The response to Character Contest 62, which challenged you to create a template available to everyone who uses HeroMachine 3 for a Fantasy Warrior, was huge. My sincere thanks to everyone who entered, I am once again humbled by your creativity and skill.
I've broken the results into two sections, male and female. I went through and picked out my favorites, limiting it to one entry per person in the interest of fairness even though there were some who had two or more I thought were outstanding. I ended up disqualifying any that had the arms in a non-standard position (that was one of the contest requirements this time around).
But hey, I've done the hard part, now you get to do the even harder part of picking a winner! After I show you all of the Finalists, I'll have a poll where you can vote for up to five (5) entries you think would be great templates to show to new users as a starting point. Polls close at 8 am Mountain Time on Wednesday when the entry with the highest total number of votes will win.
You can use whatever criteria you like for voting, of course, but as for me, here's how I looked at the initial entries:
- Is it awesome to look at?
- Is it relatively easy to duplicate or pick apart so the newbie can figure out how to do it on their own?
- Does it say "Fantasy Warrior" to me when I look at it?
Without further fanfare, I present the many Finalists for the Female Fantasy Warrior template for the first half of Character Contest 62:
Blue Blazer:
Brons:
Coolness is for Cool Kids:
dblade:
Hammerknight:
Ian:
Imp:
Jack Zelger:
Kaldath:
Lime:
Me, Myself, and I:
Moognation:
Myro:
Nakiato:
Pesky:
Rancid:
Sean David Ross:
Sutter Kaine:
And now, the poll! Remember, you can vote for up to five (5) entries, but you can only vote once. Good luck everyone! Polls close at 8 am Mountain Time on Wednesday.
HMM MAde it again!
Wow, Great
People.
Really? I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I have to say I’m surprised. My berzerker was probably my least favorite of all my female entries.
I’m still voting for me though.
Again,great work everyone! Kaldath,MMI,SDR,Sutter Kane and DBlade were my favorites.
I had to eliminate some entries because I already voted for their Male entries. Even though their Female entrie were really solid.
@Imp: I really like your design. It combines all the right elements to be her unique yet instantly recognizable as a “Conquistador-gone-native.”
WOW, Great work everyone. I have to say though, that if I had to pick one group over the other, the female entries would beat the males by a landslide.
Thanks, Atomic Punk, I appreciate it.
I’d have to say my favorite of any entry, male or female, was Sean David Ross’s female warrior. That is pure awesome. I also really love the face on MMI’s female entry.
Myro (3): Opinions will always differ, but that was in my personal opinion not only the best of your female entries, but by a fairly wide margin.
Imp (7): I don’t want to prejudice the vote or anything, but I heartily endorse that sentiment. Heartily.
These entries are the ones I thought were the best of the best. Everything is great in them, I just found minor nitpicks(mainly preference).
1.Ian | The spear head coloring | Suggestion = gold may have been better
2.Moognation | The sword, mainly the handle, slightly throws me | Suggestion = Maybe a curved handle would have fit the flow of the weapon better
3.Sutter Kaine | The belt doesn’t match the woman’s shape, and the color in comparison to the quiver | Suggestion = A simple mask to the body or clothing and matching the color
4.Sean David Ross | The neck makes me think of her head as plastic and belonging to that of a cyborg | Suggestion = Standard chainmail, or green leather
5.Me, Myself, and I | Possibly the amount of green? | Suggestion = Color Variation
I hope I’m not offending anyone with these minor observations, I’m mainly trying to point out what helps me chose my favorites. As the program’s age grows so does the talent, thus at the lvl the entries are, it’s quicker and easier to pick out the one or two thing(s) I don’t like instead of everything I do 😉
There were a few others I almost chose, alot of good entries.
I have to agree with Imp on one point as well, MMI nailed the face.
Wow. I mainly saw Hero Machine as a supers creator, but after this contest I am fully sold on fantasy artwork. Great job, everyone.
Is it wrong that I wish Moognation’s creation would come to life? Yowza!
Thank you MartianBlue (10) and Imp (7). I was particularly happy with the face as well. And MartianBlue, you might have been right about all the green. There are a lot of different greens there but still, lots of green.
Even so MMI, it’s a very solid composition and well worth it’s place in the tops
MartianBlue(9) What do you think about these colors then?
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6781672/MMI-Fantasy%20Warrior%20Maiden%20of%20the%20Wood%20alt%20Colors.png
@dblade (11)- Yes. Yes it is.
@spidercow2010 (15)…then I don’t want to be right 🙂
Moognation’s entry reminds me of Leela from Doctor Who, and that’s never a bad thing to be reminded of.
@MMI (14)
The brown definetly helps break the green up, and though I prefer it(something I would have done) over the solid green, others may not. Most importantly do you prefer the brown? the green? I wouldn’t change it on my account. It’s a beautiful composition, from the belt placement, to the armor accenting the dress, to the bow and green feathered arrows, the grasp of the hand around the arrow, to the flow of the hair, the reveal of the ear, and of course the selling point lying with the head. There’s plenty about it that is grade A. With a competition like this you can truly see the skill of the designer/artist working with the restraints of simplicity, yet developing a convincing and cool looking character.
MartianBlue (114) I think I do prefer the new version in fact; thank you for the suggestion. I agree that this contest was challenge for me because I had to cut back and simplify a lot.
I’m just honored I got into the semi-finals! I don’t enter often because there are so many talented people on this board, so its great to have a character nominated amongst these greats.
I’m pleased to have finally managed to win a Character Contest. Thank you.
My favourites from the other finalists were from Imp; Me, Myself & I; and Moognation. Cheers!