Color Combo Conundrums

jebidiahbeetus

One thing that has always vexed me (even since my days playing City of Heroes) is creating unique outfits for my toons. I used to spend days sitting in front of the character creator, trying my best to eek out a new and exciting look for my hero. Since then i've gotten much better with costumes, adding a touch of asymmetry and typically choosing at least three colors for an outfit, not including skin.

However, I still find myself stumped when it comes to what colors to pick. Even with the help of color wheels, I struggle at choosing just the right blend and making it look good. I have a few new character concepts whose outfits I really like, but I can't for the life of me manage to figure out what color should go where.

So i've decided to make a discussion in the forum here. If you are interested in helping me, please comment in this thread and i'll send you a picture of the character's work-in-progress, and you can either recreate the toon with updated colors to send back or simply share your opinion on what you would change.

ealford1985

Interested.

Send away!

I think the best way to color something is pull from what you know.

Unless it's a matching tight set...look at what you have one.

I'm wearing jeans that have metal buckles...and stitching and brown shoes with different shades of brown.

So focus on the pieces that would be a different color first and then say..."okay..now why is he wearing a red shirt? And does he need red pants too? "

zamuelpwe

While not always available, I'd also be willing to help. Something else I'd add is that theme and the desire to match/contrast your other characters also has weight. Have you looked at bluhman's guide before? Here: https://forum.arcgames.com/championsonline/discussion/243215/the-general-guide-to-costuming#latest

themightyzenith

As Ratty said, pull from what you know. I know superhero costumes and have plenty comic-books for reference too. That's the inspiration I draw from.

The best thing would be for you to post the costumes here that you would like advice on. Be sure to post a screenshot (tailor ones are best for this) and costume file as well.

jebidiahbeetus

Alright, how do I share the costume file exactly?

flyingfinn

Have to use a picture sharing site. Likes of Photobucket.
Costume files are in your Screenshots folder. As jpg. files.

jebidiahbeetus

So do I upload the costume file on the picture sharing site then put the link to that picture here?

themightyzenith

Yes..... make sure to do the right link that actually displays the image here tho'. It's better that way.

jebidiahbeetus

Here's the first archer outfit concept I made inspired by the game Chivalry: Medieval Warfare.



And here's a king's armor outfit I gave him recently.



I'll tweak proportions like head size/limb length and so on later once I give the clothing a better color combo.

I found the link to my screenshots but not still not clear on how to share them so they can be saved and loaded to someone else's game.

themightyzenith

You just post the costume files here..... if anyone wants to they can load them into the tailor.

jebidiahbeetus

Like this?

themightyzenith

Just post them like you posted the other images..... so we can see them.

jebidiahbeetus

Here's another toon whose outfit I like but still struggling to choose the right colors for.



Concept is a possessed doll who uses a Witch/Hexslinger AT combo, partially inspired by this:

ealford1985

I haven't forgot you. I'll have my color this weekend

bluhman

Honestly? They look pretty good as is. Unless there's some other kind of mood or theme you're trying to specifically go for, I'd say they fit well already.

themightyzenith

bluhman said:

Honestly? They look pretty good as is. Unless there's some other kind of mood or theme you're trying to specifically go for, I'd say they fit well already.

I have to agree with this. I don't see any particular issues there.

jebidiahbeetus

Here's another one, if anybody's willing to attempt a recolor.

bluhman

Imgur image uploads remove the metadata inside the JPG costume images that actually contains the usable costume ingame, which means we can't load the costumes from the images posted here.

To see if the image will work via ingame import, you should attempt to open up the JPG with notepad and see if anything coherent is inside there. Costume files usually have a header near the top that starts with "CostumeV5", under which it details all sorts of traits of the costume, such as the player model it uses, proportions, costume categories and pieces, and so on.

I recommend using https://imgbb.com/; I just tested it and it appears to preserve costume data inside the image.