[TheGoodDoctorF]

A comic series I've put together inspired by one of my all time favorite games, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Not interactive, and I update it whenever I want.

Music makes everything better!

A meteor hits Earth and with it brings a toxic Miasma that covers the entire world. Scientists using currently existing technology develop machines called "Shields" which protect a small area of land from the Miasma. The makers of the original Shield gave their designs to the dying world. Those who were able to build Shields sheltered those lucky enough to find one. These refugees became the first villages where people would simply stay within the Shields radius to stay away from the poisonous miasma. The Shields use a minimum amount of oil to run efficiently for a period of 5 years.

However, each village has to send out a caravan to find a few precious drops of black gold. Some villages are lucky and stumble upon old pieces of machinery and simply drain them. A task that sounds very simple, but with the constant fear of the miasma, traveling has become a very arduous task. Caravans carry a smaller, usually improvised version of a Shield which allows them safe passage through the toxic fog. Those who join the caravans to find oil for their villages are treated as heroes and treated with the utmost respect.

Over 100 years have passed since the meteor hit. This story follows Frederich Scott from Bloomington Hospital. A small village located in the remains of an old hospital. Frederich's father has retired from the caravan and now its turn to carry on the family legacy of famous caravan riders with his childhood friend. Reginald.

I feel like I did a horrible job conveying the story. I'll try to put a tad more explanation in the future.

[YourFriendJoe]

Like it! :D Already subscribed to it.I mean,really like and can't wait for updates/

[Hairybastard]

The story is where you did an excellent job, I am really intruiged by this.

I suggest picking a better font though, make speech bubbles for when they speak, and make them smaller. Just makes the whole comic more enjoyable.


Can't wait for the next one.

[TheGoodDoctorF]

Thanks for the positive feedback. I also hope to make the next one longer. Next one will be up by tomorrow night (possibly sooner).

[YourFriendJoe]

TheGoodDoctorF posted:

Thanks for the positive feedback. I also hope to make the next one longer. Next one will be up by tomorrow night (possibly sooner).

yes lets all hope possibly sooner

[Caluminium]

Is good so far, I guess you should use speech bubbles now though.

[halo_224]

How does he manage to turn his eyeballs so far- it's like he can look into his head.

[YourFriendJoe]

hmm is that gnome chompski i see?

[TheGoodDoctorF]

Next one! Yay!

[TheGoodDoctorF]

Two comics in one day! Shocking!













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Edited:

FUCK YOU FILESMELT
I'll try to get the images back online asap.

[tinhead50]

I think you tried making the little fight far to casual. The headcrab's actions were good, but I think you should have had the main character's body reacting more so than just an arm.

[Lt_C]

Hmm, ok. I'll try and give you all the CC I can think of. Hopefully, you can take it to heart and start adapting it for use in your future issues:

First and foremost: Downsize the images, add a border, and combine them into a single long file. Why? Although this comic can be read on most monitors now without scrooling, the file size of each image means that you have to download each shot of your comic, one image at a time. This can be problematic on slower connections, and can even break up a story. Another reason for smaller images is less scrolling. I've talked about this in the past, but you need to review the pacing of your comic in thie sense of how long it takes the reader to even see one sentence to the next. This isn't a collection of screenshots, it is a single flowing story you are trying to convey. Trading a comic like "I saw a tree today... ...it was green" does not do well for getting an idea across, let alone an entire backstory. For width of images, I still use 1024 wide including about 10px of white border. I wouldn not go past 1400. you can also crop your images vertically to reduce dead space and scene repetition, Unless you plan on adding a lot of text in a scene or are conveying a particular sense visually, there is no reason why you need the dead space above the head, or anything below the belt line of your main character.

Next, downsize and change the fonts, and use speech bubbles. I find that in the text comics I make, 14px sized comic lettering fonts work perfectly for spoken word. Take the time to find a good comic lettering font. Blambot has plenty of these for free, I'd suggest perusing the rest of the site for other great comic fonts as well. Use speech bubbles for spoken word. They allow you to put dialogue over any scene, regardless of the color of the background, and clear up any ambiguity in who is talking. I make simple speech bubbles using an oval shape with a polygon lasso tool for a tail, white, 80% opacity, with a 2px black inner stroke. making your own allows you to control them completely. You pick the size and shape and can do it after you make and place the text, so it all works seamlessly.

Also consider more dialogue between characters and less inner monologue. Telling a backstory through text is a cheap way to convey something in a graphic comic. If you must give huge walls of text to tell a broad perspective, you might want to consider images to accompany them. Maybe as the character is talking about these shields being designed, you should have a scene of scientists working on one. Maybe you should have had a scene of the fog or whatnot overtaking and killing people, like an image from the past, as he described it. I'd gear back on the inner monologue altogether though now that you've established the plot, and try to convey the story through conversation between people and actions. It allows the reader to more discover events as they happen, and deepen the reality and immersion into the story.

[TheGoodDoctorF]

Thanks for the feedback. As far as combining the images goes, I haven't been able to find an effective way to do it yet. But I will certainly take more time to look into it.

I don't like contradicting c&c because I believe that's a sign of immaturity. But seeing as I have a fairly complex back story, I've had to spend the first few comics trying to convey my themes and ideas through inner monologue. Notice though in my latest one I left out a lot of monologue and went for dialogue. So I've already addressed that.

And as far as speech bubbles though. I dunno. Something about them seems to... Fake. I dunno, I'll work on a compromise of sorts. Im experimenting in trying to make the dialogue seem more natural.

Totally agree with your point about fonts.

So yea, thanks a lot for the c&c, really. I'll apply what I can to future comics. Seems that you guys are at least enjoying the story seeing as I've heard no complaints about it.

[Biscuit-Boy]

You could still make the comics a little smaller, even on my 1920x1080 monitor they barely fit. I like the humor, and I loved Crystal Chronicles as well so I'm liking the comic regardless. Also, try to remember it's "too" not "to".

[TheGoodDoctorF]

Sorry guys, but you wont see the next one for a few days. Going on a road trip.

[YourFriendJoe]

TheGoodDoctorF posted:

Sorry guys, but you wont see the next one for a few days. Going on a road trip.