Category Archives: News & Updates

I've just updated HeroMachine 3 with the Tops-Female-Coats set, a direct translation of the Tops-Male-Coats set. Here's how a few of them look:

The long transferal slog continues apace. Holler if you see any problems with this particular one.

Thanks to your feedback, I've added six items from the HM2.5 Expansion set to the HM3 Tops-Female-Bustiers set:

These are available now; if you don't see them, clear your browser's cache.

I've completed and uploaded the conversion of the HM 2.5 "Bustiers" set for HeroMachine 3, and it is now live for your use. Here is a preview of a couple of screens worth of entries:

I tried to be careful about bringing over all the items, including things like the star-spangled and striped sets, and to further break them down into the complete item down to the waist; cut off at the navel; and just the bra.

Furthermore there are a number of standalone options for mixing and matching your own creations. For instance, item number nine (first page, first column, last row) is designed to fit over the default shoulder straps so instead of a top portion with pointy ends, you can make them rounded instead. There are also a number of zippers set to different lengths which can be sized, rotated, and moved to serve any number of functions.

Hope you like them! Note that armor stuff will be covered in the conversion of Tops-FantasyArmor from males to females, so don't be surprised that there's little enough of that here.

If there's anything in particular you'd like to see, or problems you've noted, with the set then please let me know in comments.

If you don't see it, clear your browser's cache, but I've just updated the Headgear-Fantasy set with the following ten items from the suggestions you made after the last update:

With this release we're at a turning point in the HeroMachine 3 development process -- I have the sense that we're pretty much done with adding new items, with the exception of female bustiers. Barring any huge item set that I've overlooked, and which I count on you to remind me of in the comments, I think the next steps are as follows:

1. Swap all the items that are currently right-only to have left components as well (hands, shoulders, feet, items, etc.);
2. Convert all the male-only items (tops and legwear mostly) to fit the female figure as well;
3. Recode to solve bugs and hopefully address some of the performance issues, add new features, etc.;
4. Make another pass through the items to catch any that we missed;
5. Upgrade status to beta and go for a wider release;
6. Address any major issues revealed by the beta test and release.

The key takeaway is that this will be the end of "new" item releases for quite a while as I concentrate on converting over the stuff that already exists. I know that's not super exciting for you (or for me, frankly), but it clearly needs doing.

So, let me know what you think of this proposed plan!

I am super pumped to announce the release of the "Headgear-Fantasy" set of items for the HeroMachine 3 Alpha. I've included most of your suggestions over the past few months for various other things (full suits of armor when I was working on chest pieces, etc.), and also gone frame by frame to import (and update, for the most part) the items from the same set in HeroMachine 2.

Here's a quick sample showing some of the all-new items, and then at the end a couple of conversions:

Hope you like them! I've got room for a few more at the end, although at 78 items it's getting close to the ceiling. But let me know if there's some key bit missing you were really hoping for and I'll see what I can do.

I've just added the "Tops-Male-FantasyCommon" set to the HeroMachine 3 Alpha. This set includes 70+ items, some ported over from existing set and many new ones as well. Each entry where appropriate is broken down into the complete item, just the middle portion, just the chest portion, and just the sleeve. To get the sleeve on the left side, make sure you've got Multiples selected, add a second sleeve, and use the "Flip" button. Then drag it over to the right.

As usual, if you don't see it on the list, clear your browser's cache and it ought to appear -- it's definitely on the server.

Here's a sample of some of the items. Note that I tried to include some loose sleeves that you can match up with the wide variety of vests to make customized tunics.

Hope you like them! I've got room for maybe one or two more items with their breakdowns, or up to eight individual items, if there's something missing you've just got to have.

With thanks to Imp and others for pointing out the lack, I've added in 15 new cape backs to the "Backplane-Standard" set, for the most part designed explicitly to go with the items in "ShoulderRight-Capes":

Hope you like 'em. If you see something out of whack, or have a cape back you were really hoping for but which I didn't draw, let me know.

I've just uploaded the "Legwear-Male-Pants" set to HeroMachine 3. It's broken out like the Spandex I put up the other day, with the complete item, just the hips, the right thigh, and the right lower leg. Here's a sample:

Let me know what you think. I've got room for probably another 4-5 complete items (to be then broken down) if there's something egregious missing.

With Mark Shute's advice, I have refined the way Legwear is apportioned and, accordingly, have updated the Legwear-MaleSpandex set of items for HeroMachine 3. I've added roughly double the number from before, and you can see how I'm breaking them out here:

When I first did Spandex, I was on my high horse about the "right" way to use HeroMachine 3, using layers and masking and patterns with just a handful of the basic items to make pretty much whatever you want. Since then, I've moderated my thinking and understand that not everyone wants to work that hard, even the hard-core users who know how to do it the more advanced way. Also, the true vertical and horizontal patterns don't always look right when laid over the angled legs. So I ported over the most popular legwear patterns from HeroMachine 2, including the fishnet, the stars, and the hand-drawn chain mail.

Mark helped me set on a template for how to divide the leg up per the online discussion we all had, so hopefully it will be easier and more visually persuasive to manually position these pieces for alternate poses.

Due to the tapering of the bottom of the thigh, it's harder to make different length "shorts" with these spandex items than it will be when I give Pants the same treatment, but the idea is the same.

Anyway, hope you like this update. I'm now going to return to Pants to try and get those in line.