Blade & Soul - Talus Dominion (Yun) Outfit Mod

For the second mod, I would like to show a Talus Dominion outfit for the Yun race. For a brief introduction and sake of non players, I will talk a bit about the Talus Dominion and Yun race here.

In the virtual world of Blade & Soul, the world was originally ruled by a technologically advance race of Naryu. However, the Naryu mysteriously went extinct, except for Mushin, after the last war with the Dark Realm. Mushin sacrificed himself by entering the Dark Gate and closing it from the other side, thereby locking away not only the Dark Lord's forces but also himself.

As time passed, another empire rose to take up the power vacuum left by the Naryu. That empire is none other than the Stratus Empire. Unfortunately, peace did not last forever as a power struggle erupted among the empire's elites. The Empress - Namsolyn and her loyal General - Yunma Kahn escaped and together founded the Talus Dominion on the Eastern continent. Yunma Kahn eventually became the Emperor who rules over the Talus Dominion, while the Stratus Empire remains dominant on the Western continent. During the world conflict, dubbed the Stratus-Talus War, the Talus Dominion was heavily disadvantaged. That all changed with the mysterious appearance of Jin Soyun, who wielded superb martial arts capable of taking on an army contingent single-handedly. Jin Soyun is also well versed in war tactics which successfully led to the expulsion of the Stratus forces from the Eastern continent.

Jin Soyun was then made the Emissary of the Talus Dominion and held great powers over the governance of the newly formed empire. When the Emperor - Yunma Kahn finally realized Jin Soyun's evil intention, he wanted no part of it. For that, he was secretly replaced by an imposter and locked away by Jin Soyun in the deepest part of the Talus prison. Having secured the control of the Dominion, Jin Soyun set forth her plans to bring her master - the Dark Lord into the Earthen Realm. The Talus Princess - Yunma Fei, does not approve of Jin Soyun's oppressive rule and tried to talk sense into the Emperor whom she did not know is an imposter. After the unsuccessful persuasions, Yunma Fei decided to form her own forces outside of the Dominion, which became known as the Skyhaven Resistance, in order to fight the Dominion' now oppressive rule. 

Ok...ok... I agree that whole bunch of explanation isn't as 'brief' as I have intended. 😑  But they are necessary to explain this special outfit with a 'flagging' property. The Talus Dominion outfit is one of those PvP flagging outfit present within the game. By PvP flagging, I mean players who wear opposing outfits can fight each other in the open world where PvP is normally disabled. The opposing outfit to the Talus Dominion outfit, in this case, would be the Skyhaven Resistance outfit. So, now you can see why I explained those things up there.  😆

Well... That clears up on the Talus Dominion outfit... So now an explanation for the Yun race is in order? I promise it will be short.  😃

So here we go... The Yun race is an all female race, prominently known for their tall, slim figure; coupled with fairer complexion and always full of elegance. Jiwan and Jin Soyun are good examples of Yun. But don't ask me how the Yun race reproduce though!  😅   And that's all for Yun description... See? It's short. 😃

And back to the outfit. The basic design looks like some kind of robe draped over a tight-fitting suit. The whole outfit is primarily of black and green-yellow theme, which made it a bit dull and definitely not sexy.

Front View - Original Outfit

Rear View - Original Outfit

Rear Close-up View - Original Outfit

Left Side View - Original Outfit

Left Side Close-up View - Original Outfit

Right Side View - Original Outfit

Right Side Close-up View - Original Outfit

For the mod, I have basically recolored all the tight-fitting areas into skin color. So instead of having a robe draped over a tight-fitting suit, it now looks like a robe draped over the plain body. But don't worry though, I still cover up the important parts.  😛

Eventually, I also removed a tiny piece of cloth at the back so that her butt will flash occasionally when moving around. However, I kept the 'tail' like stripe of cloth dangling at the back so it closes this gap whenever she is standing still.

Let's look at the modified outfit below.

Front View - Modified Outfit

We can see that the tight-fitting suit is now gone!

Front Close-up View - Modified Outfit

The robe just sufficiently covered the important point on the right breast.  😆

Right Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Left Side View - Modified Outfit

Left Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Wow! The left side looks really 'clean' now.

Rear  View - Modified Outfit

Like that sexy gap right in the middle?   😆

Rear Close-up View - Modified Outfit

The 'tail' normally covers up the gap and reveals occasional sexy view when moving.  😆

Check out the two video captures of in-game cinematics and gameplay for the modified outfit in action. More stories about the scenes in the video are in the description.

Blade & Soul - Ashes in the Fall (Jin Outfit) Mod

For the first Blade & Soul skin mod, I guess it is logical to start with this outfit which has been very special to me. As you may have known from the introduction post, "Ashes in the Fall" in Blade & Soul is a sister outfit to the "Vasharti Brigade General's Jerkin" in AION, and the main reason why I started playing Blade & Soul.

This outfit is one of the outfits given free to players after completing a certain quest line and has a sad tale to its name. The story goes that when the last of Mushin's (see note for more details on Mushin) descendant fell in the great Stratus-Talus war, his wife and only baby daughter became targets of shadowy organization, which is plotting to secure all of Mushin's artifacts for their own greed.

Fleeing in despair the mother, holding her baby daughter, reaches out to the "Shadowless" - an organization sworn to defend Mushin's bloodline with their very lives, only to have a dagger ploughed right into her heart. Left to die in the swamp, the dying mother entrusted her daughter to a passerby and turned into a beautiful lotus in lament of the betrayal and regret.

The player acquired this outfit as a reward for liberating the soul of the sorrowful mother, while in search for the missing heiress. Hence the name "Ashes in the Fall".    😭

And back to the outfit, I am guessing most of you will know how it looks like but just in case, here's an image of the original outfit.

Ashes in the Fall - Original

Although this outfit looks very similar to its sister in AION, there is still some distinct difference. For example, if you check the position of the 'tail', you will notice that "Ashes in the Fall" has it at the center back while "Vasharti Brigade General's Jerkin" has it on the left hip. Compare below.

Vasharti Brigade General's Jerkin - Original

As a recap of what modification I did on the "Vasharti Brigade General's Jerkin", see the image below.

Vasharti Brigade General's Jerkin - Modified

Yup... Not only did I correct the color on the torso, naughty me also modified the full leg armor into a G-String bottom plus leg guard.  😝

Well... since "Ashes in the Fall" already has the correct color for the torso portion, the next thing I can do is to modified the leg. But I went a step further to totally replace the entire pant with only the G-String.  😛

The result? Check below!

Front View - Modified

Front Close-up View - Modified

Doesn't she looks like wearing a shirt over a bikini?  😃

Rear View - Modified

I really like the "tail" because it looks so cute wriggling around when moving or dancing. You can verify that in the video.  😍

Rear Close-up View - Modified

Side View - Modified

Oh my... That pair of shoe just looks so out of place... Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it..  😧

Side Close-up View - Modified

Other than the differences in tail and extra accessories, the 3D meshes in Blade & Soul are more detailed. For one, the pubic area of the "Vasharti Brigade General's Jerkin" is a flat angular surface while the same area in "Ashes in the Fall" is a smooth contour. I have also noticed that most outfits in Blade & Soul contains the 'butt line'  😍 , as compared to few in AION.

So what do you think of the mod?  😊

You can check the video for better look. I would say the graphics surpasses that of AION because Blade & Soul uses the Unreal Game Engine which truly gives life to the motions and dynamics to the scenery.

Side Note:

Mushin - one of the four ageless guardians who defended the Earthen Realm against the Dark Realm, sacrificed himself to close the Dark Gate, the door through which the Dark Lord was planning to forward his troops into the Earthen Realm. Mushin was also heir to the Naryu Empire which rules over the Earthen Realm thousands of years ago, but mysteriously disappeared into history, leaving behind countless artifacts of great value and power.

The Shadowless Faction - An organization which is loyal to Mushin and sworn to protect his bloodline after Mushin's sacrifice. However, like any mortal organization, the faction disintegrated after decades and some of them betrayed their vows, instead to secure Mushin's artifacts for their own greed.

Download Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1M51ksc-BKlOV8UN-6AIc9pHKbsbhZjmr

Moving on... To Blade & Soul!

Welcome back to this blog! You may or may not have noticed the change in the blog's name from "Aion Skin Mod" to "SkinXFormer's Skin Mod". As the title of this post has hinted, I have kind of move on from Aion to Blade & Soul....with mixed feeling, since I have been on AION for like 5 years and more. I have been thinking about whether to create a whole new Blog for Blade & Soul skin mod or to just add it into this existing Blog...  >.<

 

Well... After some thoughts, I figure that I should just add it into this Blog since it still deals with mod-ding game skins and it doesn't seem right to just let this Blog goes to waste. Hopefully, you will continue supporting this Blog which is actually also a log of my gaming journey.  XD

In preparation for the incoming Blade & Soul skin mods, I have added labels "Aion" for all the past posts and initiated each AION related post with the name, so fans of Aion can easily filter what they want.

My AION account is still active so if anybody has any request for AION skin mod, I would still be able to look into it. After all, I have been on the game for such a long time.    :D
 

Anyway, my moving away from Aion isn't because I got bored of the game but incredibly, because of this same armor skin that got me started on skin mod-ding. This particular armor is known as the "Vasharti Brigade General's Jerkin" in AION and "Ashes in the Fall" in Blade & Soul.

Back when I was not playing Blade & Soul, but was just checking out the game, I can't help but to notice this outfit that bares amazing resemblance to the armor that got me started on skin mod.... And what's even crazier is that it has the CORRECT color!   O.O

 

Out of curiosity, I installed and started playing Blade & Soul so that I can get my hands on this outfit. Eventually, I fell for its graphics and gameplay style, and has since extended my indulgence in skin mod into the game.  XD

 

Don't just take my word for it though! Check them out yourself in the image below.
 

 

On the right half of the above image, you can see the "Vasharti Brigade General's Jerkin" from AION, but with the torso area blackened; while on the left half, you can see "Ashes in the Fall" outfit but with the correct color for the torso area. Do you agree that these 2 costumes look almost identical?  XD
 

Well, that's not the only identical costumes. Check the below images for some other similar costumes.

AION - Vasharti Brigade General's Breastplate without glove/shoulder

Blade & Soul - Ghost in The Shell

What about these two on top? Doesn't the basic design looks identical?

 

And for these two above (Left: AION - Dragon Training Suit, Right: Blade & Soul - Sunrise Action Hero); although both costumes' names omitted the use of Bruce Lee, all fans can still easily recognize that iconic action suit anywhere.  XD 

 

Well... Blade & Soul and AION could be sister games since both are creations of NCSoft and thus, may share some similar asserts such as costumes designs. But as I come to find out, other than some shared costume designs, both games differ much in the virtual world, storyline, play style and costume types.

For one, Blade & Soul does not have different armor types (e.g. plate, chain, leather or cloth) like in AION. In Blade & Soul, all costumes are known as outfits (since they have no stats) and can be worn by anyone as long as there is no race or gender restriction. Each race (Jin, Yun, Gon and Lyn) gets their own design of the same outfit. This means that when different race put on the same outfit, they will look different. So, in place of having character class determining what armor they can wear in AION, it is the race that determines it in Blade & Soul. This is good in a way since players don't have to keep running the same boring dungeon in hope that their armor type will drop. This is something that probably AION picks up, by introducing armor box loot instead of the armor themselves (i.e. box drop but armor within is determined by the class that opens it).

If we compare AION's and Blade & Soul's armor types, Blade & Soul's outfit would fall in the costume category of AION, where one piece contains all parts (chest, pants, gloves, shoe and shoulder).

Then how does Blade & Soul go about letting players customize their outfit? Well, they do it by having head adornment, face adornment and general adornment. Head and face adornment as the name suggested, goes onto the head, like helmet, glasses or hairstyle. The general adornment can be anywhere of the body from head to leg. Unfortunately, general adornments normally need to be worn together with the specific outfit that it comes with, except some special ones.

What about character's stats then since there is no armor? In Blade & Soul, stats come from (other than weapon) accessories such as necklace, earrings, ring, belt, bracelet and soul shield.

So far, I have modified several outfits and some are outfits worn by the NPC characters in game. And I was surprised to see some of the cinematics played with the NPC wearing the modified outfits. It seems that instead of pre-producing and saving the cinematics on disk, Blade & Soul actually render them in game and that alone cuts a lot of hard disk space. However, the cinematics may look choppy when the game is ran on a slow computer.   >.<"

For a start, you can check the videos below for the cinematics involving JinSoyun, Zulia and the Twins (from Bloodshade Harbor).

 

In the video below, you can also see a few of the skins that I had modified. I have not made any video for them yet, so I capture the cinematic that is played every time I defeat the dungeon boss, with a different outfit, and compiled them into one single video. I will probably make new videos for each of these modified outfits, in the future, since they are not very clear in the video.

 

AION - Prime Guardian Royal Captain Hauberk Mod

Last but not least on the Prime Guardian Royal Captain armor series, we have the chain chest, a.k.a. hauberk. However, this hauberk does not quite look like what we would expect of a chain armor. The only prominent chain that I can find on the hauberk are the three chains that connect the neck accessory to the bra area of the blouse. The main design of the hauberk looks more like a blouse, and in fact seems very similar to a cloth armor worn by Sorcerer, Spiritmaster and Songweavers from another armor series. Any players like to name the look-a-like piece?   XD

 

Anyway, similar to the tunic, the hauberk also has a pair of translucent sleeves, except that the sleeves are 'omg' trumpet shape (  O.O  ) with leaves-like structure at the end...

 

The basic armor looks like a blouse with a low-cut front and the bottom is made up of three layers of short skirts. The lowest layer of the skirt is a piece of translucent cloth with a 'tail' dangling by the right leg.

 

Check out the original armor in the images below.

 

Front View - Original Armor

Front Close-up View - Original Armor

This is would be such a nice little blouse, if not for those trumpet sleeves...  >.<

 

We can also clearly see the three layered skirt in this image.

 

Rear View - Original Armor

Rear Close-up View - Original Armor

Check out the half bare-back... or is it three-quarter bare?   XD

Right Side View - Original Armor

And here, we can see the translucent 'tail' dangling by the right leg.

Left Side View - Original Armor

Left Side Close-up View - Original Armor

So anyone notice any considerable amount of chain?  >.<

 

Hmmm... What should I do for the mod then? First of all, my utmost enemy must go! Yes... I mean the trumpet sleeves, although I did not remove the entire sleeves. I find that by simply removing the leaves structure at the hand, it would ease the 'trumpet' feeling by quite a lot.  o.o

 

Next, I tried to play around with the skirt. I kind of like the translucent layer and was hoping to stripped away the two top opaque layers, keeping the translucent one. Unfortunately, removing either of the top two layers would reveal holes and discontinuity between the tummy area and the skirt. So being the stubborn person that I am (to strip away the opaque layers), I make the two opaque layers as short as possible without revealing any discontinuity or holes.

 

Finally, I modified the cleavage area by shortening the longer pointy edge and modifying it into a transparent layer. Oh, and not forgetting to make the translucent layer even more so.

 

Take a look at the modified outcome.

 

Front View - Modified Armor

Not much changes can be seen when we look from this distance.

Front Close-up View - Modified Armor

However, over here, we can clearly see the transparent layer at the cleavage and the shortened second opaque layer. I can't totally remove the cleavage area as there will be a hole, and simply repainting to skin would create a 'floating' layer, which are both undesirable.  ~.~

Rear View - Modified Armor

Rear Close-up View - Modified Armor

Wonder if anyone can notice that there is now more transparency on the translucent layer...  XD

Right Side View - Modified Armor

Left Side View - Modified Armor

If any eagle-eyed viewer notice the black index finger on her hand, no... it is not a mistake... It is actually the design of the hand armor which consists of a wrist band and colored finger nails. But the most interesting design is a 'finger armor' that she wears on the tip of her index finger!  O.O

 

Left Side Close-up View - Modified Armor

Given that the torso area is tight-fitting, I probably could have modified the entire area into a transparent layer like what I did for the Kunax Jerkin. However... I think... my naughty mode was not turn on for this mod.    :p

 

Finally, check out the video for anything I missed.

Download Link
 

AION - Prime Guardian Royal Captain Tunic Mod

For the second last piece of the new Abyss armor, we have the Prime Guardian Royal Captain Tunic. I have some difficulty mod-ding this armor, just like the Breastplate.  >.<    That's because it is beautiful in itself, although not exactly sexy (except maybe for the little cleavage view).  XD

The tunic is a full blouse with a slanted bottom design, laced with translucent fins or feathers, and coupled with a very nice pair of translucent sleeves, which I like a lot.

Although the torso area of the blouse seems tight-fitting, it is not exactly so at the lower cleavage area (i.e. it doesn't fully follow the curves of the breasts). As such, I can't really do much to that area.  ~.~

Check out the images of the original tunic below.

Front View - Original Armor

Check out those beautiful translucent fins trailing the end of the blouse. XD

Front Close-up View - Original Armor

Nice translucent sleeves there!  :D

The gloves, although looking very matching, are actually from a different armor set.

Rear View - Original Armor

From the rear, we can see the accessory which is a golden translucent scarf. And it is glowing!  o.o

Rear Close-up View - Original Armor

Side View - Original Armor

Check out that leggy right leg.  :D

Side Close-up View - Original Armor

And that cute leg bracelet with a tiny golden feather attached to it.

So after looking at the original armor, how would you modify it to make it sexier?

Well... For me, I have trimmed the bottom of the blouse (as usual  >.<  ) to show more of the leggy legs and since I can't remove the bra area or even make it transparent, I make it translucent instead.

By translucent, I mean the area is modified to follow the character's base skin color, giving a feel that there is a soft, translucent layer above the skin. However, due to her fair skin complexion and the white cloth, it isn't very obvious in the still images. That is why I included a skin color change portion in the video. 

Let's take a look at the modified tunic below.

Front View - Modified Armor

Ah! Shorter skirt, longer legs.  XD

I have also made the translucent fins slightly more translucent which is hard to see.   >.<"

Front Close-up View - Modified Armor

Can you spot the skin color under the cloth around the bra area?

I have recolored the white cloth more bluish hoping that will help the skin color stand out, but it doesn't seems effective enough...   D:   

Rear View - Modified Armor

The back of the blouse was also trimmed. Well, I have actually tried to make it shorter but that will reveal the tip of those translucent fins which are dangling in the air...  >.<"

Rear Close-up View - Modified Armor

The back, around the waist area, was also given a translucent touch in order to match the front.

Side View - Modified Armor

Leggy legs~

Side Close-up View - Modified Armor

I kept most of the accessories of the original tunic, such as the leg bracelet, fins and leaves. However, some were still removed, due to the trimming that I have done for the bottom of the blouse, else they will be dangling in the air.   >.<

Finally, check the video for what you can't clearly see in the images.