Category Archives: HeroMachine 3

HM3: No longer only the lonely

Companions are now live in the HeroMachine 3 Alpha. I've got fifty cool new friends for your main dude, from your old favorites to all-new additions like more dragons, a big ol' squid, scary new griffons, adorable Wonder Dogs, and much more. Take a look and let me know what you think, any items you wish were in but aren't, etc.

Note that BigWeapons and Vehicles will be their own sets in either Backgrounds or the to-be-added Environment.

Here's a comparison of some of the Companions in 2.x and their new redrawn 3.0 versions:

companions

Enjoy!

HM3: A slight change in plan

I've spent all morning gathering reference for the Insignia-Nature set, and I'm overwhelmed. I'm thinking there's no way to fit everything in under that one heading. So I will probably separate it out into Elements (rain, wind, ice, fire, earth, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.); Plants (trees, leaf icons, acorns, etc.); and Animals (animal heads, paw prints, insects, etc.).

But that's a ton of work, easily several hundred items. So I am going to backtrack here a bit and shelve the remainder of the Insignia until I get the remainder of the slots without Standard items done, as I'd originally planned. I'm going to do Companions first, because it's easy and fast. In the meantime, let me know in the comments what slot you want to see get a set of Standard items next. I think the remaining ones after Companions are:

  • Background
  • Belt
  • Facial Hair (there's one CALLED standard at the moment, but it's very incomplete)
  • Shoulders

As a reminder, "Auras" will be sort of built in to the Body, Hand, and Foot slots so you can get a more accurate outline. Similarly, a lot of slots will have an "Extras" set for odds and ends like scars, pockets, bullet holes, etc., things that aren't complete items in and of themselves but which are intended to enhance others.

HM3: Your fonts now overfloweth

I've uploaded changes to the HM3 Alpha that make the new "fonts" slot much more functional. You now have the standard three colors to play with, AND patterns now work with them, AND whatever you've typed in will now follow from selection to selection so you don't have to re-type it. On the downside, it now clocks in at a hefty 1MB in size, so be warned.

Enjoy!

HM3: Tech-nically an upgrade

I just uploaded an expanded "InsigniaTech" set for HeroMachine 3, doubling the number of items. Here's a quick preview:

insignia-tech

I also have a bunch of gears (cogwheels) per Fabien's request, that's one of the items I regretted not fitting into the Standard set. Hopefully that will help make steampunk types of things easier.

HM3: More Logos means More Better

Starting tomorrow I'll begin work on a few additional Insignia sets. Combing through the great suggestions in the last thread, here are the main groups I'll probably do.

  • Nature
    • coyote
    • animal heads
    • more eagles
    • snarling dog
    • cat’s paw with claws ready for attack.
    • dorsal fin
    • Roses and other flowers
    • snowflake and other weather-related symbols
    • bear paw
    • Nautilus shell
    • musical notes
    • Animal (paws, animal heads, animal silhouettes, insects, arachnids etc)
    • Vegetal (leaves, trees, flowers, fruits)
    • Laurel Wreath
    • Olive branch (v. re-usable)
    • Open five finger hand (no HandRight/HandLeft equivalent, yet at least) — http–interconnected-org/home/more/2004/12/hand_columns.jpg
    • Gems
  • Additions to the Insignia-Tech set, including variations on gears and more chest-mounted force projectors.
  • Zodiac signs.
  • Runes.

If you have any additional suggestions for Insignia along those broad categories, let 'em rip.

HM3:PNG (The PNG Next Generation)

I've just uploaded the HeroMachine 3 Alpha "Violodion Edition", which has a new button right next to the "Save as JPG" one that lets you "Save as PNG", allowing you to save your creation as a transparent-background PNG format instead of the lossier JPG.

Holler if you have problems with it. It should let you produce images that are slightly larger in terms of file size, but without the pixelation and degradation of the JPG format. Since some operating systems and browsers don't play well with JPGs PNGs I am leaving both formats in. More options are more better!

HM3: The write stuff

I just uploaded a new set, "Fonts-Standard", to the HeroMachine Alpha. You now have 21 fonts to use to type in your character name, add a number to a jersey, etc.

The file is very large, 720KB, so be warned. Fonts don't come cheap. You can only apply the line color, the text you type doesn't change automatically as you change from font to font, and it's a little funky to move (the letters get all highlighted and you have to click back in the text field to make it stop).

Down the road, if this is a popular addition, I can add some logic that does at least some of that missing functionality. But for now it's a nice way to add text in to your creation without having to know another Paint program.

More cool characters

I wanted to share some of the really cool characters people have already been making with HeroMachine 3. You can find these and more on the UGO HeroMachine - Hero Archives board. Hats off to all the creators, and hope you don't mind me linking to your guys!

Continue reading

HM3: I saw the sign (and it opened up my eyes)

We have insignia! One hundred of them, to be exact, by far the largest number of items in any set in HeroMachine history. And to think just a few days ago I was wondering what in the world I'd put in the Insignia slot that I hadn't already done! Many, many thanks to the fantastic response in that last thread, you all had some great ideas that really helped flesh out the set. I couldn't get every suggestion in, but an awful lot of them are there. Everything from the Tech set is also present, as is almost all of the 2.x stuff. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Here are a couple of previews to give you a taste of what's now available:

insignia-1

(Some of your old favorites, plus variations on them -- like multiple lightning bolts and birds -- and some totally new stuff to boot.)

insignia-2

(Lots of suggestions from the comments are in the new set as well, including the crosshairs, the swastika, the bomb, the scales, the caduceus, and many more.)

I'm probably going to take a bit of a breather for the rest of the day, gather feedback, and then put out at least one more sub-set of Insignia if not more. I really liked Hakoon's idea of labeling the runes Kalkin suggested in the actual preview box with the name of the rune. That's pretty cool. So I'll be knocking those out, and then probably doing at least one set of letters. If anyone has a super-cool font you want to point me at as a guide, I'll take a look.

I want to also point out how flexible these insignia items are with all of your transformation tools and the use of multiples. For instance, the last two items are a Union Jack and the US Stars and Bars. The careful observer will note that each of those flags has three colors -- red, white, and blue -- and yet HeroMachine only allows for two colors. If you want to have an authentic-looking flag, therefore, you're going to have to use multiples.

First, choose the square insignia, and make all three colors white. Scale it into a rectangle, longer than it is tall, like a flag. Make sure the "Multiples" selection is on and pick one of the flags, and make the first color red (or blue, I can't remember which is which), and vice versa for the other color. Size it so it fits onto your white square, allowing the white bits to show through the stripes and stars I left transparent, and you've got yourself a flag.

As just one more example, in HM2.5 I had an Insignia that consisted of an archer on top of a circle. You'll notice that in this new 3.0 set the shooter is alone, with no circle. That's because you can choose the circle Insignia, set multiples to on, then choose the archer and layer him on top. This allows you to recreate the same logo with up to four different colors, while still giving you the flexibility to have a square shape behind him instead, or a triangle, or whatever you like.

Finally, whenever I get to the ItemRight/Left-Shield set, you'll be able to use any of these Insignia as the boss on a shield. Or to decorate a tabard, or a piece of chest armor. The possibilities are endless.

I hope you like the new options and artwork, let me know if there's something missing (besides what I mentioned above -- runes and letters) that you just have to have and I'll see what I can do. Oh, I also want to do a "Flags" set to include the Confederate stars and bars, that was a good idea that I just couldn't fit in. The file started acting really funny at 97 items, I couldn't actually click on them any more and had to finagle my way around, so this is pretty much the cap on the total number of items I can have.

HM3: Show me a sign!

Or an insignia would be even better, actually. I'll start on Insignia-Standard tomorrow, so if you have any special requests, let me know in the comments below. I'll of course be making every effort to convert over all the 2.x Insignia, plus a whole bunch more in the spirit of what you've seen already.

I realized earlier that I'm starting to get perilously close to having all the planned Slots filled with a set of Standard items. According to my rough working draft, the remaining unfilled Slots are:

  • Insignia
  • Companion
  • Belt
  • Facial Hair

Can you think of any slots I am leaving out? There are some pretty hefty sub-sets, of course, including a bunch of environmental/setting ones for Background (bits and pieces of scenery like chairs, desks, doors, wall dividers, text boxes for character names and/or headers like in a comic book, etc.). But if I am missing any big, glaring areas that merit their own Slot but don't have one, by all means let me know.