on any of these. But I will judge them none-the-less =D. The armor was well done, though the use of GR pieces was over the top in that you used almost 90% GR pieces. While this isn't TOO bad, it is something that irks me just a tiny bit. I loved the coloring though, and the look was just great overall, is what I'm trying to say.

The spandex costume is Epic Win. Besides my distaste for the hair style and the beard, I loved the look you did. Colors I'm not so used to in using, neat symbol, and the use of the folded gloves and boots made it a excellent costume. Not much else can be said, really.

The Sydd
Well, I liked that you used different colors and used a variety of pieces but the coloring plus the reaper mask are not that good. I don't mean to be mean on this, heh. I did like parts of the costume, but overall , It had room for improvement.

Goblin Queen
Ho-holy bejeebus, the costume is filled with awesome. The coloring and the use of the pieces and how they flowed together makes it an epic armor / Batman meets Lich kind of thing. I don't have nitpicks on this, just one good review. Though, only thing is that I don't have mutant pack, heh. Otherwise, loved the helmet combination and the use of Overguard for the under-armor.

So, drumroll please...

The winner is...Matt King!

Congratulations!

Thank you, everyone, for the entries. I loved them all, but I could only choose one winner.

Congrats, Matt!

Well I'm kind of glad, I think I'm going to use that costume I made. I just need to come up with a good name and power combo/AT. Haha.

Very happy you found a look you like for Shadeknight.

Gratulations Matt

Yea I was a bit.. "hmm will this work" on the pants... for the colored one myself. Think I'll make a character with those colors, but more of the secondary one.

And yes.. Goblin.. Dang.. that was awesome