Costume Ideas for City of Heroes

The perfect costume makes the perfect superhero.

The video game "City of Heroes" and its counterpart, "City of Villains" offer gamers a special character creator. Here, players design their characters from the ground up, choosing origins, powers and costumes. Most gamers will play from the third person point of view, meaning that they have to look at their character at all times, and so you want to choose a costume that you enjoy and can look at while you're playing the game.

Match the Costume

One of the most important aspects of a hero or villain costume is that it matches the powers and personality of your character. Paying attention to the colors of your powers (which you decide before you ever get to the costume portion of the creator) can make the aesthetics easier on you and anyone who plays the game with you.

For example, if your powers generate a neon green color, you want your costume to create contrast, so that you are not blinded each time you use a super blast. Go for a darker shade of green, or even a black or dark gray, to provide contrast (and a rest for your eyes) while you use your power.

Whole Body Colors

When you begin designing your costume, the game's costume generator will automatically choose a skin tone and two basic colors for your costume. These two colors are automatically distributed throughout your whole costume, by a default selection called "Copy Current Colors Across Entire Body." Therefore, even if you change the two colors generated by the game, they will be distributed across the costume in the same way, no matter what you choose.

You can uncheck the "Copy Current Colors" box and fill in each section of the costume individually. But remember that you will have to color each section individually once you get rid of the "Copy Current Colors" option. Consider choosing two colors that you are sure you want on your costume, and then getting rid of the color option. This way, your costume will be mostly the colors you want (for instance, a primary color for chest and pants), and you can make adjustments to the areas you want to stand out (gloves, boots, belt).

Accessories

All of the characters in the character creator come with some basic supplies: boots, belt, mask and gloves. However, players have the option to go beyond that simple design, and the accessories you choose to adorn your costume can make a huge difference in the look and personality of your character.

You have the choice to add emblems, facial hair, helmets, goggles, capes, the options go on and on. Don't be afraid to experiment with accessories the way you do with colors to get the perfect impression of your hero or villain.

Remember, nothing is set in stone until you actually begin to play the game. You can change your character's appearance and costume as many times as you need to. Take you time and play around until you have the perfect hero or villain for your city.

References

• IGN: Character Generation Tips
• BrightHub: City of Heroes Character Builder