I have now fixed all of the bugs from the Big List that can be fixed. Or at least, that can be fixed by me; I’m sure a better Flash developer could repair the LeftHand load bug, for instance. I want to thank everyone who took the time to post errors, having everything all in one place made the whole process much, much easier. You guys rule! Note that the fixes won’t be live until the final 2.5 update, hopefully next week.

I’ll now be moving on to copying over some of the component genre sets into other components. Here’s what I am thinking so far (edited to add new stuff per the comments section):

1. Copy Coats-Standard into Overshirts.
2. Copy Coats-CapeFronts into Overshirts.
3. Copy Coats-CapeFronts into Undershirts.
4. Copy Coats-FantasyArmor into Overshirts.
5. Copy Coats-FantasyArmor into Undershirts.
6. Copy Coats-FantasyCommon into Overshirts.
7. Copy Coats-FantasyCommon into Undershirts.
8. Copy Overshirts-Standard into Coats.
9. Copy Leggings-Standard into Overleggings.
10. Copy Leggings-Standard into Pants.
11. Copy Overleggings-Standard into Leggings.
12. Copy Overleggings-Standard into Pants.
13. Copy Pants-Standard into Leggings.
14. Copy Pants-Standard into Overleggings.
15. Copy Back-Standard into Wings.
16. Copy Back-Standard into Tails.
17. Copy Wings-Standard into Back.
18. Copy Wings-Standard into Tails.
19. Copy Tail-Standard into Back.
20. Copy Tail-Standard into Wings.
21. Copy Companion-Standard into Back.
22. Copy Companion-Standard into Wings.
23. Copy Companion-Standard into Tail.
24. Copy Background-Expansion1 into Back.
25. Copy Background-Expansion1 into Wings.
26. Copy Background-Expansion1 into Tail.
27. Copy Neckwear-Shoulders into Coats.
28. Copy Neckwear-Shoulders into Overshirt.
29. Copy Neckwear-Shoulders into Undershirt.

If there are other components you’re dying to have, by all means please speak up, preferably in the comments to this post so everything’s in one place. Each one of these duplications is easier than coming up with a whole new batch, but I do still have to manually position everything for three out of the six templates. I finally wised up halfway through developing this thing and started putting all components in the same spot so I could just cut and paste without repositioning, but it was too late for the first three.

I am happy to announce that the Expansion Pack items have now been added to the Female Dwarf figure! You can access the new items at the usual place.

The last remaining body template to be updated is the female Brick. After that, I’ll need to clean up all the bugs, and hopefully duplicate some of the components into other slots. For instance, I’d like to make the Standard Coats available on the Overshirt and Undershirt layers, and vice versa, across the board.

And after that, I’ll probably be done with HeroMachine 2 for the foreseeable future. We’re in the midst right now of figuring out what’s next; my guess is that we’ll probably focus for a while on putting out much smaller, one-off versions like the Rock Star Edition and Real Life Edition. Think of things like a smaller HeroMachine with just one pose featuring exclusively Powered Armor, or Old West items, or Modern Teenager clothes, that kind of thing.

On the plus side, such releases can come out much more frequently. There are also business advantages, since such mini-applets are entirely self-contained and can be easily shared on other web sites, unlike the full 2.5 which spans hundreds of files and six subdirectories. On the down side, you’ll be limited to just the items in that applet, so you’ll have a situation where there might be items you’d love to see in the full version that just aren’t available, and vice versa. It’s almost like going back to the original HeroMachine 1, where if you chose the Martial Artist pose you couldn’t have guns.

But, if there are specific items that people in general are clamoring to have in the full release, we can probably schedule another Expansion to include them.

Anyway, enjoy the female dwarf Expansion, and as always, please comment in the Bugs post if you come across anything weird.

Consider this an open thread for bug reports in any HeroMachine version. Please note which version it is you’re seeing the bug in when you post. Thanks!

Here’s a list regarding HM2.5’s latest expansion pack release from one of the extremely kind folks on the HM Yahoo Group:

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