Category Archives: Character Design Challenges

Normally we'd be having a caption contest this week, but I need to add the HeroMachine 2 list of "sample characters" into the HeroMachine 3 Templates, and I want you all to be the ones to design those instead of me. Here's how the list looks in HM2:

So this week, your challenge is to tackle the first of those categories, the Fantasy Warrior. Here's how the male version looked:

I'll be picking two winners from the submissions, one male and one female. The winners will need to send me the text string for their characters so I can include them in the HM3 Templates, whereupon they'll be available for everyone to load up "live", as it were. So if you're not comfortable having your creation permanently featured in that way, then you should avoid submitting anything this week.

Note that you still own the character concept and copyright, I just have the right to show it within the confines of the HeroMachine.

You don't have to (or even want to, necessarily) recreate this exact look. Your goal is to come up with the coolest, best-looking template that people can use as a starting point for making their own "Fantasy Warrior", something that a beginner could load up and learn from. To that end you're probably going to have to keep these a lot simpler than you're used to, because a new person trying to figure out why and how you've used a head to substitute for a leg isn't going to cut it.

I'll ask that you use only the first, "Standard" male or female body in the default pose. Try to avoid using the "multiples" setting if at all possible (clearly, with things like ears you're not going to be able to do so).

Good luck! You don't have to post your text strings yet, I'll only ask the winners for that.

The rest is the same as usual -- no limit on entries, link directly to your image, contest ends next Monday, etc. etc.

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:

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!

Your character design challenge for this week is to take a character designed originally in HeroMachine 2 and redesign it using HeroMachine 3. You'll need to explain your concept behind the redesign, why you made the choices you did and why you think they're an improvement. In other words, this isn't just remaking the exact same character's look using a new version of the software, it's taking the concept of the character and updating it with your own vision.

You can choose one of your old designs if you like, or you can choose any one from the HeroMachine Facebook page. Why the Facebook page? Because I am still hell-bent on catching up to UGO's fan numbers, that's why! So if you aren't already a fan of my page there, please take a moment to do so even if you're not using an image from the Photos archive.

Edited to Add:
OK, I think I am not being clear here.

The point of this is not to recreate the character in version 3. The point is to take an existing character and redesign it completely. Like when Iron Man went from the big gray tank armor to the silver and gold. Like when Superman went from the red-and-blues to the blue lightning bolt costume. Like when Spider-Man went from the red-and-blues to the black.

Your mission here is to reimagine a character, as if you were an artist working for DC or Marvel and your editor came to you and said "Hey, we're relaunching 'The Black Terror' but we need to completely redo it. Come up with something cool."

The goal is not to see how close you can get to making something done in HM2 look exactly the same, only done in HM3.

Now, how do you tell if an image is from HeroMachine 2? It's easy -- there's only one pose and it looks like this for the male:

And like this for the female:

They're all three-quarters' view with the left arm tucked up behind the torso and the hand jutting off horizontally.

The contest rules are the same as usual, except in addition to a link to your main entry, I'll also need a link to the 2.0 design you're revising.

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!

Your character design challenge for this week is to come up with an image with HeroMachine based on the idea of the Zodiac sign "Pisces". To help you out, here's a bit on the history of the name from Wikipedia:

[Pisces] is also considered a water sign and one of the four mutable signs. (Mutable signs have a longing for movement and are extremely restless. Pisces is the most watery sign. It is constantly trying to adapt itself to its ever-changing feelings and to the moods and whims of others, allbeit a little obnoxious sometimes.) ... Individuals born when the Sun was in this sign are considered Pisceans.

According to one Greek myth, Pisces represents the fish into which Aphrodite and her son Eros transformed in order to escape the monster Typhon; they are tied together with a cord on their tails, to make sure they do not lose one another. Alternatively, the twin fish were placed in the heavens in honor of their heroic deed of saving Aphrodite and Eros from Typhon on the river Euphrates.

As always, you should definitely let your imagination loose on this. The concept of the Zodiac sign is just a starting point, but almost anything having to do with fish, or water, or even a play on the name itself would work. You don't have to literally make an illustration of the constellation.

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!

This week you get one shot, and one shot only, to wow us with the best thing you've ever done with HeroMachine (at least, the best thing that's never been entered in an HM contest before!).

No theme, no constraints beyond good taste, no limits. But you only got one entry, so you're going to have to decide which single image is most likely to blow the socks off the viewer. Agonizing, I know, but I'm evil that way.

Otherwise 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).

You only get ONE entry this week, so make sure it's your best. And good luck!

(On a side note, admit it -- you would totally want the album from that highlight image at the top. It starts off with Rick Astley; it's like you're getting Rick-rolled before you even begin!)