Category Archives: HeroMachine 3

I've just added the "Legwear-Kneepads" set to the HeroMachine 3 Alpha. Here's a screen grab of some of the new items:

Let me know any problems you run into, items you wanted to see but don't, what you think of the items that are there, etc.

Next up ... I have no idea. What do you want to see me work on next? More Tops like coats, jackets, etc.? Something else?

I've just released the "BackgroundSky" set for use with the HeroMachine 3 Alpha. Here's a taste of the first page of items in the new set:

While most of these can be used singly, you can get some really nice settings by toggling "multiples" on, and combining some of the Sky items with Floors. For instance, the tree with lawn from Floor layered over the rickety rope bridge also found in Floor, with the waterfall and rock item from Sky, makes for a cool jungle-explorer setting.

Drawing these environments takes a really long time, as you can hopefully see from the level of detail in them. So I understand there are a lot more Sky and Floor and other environmental goodies that could be done, but I frankly am kind of sick of them at this point. We'll circle back and fill in the (sizable) gaps before launch -- for instance, there are lots of "wizard's lab" types of items that would work great.

Also, I realize that "Sky" is probably a bad name for these, since after the first four or five items I kind of ran out of actual "sky" stuff to do, and instead is more like a "middle ground" sort of set. But I didn't think anyone would know what "middle ground" meant. The sets in this slot are all sort of a jumble, but if it's too odd I can always go back and reorganize, just let me know.

Finally, I'll be moving on to Kneepad items next. Would they go better in the FootRight and FootLeft slots, or should I put them in Legwear? And let me know any specific knee-pad types of items you would want specifically to see.

I've just released the "BackgroundFloors" set for the HeroMachine 3 Alpha. Here's a quick sample of some of the 2.x items -- plus some -- that have been redrawn for 3.0:

The idea behind these setting pieces that I'll be including in the "Background" slot are that you'll mix and match them to make up the environment you want. There are only a couple of full-environment items here, like the forest path, which I'm frankly not sure work all that well. The rest, though, are just pieces that you can use to build up the right effect.

I'm sure you'll come up with creative ways to use the new stuff, but let me know if you find any mistakes, see anything you don't like, don't see something you were really hoping for in a "Floor" set, or anything else that's on your mind.

I think the next thing to do will be a set called "BackgroundSky" or something like that, with the intent that they'd be placed essentially behind the Floors to make a complete environment. So give me any requests you have for those things that might not be included in that last request post.

After that I'll probably do some sort of middle-ground stuff like tree lines, mountains, etc. (kind of like the building roof retaining wall in this current release). Finally, at some point I'll just do a whole big set of "general environmental items" that you can stick where ever you want -- candles, books, single boulders, benches, that kind of thing so you can really dress the room just like you dress your character.

I don't know for sure if this is the right approach, so by all means feel free to opine about that too.

I'm going to be moving on to various background or setting elements tomorrow, so if you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments here. I'm talking about various props such as chairs, tables, flooring, background walls, doors, fields of lava, that kind of thing, items that would surround your character and make it look as if there is an actual scene taking place. One such set will probably be word balloons, for instance.

If you have specific requests for energy effects to go around the hands, please post them in the comments below. Note that pretty much everything from 2.x will be added in, so you can skip requesting those. Suggestions with links to images get extra super bonus points.