The Smell of Spandex in the Morning
Character Concepts in City of Heroes

As my Supergroup was patrolling Paragon City the other day to keep it safe from crime, we spied a group of thugs trying to mug a poor, helpless woman. They were taunting her as she cowered next to a building -- but not for long! One of the simple joys of being a superhero is busting the heads of bad guys. The moment my team landed in the middle of the fray, the faux courage of the thugs melted away and one of them shouted, "I smell spandex!" just before he fell over, unconscious. That spandex you smell is my boot on the side of your head, chump ... but it's not just any old boot. This particular spandex boot was lovingly crafted and carefully selected to be a part of my heroine's concept. Heroes, you see, are very style conscious. You can't fight for truth and justice with a towel tied around your neck. You have to have customized armor or skin-tight, day-glo tights. You have to have that sexy bikini, thigh-high boots or wings and a tail. You have to have a look, for heaven's sake -- a concept. You can't go out there just being you, can you?

Once the bad guys were defeated, the rescued citizen ran up to me and said "Nice costume!" I kid you not. What kind of a programming genius built an AI that would actually recognize the work and artistic skill I put into my costume? Ok, so she said the same thing to everyone in my group -- but then I happen to think we did look pretty stylish that day. Let me bask in the glory, please?

In a previous column, we got some intriguing answers directly from Cryptic CEO Michael Lewis regarding his company's much-anticipated MMRPG, City of Heroes. If that didn't whet your appetite, Cryptic has been busy inviting all owners of pre-ordered games into the beta test. If you haven't already pre-ordered, there's still time. Beta is scheduled to end on April 22, and further pre-orders will still get invited until that date.

One groupmate of mine last week remarked that this was the only game he's played where players spend time admiring each other's look. To get the adrenaline flowing and to show you how imaginative game players can be, let's take a look at some of the costumes in City of Heroes and talk briefly about how easy it is to create them.

This might just be my favorite part of the game - and it isn't because I played "dress up" as a little girl, either. The breathtaking variety of costumes, hair, skin color and accessories you can add to your character are astonishing. The beta players have truly outdone themselves with their creativity. I've seen everything from a "Super Mime" (all white with a beret and pancake makeup) to a clown with orange wig and baggy outfit. I've teamed with a "hippie chick" who may have been one of the best players I've ever met and a Tanker character based on a popular comic detective, replete with luminescent yellow suit jacket and fedora. Yesterday I befriended a Scrapper whose concept involves cats - from the cat ears and tail to the viscious claws she sprouts, Wolverine-style, when tearing apart the bad guys in fights. It's all possible with the versatile character creator. If you had any fears about how all the heroes in City of Heroes. will look alike, lay those fears aside right now. The odds against that are longer than the odds of the Earth being hit by a meteor before lunch. City of Heroes players are snappy dressers, among many other things.

After you've drooled over the way the players have expressed their personal taste in these screenshots, let's take a brief look at how you will go about building your very own personalized superhero. Let's talk about the single most important thing you will need: a concept.

Bring a Concept

Before you begin, I urge you to give some thought to what you want to be. You could just start pushing buttons and create something at random (there's even a "random" button in the character creator) but will you be ultimately happy with your character? Do you really want to create a "Doctor Mondo" tech controller and then have him look like Mel Gibson in Braveheart? Do you want "snow" or "ice" or "freeze" in your name and have a character who throws fireballs? Think in terms of a unified concept - a name that reflects your abilities and your background story and a look that reflects those abilities. Don't short yourself by taking the lazy way out. You will not only miss out on much of the fun but you could spend weeks playing a character you're not completely happy playing. It's worth it to plan ahead. Just remember: be whatever you want to be, but first know what you want to be.

The archetype system in CoH receives ample discussion elsewhere -- and we will discuss specific gameplay details on the system of powers in the weeks ahead. Suffice it to say here that it is probably best to decide what group or solo role you envision for yourself before you select an archetype. After selecting your archetype, you can start switching costume components around searching for the look that defines you, your function, your place in the world ... your chi.

When you first log in, you see the slots you have been allocated for characters - right now they will say "Create Character" in each slot. Once you have a few characters, you will see that character's name and level and next to it a picture of that character.

In this example, I wanted to make a character who was a living contradiction -- sweet looking, innocent, sexy and cute, but she's going to be a technology-origin Blaster archetype carrying a huge assault rifle. I wanted her to chomp a cigar too, but that option is only available to male heroes. (Hey, maybe in an expansion, yes?) Her bio would talk about how her father, a Special Forces officer, was killed by terrorists. He taught her how to use the assault rifle, and because of his death she has dedicated her life to fighting Evil. There is my concept - a tough cutie you don't mess with on the first date.

You have three choices of body type -- male, female, and "huge". Your height is scalable from "too small to see over your own boots" all the way up to seven and a half feet. There are also sliders to adjust height and build (from athletic to muscular) so you can come up with the right combination that befits your concept. In this example, I went with a female just below average height and a very athletic build.

Your character is divided into three major parts - Head, Upper Body and Lower Body. Each of these parts has sub-parts. Under "Head", for example, you can select your face, head type (including various hats and helmets), makeup (even for guys - it's how the mime and the clown can be created so easily) and details such as tiaras, headbands, earpieces, cigars, antennae and so forth. The Head portion also allows you to select one with a mask - and the selection of masks is in itself impressive. Every self-respecting hero likes hiding his true identity, unless you're vain like me and want to see your own face.

The Upper Body includes chest, shoulders, belt, arms and gloves. The Lower Body handles the pants and boots. There are so many options in each of these categories - and even "Detail" options in some - that you quickly begin to see why Cryptic estimated the total possible costume combinations at 2.24 Quadrillion. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, I urge you to start at the top and take your time with each component until you feel you're close. Then after you've finished the last detail on your boots, go back to the top and review each selection. Your goal on the second time through is to make an integrated look and feel to your character. You don't want that robotic mask on an organic scrapper without a reason -- and you probably wouldn't want armored cyborg pants on an business-suited controller, either. Anything's possible here but focus on what you think actually works well within your concept. Once you log this character into the tutorial, you can't go back without deleting and starting over.

In this example, I wasn't too certain about the pink wings I put on her head -- I could have chosen antenna, pointy elf ears, a helmet, a fedora, a cowboy hat, or just a normal looking head. I elected to switch the wings out for a more technological-looking set of headphones and a chin strap that no doubt houses a state-of-the-art microphone -- for ordering pizza! She may be a technophile but she is also on a first name basis with Pizza Hut. Fighting crime is a hungry business. It's not DiGiorno's, it's delivery!

Note the color chart in the center of the screen. That selection of colors is available for every aspect of your character - though skin colors use a different fleshtone pallette, you can still have a black, blue, brown, purple or green superhero. Color selections show up immediately on the avatar display, allowing you to play "what if" games as long as you wish. You may feel the need to be cautious, but once you get a taste of what some other players have done you will see that caution may not be the best approach. This character tool cries for you to be outrageous. Color outside of the lines. Try something that sounds weird at first - you may be surprised at how well it works. In the end, you will be a memorable character. And that's the goal, too.

You can also see here that I've zoomed in closer to her face to appreciate the detail. The arrows below her allow you to rotate the figure for that perfect viewing angle. The belt, sleeves, top and boots are all easily added with their respective options on the left - and if you'd like a seamless color scheme on your character, the button "Copy Current Colors Across Entire Body" will do all the work for you. Personally, it's the first feature I turn off since I always opt for unique color contrasts, but part of your adventure will be to play with the program in both modes to decide for yourself.

Some of the body parts, such as the boots, allow you to select two colors. I wanted the primary boot color to match the rest of my outfit. The secondary color determines the color of the decorative design -- in this case "Sharp" means there are white jagged points along the sides of the boots. You can go for an organic look or a "Tron" type circuitry pattern, leopard spots, flames, stripes, celtic runes or camouflage. You can blend the colors, creating a sunburst or faded look or you can just go with a plain one-color design. This is where hours can slip by as you click on options. Don't watch the clock. Your object here is to be happy with the result. That last option you didn't see will always be the one you wanted.

Once you're satisfied with the look and your set of powers, it's time to pick a name. Shown here is my level 10 controller, Vixanne - that crabby, playful, reckless, flirtatious, egotistical hellion who has been terrorizing Atlas Park this week. Enter your name, but don't forget to create your Character Description and also a Battle Cry. They aren't required, but you are going to roleplay, right? The latter two can be changed at any time in the game and if you press F10 (the default), you will yell your battle cry in the chat channel. (Please, for the love of god, don't do it in the Broadcast channel!).

The server must accept your name, which shouldn't be hard since your name can have "The" (or not), spaces, hyphens, and so forth in it. If someone else already has your name, come up with a distinct permutation. I had wanted "Vixxen" since it was the last name of my EQ necromancer, but it was taken. Thus: Vixanne, the ex-office secretary turned superhero. I also have an axe-wielding female tank I named "Velvet Death". You are not allowed to use copyrighted names such as Spiderman, Wonder Woman, or Batman but that leaves an entire world of possibilities still open to you. If you are truly stuck for a name, check out this random Superhero name generator. Still no luck? Here's another superhero name generator.

It's hard not to get excited about a game that allows players so much flexibility in roleplay concepts when creating their characters. In most games, your avatar will look like every other gnome or elf. If you're lucky, you might have four faces to choose from. Armor or weapons may set you apart from the crowd eventually, as you acquire them. But in no other game I've ever played are you given the tools to be a true individual from the outset. You owe it to yourself (and to the creative talents at Cryptic who built it) to make full use of the character creator in City of Heroes. The price of admission to Paragon City is nothing more than a concept. Spandex will be provided.