Cosplay is a topic that I hold near and dear to my heart. So when ArtCraft Entertainment announced the new Crowfall "Cawstume" contest last week, I got a little more excited than I probably should have.
The rules are fairly simple: create a costume based on a Crowfall god or archetype, tweet a photo of that costume to @crowfallgame, including the hashtag #cawstume and brief description of your character. All entries will be placed into a special gallery on Crowfall's Facebook page and will be voted upon from now until 1 p.m. Central on October 28th, so it makes sense to get your photo up there as soon as possible for the most Likes.
The top three winners will receive a Ruby pledge package (1st place), a Sapphire pledge package (2nd place), or an Amber pledge package (3rd place).
While this seems like kinda short notice for those of us who have a perfectionist compulsion about the costumes we make, it still could be fun and rewarding for those who enter. And I feel like it might be a good idea for me to give some of my own pointers on how to blow away the competition in this contest.
)
Costume choices: god or archetype?
There's not really a lot out there yet concerning images of the gods of Crowfall, so this would be a special challenge. Right now we know that there are three "sides" for the 12 gods: Order, Balance, and Chaos. Valkyn is the main god (known as the All Father) with the other 12 being his children. While looking for costume inspiration on these gods, one strategy would be to check out their insignias and go from there.
However, there are a handful of gods portrayed in the game's concept art, including Valkyn, Arkyn, Kane, Cybele, Zaleena, and D'Orion, so those may be your best bets.
Building a costume based on an archetype could be even more fun. There are currently 13 archetypes listed with a handful of various concept art images provided for each. I'd like to go down the line by armor type to help you make the best costumes possible in a short time.
Heavy Armor
With these heavy armor costumes, you'll be using a lot of EVA foam to create that plate mail look. EVA foam is basically floor mats that are sold in sections or rolls at your local hardware store. The material is relatively cheap, easily workable, and can look just like metal if painted and formed correctly. There are dozens and dozens of tutorials out there for using EVA foam to create armor, but some of the best include those from Joe at Daedalus Cosplay and Bill at Punished Props.
Those archetypes that use the heaviest armor include the Champion, Knight, Confessor, Templar, and Legionnaire.
Medium Armor
Here we see a lot more usage of leathers and studded armor, which can be achieved with both EVA foam or the thinner craft foam. By ironing aluminum foil over the craft foam, you can create a wonderful raw leather effect.
The archetypes that focus primarily on medium armor include the Myrmidon, Ranger, Stalker, Forgemaster, and Duelist.
Light Armor
Sometimes making light armor costumes is the easiest choice because you can find so many great components at your local thrift shop, but other times this may the most difficult option if you don't know how to sew. Still, mixing and matching pre-existing articles of clothing (and the above-mentioned materials) is your best bet with light armor, especially if you're in a hurry. You can also easily dye anything to match what you want, and fabric glue works in a pinch if you don't sew.
Light armor archetypes include the Druid, Assassin, and Frostweaver.
)
More tips
The folks at Crowfall understand that making a high quality costume takes time, so they've even said on their Facebook page that they're mostly looking for memorable or funny costumes. Whatever you can do to get the most likes on your cosplay photo, whether it be use of background, props, or facial expressions, will probably work just as much as the quality of your costume.
Photo editing and CGI elements are allowed, according to the rules, so if that's your thing, go nuts! And once your photo is up on the Facebook page and ready for votes, encourage your friends and family to vote for your costume.
Hopefully these tips will help inspire and motivate you to not only enter the Cawstume contest, but also win! And if you're currently working on something, show us what you've got in the comments below.
