AION - A Re-visit to Rebel Chain Set

Today, we'll be re-visiting the Rebel (Rentus Recovery) Chain Set because I just love this armor set so much.  xD   If you guys can recall, I have done a mod for the Hauberk (Rebel Cleric/Chanter/Aethertech Hauberk) and turned it into a 2 piece bikini armor (Veteran Hunters Chausses) in my previous 2 posts. In this post, I will show yet another possibility that we can have with this set of armor with it's newer counterpart (Vasharti General's Chain set).   :D

 

First of all, let's refresh our memories on how the original set looks like.

 

Front & Rear view

 

Front & Rear view - Close-up

 

Side view - Close-up

This armor set may be slightly old (AION 4.X) but I still see players wearing whole or part of it here and there, because it is just so unique and beautiful. However, like I have said before, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and my opinion of the baggy pants is still a sad "zzzz".  D:

So, I looked through the massive AION chain skin collection and found the pants that I need. This pants happens to drop in the same dungeon/instance (Occupied Rentus Base), and is the new counterpart of this older set; known as the Vasharti General's Chain set.

Let's see how the new pants match up with the old set, shall we?

New pants but mismatching shoe

Well, the pants seems to sit in nicely, but the shoes (brogans) are kind of mismatch.   :'(    So, I will probably have to replace the shoes as well... Let's see...

Shoes changed and fit nicely

As expected, the new shoes fit in nicely with the pants, since they are designed as one set. :D

Rear view

With the shoes changed, our customized armor set is almost complete, except for the mismatched colors. Unfortunately, for the casual players, dyeing this customized armor set can be a BIG problem because the black pants and the golden top cannot be dyed. For those players, including me (before I learn to mod), who have tried, we will know that only the banner (ribbon) running across the torso and the waist area can be dyed.  T_T

While the color may look fine from the front, because the waist cloth is partially covering the pants, the rear view shows the distinct difference... Which is not ok, as this is the view I am looking at when she moves about.  :(

So, in the next step, I will get into mod mode to modify the colors and remove that banner and lines running along her arm. But that'll be in Part 2, so stay tuned.  :p

P.S: For eagle eyes readers, you guys may have also noticed that the bracers have been "secretly" changed. While I think the ring bracer looks cool, the 3 lines that run from the bracer to her 3 fingers aren't. So, I instinctively replaced them, forgetting that I can simply remove the 3 lines too, with mod.   >.<"   LOL...  So don't worry... those braces will be back in Part 2.  :p

 

 

 

AION - Rentus Recovery Cloth Armor Set Part 2: Rentus Recovery Tunic and Ophidan Legging Mod

As promised in the previous post, we'll take a look at how we can take our armor customization to the next level through the use of skin mods. In order to achieve my desired customization, I have modified both the Rentus Recovery Tunic (or Rebel tunic) and the Ophidan Legging. So without further delay, let us look at the before and after screen captures.

  

Front view - Before and After

Can you guys spot the difference?   :p   

In case you have difficulty spotting the changes, the following 3 screen captures will point them out for you.   :D

Front view - accessories removed

Well, for the first thing, I removed the golden, mini wing-like accessories located at the front of her waist, which I had mentioned in the previous post. Not only does it not change color with the tunic, but it also looks out of place with the replaced skirt (Ophidan legging). So, off it goes!    >.<

Front view - Full to partial armor

The next item that I mod is the chest area. Although the full chest armor looks nice, it gives this strong, hard feel of a plate armor. As such, I decided to have it mod into a bra-type armor, to give it a softer, clothier feel. It's a cloth armor to begin with, isn't it?  XD

 

Actually I also tried removing the sleeves but it exposed some discontinuities between the upper arm and the main body, so I scrapped the idea.  ~.~

Front view - Trimmed skirt

For the last item on the list, I finally got to the Ophidan legging. Readers who have followed this blog would have probably guessed what I intended to do... My love for leggy-ness.   :p

 

If you did guess correctly, well congratulation, but sorry...  no prize to give away   :'(    As a consolation, you can download this mod from the link at the end of this post.    :p

 



Anyway, I stripped off the cloth part of the skirt to reveal her full legs, but the front portion seems empty because the 'feathers' do not cover the area. I would have replaced the area with the same feathers but it is beyond my access to mod a solid object into a translucent one.   ~.~

 

Instead, I trimmed the around-the-wait skirt into a triangular portion that specifically covers that empty area. Hey! I even added a little design on that small piece of cloth.  :p

 

So, what do you guys think of this fully customized armor set? Or do you guys have some improvement tips (except nude  >.<  )?

 

 

 

 

Download Link

 

AION - Mix-matching Aion skin - Rentus Recovery Cloth Armor Set

So far, I have mostly focused on showing the skin mods that I have created in Aion. But there is another way that gamers can have fun with the numerous armor skins in Aion. And as the title of this post has hinted, it's mix-matching.   :)    In fact, I have been doing that all the while when I show you guys my mods. For example, remember the Vampire Outfit, in which I chose matching shoulder, glove and shoe? And this mix-matching is only possible because Aion has such vast number of armor sets and the ability to re-skin the look of an armor piece onto another (i.e. replacing the look of an armor without changing its attributes or stats). Wonder how many artists and graphic designers did NCSoft hire to achieve this feat.  xD

 

But some may wonder how a mix-and-match would work. Well, from my previous posts or for fellow gamers who have played the game, you will know that Aion armors come in a 5-piece set (as in design) such as chest, pants, shoulder, glove and shoe. Of course, there are also some chest pieces that includes the pants (e.g. Kunax Hauberk) and special full body costumes that is a 5-in-1 (e.g. Sexy Leopard Tights). So, it is quite obvious that mix-and-match can only be fully possible for armor sets with 5 separate pieces, partially possible for chest-with-pants pieces, while not possible at all for those 5-in-1 costumes because the full costume overrides any worn pants, shoulder, glove and shoe... >.<

For armors that is not a 5-in-1, you may take a liking to one or few of the pieces while disliking the others. This is where mix-and-match enter the scene by choosing armor pieces of other sets to complement your primary set. The armor pieces of different sets need to complement each other in terms of style, theme and color. But if you wonder whether there's a standard for mix-and-match, I would say let your imagination be the only limit. But remember though, beauty in the eye of beholder, one person's perfect match may look weird for another.  >.<"

For my first mxi-and-match example, I will show you guys the Rentus Recovery Cloth set, which I think has a really nice chest armor. By the way, the way I make my selection is to first find a chest armor that I like, and thus I would address the mix-and-match set using the set name of that chest piece. Here's the screen capture of the original full set.



Original Rentus Cloth Set

As you can see, this is actually a beautiful set by itself with combination style of ancient Egypt and Celtic. However, according to the "Beauty in Eye of Beholder" law, I kind of like the chest, glove and shoe but not the shoulder and pants (or long skirt). So I look among the massive collection of Aion cloth skins to find suitable replacements. I can only choose from cloth armor because skin of different armor types cannot be used for re-skinning (e.g. Cannot re-skin leather armor onto cloth armor).  ~.~   The only exception to this is the clothes type which can be re-skinned onto any armor type (Clothes type are mostly costumes without  stats or attributes e.g. Sexy Leopard Tights).

Finally, I chose the Ophidan Leggings and Veille's Pauldrons (shoulder). The Ophidan set is a crafted armor set that uses Balaur (dragon) materials and Veille set comes as special reward from participation on Balaurea siege or bought off Black Cloud Marketplace (BCM).

And the end result of my search? Look below :D



Mix-and-match Shoulder and Skirt

Do I look awesome now? Actually, the shoulder and pants (skirt in this case) are really nice too in that they complement each other in term of style, and the Rentus Recovery Tunic provided the missing piece to bring them together.  :D

However, like I have mentioned before, the pieces needed to complement each other in terms of not only style but also color. With the white transparent "feathers",  the gold colored chest piece just look kind of out of place, isn't it?  :(    So the next step is to dye (or recolor) the chest skin to white as shown in the screen capture below.

Chest Armor (Tunic) dyed white

See the difference now that the tunic has been dyed white?   :D

However, after the mix-and-match, I still have some problem with the armor set....   :'(   Yes....that 2 golden mini 'wing' like accessories on the waist... Not only do they look out of place but also the fact that they are not dyed like the rest of the tunic, remaining gold in color.   -.-"   And, yes... certain parts of some armor pieces will retain the original color even after applying a dye (like the purple collar on this tunic), which is fine unless someone prefers all red, all green or all blue like the Sauro Commander Tunic, which I have mod before.

Well...for the casual players, this is as far as we can go about making our own favorite customized armor set, that brings out the individual characteristic of our avatar.  >.<" 

But having access to armor skin mod, I can modified the armor skin to my satisfaction as I will show in my next post. So stay tuned for Rentus Recovery Cloth Armor Set part 2.  :p

As a side thought, having skin mod can bring character customization right up to the next level, that is, if any game developer dares to take on the challenge... But hey, you guys already made face and body customization possible, didn't you?   :D

 

AION - Leotard Mod

Before I start on my skin mod for the day, I would first like to highlight to the readers who have used my mods that AION NA just had a new patch and 2 more Mesh files were added, which will overwrite my "Mesh_Meshes_102.PAK" file :'(  

 

Anyway, for those who are computer savvy, you can just rename my mod file "Mesh_Meshes_102.PAK"  to "Mesh_Meshes_104.PAK" and you are all set. For those who are unsure what that means, you can download from the links again as I have updated the files online.   :)

 

With that out of the way, let's get started on the skin mod of the day. :) 

 

Hmmm.... So where did I get my idea this time? Well. It came from the Rio Olympics that had just ended on 21 Aug 16. And then, some might ask "What's a leotard?" as suggested by the title of this post.

 

So, for a little fact of the day, a leotard (no, not related to leopard or retard... so definitely not a retarded leopard  ~.~ ), is a one-piece tight-fitting suit worn by gymnasts, acrobats and sometimes runners. You may also want to know that the name came from the creator Jules Leotard who was an acrobatic performer. Leotard looks very similar to a one-piece swim wear (or bathing suit) and may or may not be made from same material. Both can have long sleeves or sleeveless variations but swim wear mostly comes with sleeveless design except for those types which were specifically designed to gain that one-tenth of a second advantage. However, one major difference between leotard and swim wear (for ladies at least) is that there is no bra lining in leotard (maybe because that might cause abrasion while doing rigorous activity?   >.< )

 

That's all for the facts. But out of the many sports competed, why did I choose Gymnastics? There are mainly 2 reasons. First of all, many sports such as badminton and table-tennis have similar sports wear, which are so common that there's no point making them. Secondly, some sports wear have been "covered" in Aion, ranging from multiple types of swim wear, training suit to even soccer outfit  x)

 

For readers who are sharp enough, you'll probably be asking isn't the leotard similar to swim wear? Well, that is why I am making a long sleeve leotard from a leopard skin :p

 

It took a long time for me to find a suitable base skin for the mod. That's because the skin need to fit several criteria such as tight-fitting, no accessories (protruding area on the surface), arm and leg needs to run smoothly from body to hand and feet.

 

Finally, I decide to use the "Sexy Leopard Tights" as the base skin for the mod. Although it fits most criteria, there is a major flaw that almost cause me to abandon it. Can you take a look at the original skin and tell what is that flaw?  :p

 

Front view

 

Rear view

 

Side view

There we have it. The killer high heels... Which Gymnast in the right mind would go performing in high heels?  :(   Most of the female costumes, in Aion, come with high heels and for those that come with flat sole or track shoe, they can't fit the tight-fitting criteria... :'(

 

But if I try to remove the high heels, she will walk as though she's tip-toeing or ghost-walking because I can't modify the model structure (the mesh).

 

Well... I think it will suffice by pretending that she is just as crazy as I am or that she'll take them off before starting her regime... Lol... who would even care about logic in a game skin   :p

 

Anyway, let's see the end result.

 

Front view

 

Side view - close-up

Front view - close-up

 

Rear view - close-up

So, does this mod looks very much like a real leotard? Except for the heels, of course >.<"   Let's look at some acrobatic screen captures below.

 

Ready! Get set!

 

Go!

 

Mid air flip!

Mid air flip - another angle





Somehow, that mid air flip reminds me of the crazy shooting style (gun kata) in the movie "Equilibrium". So crazy that 20 over soldiers with rifles can't seem to hit a single dual pistol welding man while he takes them down 2 at a time. xD

 

Finally, the video.

 

 

 

Download Link

 

AION - Kunax's Hauberk

Recently, a reader has asked for download links to my mods and I have been looking for a place to share them. It has been suggested to place them at Undertow Club, which is a great site for mods by the way, as that's where I picked up my interest in skin mod. However, certain contents on the site does not align well with Blogger and I'm kind of afraid that posting links to the site might cause Blogger to drop Mjolnir on me. Err.. Mjolnir is also known as Thor's Hammer or in my context, the mighty Ban Hammer.   >.<"

Anyway, I found out that Google also provides a free limited storage space (15GB) called "Drive" for people like me to share stuff, so I think that would suffice for now. But I would still need some time to package the mods for easier layman usage. So please bear with me a little longer. >.<

Hmm.. Come to think of it, is there any reason why the word "drive" is so popular with storage? Because Windows 10 has a similar online storage called "OneDrive".    xD

Well... Enough of distraction. For the presented skin today, I will be laying my claws on Kunax's Hauberk. Just for information, the armor drops off Kunax, which is an experimental beast in the game that can be found in the PvP (Player vs Player) arena, Idgel Dome. With that said, the most appropriate place to show the skin would probably be the dungeon itself, but I can't be posing around while players from the opposite faction is trying to bash me up...  :'(   So, I chose a safe area in the Abyss open world, where fierce battles rage all round the week.

The Kunax sets' skins for all classes are one of the most well loved and prized skins in Aion because they are so beautiful and only available to the winners of the PvP arena, plus the fact that it cannot be traded in any way, until recently. To make it sound more dramatic, the armor chest is dropped off the reward chest, by chance, when you win in the arena and the armor chest gives a random piece when opened. You have to be well loved by Goddess of luck to get all the desired pieces.  T.T

So, here's the screen captures of the before and after mod. I must admit that it's pretty hard to "beautify" this already nice skin.

Front view

Front view - close-up

Rear view

Rear view - close-up

Side view

Side view - close-up

Yup, here I am at it again, removing materials to make it "hotter" looking. But the 2 pieces of cloth running down the front of her legs really looks weird because they kind of attach themselves to the knees and move around with them, instead of dangling freely like a real one will. Ask any of the skin wearers and they will agree. However, it did came as a surprise to find a heart-shape at the front of the panties. I'm really not the one who made it.  >.<

The funny part is that I really don't recall creating her to be so "busty"... I think this armor has the boost-up effect or something, like a wonder bra  -.-"

Lastly, here's the video for better comparison.

An user requested for a black colored chest frame version, so here it is.

Special Black Chest Frame version

Download Link
 

AION - Zombie Apocalypse Outfit

Since Halloween is just around the corner, I figure I should do something fitting the season. I have already done a Vampire outfit, so what should I do next that can fit the Halloween theme... Hmmm...Well...I didn't actually have to wonder for long because the idea showed up in a poster. :D

 

So, I was on my way back home when I saw this poster of a new Korean movie "Train to Busan". At a first glance, it seem like a war movie, where the people are fleeing a war by taking a train to Busan. And that's exactly what I thought... until I saw a review of the movie which stated it as a Zombie Apocalypse movie! To be fair, I placed the poster here for you guys to decide. Did you guys notice anything that evidently showed that it is a Zombie apocalypse movie?  :p

 

Movie Poster

Anyway, since the movie has given me the idea to mod zombie apocalypse outfit for my character, I now need to decide which Aion skin is best fitted for the mod. After some searching I felt that since it is zombie apocalypse, I should probably use some modern outfits instead of ancient looking armor. In the end, I decided to use the "Neat Marine Blue" and "Cool Summer Look" outfits.

 

Part of the reason why I choose "Neat Marine Blue" is because of a Japanese animation that I watched before, namely "High School of the Dead", where a group of high school students fought their way out of their zombie-plague high school and town, hoping to reunite with their families. And the "Neat Marine Blue" is... yes, a Japanese sailor-styled uniform. Take a look below at the 2 skins before the mod.

 

Before Mod

So...What should I do to make the outfits adhere to the theme of zombie apocalypse? From my research, it seem zombie apocalypse is always associated with torn clothing, claw marks, and.... blood, blood and more blood! And that's what I did exactly. So for readers who have phobias looking at huge amount of blood, it is a good idea to stop reading now.  :p

 

 

 

Last chance to turn back. Don't say I didn't warn you...

 

Well... since you persisted, let's take a look at the after-mod screenshots.

 

Front view

Front view - Close-up

Rear view

Rear view - Close-up

Side view

Side view - Close-up

A major flaw that I find in the mods is that they have a symmetry pattern instead of pure randomness. This is due to the fact that skin designers mostly create only 1 side of the outfit and duplicate it on the other side, in order to save data space which translate into the game file size. The only exception is when the skin is designed to be different on the left and right, as in the case of the "Cool Summer Look" pants. That is why I can put a claw mark on 1 side and torn clothing on the other.

 

So, what do you guys think of the zombie apocalypse outfit? Can they make it for the Halloween?

 

 

Download Link 

 

AION - Stormbringer Regalia Mod

Today, we'll be looking at one of my favorite unique skin in Aion, the Stormbringer Regalia, which is a full set skin including the chest, pants, shoulder, glove and boots. This skin is only available through events' reward and recently in the Blackcloud marketplace.

 

Just for some fun facts, it is actually based on the "Monkey King" or "Monkey God", aka "Sun Wukong" from the Chinese mythical folks lore "Journey to The West". You may also want to know that "Goku" from "Dragonball" series actually borrowed his Chinese name, and they both ride on cloud and has a really heavy staff that can grow really long (well...when Goku was still a boy, that is). And by staff, I mean a real weapon like a pole... not "that" body part of a guy.  What are you thinking!   ~.~

 

Well, enough of facts, let's look at what I want to do for this great skin. I faintly remembered that when I first saw this skin, it was like "WOW! I want this skin!", probably due to the leggy-ness and the sexy sides.  :p   But it also gives me a tinkling feeling that it resembles something... but I just can't recall... Take a look at the original skin and see if you guys can make any connection.

 

Original skin

It wasn't until some time later that it struck me that it actually resembles a kitchen apron (except that it's a very sexy one, of course  :p  ), when all the other accessories are removed... So, there we are, I'm going to make a sexy kitchen apron! That kind that we sometimes see in movies, where the ladies kind of teases their men, with nothing on except for the apron, while cooking in the kitchen. But, of course, I'm not going to let her go commando for my mod.  >.<

 

In order to achieve the feel of a kitchen apron, I have to remove almost all the accessories, such as the hand guards, scarf, shoulder guards and the "rolled-up poncho" (?) behind her back. I mainly kept the cloth, gourd (because it's cute :p ) and the cloth wrapping around her mid body.

 

Some of the parts that cannot be removed include the arm band, leg band and boots because of the meshes. If I removed them, those parts of her body will also disappear, and if I recolor them to skin color, it would look weird as they are protruding above the normal skin surfaces.  :(

 

Let's us look at what the final product looks like.

 

Front view
 

Rear view
 

Side view

Front view - close-up

Side view - close-up

Oh! I forgot to mention that I did remove a piece of the cloth on the butt, since a kitchen apron normally does not come with rear protection. :p 

 

Rear view - close-up

Eagle-eyed viewers may have also noticed that I have replaced the cloud patterns on the front of cloth with a heart and the word "Love". By the way, anybody saw my bear?

 

So, do you guys think this mod looks close enough like a sexy, teasing apron? Check out the YouTube video to see her busy in the kitchen. And, yes... Aion does have kitchens :p

 

Download Link