Help us choose the best reader-designed Sunset Overdrive character

Jump to
Close

It's finally time to share the results of our Be a Designer on Sunset Overdrive Contest! We had dozens of submissions, ranging from the confident (hey, guy who sent a selfie) to the incredible. See below for our eleven finalists!

Here's how it works: We asked you to create a design for your dream Sunset Overdrive outfit and send it our way with a brief description. We narrowed your submissions down to 11 finalists, presented below, to be voted on by Polygon readers. The creator of the most popular design will be flown to Burbank. They'll be welcomed to Insomniac's HQ to help bring their design into the game, where it'll be made available as DLC post-launch.

Some of the best submissions presented serious technical challenges, but both Insomniac and Polygon wanted to acknowledge their contributions. Insomniac will provide these honorable mentions, as well as all finalists, with copies of the game signed by the lead Insomniac developers as well as Sunset Overdrive swag.

This poll will be active from Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 4pm ET until Saturday, Aug. 30 at 4pm ET.

Update: We've chosen and confirmed our winner and it's ... Chase Nichol, with a commanding 23% of the total vote. We'll be in touch with all the runners-up and the honorable mentions, for your prizes. Chase, congratulations! You've earned yourself a trip to Insomniac Games to help bring your design into the game.

Sunset Overdrive contest finalists

    FINALISTS

  1. Adam Fay

    "I think that with Government backing I could make it very silly"

    Adam Fay

    "I'm not sure why I like bowler hats. Maybe I have a thing for bowls. Maybe it's my secret desire to be in an old Monty Python sketch (silly walks anyone?), or to relive my favorite moments as Oddjob playing GoldenEye [on] 64, or even just to put some of my old Art History classes to use. Either way, it's a part of who I am now. So I present to you — Polygon, Insomniac and viewers of the internet — the dapper-yet-sporty-yet-cultured side of Sunset City: Dapper Dan-Gerous. Equipped with bubble pipe, grandfather watch and the most breathable shorts money can buy."

  2. Grant Ervin

    What if Clint Eastwood and Thom Yorke had a baby?

    Grant Ervin

    "A hipster cowboy, who's a little bit Clint Eastwood and a little bit Thom Yorke. The physics engine of the game could apply to the poncho, loose belts and bracelets on the character."

  3. Scott Gagnon

    Note the Velcro® sneakers

    Scott Gagnon

    "My submission is the outfit of choice for the truly free hero of the Awesomepocalypse. First of all, my hero is green because skin color doesn’t matter to me, also I watched a lot of cartoons as a kid. Also, he is wearing the skull of a fallen enemy to frighten off any ne’er-do-wells that happen to cross his path. He still carries the uniform of his former employer as a reminder of how terrible life was before the OD showed up. Plus, you never know when you might face a water hazard so bring your floaties. Next, you have to have a sense of humor and what better way of showing it than by wearing a shirt featuring a popular children’s TV show character with a positive message, of course the over-the-top atomic belt buckle works, too. Next up, we have some DayGlo hot pants because, let’s face it, it’s just plain humid out. Finally, how can you expect to grind some telephone wires without wearing obscenely large kicks? Velcro, of course. And there you have it, the ultimate easy going outfit for a hero about town with a gun that shoots records on his hip. Also, coloring inside the lines is for conformists."

  4. Tyler Rivers

    What'd you do to Babe?

    Tyler Rivers

    Tyler keeps it short and to the point and, you know what? We like that. "Decided to fuse Paul Bunyan with a punk rock sensibility. Why? Because two great flavors."

  5. Chase Nichol

    * Note: 38 chambers DLC not included

    Chase Nichol

    "I chose to design a costume that mixed elements from hip-hop and grime culture with those of the samurai. This character is essentially a hip-hop-loving Japanophile. His favorite music group is Sunset City's equivalent of the Wu-Tang Clan. Before the world ended, he was obsessed with black-and-white kung fu and samurai movies. Once the opportunity arose to hit the streets and slice up baddies, he jumped at it."

  6. Raquel Kidd

    Because two watches are better than one

    Raquel Kidd

    "A hazardous, high-speed, fire-breathing rocket with the whole world to burn and no time to do it."

  7. Rodney

    Rodney is a man of few words

    Rodney

    Rodney didn't have much to say about his contribution, preferring to let the work speak for itself. He did note that he's already contributed Sunset Overdrive-themed fan art, so that's something.

  8. Austin Kowitz

    ... unless you got buns, hun

    Austin Kowitz

    "My character's outfit is centered around a few different fetish cultures mixed with the colorful style of the game and crazy post-apocalyptic attitudes people might take in that world. More dudes need to be objectified in games! I'd personally, most certainly, love to play as this character."

  9. Zhengyi Wang

    What's a motor samurai?

    Zhengyi Wang

    Zhengyi writes, "charge, motor samurai!"

    No, we're not sure what that means either. But it's a pretty serious outfit.

  10. William Falk

    Dad?

    William Falk

    "The Streaker is the perfect opponent for these mutated freaks. Using their speed, sense of surprise and downright craziness, they will be able to get the upper hand in the fight to save Sunset City."

  11. Michael Combs

    "Yeah, I'm in a league ..."

    Michael Combs

    "His name is Chuck and he likes to ... fight mutated monsters in a post-apocalyptic world because it's fun. After losing the love of his life, his blue pearlescent six-string guitar (oh and his girlfriend Sally), Chuck decided to take his anger out on the newly spawned creatures roaming around his once-beautiful city. Armed with nothing but his fists, his wit and his father's old King Pins jacket, Chuck will do whatever he can to defeat his boredom, and those crazy Overdrive guys."


  12. HONORABLE MENTIONS

  13. Aaron Small

    XYZ, check your zipper

    Aaron Small

    The team at Insomniac liked Aaron's contribution, but said, "We loved the balloons but don’t really have a way of to accurately create them on clothing. The pants and shirt were also awesome but posed some rigging challenges as well."

  14. Alexis Fromm

    "Noh, it's a cat mask. Get it? Noh?"

    Alexis Fromm

    Alexis was, perhaps, too on point! The Insomniac team said, "We wanted to recognize Alexis’s incredible work here as we really like the creativity and design of this outfit, but because we already have samurai shoes and a cat mask we won’t be bringing this specific design into the game."

  15. Russell Frey

    "We all scream ..."

    Russell Frey

    Russell's was the most #prodairy submission in the entire contest, but alas it didn't make the cut. The Insomniac team said, "The ice cream dress looked amazing but posed some rigging challenges that would have made it difficult to accurately represent how cool of design it was in-game."