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The HeroMachine 3 Alpha has had a major upgrade, and now allows you to load or save characters as text strings to make emailing them back and forth easier.
I've also added a new "Intro" screen to make it easier for new folks to use, and faster for you as well by eliminating the need to load an item set before you can get to the load screen:
Hopefully that all makes sense ... I'm sure I'll be tweaking it as we go, but it's a good starting point for now. Let me know in comments if you have any issues with it, or suggestions on how to make it better, or a good recipe for bread pudding.
Comments Off on HM3: Text loading and intro screen live
Posted in HeroMachine 3, News & Updates
I'm taking a break from the "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories this week to try something a bit different.
A lot of folks out there use HeroMachine to create visuals for stories they're writing, so instead of showcasing your artistic abilities, now's your chance to exhibit your writing. Take one paragraph (I was thinking the very first one, but if that doesn't work for you then pick another) from a story you're writing and put it in the comments below, along with the title (if known) and a one-sentence synopsis of what the story or novel is about. Think of it as the blurb they'd put as a teaser promo in a review magazine, along with that one paragraph as a writing sample.
Here's one from me, from my long-unfinished novel "Exile":
The twelve boys step from the black mouth of the alley with a swagger in their step, the bright lights of the glow stones making wicked gleams dance and leap on the tips of their daggers. I tense – there is something different about them, the scent of blood in the air like there has never been in any of our other encounters. They will not settle for bruises this time, or cruel words – they have hatred in their eyes and a hunger in their mouths that the small pains of the past will not satisfy. I have dealt with their unseen hands pushing me from behind when I pass and their feet tripping me in hallways for the past year, but from the set of Yasha’s shoulders he is intent on more than petty humiliations.
The back of my ears begin to sweat; something here is very, very wrong.
I haven't looked at this stuff in years and the writing is pretty rough, but in the usual spirit of honesty I try to engender here, I'm sharing it anyway.
And I suppose the one-sentence synopsis would be "A young boy on a desert world ruled by a god who cares nothing for his subjects fights to reclaim his family's honor."
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Posted in Writer's Room
(From "KO Comics" number 1, featuring "The Duke of Darkness".)
Comments Off on Junior heroes, ask yourself, “Would Batman do this?” And if the answer is “No”, do not do that thing.
Posted in Daily Random Panel
The "working" version of HM3 was just updated to support custom color loading. Your previously saved text strings should still work normally.
Note that you could now start a blank character, fill the entire set of Custom Color boxes, and save it as "Bob's Custom Colors".
Then whenever you started a new character up, you could first load "Bob's Custom Colors" and all of your Custom Color boxes would be immediately set and ready for use. That way if you come up with, say, your own unique set of team colors for a group you're building, or if you have a bunch of skin tones you've made that you like better than mine, you can have them saved and available for use whenever you want.
For the super-duper high-tech hacker-inclined out there, note that if you save a "custom color" blank character as text, you can manually edit the CustomColor entries with hex values in the order you want before using the Load as Text function.
As always, let me know how it goes and if you see any problems with this release. We're getting closer and closer to beta status, folks!
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Posted in HeroMachine 3, News & Updates, Previews
Joining the illustrious ranks of villains like "Calendar Man" and "The Calculator" inspired by objects lying around the creator's home office as his deadline loomed is Mr. A. G. Bell, aka "Phone Ranger":
He started out as a bit of a joke, but soon became an actual, "No, really, take this seriously" character. In a real comic book, that was actually published and sold to people. For money.
Let's set aside the fact that he looks like the unholy love child of Tony Stark and his vintage phone collection. Let's ignore his uncanny resemblance to that weird guy down the hall who keeps getting his head stuck in various things. Let's even pretend that he's not wearing a phone as a collar.
No, instead let's open ourselves to the target-rich environment for combat quips opened up by this utterly ridiculous outfit:
I thank Myro for bringing this guy to my attention, and look forward to more combat quips and commentary about just how insane this costume is. Also, if Marvel could somehow get Calendar Man, The Calculator, Whiteout, and Phone Ranger together in an actual comic book titled "Desktop Avengers Assemble", I could die a happy man.
(Character & image © Marvel Comics.)
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Posted in Bad Super Costumes
(From "Atomic Bomb" number 1, 1942.)
Comments Off on Great moments in dirty-sounding dialog
Posted in Daily Random Panel
We've been spending a lot of time talking about "Greatest Evers" in the course of the superhero genre. But we all have a soft spot for a character that we know might not be "The Greatest", yet whom we love anyway. For me, it's The Flash. I know he's kind of a one-trick pony, and I know the history of the men who've worn the suit is spotty at best. Nonetheless, something about the combination of costume, the time in my life when I was reading them, and the simplicity of Barry Allen combined to make him my favorite.
That's what this poll is about -- the character who might not, in some abstract sense, be "The Greatest" but who is still your favorite anyway.
I'm leaving it open for you to add your own answers if you like, but please don't abuse them or I'll have to (again) delete the response.
Tell us who you picked and why they're your favorite!
("Power Lightning Vomit GO!!" image © DC Comics.)
Comments Off on Poll Position: Your favorite
Posted in Versus
(From "Atomic Bomb" number 1, 1942.)
Comments Off on *Face palm*
Posted in Daily Random Panel
Your character design challenge for this week is to come up with an image with HeroMachine based on the idea of the Zodiac sign "Ares". To help you out, here's a bit on the history of the name from Wikipedia:
the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, named for the constellation of Aries, called "The Ram" in Hellenistic tradition, after the golden ram that rescued Phrixos, taking him to the land of Colchis. Aries is ruled by the planet Mars.
As closely associated with Mars as it is, and since they're homonyms, you should feel free to take this in the direction of "Ares, Greek god of War" if you like. I think they're close enough to warrant something like that. Or maybe you prefer to do something related to a ram, or you could go in a totally different direction like making A.R.I.E.S. or R.A.M. an acronym for a mech or whatnot. Definitely let your imagination go; "Aries" is just a starting point.
The contest rules are the same as usual:
No limit on entries this week, so knock yourselves out. Good luck everyone!
Comments Off on Character Contest 61: Aries!
Posted in Challenges, Character Design Challenges
Three middle-aged nerds (including yours truly!) review all of the MCU movies in chronological order. Short, funny, and full of good vibes, check it out and let us know what you think!
Nerdmudgeon.com
