Category Archives: Challenges

Imagine you're a comic book illustrator/creator/mad genius, and your boss gives you the kind of assignment you always dreamed of -- the company has acquired the rights to a classic character and they want you to be in charge of redesigning him! In the 1940's a dashing figure cut a swathe through the criminal comic book underworld, by the name of "The Black Terror". Your task is to update that character for a relaunch in the present day. You've got the name and you have access to past issues featuring his exploits, but how much or how little of his previous incarnation you keep is totally up to you. Your only mandate is that the name has to stay the same, "The Black Terror".

Are you imagining that? Well good, because that's the challenge for this week! Come up with the best character reimagining around the name "The Black Terror" to win. This week I'll be judging entries not just on their visual appeal but also on the overall concept behind your retcon; there's more to super-heroes than just the outfits, after all. If you want to bone up on his previous exploits, you can find past issues at "Golden Age Comics", although really that's up to you.

Otherwise the rules are the same as every week:

1. All entries must be left as links to an image file hosted somewhere on the internet (ImageShack, PicasaWeb, UGO Forums, whatever) in the comments to this post;
   You must use some version of HeroMachine;
2. No manipulation by outside programs like PhotoShop except for basic cropping and the like;
3. The contest will run from now until next Tuesday.

Good luck everyone! I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Although it runs the risk of stepping on the star-spangled coat-tails of the Patriot Contest, I wanted to honor the upcoming United States "Independence Day" holiday. So if you come up with the best character illustration centered on anything related to July 4, you'll win either a caricature of your head OR any one item, either of which will be included in the final release of HeroMachine 3! You could go for your classic American-themed character like Cap or Uncle Sam, or you might do something centered on fireworks, or a guy named "The Revolutionary", or a Colonial era concept, or heck even The Human Barbeque as a nod to what most people actually do on that day.

The rules are simple:

1. You must use a HeroMachine version (preferably the 3.0 alpha, but any one is fine);
2. All entries must be made as comments to this post containing a link to an image file on a publicly accessible web server somewhere (UGO Forums, ImageShack, PicasaWeb, whatever);
3. No PhotoShopping or other after-HeroMachine image software manipulation allowed except for basic cropping and maybe adding a name.

I prefer new stuff that you haven't entered before, but sufficient awesomeness of the image will overcome a myriad of sins.

Note that if you've never entered one of these before, it's really easy. Just use the built-in "Save as JPG/PNG" buttons in HeroMachine 3 to get an image file of your character. Then post it to the web using either your own web server if you have one, or one of the free image hosting sites like PicasaWeb.com, ImageShack.com, PhotoBucket.com, or even Facebook (just make sure the album is set to Public). Then cut and paste the HTTP:// address for your image into a comment to this post and you're done. It's that easy!

Good luck everyone, and have a great long weekend if you're one of the lucky Americans celebrating the holiday with a day off.

Sorry for the lateness of this post, folks, time seems to have slipped away from me today. BUT, your challenge for this week is to create the best character image possible using any HeroMachine version that fits the theme of "It's Elemental". You could go with the natural idea of a super-hero based on one of the basic elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, etc.). Or you might create an Elemancer character from a DnD type of world. Or maybe you're into rock trolls, or water nymphs, or fiery invaders from Solaris, or a post-Apocalyptic mutant with a dowsing rod, or something else completely unexpected. Just make it look cool!

The rules are simple as always:

1. You must use a HeroMachine version (preferably the 3.0 alpha, but any one is fine);
2. All entries must be made as comments to this post containing a link to an image file on a publicly accessible web server somewhere (UGO Forums, ImageShack, PicasaWeb, whatever);
3. No PhotoShopping or other after-HeroMachine image software manipulation allowed except for basic cropping and maybe adding a name.

I prefer new stuff that you haven't entered before, but sufficient awesomeness of the image will overcome a myriad of sins.

The winner will get to choose either a custom caricature of their head or any item of their choosing to be put into the HeroMachine 3 final version. Good luck everyone!

Your challenge for this week is to make an illustration of a character you either currently play, or have played in the past, in an RPG of some sort. It could be a guy from a computer shooter, or a classic D&D campaign, or a current online super-hero PBeM, or anything like that. Obviously I don't have any way of verifying that yes, this is a character you really played, so we're just going to have to go on the honor system here.

In your post, please put the game the character was played in, their name, and a brief little bit about who they were, or why you made them, or your favorite recollection of them, or anything else that will give us a little flavor of why you like the character enough to remember them now. The other rules are simple:

1. Entries must be left as comments to this post;
2. Each comment must have a link to an image hosted online someplace where I can get to it without having to register (UGO.com forums are fine, or PhotoBucket, ImageShack, whatever);
3. You must use some version of HeroMachine for the image (preferably 3.0 Alpha) -- no PhotoShopping except for basic cropping;
4. The character cannot have been entered in a HeroMachine.com contest before.

The winner as always will get to choose either to request one item, or a caricature of their head, to be included with HeroMachine 3. Good luck everyone!

Your challenge for this week is to design the best character that fits the concept of "Spellslinger". That may be a classic long-bearded fantasy wizard, or a magic-using robot, or a beguiling Fairy (no, Whit, you can't use any of the ones from the other contest, make some new ones!), or a teenaged warlock, or a be-robed cantripping chimp, or a post-apocalyptic biker witch, or something else no one in their right mind would ever think of. Just make it look good, make sense, and make it make me say "Cool!" when I look at it.

The rules are simple:

1. All entries must be left as a comment to this post, consisting of whatever commentary you like and a link to the image hosted on a publicly-viewable website somewhere (i.e. ImageShack, the UGO Forums, PhotoBucket, Facebook, whatever);
2. No manipulation in any image editor like Photoshop (except for cropping);
3. You must use some version of HeroMachine (though frankly the HM3 Alpha probably gives you your best shot).

That's it! The contest winner will get to choose to have either a caricature of his/her face or an item of their choice included in the final HeroMachine 3 version for everlasting immortality (as opposed to that nasty short-term immortality). The contest is for one week, the winner to be announced next Tuesday.

Good luck everyone!