One more thing

My last post before I jet off on my jolly holly's tomorrow, and I will leave you with a sketch from one of the more dull evenings at work. It has been tinkered with a bit, but its all mainly me & a 'pen' here:


So, until the time where I either return, or find a spot of time to post from Las Vegas, I bid you adieu. I'm handing the reins over to Terry, who, I'm told, will be posting semi-regularly, and should have another commentary post to put up while I'm away.

Goodbye Internets! See you in a fortnight!

JB

A Big Desision

From Gamespy's article on Left4Dead:

"...Speyrer also mentioned that the game will have a "get up and make a sandwich" feature, allowing you to step away while a bot takes over your slot..."

I like killing zombies. But I also like Sandwiches. Damn you Valve...

JB

FUCK THAT

I must firstly apologise to the legions of younger fans of the comic/blog who respect and look up to me, for the un-PC title of the post. All will become clear when you visit/read the following:

So, there I was, doing my daily read of Kotaku, when I see the post regarding the new viral site set up to trace the release of Dead Space - a game that up until a few minutes ago, I was really looking forward to. Now, I am not someone that will scare easily. I'm pretty sure I can deal with tension and scenes of a disturbing nature. Or a navigation system that uses severed limbs to direct you to the different sections.

So far, there is only one section of the 9 that will eventually be posted on the site, so I decide to get into the game by exploring the background - something I don't often do with new games. I now find myself looking around an intensely atmospheric room (in 3D no-less, bloody Internet has gone mad...) picking up information about a crew-member named George Greggs. So, having read up most the info available, I attempt the 'Aptitude Test', and enter my details. (These questions are hard - like, unless you've been taking notes, don't bother.)

While in a very quiet room, concentrating on the test questions, with the volume up high, I hear something that - if I were of the more incontinent persuasion - would have ended up needing a new change of sheets for the bed:

A woman's whispered disembodied voice - presumably 'Jane' - asks: "George. Save me... [louder]George - Save me." To which I replied "...Huh?! FUCK. THAT."

Dead Space, although made by EA, looks like to me, that it will take the elements of System Shock 2 and multiply it tenfold. I mean, just the website elicited a stark reaction from me. And I played Doom3 - in the dark.

JB

Site update

In my now life consuming effort to make this site absolutely bitching, I have been working on it with the help of an dark-programming high-lord, who pointed me at the fantastic Lightbox script/s, which I feel obliged to link to, everywhere I go now.

With not-a-lot-more to do, the site is now suitable for folks to be linked to - so, from this point on, ALL comics will be posted on the website. An accompanying blog entry will be posted as well, on here. And on the Facebook group. And our statuses.

I have just uploaded a hot, fresh batch of FTP'd web files, so, if you feel partial to the godamned future of websites, then click on this 'ere subtle link:

here!

Of course, all this website majiggery means that there might not be a comic for you people this week, and my holiday next week means no comics for 3 weeks - I'll see what I can do in the time I have.

JB

dotCommentary: Maximum Joy

Well it has taken longer then I intended to get this post up due to various issues but its finally here the second in our dotCommentary series. This edition features our spoofing of the game with the name that melted a hundred spell checkers, Crysis.
Read More



So here we are at comic 2, Maximum Joy!. This comic is based loosly on an idea that came from something John was saying as we were walking down a corridor. The original conversation was a lot, er, bluer I suppose you could say, possibly phallic in nature as John's humour often is (what would Freud say?). This idea was quickly modified into something resembling the comic you see today. It is of course a direct reference to the opening FMV of the Crysis demo. Following the idea for this comic several hundred variations along its theme for were generated so who knows one day it may be time to get Joyful again.

T/K

The artwork on this comic has never been my favourite. It is my intention to return to it and do another version. It was my first comic using the tablet, and I was tasked with a near-full human figure. Not only that, but a muscularly defined nano-suit as well, making the task greater. I did, however, have fun with the background, crafting a relatively simplified jungle backdrop. This comic also uses the old style of comic framework - really big and bulky - it is also the last comic to do so. This means the smaller size of the characters is emphasized by the larger frame. My art teacher would flip a nut, for not using all the canvas space... Consider this comic as a near-final draft, and watch this space for an updated version, if and when I have the time in the near future.

JB

New site, beta...

Hai!

Been working on the new site design and layout for a while. It is now pretty much finalised, and I have posted it for a sneak-peek-first-look (beta keys are limited! ...j/k)

The old site has been replaced by this, but I don't think you'll care too much about that. I am now going to work on getting the images to load in the same page, so there is a seamless transition; however, that's getting a bit too Web-2.0, so I may settle with an alternative. The site currently uses the same drop-down box as the blog does (and links to the same location), so for now, limited functionality has been delivered, while certain parties mull over the decisions that need to be made. It's current ideal is that the website itself is minuscule in terms of downloaded assets, and I have been quite sneaky with the images in order to achieve this.

Also - just to clarify - it is my eventual intention is to turn this blog into a 'blog about making comics', and the actual content - i.e. 'aforementioned comics' - will be delivered using the website, once its up and running.

I'll post some epic news once the site is done. Hopefully, this will be before the start of term!

JB

To boldly go, where no nub has gone before...

Another Star Trek comic... [sigh] I have let down the various incarnations of the Galactic Republic. Here you go, I'll be over in a corner, watching my midichlorian count drop.

click to enlarge

This was quite fun however. I'll save the in-depth analysis for a future commentary post. I now just want to play the game for the sole reason of going into warp and screaming the resplendent phrase into a nearby microphone.

It is unlikely that I will have another comic done before I jet off to Las Vegas. If I do, I will leave it with Terry to post at his discretion.

JB

This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a simple...

...post expressing my intentions to have dotCommentary up in the next few days now that my house move and re-connection to the Internet have succeeded.

T/K

Update - 16/08

Tag.

We are currently throwing a few ideas around in regards to the next comic, and I'm feverishly working on the new site, along with managing a hectic gaming period - trying to get into Mass Effect (still) getting my retro on with FFVII (like I promised) and installing Linux [technically not gaming...], with bonafide, genuine intentions to actually, say, use it this time. I've even used the superpowers of Knowledge(!) and Informations(!) in order to fix Grub to boot from the respectable drives where XP, Vista, and now, Ubuntu reside. I settled with Ubunutu 'cos its a nubs OS, and KDE doesn't seem to settle with me. Think 'Geek Indigestion'.

As to the actual release date of said comic; I may resort to the 'fuck-it-I'll-post-whenever' methodology of comic submission, as I have some time off work next week. And as my WoW account has, as of 12am today, been cut-off until I dust the moth's off the wallet and whip some numbers into the account management section of Blizzard's website.

As it would now seem that Terry's posts rely on astrological alignment, weather or number of broken streetlights in Macclesfield (or a strict combination of the three), there is a slight chance of him posting the newest dotCommentary this week/end, as I hear on the grapevine that Jupiter and Saturn are currently in alignment with Neptune.

JB
P.S - If I remember correctly, the newly 25-years-old Terry is supposed to be the Mayan idol of Armageddon (or something to that extent), so perhaps my previous jab's at his lack of posting may not come unpunished. If the world ends in a flurry of non-sensical prose and unkempt facial hair, then, for what its worth - I'm sorry.

Supersorry

Comic time!

click to enlarge

A wonderful and shameful dig at the Hulk for being generally poor. Yet more fun with Linear Dodge and bloom effects; I'm a whore for that sort of thing. If your all really good and eat your veg, there may be another comic this week. But that does not fall into the 'promise' category.

Hope you like/d it.

JB

Epic Ad ftw

Brief post, just seen this on the tellybox:




How we love advertising folks, and how they love going overboard for their overpaying parent companies.

We do indeed have some comics on the way, and I appreciate that they are slightly overdue. I apologise profusely.

JB

kthnxhai

Indeed, alive we are.

Sadly, I haven't found the time for comics and blogging in-between working and the dually harsh mistresses of World of Warcraft and Crisis Core. Mind you, I fancy excreting some opinions, especially about Crisis Core, on account of me being a qualified reviewer for the subject matter:

The game is by all means fantastic for the PSP. How the hell all the game is fitted into a UMD, I'll never know. Granted, a lot of the game is repetitive. Did I say a lot? I mean most. This is a shame, but I appreciate the need for replay/filler on a portable title. Another epic-downer for me, is the voice acting. In a carbon-copy of FFX on the PS2, we have a relatively talented voice cast playing the sub-characters, but some jumpy, hyperactive American twat playing the lead role. Tidus and Zack; added to 'the list'. Aeris - no, wait, it is Aerith properly now - has had a character change also - turning into some sort of whore-y, over-possessive retard, completely spoiling my once unfaltering mental image of her. And finally, the whole game sucks for ruining the feel and atmosphere of the original - a sin Advent Children is also guilty of; I would like more corporate oppression, altered memories and misled villains, not some Jpop/Emo bastard hybrid. Since removing Sakaguchi from the directorial team, the media (because you have to say 'media', 'cos there is ONE film) associated with FFVII has really let the games' original feel down - something I find a real shame.

The positive points - the graphics are gorgeous, the scenes that are recognisable from the original are replayed relatively faithfully, and there is a lot of nostalgia accompanying the game, especially if you, like me, haven't played VII in a while. The story, however, is not a total let down, and fits together nicely with the other game, explaining small things and linking the story of Zack and Cloud. To summarise; the game does a good job of spoiling the original unfortunately, but is a fairly decent example of an action-RPG. On the plus side, it has made me want to go back and return to the original game, for a good whole-hearted nostalgia enema. Bear in mind, I haven't quite finished it yet... Crisis Core, I mean - not the enema.

In other news:

I am currently gearing up for my trip to the You-Ess-of-Hay in September. I think importing FFIV [oh yays, he said FF again...] may be a better course of action, otherwise, I'm faced with a 16-hour flight, with a Russian-roulette-esque chance of in-flight movies. Could be good, could be bad. Could require a revolver and a single bullet if its a chick flick, therefore, a strong argument in the decision making process. Until then, I have Mass Effect, KOTOR2 and Crisis Core/Wipeout Pulse to finish after my WoW free trial ends on the 16th.

What? I'm not paying for it, if I'm away for half the month!?

JB

We are still here.

Honest, it may not seem it but we are around, John is in a corner shadowmelded and I'm doing strange things with totems.
Blog updating should resume normal service next week at my end as my house move enters its final stages, comics to follow shortly after.

T/K

The weak is over...

Gawd daymn, that was a busy week. Working 5 - thats five - days, in a row! Jesii Christ!

I'm not cut out for this.

A couple of interesting tidbits from this week in gaming - 2 awesome videos: one for Demigod (Chris Taylors' new arrpegeearrteeess) which looks fantastic, provided what we see is in-game (and judging by Supreme Commander - 'yes') and another video for Dawn of War 2, which I imagine is the opening cinematic; with a gloriously bloody fight between the Marines and the Eldar, with a big reveal at the end.

Quakecon is also churning out videos and news of Mr. Carmack's endevours, including an interesting look at Rage on the Tech5 engine. All looking quite good so far. Unless, like in 2004, poor id are crapped on by a revamped Source engine [gently nudges Gabe Newell awake...]

I now get to enjoy the jewel of all districts, known as the 'Peak'. A not-quite-long weekend away with the missus and her parents. News from the Kreedle-front seems to be a house moving, which is kicking off next week. Expect limited/no communication from him until its all over. I'm sure he will regail us with the story at a later date, and that story may be published into a tome of some sort.

Until then.

JB