New Eden Page 6: Lost Time Edition

This week is shaping up to be a rough one for me, so until I find the time to give you something more substantial, what say we take advantage of work I’ve already done for content?  And our first real look at the game at the center of our story, New Life!  So exciting!

New Eden Page 6

Transcript:

Panel 1: This is interesting.

Panel 2: With a typical MMORPG, I’d start with character creation.

Panel 3: This one shouldn’t be any different, right?

Panel 4: No?  Do they give you a premade at first?

Panel 5: Hmm?

Panel 6: I’m not alone.

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New Eden-Page 5: SPLASH PAGE!

New Eden Page 5

This one was harder to take a picture of than draw, apparently.  That says ‘New Life’ there.  That’s the name of that VR game.  Considered calling it New Eden, after the title of work, but New Life was more what the character who created it would have called it, for reasons that will someday be apparent if I ever get off my butt and start posting more of these, so there you go.

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New Eden Page 4: A New Hope… for Pages

As mentioned last time, I had taken a fairly substantial break on drawing this whole thing after sketching out the last page.  At the time, I hadn’t thought I’d be keeping this project up.  Well, the concept just wouldn’t let me go, and here’s where I decided to keep up with it in the long term.  As a result, I got a lot more serious about creating this graphic novel from here on out.  Well, for the most part.  I think it shows in the quality.

One of the big things I was wanting more practice on was hands.  Hands are really hard to draw, as seen below, in which they all look horrible.  That’s actually one of the reasons I kept going with this graphic novel, it’d be showing a lot of characters in action, and action requires hands, ergo I’d be drawing a hell of a lot of hands here.  And it’s true, I did.  I think I got a bit better at them, too.

New Eden Page 4Transcript:

Panel 1:  The American government says this is risky

Panel 2: Total virtual reality, on a machine with almost no moving parts.  Nobody knows how it works.  Supposedly, some people get lost in the illusion, wander off, and disappear.

Panel 3: On the other hand, I haven’t talked to him in so long.

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New Eden Page 3: Return of the Page

I used to fantasize about one day getting good at art.  When that happened, if I felt like showing my little story to the world, I’d go back and redraw the old pages so they’re actually presentable.  Well, that never happened, so we still end up with pages like this.  I sketched it out, then got bored and never really did anything more, for a good long while.  I had actually dropped the project for a couple of months, but the story idea I had intrigued me, so I came back and added text to this.  All in the same sketching pencil I had originally done this in.  As a result, the whole page is pretty illegible when you don’t have it right in front of you.  Transcript below the image.

 

New Eden Page 3

Panel 1: It’s late… very late.  I have to work tomorrow.
Panel 2:  I really should get to bed.  It’ll be a long day tomorrow.  I’ve got a gig in the afternoon, so I’ll have to be up early for makeup, prep, all the rest of that stuff.  Still…
Panel 3:  Hattie said Exodus was in that game, New Life.  I wonder if it’s really him.  Seems unlikely.  But I think I’d have heard if he’d licensed his image.
Panel 4: Luckily…
Panel 5: Agla hooked me up.

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New Eden Page 2: The Pagening

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words.  In a lot of cases that’s true, but drawings do a piss poor job of conveying dialogue.  And I often like to make my characters talk.  There’s a lot of times over the course of New Eden where conversations need to be had.  Traditional graphic novel tactics are to either fill pages with word balloons or have a new page for every few lines spoken.  Neither option works for me.  The first, because that’s just not visually appealing and it’s really wasting a lot of the medium’s potential, and the second, because I’ll be damned if I’m going to draw several pages where everything is pretty much the same.  Luckily, I’m not working entirely in print here.  So generally, when conversations need to be had, we’ll get pages like this, some sort of relatively simple visuals, with the dialogue written out in a single, long, document.  Not entirely sure if it’s easier to consume like this, but it’s a lot easier on the author and I hadn’t intended this work to be read when I was creating it.

Also, writing teenage chatspeak is a lot harder than I thought it’d be.

New Eden Page 2

18:41 *** exodust joined #fullmoonmidknights
18:41 <Lorelei>and i don’t know what i can do for it
18:42 <exodust> heyyyy there are actually peepl here!
18:42 <exodust> u hav no idea how long i’ve been trying 2 get at least som of you talking =)
18:42 <@BigRed> I know.
18:43 <@BigRed> We’ve all been getting your e-mails.
18:43 <exodust> yay! sooooooooo….
18:43 <exodust> wat r we goin 2 play?
18:43 <@BigRed> …And you haven’t been reading ours apparently.
18:44 <exodust> or wen r we goin 2 play, mor like =)
18:44 <exodust> i ben reading em
18:44 <exodust> but not evry1 is 2 busy
18:44 <exodust> we cn start and te other peepl will catch up wen they cn play agn!!!
18:45 <Lorelei> i don’t think now’s the best time
18:45 <exodust> we hav 11 midknights
18:45 <exodust> some peepl hav 2 b availble
18:45 <exodust> like u guys!!! =)
18:46 <@BigRed> I don’t know that now’s the best time to get the group together again.
18:46 <exodust> come on!!!!! =(
18:46 <exodust> we havnt takn a game on n 4evr!!!
18:46 <exodust> wats da point f havng a clan for domn8ing games f we dont domn8 games!!!
18:46 <@BigRed> Hate, you know most of the group has better things to do right now.
18:47 <@BigRed> The Midknights will rise again, I promise, but now’s really not the best time.
18:47 <exodust> so!!! jus bcause som cant make it dosnt mean the rest of us cant play!!!!
18:47 <exodust> deres the 3 f us
18:47 <exodust> n i bet tsukami will play!! he alwys has time
18:48 <Lorelei> not me sorry
18:48 <exodust> so 4 of us
18:48 <exodust> wat!! y not!! =(
18:48 <Lorelei> i’ve got a campaign this week
18:48 <exodust> that only takes a cple days rite?!
18:48 <@BigRed> Isn’t Shaun starting college soon?
18:48 <exodust> we start now
18:48 <exodust> you start ltr wen ur dun
18:48 <exodust> we’ll powerlvl u so u cn catch up!!!
18:49 <exodust> and yah tsukamis goin 2 college
18:49 <Lorelei> … we’ll see
18:49 <exodust> n a couple months!!!! he can game now =)
18:50 <exodust> n mikey!! he’ll play 2
18:50 <@BigRed> His wife was just deployed again. I really don’t think he’s up to it.
18:50 <exodust> that jus means hes lonly and needs stuf 2 do
18:50 <exodust> itll be perfect 4 him!!
18:51 <exodust> hammer wont stay l8 @ work 4evr
18:51 <exodust> n wat abou r 2 mystery men
18:51 <exodust> angiel and silver
18:52 <exodust> nobody nos wats up wit them
18:52 <exodust> well cept u wit silv annie
18:52 <exodust> mebbe theyd be gud 2 game
18:53 <Lorelei> silver is really not available right now
18:53 <@BigRed> And Angiel hasn’t talked to us in months. I wouldn’t count on either of them.
18:53 <exodust> still!!! dats enuf peepl
18:53 <exodust> n we havn’t dun ne games in 4eeeeeeeeever!!!!!
18:54 <@BigRed> Yeah. Fine. Hate, I’ll get into a game with you. And we can put it to the rest of the group. We’re not going to get the full group here, but whoever wants to can pick it up with us.
18:54 <exodust> yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)
18:54 *exodust gives redman a big hug!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)
18:55 <@BigRed> Did you have a game in mind?
18:55 <exodust> yes!!!!!!!
18:55 <exodust> new life!!!!
18:55 <Lorelei> …
18:55 <@BigRed> I don’t think I’m up for that.
18:55 <exodust> come on!!!!!!!!! =(
18:56 <@BigRed> You know there’s talk about banning that game here in the states.
18:56 <@BigRed> There’s all those missing person cases associated with the game, and nobody seems to know exactly how it works.
18:56 <exodust> u shud no how it wrks!!! u made the game didnt u?
18:56 <@BigRed> I don’t want to be the next person to get distracted by the holograms, or whatever it uses, and chase them into traffic.
18:56 <@BigRed> No, my team never worked on that game. It was some Japanese company, wasn’t it?
18:57 <exodust> but it has rdman n there! u put hm n all ur games rite?
18:57 <@BigRed> The Redman is just a basic test character. Lots of games put something like him in there to test out their programs before they develop their characters.
18:57 <exodust> oh!!
18:57 <exodust> well te gov is alwys talking down on vidgames n ur always talking down on them 4 that!!
18:57 <exodust> we jus gotta play before t gets banned!! cuz fter we wont get a chance!!
18:58 <@BigRed> I really don’t think it’s safe. Besides, I don’t have New Life.
18:58 <@BigRed> You should really stay away from it too. We’ll play some other game.
18:58 <exodust> but!!!!!! =(
18:58 <exodust> new life s supposed to hv <3exodus<3 n it!!
18:58 <Lorelei> exodus?
18:59 <exodust> yah!!! from neon dreams!!! they’r the best!!
18:59 <exodust> n the singer s sooooo smexy ❤
18:59 <Lorelei> why would exodus be in a video game?
18:59 <@BigRed> Probably some product placement agreement. Those are popping up more and more in games these days.
18:59 <exodust> “thes days” hehe old man
19:00 <@BigRed> Smexiness of some metal band’s product placement aside, we really can’t use that game, Hate. I’m not playing it, and I wouldn’t imagine any of the other knights would be up for it either.
19:00 <exodust> y?!!! =(
19:00 <exodust> its new tech its cool n its cheap!!!
19:01 <Lorelei> is the new life tech really so bad, red?
19:01 <@BigRed> I don’t know, and that’s the problem. Nobody knows how it works.
19:01 <@BigRed> The company that makes it claims it reads brainwaves and sets holograms in front of your eyes, but nobody I know in the industry who’s tried it has any idea how it works.
19:01 <@BigRed> On top of that, there’s been a lot of disappearances after people have started playing that game.
19:01 <exodust> dats jus an rban legen!!!
19:02 <@BigRed> Police don’t get involved in urban legends. It’s dangerous. We’re not playing this game.
19:02 <exodust> ur not fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
19:02 <@BigRed> We’ll play something else. Don’t worry. It’s just a game.
19:02 <Lorelei> changing the subject……
19:03 <Lorelei> before hate gets really ticked off.
19:03 <Lorelei> did either of you get a package from agla?
19:03 <exodust> agla sent you a package??!!!
19:03 <exodust> hes got a crush!!!!
19:03 <@BigRed> No, I haven’t gotten a package.
19:03 <exodust> silv is gon 2 b jelous!!
19:04 <exodust> wat was n it?!
19:04 <Lorelei> silver and i aren’t together.
19:04 <Lorelei> and it doesn’t really matter what was in it. i was just wondering if you guys got one too.
19:04 <Lorelei> it came with this weird letter, seemed like he thought it was really important for all of us to get one of his packages.
19:04 <Lorelei> it was weird.
19:04 <exodust> he hsnt ben roun n 4ever!!!!!
19:05 <exodust> dat s werd!!
19:05 <exodust> mebb i get a pack 2!!!
19:05 <exodust> dats xcitin
19:05 <exodust> y did u get it 1st, tho?
19:05 <exodust> meb ur closer 2 him?
19:05 <exodust> meb he livs in nedderlans 2!!!
19:05 <Lorelei> i don’t know. it doesn’t have a return address. the stamp is japanese, though.
19:05 <exodust> agla s japnees?!!
19:06 <exodust> i wudn hav gessd
19:06 <@BigRed> How did he get your address?
19:06 <Lorelei> i don’t know.
19:06 <Lorelei> silver had my address, but he wouldn’t have given it out.
19:06 <Lorelei> none of the other knights have it.
19:07 <@BigRed> That’s odd.
19:07 <Lorelei> guys, i have to go.
19:07 <Lorelei> it’s getting late, and i have a shoot tomorrow.
19:07 <exodust> bye annie! gud luck!!! play sum games wit me sometim!!!
19:07 <@BigRed> Goodknight, Anke.
19:07 *** Lorelei left #fullmoonmidknights

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New Eden, Page 1

So here’s something I’ve been struggling with for a while.  I sometimes talk about writing here on this blog.  I’m fascinated by storytelling in a lot of different forms, both as a consumer and a creator, so it’s only natural that’d I’d like to discuss some facet of the craft or other.

Thing is, I feel like if someone is going to talk about writing, you really need to know where they’re coming from.  If someone has these big grandiose ideas about the art of creation, yet is a hack writer, that’s really going to color your impression of what they say.  On the other hand you’re going to take the words of someone who’s great at storytelling a lot more seriously.  I feel I owe it to those who’ve read my writing posts to give them a glimpse into my own work, to at least let them know where I stand in reading over my ideas and concepts.  But the only really creative work I’ve put up here has been my Let’s Plays, and really, those are just telling other people’s stories.  To fulfill my obligation, I need to make some of my own creative work public.  And therein lies the problem.

I’ve got a bit of a creative complex.  To me, only my current work is worth anything.  Once I’ve moved on from something, I start seeing all the flaws, and find it hard to look past it, whereas I’m convinced my current project is my best.  And who knows, I may be right.  It’d only make sense for me to keep growing with each work.  The one I’m on right now, though, is a little… different.  I’ve been trying to work on my meager skills in visual arts for a while now, and when I started my current project, I was wanting something that would give me a lot of practice in that area.  The story I was really wanting to write seemed to translate really well to a graphic novel, so everything worked out.  I’d write some kickass comic, draw the pages myself, and get both my writing and drawing practice in at the same time.

I just never intended anyone to read them.  To date, I’m 26 pages into my graphic novel, and only Harliqueen and Matt Harris have ever laid eyes on any of it.  Well, that ends today.  I’ve decided to take a stand against my own insecurities and start posting them here.  I’m still very much a learning artist, so the visuals are pretty rough and in several cases incomplete.  Compounding the problem, I don’t really have a great way of getting the images off paper and onto my computer.  But I’ve been enjoying this story than I have any other to come out of my head in a long while, and if I was going to be sharing any one of them, it’d be this one.  So, here’s New Eden.

New Eden Page 1

Transcript:

What if, as many believe, there are worlds beyond our own?

Not just other planets or galaxies, but completely new realms, universes, and planes?

And what if, in all these infinite possibilities for these infinite peoples in these infinite worlds, something, just once, went horrible wrong?

What if this disaster was not limited to the realm it started in?

And if that source world, its own cause lost, sent a warning cascading through the planes, would anyone else be prepared?

Would any other realm be able to stop it?

If even they couldn’t stop the calamity, with all their time to prepare, what would happen if there was one world…

that the message…

didn’t…

quite…

reach?

 

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