Skylanders and Krosmasters

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Oct 282013
 

The new Skylanders game came out two weeks ago. As a dutiful Portal Master, I went out and bought the game (Dark Edition) and some new Skylanders to go with it on release day. I had time to play through the first level and that was it.

I have to admit however, that I was a derelict Portal Master in that I hadn’t completed the second game. Because I didn’t want to rush through Giants and then not have any reason to play throughout the rest of the year, I played a few levels here and there, focusing on getting three stars on each. I was down to the last three levels when the new game came out. I resolved not to play any more of the third game until I had completed the second, which I did…only I didn’t get three stars on the last two levels. I really don’t enjoy the time trials.

Today I decided I was as done with Giants as I was going to be, so I switched to Swap Force. I wasn’t quite sold on the concept of the Swap Force figures, but I’m digging them so far. Activision really upped the graphics and game play. The new characters are pretty sweet. Oh but they’re making my wallet bleed!

Back in May, I kickstarted Krosmaster: Arena, a minis game set in the Wakfu and Dofus universe. There were a number of delays but I finally got the game last week. I will say that I was slightly disappointed with the plastic used for the figures. I was expecting more of a rubbery plastic, like you find on toy smurfs and the like. The pictures sure looked like that’s what they were made of. In reality, the plastic is more in line with gaming miniatures, kinda fragile (a couple were broken by the time they got to me) but I guess that’s what allows them to make them so detailed, because let me tell you, they do look awesome. I showed some pictures to some of the guys in my gaming group and they’re looking forward to trying the game out. Lately, we’ve been playing Battlestar Galactica which accomodates seven players. Krosmaster only sits four, so it’ll be a game for when we’re back down to our base complement of players.

I finished steampunk Sass on Thursday (I was lax in finishing the colouring) and was scheduled to start steampunk Red Rich on Friday. I ultimately took the day off from drawing and didn’t start Rich until Sunday (I did both strips on Saturday as it was a non-game week and my non-gaming-group friends were out of town for shows. He’s done now. I’ve got one last drawing to go before I close the door on the steampunk theme.

Okay that’s it. I’m blogged out! See you all next Monday with some more thoughts and musings. Have a good week all! Enjoy the strips and mash-up!

 

He’s Back! (The Return!)

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Oct 212013
 

Last week marked the return of Red Rich to the pages of Animus Funnies. It had been eight months since I’d drawn him in a strip and let me tell you I’m happy to have him back.

When I drew Red Rich sadly walking away from Crismus’ house back in January (remember I draw strips three weeks in advance), I knew that was the last time I’d be drawing him for at least three or four months. Normally, even when a character isn’t actively involved in a storyline, I’ll still add them into a strip as a spectator to the action just to show I haven’t forgotten about them. But Red Rich was GONE. The only time I drew him was when I featured him in a mash-up. I had to remind myself not to add him to the crowd scenes. I’d say the toughest strip to leave him out was the tribute to Untchie strip I drew. I wanted Red Rich to be there for Big Oonch when he was grieving, but couldn’t add him.

I’d been sitting on the idea for Skitter and the subsequent Search for Skitter storyline since fall 2012. When I wrote Red Rich out of the strip, I knew right away that I wanted to have him come back just in time to accompany Zoë in her search for Skitter. It felt like a great dramatic opportunity. Little did I know that it would take so long to get to this storyline and that Red Rich would be missing for so long. I guess the extended absence helps make his return all the more dramatic though.

If you’ve missed Red Rich as much as I have, you’ll be pleased to know he features heavily in the outcome of the current storyline. I plotted out the rest of the Search for Skitter storyline this weekend. For the last little bit I’ve been writing two or three strips, just enough to have something to draw that weekend. As I bike to work every day, I think about things I want to happen, but I needed to establish the true sequence of events rather than just a vague sense of the gag ideas I wanted to hit without any idea how to get from one to the next. I didn’t write many strips, but I have a much better idea of how the pieces fit together to tell the story. I also now know that there is NO way this story concludes before Christmastime which was the very latest I wanted it to finish. I have an idea for that too now though.

Something I really like about this storyline is that it features Cyran, Sass and Red Rich together on a quest. I consider those three to be my core characters. They were the first three characters I created before there was even an Age of Animus to talk about. When you watch Star Wars, you’re following the adventures of Luke, Han and Leia in this grand world created by George Lucas. Well, Cyran, Red Rich and Sass are my Luke, Han and Leia. I hope someday to be able to do justice to the stories I have in my head for them. They’re very different from the stuff I’m doing in the Funnies (okay, Red Rich is pretty much the same in both). The Funnies stories are just easier to tell.

Okay, enough of my babbling. I have a Sass drawing to colour. Have a great week all and welcome back Red Rich!

Enjoy the Turkey!

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Oct 142013
 

Hey everyone! I hope all my fellow Canadians have had a nice Thanksgiving Day filled with turkey or whatever tasty vittles your households prefer.

This has been a big drawing weekend for me. The two Funnies I drew took me upwards of eleven hours (combined) to draw. That just seems crazy to me. As I feel I’m getting better drawing, I’m putting a little extra into the strips and it’s really taking time. I hope you all find it’s worth it.

Today I spent over five hours drawing steampunk Barnaby and he’s still not coloured yet. I’ve been adding a lot of detail in this set and I haven’t even gotten to my craziest design idea yet! Barnaby will have to wait until tomorrow to be coloured because my hand is cramping up. Normally, I’d draw my mash-up on Friday afternoon, but I had to work Friday afternoon (which I normally use my accumulated flexible hours to take off). When I got home I wasn’t up to starting a mash-up considering Nektara took me several hours to draw last time and I was starting late.

I figured I’d just draw a strip instead…which took me about as long as the Nektara mash-up did. Saturday’s strip was a long one too. On Sunday, I was out looking for Skylanders (Swap-Force was just released) and on Sunday night Frank, Melanie and I played X-Wing (the Rebels finally won a game!) which finished waaaay late. I got home past two AM and slept until eleven. By one I was drawing again and I just stopped a half hour ago. Drawing Barnaby reminded me why I chose NOT to fully detail the chains on Nektara, Cyran and Todrick’s designs…they’re LONG to draw!

Back to Skylanders for a moment, the new game looks sweet! And I’m really digging most of the new Skylanders (Slobbertooth’s look is a little too smooth for my tastes compared to some of the more textured designs). I only got to play one level before it was time to leave for X-Wing. It was long enough to realize that I’m missing one of the movement types though. I’ll have to remedy that soon.

Okay, so I’m done for today! Have a great week all!

It’s a Good Enough Reason to Have Cake

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Oct 072013
 

Age of Animus turns two today! Wow! Two years. At once, I’m amazed that it’s been two years already and at the same time it feels like I’ve been at it for so much longer.

I’ve been taking baby steps so far, steadily getting better (I hope) and building this great big world to play in. Now, I find myself at the threshold of the most terrifying step: pushing harder to get the site out there. You see, up until now, for the most part, my audience has been friends and family (and spammers, but I don’t really count them). No matter how supportive, it’s hard for me to fully accept your words of encouragement and praise. I expect there’s a certain level of bias involved because of how close you are to me. Part of me is fearful of the reaction I’ll get from strangers visiting the site. Can I handle the criticism?

I’m aware that I have weaknesses as an artist. I never learned the proper way to hold a pencil and I lack a fluid movement when I draw curves. It’s part of the reason why I prefer working digitally. I was drawing on paper yesterday and my lines weren’t as strong as I would have liked. On the computer I would have just pressed Ctrl+Z to undo. Working with layers, it’s never too late to fix a mistake. But with a marker, the slip-ups just glared up at me.

I’ve said it before but it’s funny that when I started, I thought the Funnies would be a supporting feature of the site and that my main focus would be on short stories set in Pelaria. Two years later and it’s clear that the Funnies are my main focus. I keep saying I need to write more. Well, I’m happy to say that I’m working on a new short story for the site. I hope to share it soon.

I think I mentioned previously that I decided that I’m at least going to look into getting a table at Comic Con next year. That will be the real litmus test. This third year working on the site will involve building to that. I’m still reluctant about paying for ads. It’s mostly fear, but I can’t help but wonder if people will actually see them. When I’m sitting at a table at a con, I’ll know for sure that people will see me for better or for worse. It’s a direct return on the investment if you will.

For now though, I’d like to thank those of you who have shown your support by visiting the site. It’s been a great two years and I’m anxious to see what year three will hold. One thing is for sure, I’d love to hear more from you! Don’t be shy!

And yes, I did buy a birthday cake for the site. It was scrumpdiddlyicious.

Updates

 Carja's Corner  No Responses »
Sep 302013
 

If you’ve been wondering where I’m at with certain projects, this week’s blog is for you!

Kerfuffle Shuffle

This project was mostly dead. After all the time I spent working on the game design, I came to the realization that the game was missing a strategic element to how you placed your attack cards in your battle sequence. As is it was, you just placed your cards wherever and hoped for the best. If you drew all high attack numbers you’d do well and if you drew all low numbers, there was very little you could do to change your fate.

Last week a stray idea hit me about chain combos. If I implemented bonuses for certain chains you could turn a weak attack into a much stronger attack. It made me rethink the whole game and maybe there is something there after all. I’m thinking about how to balance the bonuses so that a strong card can still have a chance to beat a tricked out combo.

The creative juices have started flowing again and I may eventually salvage the project.

Fun ‘n’ Fantasy Crossover

There’s some writer’s block going on.  I’ve done some layout work for the stuff I’ve written so far. If I weren’t so adamant about maintaining my lead on the Funnies, I could start drawing the pages I’ve laid out. I can only be seated for so long drawing before my arm (amongst other body parts) gets sore. Funnies and Mash-ups have priority.

Animus Wars

This project is dead and it’s not coming back. I plan on going back to Star Wars for mash-ups when I’m finished with my steampunk set. I started doing mash-ups in March 2012 but the turning point with regards to quality  I feel was the Wonderland set in June of that year. The early mash-ups are a little painful to look at now which is a shame because the early sets were of some of my favorite things (like Star Wars). I want to see what I can do with Star Wars now that I feel stronger as an artist. To further justify the set, I’ll be featuring some costumes from the other movies. Sorry, no gold bikinis….Cyran would not approve.

Age of Animus Storytelling Game

I’ll admit it! I’ve just been lazy here. I’ve started writing Ardebast journal entries again so that should kickstart more work on the game.

I didn’t really want to get my friends together in a basement during the summer but now that autumn is here, I’m thinking about organizing another session. You haven’t heard the last of Bunwick, Emeraldine Fiera, Raz, Wilhemina and Zouly.

Other projects

I have more than enough to keep me busy with the projects listed above. However, other things I’d like to work on are: more stories short or otherwise, the BIG board game, and a collection of the first two years of Funnies. Publicity-wise, I’d like to do something locally for Free Comic Book Day next year and maybe even Comic Con.

Okay, I’m feeling guilty now so I’d better stop talking about all the work I’m NOT doing. Have a good week y’all!

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