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There is a popular dare called the 24 Hour Comic Challenge. And I am going to do it.

The thing started in 1990 when Scott McCloud challenged a friend to create a "full comic within a day". Visit http://scottmccloud.com/4-inventions/24hr/index.html to read the full story (together with the first official 24 hour-comic, and the official rules). The 24HCC has since then become a popular event; there are even official 24HCC days where large groups all art the hell out of themselves. But technically everyone can do it anytime.

The dare is extremely simple:

* Create a complete, 24 page comic book- in 24 continuous hours.
* NO sketches, plot summaries or any other kind of direct preparation can precede the 24 hour period; Indirect preparation (assembling tools, reference materials, food) is fine.
* Story, finished art, lettering, color (if applicable), paste-up, EVERYTHING must be done within the 24 hours. Once pen hits paper, the clock starts ticking.
* The 24 hours are CONTINUOUS. You can take a nap, but the clock keeps ticking.
* Pages can be any size, any material. Computer-generated comics are fine too, the same rules apply.


I've wanted to try my hands on that dare for quite a while now, mostly for the fun of it but also because it sounds like some hilarious rite-of-passage stuff. I know that I am usually best when under a cruel deadline, so yeah, I'm doing it. I'll go for the traditional approach, too- I am still NOT very comfortable with my tablet and using it will result in a lot of lost time. So it's going to be lines on paper, with words.

I thought it would be fun to put a small thread up here, again mostly for the fun of it but also because this feels pretty close to the hourgames and MAGS competitions we do: The hobby under exreme conditions, as you might say. And hell, maybe someone's reading this and wants to join, that'd be pretty awesome.

I'll be busy stocking up on paper and stuff today, and I'll try and get a good rest, but either tonight or Friday morning I'll start my 24HCC. I don't know at what exact time but I'll mark it here, and then I'll post a small heads-up each hour, hopefully with photos or a small scan every now and then. That can't take THAT much time.

NOTE: Since I'm in Germany my timing will be awfully OFF for some of you, resulting (if I make it) in a comic that is finished IN YOUR FUTURE. Consider this an additional level of awesome.

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I made it, and the comic can be downloaded here in fully zipped PNG glory, because I have no idea how to pronounce GIF:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/q46nrhv0aiuuv0m/SliceOfAfterlife_24HourComic.zip

Lightweight BASS Template v2.0


Download LW_BASS v2.0

The LW BASS is a small, clutter-free template that implements the "Beneath A Steel Sky" two-button interface: Left-click is walk/interact, right-click is examine.

Based on the many helpful suggestions I've rewritten the thing from scratch, with readability and simplicity in mind. The template requires no setup at all and keeps
things as simple as possible.

Feature List:
* Two buttons, two interactions. LMB is "interact", RMB is "examine"
* BASS-style inventory (GUI pops up when top of screen is touched)
* Nicer fonts with full umlaut/foreign character support
* Custom inventory property "propInstantUse" allows inventory items to be used "on their own" (blow whiste, eat sandwich) instead of requiring a "use inv on" action

v2 changes:
* full code rewrite, incorporating most suggestions to improve readability
* removed tween module
* full comments, and license
* as suggested, only "interact" is used, instead of additional "talk" for characters
* moved all mouse handling to on_mouse_click
* support for "instant use" of inventory items
* inv popup position is now a makro
* added nicer unhandled_event template
* fleshed-out test room
* removed Revenant

The database entry for RAM Ghost: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1532/

Judging from the downloads alone (I am aware that almost half of them are from the time it was in the BakeSale bundle, but still) I would think that a user rating should already be available. However, the game is not even listed on either the "no one has rated" OR the "less than few have rated" link pages. Is that a database fluke? Has is something to do with the game being originally labelled as "commercial" and has been downupgraded to freeware?

For quite a while now I've become increasingly unsatisfied with the way I draw. I feel that I tend to use the same poses and general body types over and over again, and far too often I skip details in the (few) backgrounds I come up with. It feels as if I've just learned to create a couple of basic shapes, and whenever I try out new stuff the habitual lines get in the way. And what's worse, I consider my style piecemeal at best, using the simple faces of "cheap animuh" with western-cartoony bodies... it just clashes a bit too often and is less "personal/individual"  than I'd like to have it.

And I admittedly practise too little. At first I thought that was all it would take, more practise, more drawing. At the start of this year I stacked up on the materials I am comfortable with: Pencils, ink pens, and even a couple new toys (copic markers, for example, brush pens and even the highly traditional ink-and-brush combo). I started on a couple of "simple tasks"- draw a tree, draw a face, make a new cartoonish character; basics.
And apparently just "trying out more stuff" doesn't cut it for me. I often find myself returning to "old habits" despite coming up with designs that are less "stable" but more to my liking.

I know that personal styles evolve. But right now I feel like I am fighting several years of habit in an attempt to unlearn very much, and start fresh. I'd like to know if others have/have had that problem, too, and how they deal/dealt with it. I know that I can draw. The basics are all there I think, though by no means very perfect.
I'm also surprised that my pixel art seems to become (subjectively) "better" with each new project, while my pencil lines suffer as soon as I take a break for a week...

Hints & Tips, anyone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtHMkPmmeLA
I'll just let you watch this without any spoilers.

On a lighter note some how Draculator II got nominated for something and now my name has an ugly icon under it.

But right now we're almost all sparkling like the Twilight series! Does that mean monkey made us vampires by working on a game?

[RAM Ghost]

Whenever a promising indie game is abandoned... whenever a game stops being made... there is a chance that it becomes a RAM Ghost. Technically these tiny spectral beings ARE a game- but no-one cares about them anymore. It's a sad fact that our good old Random Access Memory is chock-full of little ghost games that will never be seen...

Lost Craft presents:
RAM Ghost - an Interactive Casual Sim
(now free)

Adopt a RAM Ghost! With our self-installing Hopelessly Oldfashioned, User-Supported Environment (H.O.U.S.E.), you can lure a bit of abandoned game code into a simulated house. Just like you and me, these ghosts love fun and entertainment, and it's up to you to take care of your little guest. Who knows... maybe you can even make it into the game it was once supposed to be?

The Bake Sale's long gone (but in our hearts there's still that lingering smell of cake), and I am thrilled to re-released RAM Ghost as freeware now. The game is the exact same as sold as part of the Bake Sale, but from now on it's free-for-all, and I can even imagine to work some more on it eventually.





FEATURES:
* simple, relaxing, open-ended gameplay (in the style of "Little Computer People" or "Tamagotchi")
* a customizeable 2 1/2 storey house with 25+ objects to buy and upgrade
* a need-driven, attention-hungry (and somewhat silly) ghost... in your RAM!
* minigames

Find the freeware edition here:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1532/

And happy gaming!

I've bought a hat today.



As you see it is a very nice hat. Do you have hats too? Show them! And no, putting a CAT on your head and opting for the good old "I made a teh typos" option is not an option.

Hats, people. They are serious business.

And man I do like my hat*.

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* It's a man thing.

I got a new graphics tablet recently and wanted to get back into the flow, so I thought I'd go and try a portrait in a more realistic style. It's not photorealistic; that really isn't my style, but still an improvement over my usual pixel art. I used a reference photo (no tracing, though), and after two hours I had a nice sketch and started to colour it out. (It's still WIP- face and hair are not shaded and refined yet).

I suck at shading and palette setup, though. And I really have no idea how people keep their layers in order and set up lighting and all. Heck, I am not even sure if you keep the sketch lines visible.

Tablet owners, portrait painters, long-time fellow artists, shower me with tips and C&C!

After registering I noticed that I need to verify each PM via the good old spam filter (type two barely legible words, and then prove that I am human by typing that I am such a one). Is that a new feature to discourage spam by newcomers? Will it wear off after a while? I can answer in threads without verification (where spamming is more likely to happen I guess)- information would be highly appreciated.