Hero Machine

[JinnTolser]

http://www.heromachine.com/

This program is supposed to allow you to create character portraits even if you have no art skills. I stumbled onto it through Google, and I thought I'd see if anybody has heard of or tried this out before investigating it further. So, has anybody here used this or a similar program before? If so, how did it turn out?

[Jasper]

Heromachine 2.0 demo (70% of full)

http://www.ugo.com/channels/comics/hero ... chine2.asp

Its a rather nice little program if you need a quick character portrait and it does have a large amount of variation but your stuck with portraits in comicbook superhero poses.

The eyes and mouths are a little odd as well.

If you want to keep the character you need to do a print screen and crop the rest away.

[JinnTolser]

Thanks! That's a lot better than dishing out money to even take a look at it!

[Jason of the Fraternity]

So, has anybody here used this or a similar program before? If so, how did it turn out?

Having only average artistic talent and lacking much freetime, I've used Hero Machine quite a bit over the past few years. I'm not a huge fan of the limited poses (too comicbook superhero as Jasper aptly pointed out), but it has proven helpful to create not-so-rough drafts of various characters in my various campaigns. It makes it easier for me to show my gaming groups "portraits" of NPCs, and I create several different people within an hour or so.

Ultimately, I say that it is a very useful program to use. I would not, however, recommend pay money for a copy (the free demo will typically have enough options for your day-to-day needs).

Jason

[Jason of the Fraternity]

On a less serious note, my wife introduced me to the following character generator a couple weeks ago: http://spstudio.elena.hosting-friends.de/spstudio.html

While it isn't quite as versatile as Hero Machine, I do find this generator fun to use...

[JinnTolser]

Do you know what, if any, additional options the paid version of Hero Machine has? A few of my friends and I were considering pitching in to buy a single copy if it's worth it.

[Jason of the Fraternity]

Do you know what, if any, additional options the paid version of Hero Machine has?

Personally, I've never seen a copy of the full-version, since the demo has sufficed for my needs. Somebody else, perhaps Jasper, might have a better idea as far was what exactly the remaining 30% contains to make it worth buying.

[JinnTolser]

Hrm... I haven't been able to find anybody else who knows about it either. The free version is pretty adequate, but there are some shocking absences (for example, no spear or spearlike weapon to equip in their hands).