The Duel That Spanned the Ages - The Comic
scramble
I'm currently in the midst of writing Episode 2 of The Duel That
Spanned the Ages. It will be a direct sequel to Episode 1. The problem
is I haven't found a good way to recap the events of the first episode
in-game, so I'll need something elso to get the players up to speed.
I've considered an abridged transcript of Episode 1, but that would be
pretty boring. It'd be a terrible read and players wouldn't want to
play Episode 1 afterwards. I've also thought about a retelling of
Episode 1 as static fiction. But hey, I've already written the story
once! I can't muster the enthusiasm to write a really compelling
retelling of the story.
The "recap thingy" I'm looking for must meet the following criteria:
- It must get across the main plot points and the general feeling of
Episode 1
- It must be short enough that the player still has time to play the
game (think IF Comp)
- It must be entertaining
- It must be an artistic work for itself, not just a transcript of
Episode 1
So I thought, why not a comic? Earth and Sky did this and it went
really well. The problem is, I can't even draw a decent stick figure
if my life depended on it. I could do a comic with 3D graphics, but I
just don't have the time to write Episode 2 and do all the 3D stuff at
the same time. And I really want to have Episode 2 out until October.
You already guessed it: I need an artist.
Here's my offer: We collaborate on the comic. I can make crude
scetches of how I envision it and I can write the text. We work out
the details of the comic together and you finally do the drawings and
assemble the whole thing. We both get full author credit. The comic
will be released as a feelie with Episode 2, which plan to enter into
the 2010 IF Comp. This means that the comic will be released into the
general public for free. Also, it should not be released or otherwise
made public before the Comp because of the Comp rules.
I can't really pay you much, but if Episode 2 wins anything, I'll
share the prize with you. This really should become YOUR project, not
some sort of freelance work. Enthusiasm for the story is definitely
required.
I don't have a clue if this will work, but I'm willing to try it. If
all fails, we'll most likely get a cover artwork for the Episode 1
rerelease out of it.
So, whether you're an artist or not, what do you think about it?
dhakajack
> will be released as a feelie with Episode 2, which plan to enter into
> the 2010 IF Comp.
Or how about embedding them directly into the game? Then they would be
no issue of the feelie file getting separated from the game file, or
the feelie and game versions falling out of synch.
If you compile to glulx and you crunch the story into four or five
panels, you could open a full-size graphic window and page through
them. For the sake of interpreters that can't handle the graphics and
to improve accessibility, you could detect graphic capability before
starting the story, and substitute short text equivalents describing
the panels instead.
Just a thought. Either way, graphics would be a great way to condense
down the recap. Sadly, I'm no artist -- good luck finding somebody
with talent!
- Jack
George Oliver
> So, whether you're an artist or not, what do you think about it?
I think it's a great idea; another place you may want to go to for
artists is the TIGSource forums. There's a fair number of talented
artists and people interested in IF there. It's recommended that after
you sign up you introduce yourself in this thread:
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=45.0
And there's a collaboration thread here:
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=1002.0
if you don't want to make your own thread, which of course you could
easily do; the best subforum to put it in might be Devlogs:
Erik Temple
The original was in Z-code, so it's possible that the OP may prefer to use
Z-code. However, it would be possible to include the comic as part of the
same webpage if using Parchment. I believe that weevil (among others) has
used Parchment to programmatically change images based on text strings in
the game code. (I think that this requires a Parchment-specific version of
the game, but I think it wouldn't be too difficult to maintain.)
--Erik
weevil
done in parchment with a little javascript tinkering. (and parchment
is a much better package, I just needed Iffy because parchment won't
do glulx).
Dannii
Hopefully Parchment will do Glulx by the time of the next comp! Zarf
has been doing a lot of great work on his JS Glulx terp. Maybe we'll
even be on the way to designing a new web IO system for Parchment by
the comp too, though that may have to wait till next year. His CSS Glk
should be doable at least.
Conrad
> > The comic
> > will be released as a feelie with Episode 2, which plan to enter into
> > the 2010 IF Comp.
>
> Or how about embedding them directly into the game? Then they would be
> no issue of the feelie file getting separated from the game file, or
> the feelie and game versions falling out of synch.
Frankly, I really agree with this.
Move forward with the project. The thing with stories is, getting
there is half the fun. To play and thoroughly enjoy the sequel,
people don't need to know all of what happened before. They only need
what they would have *learned* from the earlier episode(s).
Especially if you've got a new PC.
So, find a way to recap within episode 2: have one character tell the
player, or work it in to the background information, or so on.
And, if you're going to make a comic book, or single frames -- **do it
for episode 2!!**
More people will see episode 2 than will go back to review the
background info. So put the sparkly new stuff into what people will
see. Yes, use it to jazz up your background synopsis, but also carry
it on through to the story you're telling.
I think comics, whether stand-alone or integrated into the game, are a
great idea.
Conrad.
scramble
> for episode 2!!**
>
> More people will see episode 2 than will go back to review the
> background info. So put the sparkly new stuff into what people will
> see. Yes, use it to jazz up your background synopsis, but also carry
> it on through to the story you're telling.
Good idea, but I really need the recap. Some of my testers, even those
who have played Episode 1, did not get the connection between the
episodes otherwise. Should I really have a lot of spare time before
the comp, I'll do some art for Episode 2 myself. But as I see it now,
the recap has priority.
A hypothetical question: If Episode 2 entered the IF Comp without the
recap, what would most likely happen:
1) It will get bashed because most judges haven't played Episode 1 and
don't understand the story.
2) Judges that haven't played Episode 1 won't play it.
How would you react to a game that explicitly tells you to play its
predecessor first? Is it a good idea to enter such a game into any
competition?
Conrad
>
> A hypothetical question: If Episode 2 entered the IF Comp without the
> recap, what would most likely happen:
> 1) It will get bashed because most judges haven't played Episode 1 and
> don't understand the story.
> 2) Judges that haven't played Episode 1 won't play it.
>
> How would you react to a game that explicitly tells you to play its
> predecessor first? Is it a good idea to enter such a game into any
> competition?
So ensure that the game works as a stand-alone, and assure your
players of this in the Comp website blurb.
On the other hand, a comic *would* be a nice way to catch people up.
I just think you'd boost your score *more* if you put the artwork into
the game itself.
Conrad.
Erik Temple
>
> On the other hand, a comic *would* be a nice way to catch people up.
> I just think you'd boost your score *more* if you put the artwork into
> the game itself.
The OP has said that he'll be using Glulx, so including the comic in
the game file is relatively easy. There are a number of extensions
available that make this possible with little or need to use I6.
--Erik
dott.Piergiorgio
> A hypothetical question: If Episode 2 entered the IF Comp without the
> recap, what would most likely happen:
> 1) It will get bashed because most judges haven't played Episode 1 and
> don't understand the story.
> 2) Judges that haven't played Episode 1 won't play it.
>
> How would you react to a game that explicitly tells you to play its
> predecessor first? Is it a good idea to enter such a game into any
> competition?
I guess that will fall into the "if longer than 2 hours est. playing,
please provide walkthru" category....
Best regards from Italy,
Dott. Piergiorgio.
Mark Tilford
Look through the past reviews of the Earth and Sky games.
scramble
indeed found an artist. The concept sketches are looking pretty nice
so far. Let's hope we get this done in time for the Comp.
> Look through the past reviews of the Earth and Sky games.
This only tells me that having a comic is good, but not what happens
if you *don't*...