Far Out There Forum -> Quoting a Post in Frequently Asked Questions

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Blitz	Posted on Mar 20 2013, 06:15 AM
	That's definitely an interesting idea, but I can't make any promises about when I'd have time to do it (I'm only barely managing to stay on top of the regular comic updates, after all) Check with me again in a few months, stuff is gonna be changing up soon, and I might actually have time for extra-curricular awesomeness. Because make no mistake, I definitely WANT to help out FOT fanstuff!
Zaealix	Posted on Mar 19 2013, 09:36 PM
	:3 I had the silly idea of you doing art for FAr OUT HERE (my name for the fan-story I'm doing now.) Your thoughts?
Blitz	Posted on Mar 19 2013, 09:12 PM
	Thanks for the game clarification. I know nothing about games beyond how to play them, so any information is good information. Avatar Underwater I don't think Avatar would behave any differently than a normal person in water. If she were going to, say, sink straight to the bottom, it seems like we'd have seen SOMETHING indicating that she's abnormally heavy elsewhere. However, she WOULD have to be extremely careful not to get any water in her... anything. Remember, her systems aren't designed to process any incoming substances, so ingesting even a LITTLE water might make her sick. For that reason alone, she probably wouldn't get into any DEEP water unless she could help it. Avatar in Space Remember, the mad scientists who designed her like that are the same ones who made her incapable of growing, then made her an oversized robe with room to grow into. They weren't the most reasonable bunch. Avatar and a Black Hole Her answer to that would probably be "Even if I did TECHNICALLY survive such an event, the time whammy would be such that I would be able to perceive I was still alive, so I don't think it really matters one way or the other." After the Killer Station of Deadly Doom I have several ideas for other incentive comics, but I'm not sure which one will directly follow up this one (some of those ideas are sequels to stuff we haven't seen in the man comic yet) I'll probably end up doing random character art and one shot comics for a little while as a break, then do a poll to see what comic people want to read next.
Seros Senric	Posted on Mar 13 2013, 02:25 PM
	Well, I figure I should actually reply to this thread. For types of games that are easy to make, I can only really speak code-wise, since that's my field. It's also surprisingly difficult to answer, since there is just so much you have to think about to make any good game, even a simple one. The simplest are really simple, things like guessing games ("I'm thinking of a number between one an one hundred", hangman, tile matching, etc) and whack-a-mole type clicking games. If you go into actual games, as I said before SHMUPs are pretty easy to make - I can make a basic one in less than half an hour including distractions. But as I also said before it takes a lot more effort to actually make a good shmup - and that's not even thinking about pretty graphics. Probably next is 2D top-down move-with-the-arrow-keys type games that have simple gameplay (such as collecting items and shooting enemies). Back when people kept asking me to teach them to use Game Maker that's the kind of game I got them to make. Platformers would be the step above that, since you basically have the same kind of thing except now with gravity and collision handling being more important, as well as other issues that can be introduced by platforming mechanics. You have to worry about player controls a lot more. Tower Defence games are also pretty easy, I haven't made many of those, but I'd put them probably around shmup level of easiness to make. Text adventures I guess you could say are easy to make - I've made engines for text adventures before, and there are a lot of free engines (I like Quest) for that, but actually making a good one takes just as much effort as, if not more than, a 2D adventure game. Even with not having to draw anything. Things like RPGs, RTS games, and most things 3D tend to be outside the 'easy' category. I've got a half-finished 3D adventure game sitting around somewhere, and I can say that that extra dimension probably at least quadrupled my work load. 3D is a bit easier now than when I made that, especially if you use something like Unity, but Unity annoys me and 2D has a lot less to worry about. This is just a guideline - it is possible to make a ridiculously complicated whack-a-mole game if you wanted (and I must say I have enjoyed playing some of those) ....Hmm... That might be a little long. I'm also not sure if it was useful. So, questions... We'll go with Avatar ones because she is easy to make questions for. Maybe I'll run out of Avatar questions eventually. How would Avatar fare underwater? And is she capable of swimming, or is she like Stitch and have too high a molecular density or something? Avatar was designed to function in space, but doesn't seem to have any method of moving around without aide? (I'm sure there's a question in there somewhere) What would happen if Avatar had hit a black hole? Would she get spagettified (or whatever happens in black holes) like everything else, or is she too indestructible for that? And for a non-Avatar question, do you know what you'll do for incentives once The Killer Station of Deadly Doom ends?
Blitz	Posted on Jan 23 2013, 03:20 AM
	The guy on the far right is actually Kevin, though his expression isn't quite right yet. In the glasses next to him is Disonar de Kantner, minus the rainbow hair he eventually developed. The two on the left, though, have yet to show up in any capacity. See, this is why I never did any more "sneak peak" type incentives. I think WAY farther ahead than I can write.
Zaealix	Posted on Jan 22 2013, 07:48 PM
	2010: Future character picture: Who are these guys? Have any of them shown up and got so distorted they aren't recognizable anymore? If I had to guess... far right/sleepy guy: Looks like Kevin to me. middle right/ shades&long coat: I think this is that rich guy Layla's dad brought in to take some of the fame or something, I forget... middle left/plucky journalist: Skye? Man she's changed a lot if this is her. far left: the face has this 'I'm bored' expression that reminds me of Kevin...But since he's with that other sleepy guy...Is this an older version of Megaweapon or something?
Blitz	Posted on Jan 21 2013, 07:41 AM
	Yeah, a Stilez Shmup would be a very tricky thing to pull off, and time consuming. Having to actually do running animations and reactions and what-not would take a LOT longer than just drawing a few frames of a spaceship. Actually, as somebody who knows about this sort of thing, what kind of games would you say would be EASIEST to make (and, say, slap some Far Out There characters on)? Seeing Multiple Nitpicker: If I can ever get AROUND to it, yes. I've got several stories of that nature in the pipeline. Page 342 Avatar was held to the ship by the mysterious force of "This Needs To Happen For The Page To Work." (No, she has no feet magnets, though I'm totally giving her some special boots next time, now that you've pointed it out) Buffer: Man, I haven't had a buffer for, like two months now. Ever since November, it's been a sort of Perfect Storm of stuff that keeps me from getting ahead on anything. Conventions screw things up because any extra pages I DID have get used to fill the gap while I'm out of town or working on Conventional Wisdom pages, and that second thing also keeps me from getting new buffer built up. The same happens with Christmas stuff. Unless I get started on on the holiday pages several months in advance, the page-a-day schedule means I don't have time to finish anything beyond the next day's page. Now, back in the day, when I didn't have a regular day job, I was usually able to stay one completed page ahead of the update, usually with two or three half-finished pages after that. Man, those were good times. Love/Hate: You know, I can't really think of any characters I really hate. Since writing for characters I don't like would be really dull, I usually just change stuff that bugs me until the character becomes more enjoyable (see what happened to Kevin for an example). As for loving more than the others... This is gonna sound incredibly cheesy and cliched, but that really is like asking somebody which of their kids they like best. THESE ARE ALL MY PRECIOUS CREATIONS AND I LOVE THEM ALL DEARLY. Tradition: Just two, right? I don't think a tradition has to be old, it just has to keep happening!
Seros Senric	Posted on Jan 21 2013, 12:02 AM
	Answer to Avatar's fear of death makes sense. With her trying to prevent inconvenient events, well, I think most people do that without it triggering any anti-death instincts - we like the world to run smoothly for us. I really hope you do get a chance to play the Christmas game, even though most of the interesting stuff is in town until you get deep enough to encounter a dragon... And yeah, it's pretty easy to make a simple shmup. It's a lot harder however to make a truly good shmup - probably because it's so easy to make a simple one you have to do more to set it apart. It also may have something to do with them being one of the oldest genres of computer games... I can say that I am considering switching to a shoot-em up scroller, but I won't know if I will or not for a while yet. Concerning Stilez blasting through wave after wave of killer robots: Well, if I could draw I'd so make that. It would be a lot easier (and quicker) to make than a fangame I have planned out for a different webcomic... So... Questions. Are we likely to ever see multiple nitpickers working together in the comic? Not necessarily one of them being Ichabod. Back around page 342, Avatar was sitting outside the ship and could walk on it and stuff. I was wondering, was it a low gravity out there (her hair was acting all floaty though...) or does she have electromagnets in her feet or what? Do you ever have much of a buffer? If you do, does it seem to disappear around Christmas time or cons when you put out a lot of strips? Do you have many characters that you love or hate more than others? And, for something seemingly completely random, how many years do you think it takes to start an annual tradition?
Blitz	Posted on Jan 19 2013, 06:11 AM
	Avatar's fears: I'd say she TECHNICALLY does, there's just nothing around that ever really triggers them. I think if Avatar LITERALLY had no fear of death, it'd be very hard to still write her as a relatable human being. And anyway, most of the dangerous situations that come up in this comic would still severely inconvenience even if they can't kill er (example: if she were on a space station that was about to explode, she'd still try to stop it because she doesn't want to spend Lord knows how long floating around in a debris field) Multiple Nitpickers: It's not incredibly common, but not unheard of either. It's just that the Nitpicker's Guild charges top dollar for their services, so most people just can't afford to hire more than one at a time. Also, the thought occurs that Ichabod probably doesn't play well with others, so he would be especially unlikely to collaborate with others. (Though that's not to say it NEVER happens) Xal-Gox: You just answered your own question there! Xal-Gox are totally terrifying and I can't imagine ever choosing to eat one... which is why it's so FUNNY to draw someone else doing it! Christmas Game: I'm really embarrassed to say it, but I never actually had time to do more than poke around the town a bit. I WANT to play all the way through, but... well, there's a whole lot of stuff I want to do lately that there's just no time for (between Christmas pages, conventions, and work, I've been perpetually behind schedule since, like, sometime in November) Other Games: Personally? I've always loved 2D Shoot 'em Ups. Simple, exciting, and addictive as heck. In fact, I've had a fantasy for a while now of a game where you play as Stilez blasting through wave after wave of killer robots... but I digress. Shooters, I like 'em!
Seros Senric	Posted on Jan 17 2013, 10:55 PM
	So, at least one character we have seen that could become a main cast member? Interesting. Well, here's a few questions: Firstly, does Avatar still have a 'fear of death' or death-avoidance instincts? Seeing as she's pretty much immortal. Are there any times or cases where more than one nitpicker is sent for a job? Why'd you come up with Xal-Gox? I don't think i'd want to eat something that looked like that... Especailly when they need to specify "now venom free!" How did you like the Christmas game? I actually didn't get as much done with it as I wanted to, but it was close. Next year I'm thinking of switching away from a dungeon crawl, do you have any preferences on what type of game?

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