Category Archives: Character Design Challenges

This week's Character Design Challenge is roaring in like a lion! Literally. Because it's time for Zodiac Contest LEO!

Yes, your challenge for this week is to design the coolest character image possible with the theme of "Leo". You might design something around a lion (duh), or something based on the astrological profile of those born under the sign, or something completely different. It's up to you so long as it in some way ties into the theme!

The person with the winning entry as selected by our expert panel (i.e. me) will win their choice of a) a portrait to go in HeroMachine 3, b) an item to go in HeroMachine 3, or c) a custom black and white "Sketch of the Day" style drawing (also by me). The rules otherwise are the same as always:

• All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the UGO Forums, whatever);
• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• The image cannot have been used in any previous HeroMachine character design contest;
• Please name your files as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his "Bayou Belle" character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
• Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). If you see "preview" or "rotate" somewhere in the link you're probably doing it wrong.
• All entries must be in by next Monday, when I'll choose a winner.

Good luck everyone!

Edited to Add: No more than five (5) entries per person this week, folks, so make 'em count.

With thanks to Hammerknight for the suggestion, your Character Design Challenge this week is to create an awesome face. That's right, all entries this time around must be a portrait only of someone who looks interesting, cool, and/or awesome. When I say portrait view, I mean a close-up of the character's head, roughly from the shoulders up to just above the top of the head.

I'm particularly interested in cool-looking faces, though that's not a strict requirement. In other words, if you're doing an image of a knight, it's probably a good idea to put his or her visor in the up position, but you won't be disqualified if it's down instead.

For me, I'm going to be most impressed by faces that look distinctive, as if it could be a picture of an actual human being versus a sort of generic comic book person.

That's not to say you have to make a human face, of course. I'm sure we'll see our fair share of aliens, robots, and "other", all of which I look forward to very much as well!

In addition to the above constraints, the usual rules apply as well:

1. Use only a HeroMachine applet (no PhotoShopping except for basic cropping) to create a PNG or JPG of your entry, named as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his "Bayou Belle" character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
2. Post the image to a publicly accessible website (ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the UGO Forums, etc.).
3. Enter the name of your entry and a link directly to the image in a comment to this post. The image cannot have been used in any previous HeroMachine character design contest.
4. The link to your image should go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). If you see "preview" or "rotate" somewhere in the link you're probably doing it wrong.
5. I'll choose a winner next Monday, who will receive his or her choice of any item or a portrait to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 program, or a "Sketch of the Week" style black and white illustration (you pick the subject and I draw it up however I like).

No limit on entries this week, so knock yourselves out. Good luck everyone!

(Image from the awesome gallery of Michael E. Edens.)

Your character design challenge for this week is to come up with an image with HeroMachine based on the idea of the Zodiac sign "Cancer". Note that this is not the disease of the same name, but rather the astrological sign of the crab. You could do a giant crab mech, or a super hero named "The Crab", or some tasteful but vaguely disgusting use of "crabs". Or you could use it as an acronym for something else, or show the battle between Hercules and the crab, and so on.

The point is, you should use the concept of Cancer as a springboard for character creation, rather than feeling unduly bound by the restrictions it imposes. Let that imagination run wild, child!

To help you out, here's a bit on the history of the name from Wikipedia:

According to an ancient Greek legend, the figure of a crab was placed in the nighttime sky by the goddess Hera to form the constellation Cancer. Hera swore to kill Heracles, the most famous Greek hero. Hera attempted to kill Heracles in many different ways, but each time his incredible physical strength allowed him to survive. Hera cast a spell of madness on Heracles, causing him to commit a great crime. In order to be forgiven, he had to perform twelve difficult tasks. One of these tasks was destroying the terrible nine-headed water-serpent, Hydra.

During the battle between Heracles and Hydra, the goddess Hera sent a crab to aid the serpent. But Heracles, being so strong, killed the crab by smashing its shell with his foot. As a reward for its service, Hera placed the crab's image in the night sky.

Wow. Crushed by a foot, and for that you get to live for eternity in the sky as a mighty constellation? I'm shocked we don't have a Cockroach constellation.

Anyway.

The contest rules are the same as usual:

1. Use only a HeroMachine applet (no PhotoShopping except for basic cropping) to create a PNG or JPG of your entry, named as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his "Bayou Belle" character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
2. Post the image to a publicly accessible website (ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the UGO Forums, etc.).
3. Enter the name of your entry and a link directly to the image in a comment to this post. The image cannot have been used in any previous HeroMachine character design contest.
4. The link to your image should go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). If you see "preview" or "rotate" somewhere in the link you're probably doing it wrong.
5. I'll choose a winner next Monday, who will receive his or her choice of any item or a portrait to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 program, or a "Sketch of the Week" style black and white illustration (you pick the subject and I draw it up however I like).

No limit on entries this week, so knock yourselves out. Good luck everyone!

We're going to do something a bit different for this week's Character Design Contest. In the past I've done a few different Sketches of the Day that involved combining two different archetypes into one. For instance, there was Redneck Wizard, Ninja Cowboy, and Cyborg Pirate. I thought it would be fun to throw that same challenge at you to see what you'd come up with.

Thus, your challenge this week is to design one or more characters by combining two words from the following list:

• Cyborg
• Ninja
• Cowboy
• Cheerleader
• Robot
• Dinosaur
• Teen
• Werewolf
• Spirit
• Ghost
• Samurai
• Alien
• Kid
• Doctor
• Shogun
• Zombie
• Sorcerer
• Wizard
• Redneck

So for example, you could do a "Cyborg Cheerleader" or an "Samurai Alien" or "Dinosaur Doctor".

Otherwise the rules are the same:

1. Use only a HeroMachine applet (no PhotoShopping except for basic cropping) to create a PNG or JPG of your entry, named as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his "Bayou Belle" character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
2. Post the image to a publicly accessible website (ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the UGO Forums, etc.).
3. Enter the name of your entry and a link directly to the image in a comment to this post. The image cannot have been used in any previous HeroMachine character design contest.
4. The link to your image should go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). If you see "preview" or "rotate" somewhere in the link you're probably doing it wrong.
5. I'll choose a winner next Monday, who will receive his or her choice of any item or a portrait to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 program, or a "Sketch of the Week" style black and white illustration (you pick the subject and I draw it up however I like).

No limit on entries this week, so give it your best shot!

Your challenge this week is to design the coolest looking Cyborg character you can. Note that I'll be looking for entries that not only pass the "Does it look awesome" test, but that are actually combinations of organic and technological parts to make up the whole. Pure robots or pure androids, in other words, wouldn't really qualify.

Otherwise the rules are the same:

1. Use only a HeroMachine applet (no PhotoShopping except for basic cropping) to create a PNG or JPG of your entry, named as [your name]-[character name].[file extension]. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his "Bayou Belle" character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
2. Post the image to a publicly accessible website (ImageShack, PhotoBucket, the UGO Forums, etc.).
3. Enter the name of your entry and a link directly to the image in a comment to this post. The image cannot have been used in any previous HeroMachine character design contest.
4. The link to your image should go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). If you see "preview" or "rotate" somewhere in the link you're probably doing it wrong.
5. I'll choose a winner next Monday, who will receive his or her choice of any item or a portrait to be included in the final HeroMachine 3 program, or a "Sketch of the Week" style black and white illustration (you pick the subject and I draw it up however I like).

No limit on entries this week, so give it your best shot!