[OOC] AO Comic - Chapter 4: Rimor Edition

[Windguaerd]

Here is a copy of what I would like to do (as I've told the AO Universe Team) among the projects I've set for myself.

AO Universe Projects

1) Creating "AO Comic Chapter 4: Rimor Edition" to put the spotlight on rimoreans, this will take me at least a month because I need to discuss the script idea and find willing people who either will help me set up scenes with their characters in the comic or give me permission to use their names so I can include them in the story. The intention is to feature known Rimor RP orgs and roleplayers. My guess is that this will be done by the end of February with approximately 15-23 pages + 2 advertising pages (Rimor orgs) with an estimated release of 4-6 pages a week for a whole month.

I would like to know who here is interested in being in the comic and in if so how they would allow me to portray them in it, I'd need a SHORT bio of any characters which you allow me to use in the comic.

The way I do a comic is quite unorthodox, I take a ton of screenshots with characters (dual logging most of the time) in different angles and distances. Then I do my best to create a flow in between scenes and make each page. Once the page is set, then I start thinking of a logical dialogue to make the words fit the flow of the scenes. I usually do the work alone, however this time I'd like to see if rimoreans would be interested in helping in the creation of the scenes.

I never wrote a script but start with a basic idea, like "ok this one is going to focus on neuts" or "this one will be focused on the return of clan XXX" or "romance and drama". Chapter 4's basic idea is "feature Rimor RP orgs and roleplayers".

To see my previous work, check out AO Comic Chapters 1-3 here.

Chapter 3 wasn't as popular as the first chapter (only 3,300 views) because it was a new experience for me since I never had done a drama/romance before. Chapter 2 was focused on neutrals, it only had 2,850 views. The first chapter was the most popular to date with 9,700 views.

I'd like to try and see if I can get chapter 4 started as soon as possible, but first I need a "cast" of known orgs and names to start with.

Post here if interested, thank you.

PS: I'll be happy to promote PSN Network and Newland News in the comic either as part of the story somehow or as part of the in-character advertising pages (which would be to promote RP orgs or projects including RPnet if they are willing).

PSS: Please if you want you org to be promoted through one of the in-character advertising pages, state that in your post.

CURRENT AO COMIC - RIMOR EDITION CHARACTER CAST

Current RP Cast (rimorean roleplayers who have interest in being in the comic):

Clan

Kenneth "Nulion" Age - Agent - Known to have a unique virus that is mutating his body, has a speech impediment. Member of Alpha Omega Clan and Council of Truth Clerical Staffer.

"Bubbacrush" - Enforcer - Serious atrox who keeps a low profile, little is known about him besides being President of Rubi-ka Bounty Hunters Clan.

Big "Dagget" Abdrio - Adventurer - President of Venice Academy Clan and Council of Truth Clerical Staffer.


Neutral

Master "Shangai" Hung - Martial Artist - Grouchy elder chinese martial arts instructor from Old Earth. Drunken Master (loves beer), Member of Shattered Dreams.

Omni

Captain Darius "Gustavis" Caesar - Fixer, Omni-Pol Bureau of Investigation (Commander of Division) - Suspected to be a member of the Smoke Loungers. Dislikes Omni-Reform and is surprising tolerant of neutrals for a corporate employee in command of a division.

Malcom "Locutoz" Bacarella - NT. Omni-Pol Bureau of Investigation (Applicant) - Extremely loyal, despises clanners. Tolerates neutrals because he doesn't want them to consider joining the clans. He likes and respects Omni-Pol, Omni-AF and the Unicorn Company specially.

Advsertising Pages:

Council of Truth DONE!
Rubi-ka Bounty Hunters DONE!
Omni-Pol Bureau of Investigation DONE!

UPDATES

February 8 - Page 1 is done. Also did one advertising page for CoT and RBH.

February 9 - Cover page of the comic is officially released at AO Universe.

February 10 - Pages 2-4 are done (will be up at AOU Friday Feb 20th). Also did the second advertising page featuring OPBI. Thanks to Gustavis for his help in armor equipment and posing for screenshots.

Februrary 11 - Pages 3-6 are done. Moving from omni into neutral part of the comic.

February 13 - Pages 7 & 8 are done. Page 9 is the first advertising page which I created Feb 10th. In middle of neutral part of the comic.

Februrary 14 - Pages 2-4 are officially released at AO Universe.

February 16 - Pages 10-12 are done, still in the neutral pages.

February 21 - Pages 13-14 are done, in the middle of the neutral part of the story.

February 22 - Pages 5-7 are officially released at AO Universe.

February 23 - Page 15 is done. still need to work some some more pages to send it all together for Bubba for approval, the scene is a bit tougher than I expected because of the tie-in with the mini-series.

February 24 - Pages 16-18 are done. Page 19 is the second advertising page which I created Feb 10th. The story is moving from neutral to clan territory smoothly I think.

February 26 - Page 20 is done, end of neutral territory.

February 28 - Pages 21 & 22 are done, thanks to Nulion for the help, it was a long day of taking dozens of screenshots, having to wait for the suns to come up in-game for the right lighting, getting a guard to "move" to a position for a scene and an unfortunately missing new actor. Hoping to finish up the comic tomorrow, sunday is going to be a long day.

March 1 - Pages 8-10 are officially released at AO Universe.

March 2 - Pages 23-30 are done, thanks again to Nulion, and to Dagget for joining the project in such short notice to save the ending =D

March 9 - Pages 11-13 are officially released at AO Universe.

March 16 - Pages 14-16 are officially released at AO Universe.

March 23 - Pages 17-19 are officially released at AO Universe.

March 29 - Pages 20-22 are officially released at AO Universe.

April 5 - Pages 23-25 are officially released at AO Universe.

April 12 - Pages 26-30 are officially released at AO Universe, end of comic.

END OF PROJECT

Well, it took longer than expected, what I thought would be a 17-25 page comic, ended up with 30 pages, over 80 panels, hundreds of screenshots and many hours of editing to pull it off to the satisfaction and approval of those who participated in the comic.

The last page will be a special page (you'll see).

Thanks to everyone who helped, I will now run a SHORT project next called "Create a Comic" I will make a page with characters interacting in a scene either in a 4 Panel strip or a full page with EMPTY balloons!

Update: Create your own little AO Comic!

Players get to add their own text IC or OOC and create their own fun AO comic page!

I will keep updating this thread as new pages of the "AO Comic Chapter 4: Rimor Edition" are released.

[Nulion]

I'd love to be involved in this, it sounds like fun

...As for how my character would be portrayed? It's...kinda hard to say, since Nuli's fairly unique. I need to actually RP with ya sometime, so you can get a feel for it. Would be some good fun too, hehe

[Gustavis]

What Nulion said, heh. I would like to promote Omni-Pol with this. I would also like to RP with you sometime to get more of a feel for my character.

[Towerblock]

I'd love to be in on this as well. Bubba to me, plays himself sometimes.. he's a very easy character to understand. SKribblez on the other hand... takes some understanding.

I endorse RKBH as an addition as well. If you want just a general idea of the outlook of my org, its pretty easy to understand as well. Its a subcontracted paramilitary enforcement unit that does security, supply or personal guarding, trail bossing, etc etc... Considering the aspect of law enforcement in this game is very (well it wouldn't be anarchy would it?) fluid, consider internally why anyone would want such a job, thats the essence of it all. It's really 'to protect and serve', just like any other law enforcement agency.

Many people come to me and ask "Well aren't you just a mercenary group?" Perhaps in the past maybe, but now we have structure and principles. It's very 'clan' in every sense of the word.

[Windguaerd]

First post updated!

PS: Will start working on comic this weekend!

[Windguaerd]

Ok, Page 1 is done!

This is the cover page, it took me much longer than I expected.

About 40 screenshots, to find that 2 merged were perfect, which lead to the title of the comic itself (I never know the title until I make the cover page, weird huh?).

Now with the title I have a better feel to what I'm going to do... muahahahahaha!

Ok evil laughter aside...

It took me forever to make this page. The previous comics were done on a desktop, using older software I was very familiar with.

This time I'm doing on a laptop, which plays AO perfect, but certainly not great for image editing or graphics designing.

My old software was Paint Shop Pro 8, I'm currently using Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 and I'm doing my best to remember how I used to make the comics, heh.

I'm going to try and create a "flow" taking the story from omni, to neutral and then clan territory, in that order.

I think the title is self explanatory, at least for most AO roleplayers (I think).

Most of the comic will be serious with a certain comic relief right in the middle (look forward to a 60 year old neutral who likes to kick people in the face, for little to no reason except he hates everyone).

I will be making the advertising pages next, to get those out of the way and also save some time since every time I make it to feature an org I will have to get their approval of the work before I move on to the next regular page. Get it done ahead, that way I can just crank out pages.

My hope is to have this project done within 2-3 weeks, but you won't see the whole thing for a while because I will release no more than 2 pages a week at AOU. So you will have something to look forward too.

Comic will be 17-25 pages long, so... you're looking at 8-12 weeks of entertainment coming your way Rimor!

Disclaimer: If a roleplayer "dies" or "disappears" IC before the comic is finished and he/she is in it... assume that the comic happened BEFORE all that, ok?

Alright, without any more text wall, I present to you...

PAGE 1!!!

PS: First post updated

[Windguaerd]

I'd love to be in on this as well. Bubba to me, plays himself sometimes.. he's a very easy character to understand. SKribblez on the other hand... takes some understanding.

I endorse RKBH as an addition as well. If you want just a general idea of the outlook of my org, its pretty easy to understand as well. Its a subcontracted paramilitary enforcement unit that does security, supply or personal guarding, trail bossing, etc etc... Considering the aspect of law enforcement in this game is very (well it wouldn't be anarchy would it?) fluid, consider internally why anyone would want such a job, thats the essence of it all. It's really 'to protect and serve', just like any other law enforcement agency.

Many people come to me and ask "Well aren't you just a mercenary group?" Perhaps in the past maybe, but now we have structure and principles. It's very 'clan' in every sense of the word.

Sent you a PM.

[Windguaerd]

Finished with the advertising pages. If anyone wanted a half a page or full page.. your chance is gone, sorry.

CoT, gets half a page, RBH, the other half. As painful as it is in my clanner heart... Omni-Pol Bureau of Investigation gets a full page... that was the hardest thing to do, since I had to think as an omni drone, bleh!

Your orgs can still be promoted in the comic through the story, so if you want that, mention it in your post and I will do my best to deliver.

Gustavis check your PM please.

[Windguaerd]

First posted updated.

[Windguaerd]

Quick update.

AO Comic pages will NOT be released fridays because we at AOU keep the "Friday with Means" news post sticky for that day. We are devout followers of the AO gaming religion and it's against the Bible of Means to do so.

Comic pages will be released Saturdays instead. Have a great weekend guys!

[Windguaerd]

Almost 1AM my time (EST) so pages 2-4 are up at AOU here.

First post updated accordingly. Thanks to Gustavis for the cameo!

[Windguaerd]

Ok guys, I need a hand here. It's about zigball. I don't want to give away the comic, but there is a part where two characters discuss a zigball match between two teams. One says a team cheated for the following reasons:

1) Only one player per team can run with the ball, two players from one of the teams were running.

2) A player passed the ball, and he was supposed to stop running, he didn't, he kept running.

Now I based these from Xnemth's original basic zigball rules which you can read here.

Zigball was NOT something generated/created by FC, but by Events Team member Xnemth as one of his creative news stories (he also was behind IRRK Newswire channel, after he left ARK, zigball went silent as well as the channel). I know this because we were in friendly terms, and even spoke to him a bit after he left ARK.

The question here is... would mentioning these rules in the comic contradict canon?

[trousers]

Since when are you worried about breaking canon?

And the answer to your question is no, obviously. Do you even play AO?

[Windguaerd]

Since when are you worried about breaking canon?

And the answer to your question is no, obviously. Do you even play AO?

Thanks for the answer, very much appreciated.

[Windguaerd]

Just to clarify. I asked the question because there are things which developed in Atlantean which did not in Rimor, thus I thought perhaps there was a chance that Zigball was actually played at one time here.

What best way to find out, than just asking?

If you think me asking questions is a problem, please drop me a PM and we can have a civilized discussion about it

[Nulion]

Well...sorry this is a bit late, but I doubt mentioning the rules would be breaking canon. After all, they were thought up by an ARK, and ARK is bound by what is canonical in the AO Storyline. Sure there are deviations, but when you're dealing with something like this, the sky's the limit.

There's also the possibility of introducing other kinds of activities, other sports, other kinds of shows or topics to talk about...It's a huge universe, and there could be any number of subjects in addition to Zigball. But hey, that's your call

[Windguaerd]

Well...sorry this is a bit late, but I doubt mentioning the rules would be breaking canon. After all, they were thought up by an ARK, and ARK is bound by what is canonical in the AO Storyline. Sure there are deviations, but when you're dealing with something like this, the sky's the limit.

There's also the possibility of introducing other kinds of activities, other sports, other kinds of shows or topics to talk about...It's a huge universe, and there could be any number of subjects in addition to Zigball. But hey, that's your call

Hmmm...

Illegal Sandworm Desert Races! (a nod to Dune)
Cultists of the Goddess Buffy Summers! (there is a statue in-game, a nod to Buffy the Vampire Slayer series)
Leet Pie Eating Contest!

[Windguaerd]

Ok short update.

Comics will be out on Sundays at AOU, and I haven't worked on it for a few days, but have enough pages for the next 2 weeks.

I will be finishing the comic pages by next week, then finish Part 2 of the mini-series.

[Windguaerd]

A bit over 1AM my time (EST) so pages 5-7 are up at AOU here.

First post updated accordingly. Thanks to Gustavis once again for the cameo!

[Windguaerd]

Small update.

Due to the unfortunate unavailability of Bubba (he can't log in for another week and a half), with his permission I have rolled an alt as his stand-in in the comic.

Rolling the alt and leveling it to 10 (wanted a whole set of clan armor just in case) and getting it dressed as per Bubba's instructions to match the look of his character took a while.

Using another trox alt I started taking a few dozen screenshots for his scene in Newland.

Once the scene is finished, copies of the pages will be available for him to approve. With luck Monday evening I will have pages 15-18 done and will be moving into clan territory for the end of the story.

Nulion you will be doing the grand finale, heh. I have a great ending with him in mind.