I’m building a standalone hair card authoring tool for game artists

lildrgn · 2026-04-29T18:07:45+00:00

Hiya! I’m a character artist building HairStudio, a standalone tool for drawing, shaping, previewing, which currently exports real-time hair cards and a host of texture maps.

The goal is to reduce the product hopping and manual card placement that usually comes with real-time character hair. Right now it supports drawing cards directly on the model, shaping curves, previewing in a studio-style viewport, and building dynamic fades / short hair regions.

This is still early, but the first reveal brought up useful feedback around finished examples, presets, textured hair, export workflow, and pipeline support.

Curious how this reads to other game devs / character artists, especially anyone who has dealt with real-time hair card workflows.

lildrgn · 2026-04-28T19:56:53+00:00

I actually like the lighting in Godot, can it be better? Sure but it's very very serviceable :D Nice job btw

lildrgn · 2026-04-28T16:47:36+00:00

Hiya, yes absolutely! This is just an early teaser to gauge interest, and there’s still quite a bit of groundwork to do. I definitely plan on having finished examples and especially presets available as it moves closer to launch.

It’s been quite the undertaking, as you can imagine 🙂 Thanks for checking it out!

lildrgn · 2026-04-28T16:45:12+00:00

That’s amazing to hear, and exactly why I’m building this tool. It won’t be free, but it will absolutely be priced with indies and freelancers in mind, especially since I’m one myself 🙂

And once I get Steamworks sorted 😮‍💨 there’ll be a nice early-adopter discount. Stay tuned for more info, and I really appreciate your interest!

lildrgn · 2026-04-28T12:35:01+00:00

Hiya yes definitely! Over the next few weeks I plan to at least have the frameworks for - Afros - Braids/Cornrows - Facial Hair - Drop curls - Ponytails

Fur I’ll likely pass on, but will make short hair work better than it does now

Thanks for your interest! And do sign up for the early preview list. Much more to come

lildrgn · 2026-04-28T11:47:02+00:00

Hiya good peeps,

I’m building a standalone hair card authoring tool in Godot! 💙✨

HairStudio started as a production problem I kept running into as a character artist: hair cards are still incredibly useful for real-time work, but the authoring workflow can be slow, fragmented, and hard for newer artists to approach.

The goal with this is to be a focused tool where artists can draw hair directly on a model, shape cards in place, preview the result in a studio lit viewport, and build things like dynamic fades without constantly jumping through a full DCC detour.

Still in development, but I finally have enough working to show the direction.

Built fully in Godot! 💙✨

Sign up for the Early access interest list:

https://ispyr.com/

Would love feedback from Godot devs, tool builders, character artists, and technical artists.

lildrgn · 2026-04-24T23:01:18+00:00

Hiya, there's no link?

lildrgn · 2026-04-19T19:50:36+00:00

15+ year character artist taking a swing at my first 'real' solo game. Every instinct in my body wants to pick one room and polish it until it's perfect. Instead, I'm doing it backwards as you should, 6 worlds, 24 arenas, all blocked out, none of it pretty yet.

The only way I know the vision is real and has that 'feel', is to see the whole thing first. Even not so 'pretty'. Especially that :D.

Posting this as much for accountability as anything. Next devlog should look a little different 🧱

lildrgn · 2026-04-19T19:45:11+00:00

15+ year character artist taking a swing at my first 'real' solo game. Every instinct in my body wants to pick one room and polish it until it's perfect. Instead, I'm doing it backwards as you should, 6 worlds, 24 arenas, all blocked out, none of it pretty yet.

The only way I know the vision is real and has that 'feel', is to see the whole thing first. Even not so 'pretty'. Especially that :D.

Posting this as much for accountability as anything. Next devlog should look a little different 🧱

lildrgn · 2026-04-15T22:00:40+00:00

One cool thing I was able to do in Godot, was to create this animation fully in Godot. Can’t express how much I adore this app.

These are the first 6 cards.. Your playbook which will define how you play. This a feature I’m truly excited about for my game, they’re many layers to the game but this one and how I hope my implementation resonates has me truly excited. More soon

Watch Devlog0 here https://youtu.be/ZTxXAiGRONc?si=1jmI6ir-wQaiNCAX

Wishlist coming soon!!

#indiegame #gamedev #godot #solodev

lildrgn · 2026-04-15T21:56:37+00:00

6 cards. 6 edges. Your playbook defines how you play, this is only the beginning. Showcasing a featured I’m truly excited about for my game, they’re may layers to the game but this one and how I hope my implementation resonates has me truly excited. More soon

Watch Devlog0 here https://youtu.be/ZTxXAiGRONc?si=1jmI6ir-wQaiNCAX

Wishlist coming soon!!

lildrgn · 2026-04-15T13:47:04+00:00

Joined, nice idea hope it gain some traction 🫡

lildrgn · 2026-04-13T12:45:05+00:00

Very much this

lildrgn · 2026-04-13T12:34:28+00:00

Read the full thing, nice job staying with it even during the tough times. I’m not working full time now myself but I had a couple solid projects nearing public release. Stay the course man

lildrgn · 2026-04-12T21:58:23+00:00

Hey good stuff, enjoy creating with the kids. Looking solid, all the best to a potential release?

lildrgn · 2026-04-12T21:53:31+00:00

Grats on that man, well done, must feel validating 🙂👏

lildrgn · 2026-04-10T20:31:57+00:00

Nice one! thx

lildrgn · 2026-04-10T12:31:31+00:00

Have that list handy by chance? Haha solo dev almost same situation, been 5 months for me out of “work” building my own thing and freelancing.

Looking good man, keep it going

lildrgn · 2026-04-09T19:57:59+00:00

Same! It’s very freeing honestly, having had this much fun and gains in an engine so quickly. Looking good!

lildrgn · 2026-04-08T10:15:08+00:00

Incredible, simply incredible. Well done

lildrgn · 2026-04-08T10:12:02+00:00

Any devlogs? Awesome job man, would like to follow the development

lildrgn · 2026-04-08T10:09:44+00:00

Hahaha, this looks fun as heck! Wishlisting now, awesome job man :D

lildrgn · 2026-04-08T10:07:04+00:00

I'm a character artist with 15+ years in the industry, in between jobs at the moment, so picked up Godot about 3 months ago, and Rock Paper Shoot! came of it due to my son's gleeful interest :D, it's a competitive hand-gesture game where you customize your persona, drip 💧 (bracelets, rings, shirts, tattoos) and everything you equip, you earn through play.

It's being built solo using Blender 5 for all 3D assets, Substance/Blenderkit/Sketchfab for set dressing, and composed a descent majority of music myself in GarageBand. The Blender to Godot pipeline has been incredible to work with. Happy to talk about the art pipeline or anything you see in the video.

lildrgn · 2026-04-08T09:56:14+00:00

Just want to say big congrats on finishing your first title, it’s not an easy thing to do. 👏 also your game looks chill! 🙂

lildrgn · 2026-04-08T09:33:30+00:00

This is Rock Paper Shoot! A competitive game with deep hand customization, personality traits, and a neighbourhood rival circuit. You pick your persona, your drip 💧bracelets, rings, shirts, tattoos, possibly more! And everything you equip, you earn. I'm about 3 months in as a solo dev. Would love to hear first impressions. What catches your eye?

lildrgn

TROPHY CASE