T w e n t y S i d e d
Several people said they liked the recent little comics I’ve been doing. I’m glad they’re going over well.
Someone suggested doing a regular comic along these lines, like a Deus Ex comic. That sounds amusing, but I don’t really have time to take on (another) full-blown comic project right now. Even if I had the time, I’m not sure I’d want to make that commitment. These little ones are fun and easy. They take about twenty minutes. Unlike my other comics, they don’t need to stand on their own, so it’s okay if they aren’t terribly funny or well done. It’s kind of nice to be able to slap something together without worrying about continuity, characterization, joke recycling, or layout. I can just dump any pseudo-humorous exchange into a vertical strip of panels and call it done.
The comics are basically just there to keep the front page from looking like a wall of text. In the past I’ve often tried to start posts off with some stock photos or screenshots or something visual, and this is another way of accomplishing that. Screencap comics are sometimes less time consuming than fishing around for just the right photo.
You can see a list of all posts with a comic in them if you search for the comic tag. There are only a handful right now. Maybe there will be more later. Maybe there will even be one later today.
The Gradient of Plot Holes
Most stories have plot holes. The failure isn't that they exist, it's when you notice them while immersed in the story.
Dear Hollywood: Do a Mash Reboot
Since we're rebooting everything, MASH will probably come up eventually. Here are some casting suggestions.
Spec Ops: The Line
A videogame that judges its audience, criticizes its genre, and hates its premise. How did this thing get made?
Programming Vexations
Here is a 13 part series where I talk about programming games, programming languages, and programming problems.
Deus Ex and The Treachery of Labels
Deus Ex Mankind Divided was a clumsy, tone-deaf allegory that thought it was clever, and it managed to annoy people of all political stripes.
Promises, promises…
So does this mean Chainmail Bikini isn’t going under completely then? There’s been no news to speak of on that front. Even the forums are quiet.
There’s a lot of RPG minicomics floating around, I think you’re getting into a great market by doing them. Who knows, maybe you could start a minicomic aggregator?
Definately fun and 20 minutes is a small amount of time considering the impact. I might try it myself since I have no art skills to speak of, and a screenshot sometimes just doesn’t cut it, certainly for explaining a dynamic situation as well as voiceboxes do.
I like how the minicomics could kinda be your “thing.” Whenever talking about videogames, the minicomic could be that visual cue where the readers see immediately that you’re gonna put on your criticism hat today. That’s how its been so far, and I like the effect.
I say there is no need for any kind of commitment. It’d just be nice that when a funny idea strikes you that you would put one up. I enjoy your sense of humor. Eventually, you’ll end up with quite a collection.
I really like the idea of you just doing them when you have time/ideas. No worries about making it anything more than what it is. I just know that I enjoyed what you’ve done so far and look forward to when you can do them again.
Cool that you can throw these up whenever inspiration and free time converge. No need to burn out or feel obligated to hit some arbitrary metrics (such as thrice weekly). :)
Just curiosity: how much time goes into playing the game to the point where you can start taking screencaps? Do you have an extensive library of saved game points to draw on? Or are you just that good at running through the game that you can start at an arbitrary point and navigate to a choice NPC interaction?
I’m doing a funny story retelling the story of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team using face portraits and screenshots. If I can do something like that(hoping that Geocities doesn’t run out of bandwidth), I’m sure you can make a funny blurb comic using screenshots from more advanced games.
Let me tell you, Shamus… you are going to do more of these little comics and you’re gonna like it.. damnit!
or not. But they’re good. Thanks!
henebry: I’m good at looking up cheats. :)
There aren’t any cheats for Deus Ex: IW, so all my comics were derived from the first few minutes of the game. :)
The occasional game comic is perfect. They underscore your reviews perfectly.
henebry: You can also download savegames on various sites. Gamefaqs used to have this, but I’m looking now and I don’t see it anymore. Probably an overzealous copyright protection thing.
With the same aim as Phlux in comment 2 – maybe before you do the next mini comic you could make a little tiny post about when/if Chainmail Bikini is expected to return? Seeing the same page about “we’ll be back April 9” every time I get my hopes high enough to check the site is just depressing after a while.