I've just released the ItemRight-Blades to the HeroMachine 3 Alpha. Note that this is part one of two sets of Bladed items; once I got to 72 entries, the file was getting to be too slow to work with easily. So starting tomorrow I'll be working on "Blades2", as I am only halfway through the HM2.x cutting implements and haven't gotten much into the user-submitted stuff. Breaking everything into four pieces is slow slogging and really balloons the file size.
To recap, you'll see each item broken out into four pieces: the entire sword/dagger/whatever; just the hilt and pommel; just the crosspiece (what the heck is that called?!); and the blade. Basically this gives you a mini-HeroMachine "Weapon Maker" within the main application, because you can add the handle of a broadsword to a round katana crossguard and a greatsword blade. Or -- and this is pretty neat -- you can put a ... ahem, an "energy based saber-like blade" onto a samurai sword base.
I know, cool, hunh?! Here's one screen of previews showing some of the new entries:
In some cases there wasn't really enough of a crossguard to warrant having it as a separate piece, but I wanted to keep to the "four items per design" thing going, so I threw in something else that fit. For instance with the colonial hatchet, I made a double-headed blade instead, and for the sickle I put in a spiked hand guard.
Let me know your thoughts on what I have so far, any changes you'd like to see made, any bladed items NOT currently in HM2.x that you want to make a pitch to include (Scorp, I still have all your suggestions on file), etc. I hope this works like I think it will and that you find it fun to play with ...
great. wicked. awasome. fantastic. whatever they pay you u should get more. By the way can you add a ned kelly helmet(if you dont have a clue who he is doa google search)
Awesome, really really awesome.
Seriously, now we can do a huge amount of crazy and cool stuff.
About requests, probably you remember this, but just to be sure I’ll say it again:
Could you add a couple of Katana blades with hamon please?
http://www.jidai.jp/images_p/Deference_Hamon_shinken.jpg
I’ll be looking forward to Blades2.
Naginata.
Unless that goes under “polearms”. 🙂
I’d like the sword you drew for my character drawing.
Warhammer fantasy dark elf sword.
OMFG that’s just tooooooooooooo awesome. I’m assuming polearms will be done similarly, which when combined, well, the possiblities are endless. Then there’s shields, and blunts… the mind boggles.
add this please
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/solleks731/sword.jpg
or something like it
This really does look fantastic Jeff.
You are right, it is like “Weaponmachine” a whole new creator inside HM3.
The different amounts of weapons we can now create is really going to add to HM3.
Great work mate!
Scorp
I lol’d so hard when i read “energy based saber-like blade”.
Gotta watch those copyrights.
Awesome! Now I can make my Beast Master sword :)!!!!!
Hi,
I’m having an odd effect which I don’t think occurred before. This only happens when I have multiple items on the screen, and I use the grouping option of ‘all items’ before making my hero (for example) wider. If I then press the ‘headshot’ button, it resets the size of everything instead of zooming in…but it doesn’t really, since the Transform tab still has the resized parameters listed. Pressing the ‘headshot’ again zooms in like it should, but my former resizing is lost forever.
I hope this makes sense!
Thanks for the report, Mark. The zooming and “Transform All” features are pretty buggy at the moment, I’m going to have to take some time to get them whipped into shape at some point.
jeff can we have a sledge hammer if i didn’t have a sledge ans duct tape i couldn’t fix anything
RJ, if there’s a hammer in 2.x, there’ll be one in 3. And as a blunt, I won’t be getting to it for a bit, after the blades I’ll probably be moving on to hair or insignia or something that doesn’t have any items yet.
Is there any way to make it appear that the hand is actually holding the weapon? Right now it seems as though all you can do is have the weapon beneath the hand, but you can tell the fingers aren’t going around it. I suppose this could be fixed with a hand specifically drawn to appear to be holding something. Am I missing something?
Also, this is AWESOME so far!
Dudemeister, use the Mask feature for that. Get the weapon you want in the position you want with the hand you want to be holding it. Click on the weapon (or handle if you’re using the broken-out pieces). Click the Mask button — the cursor changes into a little mask icon (so cute!). Then click on the hand and voila, the item will look like it’s being held by the hand.
This is a bit longer a process than in 2.x, where all the hand-held items were pre-drawn with the hand blanking out the handles. But in 2.x that cutout was ALWAYS missing no matter what. So you couldn’t really have alternate hands or do anything else with it.
This way is clunkier, but you can have any hand you like, in any position you like, or you can not have the item held at all and instead put it on a belt or slung over the back. It’s a lot more flexible, at the expense of being not quite as easy to use or intuitive as before.
I’ve tossed around the idea of at some point having an “options” menu that would let you select “always mask hand-held items with the most recently added hand” or something. But for now it’s all manual.
Breaking the weapons down into their component parts is genius. One good, nay, excellent thing about it: You can make a big honkin’ sword blade, and yet still have the pommel/handle the right size for the character’s hand to hold it.
Glad you like it, Imp! I hadn’t even thought about the “big sword, little handle” thing, but you’re right, that’s a great point.
My vote is for you to work on hair next.
Jeff,
I found a glitch in the Sai handle. When I try to print to a PDF (haven’t tried to acutally print) it does not appear in the PDF file. Also if I try to save as a JPG it always put it as the top most item on the hand.
Jeff,
Sorry for 3 posts in a row, but I just remember one thing I wanted to request. Is there any possible way you can create a scabard for each sword blade style? or at least just make blank blades (sans the line down the middle).
I don’t see doing a scabbard for every blade, but a set of general ones, sure. Probably put it in the Belts slot. You know, one samurai sheath, one broadsword one, one dagger-sized, one thin one like for a rapier, etc.
Sounds good to me! Thanks
jeff two words SHoulder cannons !!!!!!!!
RJ, when I get to Shoulders, be sure to use those two words again. At the moment, they don’t have a lot to do with bladed items, which is the subject, but it’s a good idea.
bows to the all power jeff in shame i’m sorry i’m just hyper i love hm3 so much
No worries RJ, I appreciate your enthusiasm! I just won’t remember the actual suggestion when the time comes, so be sure to bring it up again when I get to that slot.
OK thanks bud 😉 as for blades i want gauntlet razors like a certain caped crusader has on his gloves
Ok so i am not sure if this belongs in blades or not but i was wondering if you could get the claw/blades from 2.x and put them in HM3 with the broke apart feature, i know HM3 has claw/blades but i just like the older style better.
Words cannot describe how incredible HM3 is coming along, Jeff 😀 The new blades are awesome! The customizable options with them is phenomenal! I’m looking forward to blades2 as well.
Will the Riddick Saber blades be in part 2?
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?ea5e0b0048.jpg
For customizable options, I think the hilt and blade should be the two components, even though it’s actually one piece of stainless steel with the grip sowed around it.
I can imagine this dagger could be of great use to everyone as well. For instance, the blade could be attached to a custom sword and used as extra blades or as the cross guard.
Thank you, Jeff.
@Merrick: Yes, I actually just added four different styles of blades, each with just one blade so you can duplicate them and make one, two, three, or more-bladed claws in whatever degree of splayedness you like.
I don’t have one EXACTLY like those 2.x blades because they’re too similar to Wolverine’s, which are copyrighted. At least, they might be construed that way and I don’t want to get close to that steaming pile of hurt again.
@Tim: Glad you’re liking it so far! What would you think about a “Design the best blade” contest tomorrow instead of the usual caption contest?
The saber blades are historical, I think, so they should be all right to serve as a model. I was planning on it, they’ll be in BladesTwo.
Jeff,
Well it sucks that you cant the 2.x styled ones but i can understand the legal issues. Cant wait to see what else you cook up when it comes to weapons, i am wondering if there is any way you could do the same with firearms/laser blasters and such. would be what type of gun + sword combo people can come up with.
As far as “Design The Best Blade” contest instead of the normal caption one i would go for it and make maybe the prize be a solid single construct of the best blade and name it after the user that wins? “User X Special B” lol i can see it now.
I’m a bit up in the air about the guns, I’m not sure if there’s value in breaking them up into pieces or not. What do you guys think?
For guns, it’s a bit tricky as I think about it. I think it could work the same way as blades, have (for example) an MP5 then have it broken down into three pieces. Also I think there would need to be things like several styles of scopes, attached grenade launchers, shotguns and perhaps several clip syles (size can be determined with the transformation tools).
Does that make sense?
TigerGuy makes a good point; it would be cool to have different styles of clips/scopes/stocks/etc. Maybe, don’t break down every single gun like you’re doing with blades, but in addition to the standard guns you already have planned, maybe just have two or three ‘gun body’ parts, with associated grips, barrels, stocks, etc. That way you can scale up or down the size of the main body of the gun, have a lengthened or shortened stock or barrel, etc.
Also, I don’t know if you’re planning to put them into the Blades category or somewhere else, but what about a few diffrent types of shuriken? I can get throwing knives/axes by scaling down the size on what you’ve got already, but I loves me some shuriken. 😀
Well Jeff, it’d be cool if you can include a witchblade (From the W40k Universe):
http://media.photobucket.com/image/Eldar%20Witchblade/Eltharion21/th_Untitled-1.jpg
I think the mix of technology and ancient appearance make this blade really cool. Also, I think it’s a very nice looking blade if someone is looking to make an evil or mysterious character, since the blade does look very mystical.
@ Jeff:
I agree there are some guns that may not need to be broken down but as TigerGuy and The Imp says some of them would be nice if you did. I must admit, the reason why i suggested guns being broken down is cause i noticed ( obviously ) that in the standard set you have some gun-blade combos and i would like to see more if not make more of my own.
I am loving the idea of a best blade contest! I can think of some pretty sweet looking swords and I would love to see what every one else can think of too. I will definitely be apart of that!
I’m glad to hear that the saber blades will be in blades2. I have a few other ideas too 😀
– Kratos Blades of Chaos for God of War
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?7102417d4f.jpg
– King Leonidas Sword from the 300 Movie
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?ee3da49f32.jpg
Lastly, I agree with TigerGuy, Imp and Merrick about the broken down gun pieces, this will definitely broadly expand the range of customization! Could you possibly add the end of the chainsaw somewhere? So we could add a chainsaw bayonet to any gun(staff) we create?
I love the concept of a chainsaw bayonet on a gun from Gears of War and I would love to see it here too!
Thanks, Jeff 😀
if i could make a request:
Could you make hands in a relaxed position with the thumbs facing towards the character, ie like you would see them if they were sitting on a table or if they were resting on top of a sword?
Bladed weapon crosspiece = guard, also tsuba; also, check Wikipedia’s “Hilt” & “Japanese sword mountings” entries.
…
Very nice layout/arrangement of the items in ItemRight!
Side effect of the item breakdown is allowing a richer color composition.
Sai (pg 1, row 3) — now a ‘manji sai’ can be made! Tricky though.
Trench knife (pg 2, row 2) handle might better be a knuckle duster variant akin to the “US Mark 1 Trench Knife”.
Colonial hatchet (?) (pg 4, row 1) ought better be broken down to plain grip, knobby grip, and single axe head. Double axe head is easily accomplished with flip & rotate. Knobby grip can then be utilized in other things (Kubotan? hmmm).
Katar (pg 4, row 2) always struck me as drawn odd. The photo in the Wikipedia article for it is more satisfying — straight edges, two handle crossgrip, long straight blade. The crossgrip tends to come down much further for some forearm protection. Straight blade emphasizes the thrusting armor piercing nature, whereas curve implies slashing. The third breakdown piece might better be served as a 2nd fancy katar blade, or a 2nd fancy crossgrip.
Energy blade (pg 5, row 2) missing that gradient ‘oomph’ which distinguished it in HM2.
“Headshot view” might better be served as a “Zoom”. In this way one can do fine tuning where desired — face, weapon(s), etc. Maybe specific zoom sectors — top, middle, bottom?
…
Breakdown of firearms not necessary. Might be able to accomplish the same with masking. Added firearm components (Items > “Accessories”?) — scopes, stocks, M209s, etc — ought be handy. (Wonder how to do a laser sight _with_ beam?) Extra piece(s) could then be Transform-ed, Mask-ed, and/or overlayed on desired Items. Believe the Marines’ weapons in “Aliens” were built-up this way.
Hey Violodion, something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while: any reason you talk like Rorschach? 😀
It might be best to move weapon parts in to a ‘Pieces’ slot under ‘ItemsRight.’ ‘Multiples’ would allow them to be added to anything, including spiking armor, adding bayonets, and implanting blades. Then drop the ‘Horror’ and ‘Tech’ slots, reorganizing those items under the older slots like ‘Blades’ ‘Blunt’ and ‘Firearms.’ A slot of ‘Firearms Pieces’ could include things like scopes, magazines, and suppressors needed to SWAT-out your gun. Hopefully this would make it easier to load and work with.
Then you can shovel my driveway :-).
Hey jeff. In swords 2, could you consider the ninjato, a straight short sword used by ninja as a multipurpose weapon. it is about 2 thirds of the length of the katana and looks sort of like this:
http://www.tevader.com/decouverte/encyclo/images/ninjato.jpg
Hi Karasu, can’t you make one of those using the samurai blade and shrinking it?
I guess, but the ninjato is a straight sword and it’s the more angled, more like an uber long utility knife. I can make do, but i would love for you to add it.
I know I’m late for a bunch of these topics but better late than never. Something like this would be a pretty cool addition to the blades.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40735115@N00/2649374649/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40735115@N00/2650205394/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40735115@N00/2649374801/