Character Contest 80: Wrath!

At the prompting of Kaylin88100 and as suggested by dblade (thanks to you both!), we're going to start a new themed set of contests, like the Zodiac ones. Only this time, we're getting medieval on your butt by taking on the Seven Deadly Sins!

Your design challenge for this week is to create a character or characters based on something related to the first of the Deadly Sins, "wrath". Your character could be named wrath, or you could build a cyborg warrior fueled by rage, or a Hulk-like monster consumed with anger, or a young Khan clone ("Wrath of Khan", get it?!), or a big ugly demon creature from the netherworld, or anything else that inspires you when you hear the word. You could build an entire seven-member team of characters named "The Seven Deadly Sins", with Wrath being just the first; that would be kind of fun to keep track of.

But really, it's up to you. Just make a great illustration based on the concept of "wrath".

The rules are the same as usual:

  • 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.

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).

Good luck, everyone!

(Image via.)

Predictions are hard, bucolic jet engine edition

(From "The Green Mask" volume 2, number 5, 1946.)

META: Comment commentary

I wanted to get your opinion on the new comment structure since there has been a difference of opinion:

[polldaddy poll=5822538]

Thanks for your feedback!

Guns are for pistol-whipping, not shooting!

(From "The Green Mask" volume 2, number 5, 1945.)

Introducing "Surreality Bites", the HeroMachine Freestyle RPG

I want to try something new here that I've never done, and never seen done, before. It may be a huge flop, or it may be hugely entertaining; only time will tell.

Our overall goal is to create our own made-up-as-we-go book. Unlike a Choose Your Own Adventure book, we won't have multiple branches coming off of each section, but they are still a good model for the style of writing and length I'm looking for. We want fast-paced, inclusive, PG-rated material that advances the "story" (assuming any sort of coherent narrative forms).

Thus your challenge this week is one of two things (or both, if you fancy a challenge):

  1. Write an opening section that introduces the protagonist and establishes our starting point. The text should be written in second-person point of view ("You are a young warrior of the Wu Tang Clan") and should be gender-neutral. You can go sci-fi, modern, fantasy, horror, or whatever else you like. The introduction must end with an open-ended statement making it easy for the next person to hook on their section, something like "You turn the corner and see ..." or "Leaping from the cliff, your wild hands scrabble along the rocks and encounter ..." or "Heat vision blasting, out of the corner of your eye you see descending from the clouds a ...", that kind of thing. The goal is to make it easy for the next person to know where to jump off.
  2. If writing isn't your thing, you can post a link to an image you've created in HeroMachine that the next person will have to incorporate into their scene. It might be a human character of some sort, or an animal, or an item of some sort, or a scene. Whatever you like.

I will choose one image and one text introduction from the top five "most-liked" comments (using our nifty new comment rating system) as the winners, forming the basis for the next chapter in the adventure. Next Saturday I'll make a post like this one with the chosen introductory text, and the image you have to incorporate into the next chapter.

So, each week we'll have:

  1. A new chapter that incorporates the winning image item from two weeks previous;
  2. The new image winner from the previous week you'll have to incorporate into your writing chapter;
  3. A comment thread contest to choose the winning next chapter;
  4. and a comment thread contest to choose the winning image that the next week's writers will have to use.

That should be clear as mud! Ask any questions you like, and start writing and/or creating! Whether you choose to participate as a creator or not, your input is still very much needed by "liking" the entries you think are best.

Update: I've removed the thumbs-up plugin as it wasn't loading properly. I'll just pick winners like a contest.

Run from the sexy man in green panty hose, pirates, RUN!

(From "The Green Mask" volume 2, number 5, 1945.)

META: Subscribe to comments

Part of the new blog setup is the "threaded comments" feature, so replies show up beneath the original remark instead of being in a long chronological list. However, that can be confusing when it comes to figuring out what the new comments are, so I've re-instituted the old "subscribe to comments" option:

That's at the very bottom of the full-post view. Just check the box and you'll get an email whenever a new comment is made, at the address you provide in your own remarks.

Sharing Day, Nerd Love Edition

I'm curious how your Significant Other(s), either current or past, react to your geekery. So my Sharing Day question for you is:

Talk about how your geeky obsessions impact your relationships with whoever you're dating. Do you only go out with people who are into the same kinds of nerdage as you? How important is their attitude towards the sci-fi/fantasy/movie/comics/super-hero world you love? Have you had a fight with your SO about something geeky, like whether or not a certain movie was any good or whether Star Wars is better than Star Trek, etc.?

As for me, I've never dated a fellow nerd. My SOs have always been very tolerant and understanding about My Secret Life As A Nerd, but they don't share my loves. My wife's very nice and goes to the big super-hero movies with me (especially if they feature Robert Downey, Jr.!), but that's about it. On the other hand, she's very generous in allowing me time to play World of Warcraft or whatever other game has hooked me that month.

If you like, in return for answering my question to you, you may ask a question of me on any topic and I'll do my best to answer honestly and completely.

I look forward to hearing your stories!

(Image via cyasarah.)

Well done, Sherlock

(From "The Green Mask" volume 2, number 5,1945.)

META: HeroMachine Classic

As you can see from the new header link, HeroMachine Classic (version 1.1) is now available for use here as well. It's kind of fun to see how far the program has come in ten years. That's right, the copyright date on that bad boy is 2002. How time flies!

Do you all want to see the other "mini" versions here as well, like the Pinup Creator and such?

Also, note how crappy the logo was before Friend of HeroMachine and Best Buddy John Hartwell did a professional makeover on it. That guy is a stud!