Four Day Weekend!

I had a four day weekend, so I used that time to work on the comic. I finished four pages (7-10) and I think I only have one more before I’ll be done with the chapter. This leaves me several days ahead of schedule so I might be able to publish before the weekend. This hasn’t been the easiest chapter in the world due to the lack of action, so at times I’ve had trouble getting “into” what I was doing. I’m hopeful the next chapter will be different since I plan a decent amount of fighting. I’ve even added an additional fight that I hadn’t originally planned on, just to give it a little more “kick.”

I haven’t done very much at all on the RPG over the last week. I’ve been procrastinating for no good reason. Once I decided to go ahead and include space combat in the game, I’ve been stuck with writer’s block, even for sections that have nothing to do with space combat. It’s weird how I get writers block sometimes. It’s like I feel paralyzed. However, it’s time to stop complaining and get to work! ;-)

RPG Breakthrough

I’ve completed most of the renders on page 7 and should complete the rest of it and post work by tonight. I also posted the preview for chapter 7 on the website. Considering what images I included in the preview, I could’ve posted it sooner (after the first few pages were done).

On a different front, I had a breakthrough Sunday concerning the role-playing game. I had been very unhappy with how it was going and felt it was far too complex, enough that it would be an undue burden for anyone actually playing. However, I was sitting on the couch and the various alternatives that had been floating in my mind finally fell into place. As a result, I’ve vastly simplified the mechanics of the rules, thus throwing out much of what I had done previously. This included things like a crafting system, which never made me very happy anyway. On the other hand, having more simplified mechanics is already helping me make progress so I’m quite pleased so far. :-)

Isabella & Richard

I didn’t work on the comic last night, and instead stepped back and thought about how I wanted to structure the dialogue for the rest of the chapter. Besides filling in some of the blanks for the conversation between Alex and Richard (and Isabella), I also decided that there will be a separate dialogue between Isabella and Richard after Alex has left. If I do this, it will allow me to flesh out both characters more and discuss some of the other side issues that are involved in the story. At the very least, figuring this out has made me less anxious about the rest of the chapter. However, I still need to write up the dialogue to pull it all together.

Nav Changes

Based on the comment from my previous post (thanks, Doug!), I’ve changed the navigation on the main page of the website. Basically, I added direct links to the different chapters and changed the heading on the main nav bar to read “Chapters” instead of “Stories.” I’m hopeful this will improve the experience for visitors, especially new ones.

I completed page 5 last night and will shortly head into the part where Prince Richard appears. I am concerned, however, that this will be a short chapter. That’s not the end of the world, of course, but I really would like to have at least 10-12 pages if possible. On the other hand, this is just a “bridge” chapter with just a bunch of dialogue, so getting on with the action might not be such a bad idea. In retrospect, however, I regret not having a scene showing Alexander in the hospital with Lucy. I had originally planned on that, but since the chapter is supposed to be focused on Isabella, I chose to go straight to her.

2 Steps Forward: 1 Step Back

I completed page three last night, although it seemed to take a long time – not sure why. The renders themselves are actually going quickly, but for some reason the post work is taking awhile. Now that I have three pages done, I could probably put up the preview for the next chapter on the website. Looking at what I have so far, however, I’m wondering if the preview would be all that compelling (ie: no space ships or beautiful scenery).

I’ve also worked a little more on the role-playing game, but it’s kind of two steps forward and one step back: every time I make a breakthrough with something, I find myself thinking other parts are a mess. Right now it’s more a problem of how to organize the information, etc. Instead of having all the relevant stuff in one place, it seems to be spread out too much. At times it becomes a bit overwhelming.

Captain Harrison

I’ve finished pages 1 and 2, and half the renders on 3. After completing the renders on the first page, I realized that the set was rather drab (especially considering it’s the only set I plan to use). I decided to buy some vines to dress the set; however, I quickly discovered this would be a nightmare from a render time standpoint. Instead, I decided to render the vines separately and add them in Photoshop. So, all of the vines you see in this chapter will have been added post-render. My only concern about this is making sure there is continuity between panels.

By the way, although I didn’t name him in Chapter 6, I decided to name the Captain after my cat Harrison. I also updated the Character page to reflect that. Since both are gray tabbies, I figured it fit. ;-)