Fashion Crisis - Nobody Colors Flats and Metallics the same!!!

[Grav_Starstrider]

I've made exhaustively long posts on this before. I'm keeping this one simpler and (relatively) shorter (and yes the title is hyperbole)

Why are metallics not on standardized channels in this amazing game that otherwise has amazing fashion options? Colors that can look amazing as metallics will often look atrocious on flat or matte materials. Colors that look fun and vibrant on the mattes and flats can look absolutely garish and fake when they're applied to metallics.

So why is it then, that there isn't a consistent standardization of which channels are used for metallics, on the various things that have metallics? There isn't even a consistency between all of the "Tenno" aesthetic armors and the Prime ones, despite what should be a beautifully compatible and overlapping aesthetic between them. Just about every Prime attachment I'm aware of (besides the multi-metallic Glissanda and Eos Primes) has exactly one metallic channel, the Accent channel, meanwhile when you search for the explicitly "Tenno" aesthetic armors, the only armor that has metallics in the Accent channel is Dex Raksaka. The Latrons, Tannukai, and Tennocon all have metallics on different channels than the Accent channel. You can't hardly even use a Tennocon chest plate with the Dex armors, despite them sharing the Lotus symbols on them, because the Tennocon armors utilize the Tertiary channel for their metallics. And you can't hardly pair the Tennocon armors with any Sentient armors because Protovyre and Pakal armors utilize the Secondary and Accent channels for whatever reason.

Having metallics spread across so many different channels inconsistently means you start getting restricted more and more and more, as you end up with fewer and fewer channels on which you can add a splash of more vibrant color to a flat/matte, without unintentionally coloring a metallic in an awkward way. And what could be a regal, subtle color on metallics, just comes out "flat" or awkward on the flats and mattes. The lack of consistency loses us more freedom in using what should be good fashion pairings, than it gains us in "potentially interesting" combinations where a channel is shared by flats and mattes.

If DE consistently sorts channels on everything (weapons, warframes, sentinels, operators, etc) from Primary/Flats to Accents/Metallics, we'd see TONS of new fashion combinations that just aren't currently possible, due to how many deviants there are from the "norm" of Accents containing the metallics.

Tons of the offenders include the new super awesome looking Harrier outfit, and half of the Fortuna outfits. The Tennocon, Latron, and sentient attachments are a bunch (but not all) of the offenders on the armor side. A number of Warframe skins and helmets have this mismatching issue as well.

It's just super frustrating when you can't use your favorite armors or outfits or skins and helmets and colors together, just because the metallic channels are arbitrarily mismatching each other.

[Drasiel]

This has driven me crazy for years as well. So many times I slap on some armour go "ah yes these will look lovely together" then when it comes time to colour awkwardly unmatching metal channels. I really wish there was more consistency about this because the only other solution I see is letting us colour chest, shoulders, and legs seperately.

[Grav_Starstrider]

If they wanted to simplify fashion for those that want to do fashion quick and dirty, they could always have a toggle switch for "advanced fashion" that includes stuff like separately coloring helmets, outfit pieces, OR they could allow us to shuffle and select the ordering of the color channels per attachment. That way, if the primary color channel and secondary channel for a chestpiece needs to be switched to match the shoulders, it can be done. If the metallics are on different channels by default, they can be matched up. If they wanted to, they could also add minor repositioning and resizing options for Syandana and Attachments, to make things fit and position themselves slightly more in line with how players desire.

[PerishedFraud]

My stance is similar to Grav's. Instead of redoing channels for a huge amount of armor pieces and helmets, just let us color the pieces/helmets separately.

"But the database can't..." Actually if you equip armor without changing default colors, you will, in fact, have separately colored armor. Literally already in the game.

 

[Grav_Starstrider]

43 minutes ago, PerishedFraud said:

My stance is similar to Grav's. Instead of redoing channels for a huge amount of armor pieces and helmets, just let us color the pieces/helmets separately.

"But the database can't..." Actually if you equip armor without changing default colors, you will, in fact, have separately colored armor. Literally already in the game.

 

Mmmmmmmm A singular pre-mapped color combination per attachment/skin/outfit is less database weight than a unique mapping per player. Technically. But if they're gonna keep not fixing their default color mappings, and releasing new things like the Protovyre armor with metallics on the Secondary channel, or Harrier Operator Suit's metallics not on the Lining channel, then they really should give us that freedom to fix it for ourselves.

[Abderamus]

I noticed that only TennoGen designers are careful in avoiding this obvious problem. Not sure why some of you think that making each body part separately modifiable solves this issue. It just requires common sense, as seen in TennoGen content.

[Grav_Starstrider]

On 2022-02-07 at 2:30 PM, Abderamus said:

I noticed that only TennoGen designers are careful in avoiding this obvious problem. Not sure why some of you think that making each body part separately modifiable solves this issue. It just requires common sense, as seen in TennoGen content.

True, however DE can spin this as a new feature which would sound a lot better for them than "we acknowledged we had inconsistencies and corrected them", as nice as that would be for them to do.

Also, separately color-able shoulders from chest from leg attachments, and helmets from bodies, would be radically game-changing for fashion complexity. Yes, if they made every attachment and skin with 1 or 2 metallics simply use accents and tertiary respectively, the vast majority of anything metallic would look good together, would match. But imagine being able to make the things that have no metallics not clash with the things that are all metallics.

Also work-wise, I'm sure it's logistically easier to just assign a UI and database guy to implementing the updated menu system, than to try (and risk failing) to exhaustively audit every single skin and attachment and re-decide which color channels make the most sense as primary vs secondary vs tertiary vs accent. One altered menu for attachments (including Sentinel attachments ideally), one altered menu for Warframes, one altered menu for operators. Vs around 100 different attachments and who knows how many Warframe helmets and skins.

Way more positives in giving players freedom of choice than to dump work into an effort that some people might not appreciate. Like how I disliked the update to the Manduka leggings from thigh high boots to being mono-colored stocking things with weird seams. Or how damn floaty and hovering and diaper-looking the majority of the Waistband apparel became.

[Grav_Starstrider]

DE added heterochromia to Operators eyes, I don't see why they couldn't split color controls for attachments/outfits/helmets in the same way. If DE won't standardize color channels or let us individually color things, they could at least let players reorganize the color channels on each item, so that it's the same colors as the rest of the stuff, but on the channels that we prefer (like making all of the metallics the same color).

DE please, this is killing some of the fashion combinations that would be great.