Category Archives: Challenges

Take a look at the following two creations by Hammerknight from the UGO Forums:

What do you notice about them? That's right -- THEY AIN'T PEOPLE!! I was really hoping someone would use the Companions as the basis for an illustration, and without prompting Hammerknight knocked it out of the park. Inspired by his innovation, that's your challenge for this week:

Create a "character" illustration using HeroMachine 3 without using any of the items in any of the Body or Head slots.

You can use Feet and Hands and anything else you like, but no Bodies or Heads. The idea is to do what Hammerknight did, creating a non-human character. It can be a super-hero, a villain, a pulp character, a sidekick, or just a plain old horrific monster, but no people. Because people are Soylen Green! Or something.

The deadline is one week from today, when I will pick a winner. To be eligible, you must post a link to an image of your character in the comments to this post. You can put the image wherever you like, but it must be visible without having to log in (except for the UGO Forums, that's still ok. I just don't want to have to make an ImageShack and Flickr and and and and account, you know?).

The winner will get to choose either a) any one item to be included in any one slot of HeroMachine 3 or b) a caricature of their face/head to be included in HeroMachine 3 to serve as the model for thousands of characters.

Good luck everyone!

Now folks, I'm going to be trusting you here to keep this clean, and to help I am re-instituting the "appropriate for prime time network television" rule, but I just couldn't pass this image up for our next Caption Contest:

If you come up with the funniest, best entry to replace the missing dialog balloon, you'll get to choose either a) any one item in any one slot to be included in HeroMachine 3 or b) an illustration of your head and face to be included in HeroMachine 3 so you can serve as the basis for millions of super-heroes across the world! The rules are simple:

1. Keep it clean, appropriate for a prime time network television broadcast (this means no use of the Seven Words You Can't Say on Television);
2. Your entry must be left as a comment to this post;
3. Be funny.

On a personal note, I tend to find violent homophobic humor un-funny. VERY un-funny. I post a number of "queer" references from the Fifties because it makes for humorous reading in the modern usage of the word, given the fact that you've got a bunch of muscle-bound men in stockings running around beating up other men while being followed by young boys, but the spirit of the thing is important. I don't like implications of violence against homosexual people, and calling stupid, silly, or feminine things "gay" is just kind of lame.

So while technically that sort of thing isn't against "the rules", I don't find it very funny. And I'm doing the judging. Do the math 🙂

Now, lecture over, start with the funny!

I'm going to try something a bit different this week, and challenge you to come up with the best character portrait for someone named "Capstan". Whoever comes up with the best design (as judged by me) will win inclusion in a new "Hall of Fame" category on HeroMachine.com, which will feature each winning character in their own post, along with credit to you, a link to a web page of your choice (assuming it's clean!), and if you like, a brief history or story about the character. You'll also get to pick one item to be included in HeroMachine 3.

You can use any HeroMachine version you like, from Shakti to the Horror Edition to HeroMachine 3 Alpha, or whatever you like. To enter, make a comment to this post with a link to where your character can be seen online. If you don't have web hosting space, I recommend using the UGO HeroMachine Forums, where I've made a topic for this contest (registration required to post images). Or you can put it on Flickr, Photobucket, Facebook (make sure it's a public album), etc. So long as people can view the image without having to register or be on some kind of authorization list, I don't care where you put it. Just make sure you put the link to it in the comments to this post, or it won't count.

So, a quick review of the rules:

1. Best costume design for a character named "Capstan" wins an entry in the Hall of Fame, as well as the ability to choose an item for inclusion in HeroMachine 3.
2. All entries must be left as a link to an image in the comments to this post.
3. You can use any HeroMachine version you like, but only HeroMachine versions -- no Marvel Creator or Her-O-Matic or whatnot.
4. Enter as often as you like. If you have a description/history for the character, leave it in the same comment as the link please.
5. Contest ends next Tuesday, winner to be chosen by Jeff Hebert.

Good luck everyone!

No, that's not a euphemism, it's the subject of this week's triumphant caption contest return! Come up with the best replacement dialog for the empty word balloon below and you'll win* either a) your choice of three items to be included in HeroMachine version 3 (subject to copyright laws) or b) I'll draw your face and put it in HeroMachine 3 for all the world to make into super-heroes! Here's your challenge:

(Edited to Add: Keep it clean, folks. We're going back to the PG-13 ratings, stay within the bounds of what you'd hear on a network TV sitcom. Innuendo is one thing, but outright four-letter-wording and such is going to get your entry discarded. Remember, kids read this.)

Leave your entry or entries in the comments to this post and next Tuesday I'll pick a winner. Good luck everyone!

*I'm not doing the custom illustration this week because I'm swamped and all my drawing energies are going into HeroMachine 3, so apologies if that's a disappointment, but it's the way things have to be for a bit.

(Image and characters ©2009 by Bill Willingham and DC Comics, Inc. from "Fables" number 82.)