Expansion Load Character String

Posted on December 5, 2007 by | Comments Off on Expansion Load Character String

I thought it might be handy to have a ready-to-go character string you can just paste into the "Load" box to load up all of the Expansion genres at once instead of having to hunt and peck for them.

2.5*m1*ExpansionSet*Hair:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,23,
Eyebrows:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,21,Eyes:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,20,Nose:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,
FFFFFF,100,100,27,Mouth:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,
100,18,Beard:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,26,
Ears:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,19,Skin:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,6,Mask:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,
FFFFFF,100,100,22,Headgear:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,
100,29,Undershirt:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,7,
Overshirt:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,8,Coat:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,25,RightGlove:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,
FFFFFF,100,100,17,LeftGlove:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,
16,Insignia:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,9,
Neckwear:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,24,Belt:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,15,Leggings:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,
FFFFFF,100,100,10,Overleggings:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,
100,11,Pants:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,14,
RightFoot:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,13,
LeftFoot:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,12,Back:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,3,Wings:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,
FFFFFF,100,100,4,Tail:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,5,
Aura:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,2,Companion:Expansion1,
fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,31,Background:Expansion1,fraBlank,
FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,1,RightHand:,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,
100,30,LeftHand:Expansion1,fraBlank,FFFFFF,FFFFFF,100,100,28,#

To use it:

  1. Copy the text string above (starting with 2 and ending with #);
  2. Open HeroMachine 2 Online Edition;
  3. Click on the "Load" button (the one that looks like a folder);
  4. Right-Click in the big white window, and choose "Paste" from the flyout menu;
  5. Click "Load" at the bottom of that window.

The first male body should load, then all of the Expansion genres, and you'll be good to go. If you want to load the first (athletic) female body with all the expansion items, change the 2.1*m1* at the beginning of the string to 2.1*f1*. For the second (dwarf) male figure with all expansion items, change 2.1*m1* to 2.1*m2*.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks

Bad Costumes: Blackout's Mask

Posted on December 5, 2007 by | Comments Off on Bad Costumes: Blackout's Mask

Bad super-hero costuming isn't limited just to complete outfits. It's entirely possible to have a pretty decent uniform that contains one or more ridiculous components, as I think this panel featuring Marvel bad guy "Blackout" can attest:

bad-blackout.jpg

Apparently Blackout goes to the same haberdasher as "Electro". A steep discount in off-the-rack super-villain accouterments is the only explanation I can come up with for this mask/headdress; I imagine the conversation went like this:

Electro’s MaskElectro: Dammit, I told you I only wanted FIVE lightning bolts on this mask, not SIX!
Haberdasher: Right away, sir, my apologies. snip snip There, all better!
(Several weeks later, Blackout walks into the shop.)
Blackout: Haberdasher, I need a mask! Something with lightning!
Haberdasher: Certainly, I'd be happy to make one up for you, only $1,000.
Blackout: Crap, I only have fifty on me.
Haberdasher, thinking: Hm, I can give you a one-bolt mask out of a remainder for that.
Blackout: Sold!

I bet that thing gets caught on the top of the car door frame every single time. On the plus side, if his electrical powers should ever fail him, he can always lower his head and charge like Rhino, so there's that.

(All images copyright Marvel Comics)

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Posted in Bad Super Costumes

Tip: Color Selection

Posted on December 5, 2007 by | Comments Off on Tip: Color Selection

If you are using HeroMachine 2 Desktop Edition, holding down the SHIFT key and clicking on a color paints the opposite color area of the item. In other words, if "Color 1" is active in the color box, holding down SHIFT and clicking on a color will make that the active "Color 2", and vice versa. This does not currently work in the online version (I'm not sure why) but is functional in the Desktop Edition.

HM2 Color Selection

Even though Color 1 is highlighted (and set to white), by holding down the SHIFT key I can set Color 2 to light blue. This saves having to mouse up to the top and toggling the color area.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks

HeroMachine 3 Items

Posted on December 4, 2007 by | Comments Off on HeroMachine 3 Items

One of the members of the HeroMachine discussion group wrote the following suggestions for HeroMachine 3:

I have three suggestion for the HM 3
1- create a forhead component. Cool for jewel and other piercing but also for rhino or unicorn horns and for classi mask insignias.
2 - Separate belt in two components : the belt body and the buckle. It permit to create combos. You can introduce in hM3 stuff like metallic letters buckles or other symbol bucles and combinate that with all kind of belt.
3 - Patterning : Not just propose only color but also patterns. Those patterns must be color customisable, of course. It particulary interesting for components like undershirts, leggings and masks. But we can imagine different kinds of patterns and textures for each components. But i suppose it's less manageable.

These are excellent suggestions. The patterning is already in the plan (such as it is), but I hadn't thought about separating out buckles.

In my head, the basic idea behind HM3 will be that each spot on the body will have multiple sets of items you can load onto it. So for instance, among the slots available to place on the Torso would be four for shirts (Shirt Slot 1, Slot 2, Slot 3, and Slot 4). I'd have a bunch of separate files containing item sets that would fit any of those four slots, probably grouped into themes, like "Undershirts", "Overshirts", "Bandoliers", "Capes", etc. so it's easy to find the items you want. But you could choose to load all four slots up with the Undershirt items if you wanted.

One of the key differentiators between HM1 and HM2 was that in HM1, if you wanted a particular body, you were stuck with whatever components and items were made for that body. So if you wanted a big brickish looking guy, you couldn't get martial artist weapons, or if you wanted a melee warrior you couldn't get firearms. HM2 did away with that limitation, so all items and all components were available on any body style. But you still are stuck with, for instance, only one Coat slot. If there are two Coats you want to layer on a character, you can't. My goal with HM3 is to do away with that limitation, so that you can basically load any set of items you want into any component slot you want.

That raises some complications when it comes to masking -- for instance, fitting a gun into a hand without the lines from the gun overlapping the lines of the hand. But that's the general idea.

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Posted in HeroMachine 3, Suggestions & Ideas

Beowulf's Uncanny Valley

Posted on December 4, 2007 by | Comments Off on Beowulf's Uncanny Valley

I got to see "Beowulf" in glorious 3D IMAX last weekend, and while I really liked it, I think ultimately it gets a bit lost in the Uncanny Valley.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Fantasy & Sci-fi

Bad Costumes: Truk

Posted on December 2, 2007 by | Comments Off on Bad Costumes: Truk

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Specifically, it was the worst of times for super-hero costume design, aka "the 1980's". As proof, I give you "Truk", a villain from the pages of DC's "The Green Lantern Corps" circa 1986:

Truk

I find myself rendered almost speechless by how incredibly lame this character is. If bad were a scale that went to ten, "Truk" would be an eleven. At first I assumed this incident resulted from some sort of Marvel-led takeover of the DC offices in an effort to drive them out of business. Or perhaps it was a bad April Fool's joke.

But no. This is an actual, bona-fide, yes-they-really-meant-to-do-it super-villain. And thus I am legally required to unleash the mockery.
Continue reading →

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Posted in Bad Super Costumes

Custom Illustrations

Posted on December 1, 2007 by | Comments Off on Custom Illustrations

Over the years I've had a couple of freelance clients send me images of a character from HeroMachine that they wanted to have in a custom illustration. Don't get me wrong, HeroMachine is great for making "darn good" portraits, but there's just nothing like a true, unique, professionally rendered image.

I thought it might be interesting to show you how the program can be used to give an artist a really good idea of what you're looking for, though, so here's one example of a character designed in HeroMachine, then rendered by hand. I give you Kubota, pint-sized (but deadly serious) soldier of fortune in the Star Frontiers game world (click on either image for a larger version):

Kubota - HeroMachine version Kubota - Hand Drawn

I'll be posting a few more of these over the next little while, the HeroMachine version first and then the custom illustration next. If anyone's interested, I've also been thinking about having a contest. People would send me their HeroMachine creations, I'd pick, say, the five best, and then open it up to a vote. The winner would get a custom character portrait based on that visual.

If that sounds interesting, please leave a comment and let me know!

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Posted in Cool Characters

Expansion Guns

Posted on December 1, 2007 by | Comments Off on Expansion Guns

In the next couple of weeks I'll be releasing some additional Expansion items, including a nice set of firearms by the invaluable Mark Shute. Since people seem to like guns and other assorted firearms, I thought I'd provide a preview of what they look like (click the image for a much larger version):

Expansion Firearms Preview

One of the things Mark does much better than I is creating drawings of mechanical items with clean, crisp lines that convey a sense of solidity. My Flash drawings tend to look like they were drawn with a brush, while Mark's are more like those rendered with a good set of technical pens. It works much better for these kinds of things, and I have to admit I learn something every time I work with his stuff.

This next expansion to the expansion is going to add several hundred items to the set, thanks to Mark, including some really nice shirts and belts, among many others. You can see the full set of items he's submitted here.

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Posted in News & Updates, Previews

Digital Illustration

Posted on November 30, 2007 by | Comments Off on Digital Illustration

I use a Wacom graphic tablet to draw all of the items in the HeroMachine. It cuts development time dramatically, and allows me to combine the art production and code development into one application. I don't think I could ever go back to a pure pen and ink on paper method of drawing at this point, I'm lost to the dark side.

Anyway, I thought you might be interested in seeing a demonstration of how, in general, you can go from a neat photograph of something to a finished digital pen and ink illustration like those found in the program. There's no sound, just a visual -- my auditory skills haven't quite caught up to the times yet.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks

New brick metal skin

Posted on November 29, 2007 by | Comments Off on New brick metal skin

The "robot" skin probably takes longer to draw than any other single item in the program, but I think the one for the male Brick has turned out the best of all:

Continue reading →

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Posted in Previews