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| - Brody waves. Starts again! "Welcome back to Day 2 of FidoCon. During this session, I'm talking about Moose Bites, my text-based comics project site at . I'm pretty sure some of you have seen it!" Aylina1 cheers Brody and loves Moose Bites. Brody is trying to remember exactly when the idea of a text-based comic first came up. "I know I had joked about it with Bahamut a couple of years back, but I never did anything seriously with it until this fall." Brody says, "The project in its current form started as a 4-panel project that I just slapped onto an HTML page. It has since evolved so that I'm using an actual comics gallery program on the website. I can upload files and schedule them for display, rather than having to do them myself when the time comes." Brody says, "The first Moose Bites project was Text-Based Comic. It's now known as MUD Pie. I changed the name because in my travels I discovered someone had actually made their own Text-Based Comic first. It was done in Zork adventure game style." Brody didn't think it was all that funny, but I'm not going to claim a name that's not my own. So, MUD Pie it is. Brody says, "MUD Pie draws on my experiences in MUDs and MUSHing. It runs twice a week. Any questions so far?" Aylina1 shakes her head and keeps listening. Brody says, "All right, moving on. Once I got started on the MUD Pie comic for a little bit, I got to thinking about doing something closer to home - text-based graphic novels based on the jointhesaga.com games." Brody doesn't get to RP that much on the games anymore. Work has been eating up a bunch of my free time these days. "But with the graphic novels, I'm able to forward the stories of my games at least a little bit, and I get to RP in phases. It's not as fun or immediate as the interactive RP of the games, but I'm probably going to find ways to weave the stories of the graphic novels - particularly for Necromundus and Chiaroscuro - into the actual games." Brody says, "So, the current storyline with Hartnek Lomasa in the Chia novel will probably lead to an actual in-game event of some kind." Brody says, "And that event will determine where the novel goes next." Aylina1 thinks that is a great idea. Kallyn2 says, "that's really cool." Darastryx likes it too but wonders, "So will the comic be based on canon or will it inspire canon?" Brody also drew some inspiration from hypertext fiction theory. "I'm also creating bonus content for the novels, spinning off scenes from other viewpoints to create an even bigger picture for those who view it. And, Dara, the answer is: Both. For Chia and Necro, it's certainly both. For the Millennium comic, it's MAKING canon, which will form a foundation for the beta testers in January. And once OS:M opens, we'll weave them back and forth." Brody isn't sure how much he'll include *players* in the comics, but I do like to give people moments to shine, and the comics may be another way to do that too. "Whether I put them in the novels or make text-based graphic novel one-offs based on logs - remains to be seen." Aylina1 likes that idea as well. Brody says, "Any more questions at the moment?" Meldor says, "It could be a way to show what the NPCs are doing when the PCs arent' around" Meldor says, "Rather than RPing with yourself and posting a log ;)" Brody nods. "Well, that's certainly what I'm doing with the Hartnek story." Brody is ready to move on from the concepts of the comics to the mechanics of them. Particularly the graphic novels, because they're definitely the real exploration for me these days. Brody has read plenty of comic books and graphic novels in his day, and still tries to respect the form as much as possible. Each panel in the text-based graphic novels is some kind of "visual" element - whether it's the sensors pinging, or a shadowy form moving through the woods, or a golden retriever running in wild circles in the middle of the road while a semi-truck barrels toward it. I'm still trying to get a cinematic feel, with proper pacing. And for visual interest, I throw in color cues. Brody also tries to follow his own advice from years of experience running the storylines on his games: I try to make people wonder what's going to happen next. Brody says, "So, each installment should end with some kind of hook to the next." Brody says, "Any questions on the mechanics behind the comics?" Brody says, "Nothing? Any questions on *anything* related to the comics?" Darastryx hesitantly raises a hand. Brody nods at Dara. "Shoot." A new character pushes Darastryx forward as a sacrificial lamb. Brody is that scary, eh? Kallyn2 sets herself nospoof. A new character is just a dumb noob. Darastryx says nervously as he's pushed, "Okay, this is a question pointed towards the player aspect when you refer to including them into the comic/novel. Any ideas thus far on how that would be done? As in, will you be asking the player in specific about their character, or have them play a certain part in writing the comic they be featured in?" Brody shrugs. "That's really early to say, at this point. If I just make a one-shot deal based on an RP log, for example, the material's already going to be there. But if I were doing something with, for example, Rathenhope's crew on OS, I'd have some interaction with them about what would be going on, probably in some kind of scene-by-email. Really, though, it's just conjecture. I haven't decided for sure to include players in this side of things." Darastryx nods and thanks. Brody says, "Not a problem! Anyone else?" Meldor looks up. My crew? *screams* Brody snickers. Meldor says, "There are going to be some -left-?" Brody points to the "conjecture" part. Aylina1 raises her hand as she has a question as well. Brody says, "Go ahead, Aylina." Aylina1 says, "Sorry, phone call give me 3 mins tops" Brody says, "No problem." Aylina1 says, "Sorry, Okay, so IF you are going to include actual characters that people play, how will you determine it? Will it be based on +vote or something else?" Brody chuckles. "Again, I'm not sure. It might make a nice reward for winning favorite crew in the Roleplaying Awards, for example. But I might also have a story that's just perfect for a crafter on Chia who never really gets much notice at all. It will depend on the situation." Aylina1 nods and eyes Brody. "Maybe a really talented dancer eh" then winks and nudges. Brody says, "Time will tell!" Aylina1 snorts and goes back to listening. Brody says, "Any other questions? If not, we'll wrap it up. The next discussion will be at 4 p.m. in the auditorium. We'll be discussing MUSHinima movies! (Which I actually started dabbling in shortly before I resurrected the idea of the text-based comic)" Meldor takes the blame. A new character has a question. "How deep are you going to delve into Otherverse cannon or do you know? Like is it mostly going to be about the Shoma guy and his antics or will it cover a broader theme?" Brody says, "That is a good question. If you have read any of the theme info in the OV Wiki about Millennium, you know what's going to happen to him. So, initially, I'm doing a bunch of big picture stuff, showing what leads to the Everwar. But then I'll focus on a specific crew aboard a Union Fleet military vessel." Darastryx says, "Is that what the beta testers will be doing?" A new character nods, "Cool." Brody grins. "I don't know, for certain. It could be. That's an interesting thought. I'd prefer they get to have their own adventure, though, in 4008. The Everwar starts in 3999." Darastryx wishes he had found more time for Necro now. >.> A new character says, "Beat that lazy jerk Slim's record and get to 50 in a day." MeiMei grins. Beta time is gonna be aweeesome... as soon as I have a concept. Darastryx says, "What? You can do that? Er...don't mean to get off-topic." Brody says, "Mei, be thinking about someone in the Union Fleet, primarily :D At least to start." Brody says, "With that...start wandering over to the auditorium if you want to discuss MUSHinima! Thanks for coming!"
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