The One Guy
Rust Maid
Posts: 1,148
Pronouns: he/him/his
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Post by The One Guy on Jul 7, 2016 14:29:21 GMT
Put simply, I don't like them. In a video game they're fine, as you have one person at the controls and they're immediately responsive, but for a forum adventure you have to wait an update for each decision, at best doing one update per round of fighting, and the decisions are often so minor and often obvious that there's no real point in submitting commands. Forum adventures allow for a lot of versatility in how to accomplish things, so let people suggest ultimate strategies, or moves of they come up with themselves given the circumstances; don't force them into a structured system with a list of explicit options. If you are going to do a structured battle system despite this, at least make sure that the battles don't take too long.
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Post by Arashi500 on Jul 7, 2016 17:23:01 GMT
I'd actually say the opposite, I love them, but that's prolly a given since Rootborn is very battle based. I hate seeing things like weapon alchemization go to waste by never getting used as weapons in such a way that lets you appreciate the upgrade. Though they can definitely be a time sink, so they can really disrupt pacing if done poorly.
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Post by continuityofficer on Jul 8, 2016 12:09:52 GMT
OK, so pretty soon, I want to start explaining some of the mysteries of my comic, and i'm thinking that what I want to do (without giving away spoilers) is basically end up with readers being able to ask questions to something with nowledge over the story after they personally reveal a few things to the reader. Would this be awkward you think?
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Post by Blizzriel on Jul 8, 2016 15:44:36 GMT
I've seen at least one person do that, and it turned their adventure into long walls of text of characters talking directly to the readers and answering questions that really should have been answered in-story. It was a really good adventure before then and it kind of ruined it for me. Then again, I'm also planning to have something similar in mine that will let the readers know what to expect of what's ahead of them so they can prepare for it. So, uh, it might? Personally I think that if you're explaining a mystery, it should be explainable without breaking the fourth wall. At the very least, keep it brief and vague, and let the readers figure out the important things on their own. I haven't read your adventure, I'm sorry.
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Post by eerr on Jul 8, 2016 17:28:58 GMT
Plot is kind of hard to fit in forum adventures, Usually it's better to leave the plot to things you can show with pictures or tell in chat logs. And if you can't do that, then scrapping it entirely.
Spades Slick, the Green Sun, and the trolls all showed rather than told!
It's roughly impossible to work in a good plot without various shenanigans.
For instance, Dave cuts through weird plot bullshit with logs added as retcons. Dave as per his charcter's use and later definition, retcons things. AKA Hussie added Dave changes and additions to panels before the end. The first few pesterlogs were endemic.
This is exactly the sort of problem Bara has now.
Also Dave is a time traveling douche who's only real purpose is to make things retroactively cooler with his mere presence. Or, as I said, retcon things like a real timetraveler.
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ilikeswordz
Moppet of Destiny
Halloo hullo! Just that dude who's making >BaRA a thing.
Posts: 117
Pronouns: he/him/his
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Post by ilikeswordz on Jul 8, 2016 23:11:59 GMT
Plot is kind of hard to fit in forum adventures, Usually it's better to leave the plot to things you can show with pictures or tell in chat logs. And if you can't do that, then scrapping it entirely. Spades Slick, the Green Sun, and the trolls all showed rather than told! It's roughly impossible to work in a good plot without various shenanigans. For instance, Dave cuts through weird plot bullshit with logs added as retcons. Dave as per his charcter's use and later definition, retcons things. AKA Hussie added Dave changes and additions to panels before the end. The first few pesterlogs were endemic. This is exactly the sort of problem Bara has now. Also Dave is a time traveling douche who's only real purpose is to make things retroactively cooler with his mere presence. Or, as I said, retcon things like a real timetraveler. I will own up to the walls of text and retcons. Characterization happens mostly through shenanigans and chatlogs with a bit of plot thrown in to keep things moving. But I find it difficult to use for my adventure seeing as very few of the characters are friends, the rest hate or are apathetic to one another (for now), and with death on the minds of many it's hard for the more serious personalities to get silly. How would you suggest I fix this (or any other new adventure authors who want to do something where not everyone is so buddy-buddy/willing to be idle)? |
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Post by continuityofficer on Jul 9, 2016 0:17:47 GMT
Yeah. I can agree with the wall of text thing. Im thinking that instead, i do it with something similar to flash back intermissions.
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Post by Zerio on Jul 9, 2016 0:38:49 GMT
So usually I wouldn't post about stuff like this here, but I finally finished Synodic Reboot's End of Act 1 flash after over two weeks of work, and I'm honestly pretty happy with it. Here's a link to the page just before it, if anyone wants to see. |
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Post by Sharkalien on Jul 9, 2016 1:01:44 GMT
Whoa Zerio, great job!! The framerate is a little too fluid for my liking, admittedly, and there were a few things I would've done differently, but still that was fucking awesome!
I almost forgot what I was going to ask: how do you resize layers in Photoshop without anti-aliasing? And is there a way to import images into a document without them being resized?
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Post by tailortf on Jul 9, 2016 1:07:29 GMT
I almost forgot what I was going to ask: how do you resize layers in Photoshop without anti-aliasing? I actually just learned this myself a few days ago! In the Preferences menu under Edit, you can pick the General option and there should be an option in there marked "Image Interpolation" that handles how the resizing works. From there, you just set it to Nearest Neighbor and voila, no AA when resizing. |
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quixoticTokki
Void
baby gangsta
Posts: 702
Pronouns: she/her/hers
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Post by quixoticTokki on Jul 9, 2016 1:08:36 GMT
I will admit, I don't read Synodic Reboot for the sole reason that I'm not a fan of furry-type characters, but that's an extremely well made flash! Good job, man; I envy you, haha.
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ilikeswordz
Moppet of Destiny
Halloo hullo! Just that dude who's making >BaRA a thing.
Posts: 117
Pronouns: he/him/his
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Post by ilikeswordz on Jul 9, 2016 1:28:54 GMT
Yeah. I can agree with the wall of text thing. Im thinking that instead, i do it with something similar to flash back intermissions. That works- though that means more panels = more wait between updates. Is update speed an important factor for a forum adventure? Someone mentioned a few pages ago that art quality was equal to or not as important as update speed. I've been trying to balance both by making decent art (don't have sprites to use, so it takes 2 hours to finish an image) and updating daily with 2-3 panels. Should I sacrifice update speed for better pacing (same art, but 5-6 panel updates every 2-3 days instead) or sacrifice art quality (still daily updates, but using sprites for each character rather than drawing them out, saving the style only for EPIC moments)? |
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Post by Zerio on Jul 9, 2016 1:35:28 GMT
Whoa Zerio, great job!! The framerate is a little too fluid for my liking, admittedly, and there were a few things I would've done differently, but still that was fucking awesome! I almost forgot what I was going to ask: how do you resize layers in Photoshop without anti-aliasing? And is there a way to import images into a document without them being resized? Thank you!  The framerate was increased from the first couple of flashes since I felt it was a bit jittery looking then, but you might be right in that it's a bit too fluid; I might tone it back down for the next one, whenever that is. Out of curiosity, may I ask what you may have done differently? I will admit, I don't read Synodic Reboot for the sole reason that I'm not a fan of furry-type characters, but that's an extremely well made flash! Good job, man; I envy you, haha. Heh, that's fine. I won't say too much, but later on (as in, probably much later) I'll be introducing characters who aren't furry. But they're also not any other existing species. I hope I'm not already giving too much away. Thanks, by the way.  |
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Post by Sharkalien on Jul 9, 2016 2:24:36 GMT
Thank you! The framerate was increased from the first couple of flashes since I felt it was a bit jittery looking then, but you might be right in that it's a bit too fluid; I might tone it back down for the next one, whenever that is. Out of curiosity, may I ask what you may have done differently? Well I'm glad you asked, Zerio! You know how you have your characters running around? Like entire scenes that are just them running from room to room? I would've just cut to them entering the room. That way, the animation is shorter and more intensely packed. I get that there's music to sync up with, but plain old walking doesn't do it justice. The camera doesn't always have to be moving or following every step the character takes. It's almost dizzying combined with the heightened framerate. This is where the "cut to the good part" idea comes into play. Less there is to follow, the less you have to move the camera. Let the objects show movement through action, only moving the camera when necessary or for embellishment. And the final criticism I have is more of a creative decision one. When the broken mirror is prototyped, I wouldn't have just merged onto the kernelsprite. I would've personified it a little bit, kinda give it a face using broken shards, or lack there of. Yeah, I could totally see two pieces being eyebrows, two blank spaces the eyes, and one blank space a mouth. "Mirror mirror in the sprite, who if not Sharkalien is right?" |
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Post by Zerio on Jul 9, 2016 3:14:00 GMT
Thanks for the feedback. In future flashes I'll try to do less "walking around" scenes, and for those that do happen I could try zooming the camera out instead, so it doesn't need to move so much hehe. It might be easier to manage music time by then too, since there will be more events to work with later on. In this one I was more or less limited to Kristan's perspective, with the occasional cuts to Zariyah and Rennard, who didn't have much to accomplish in a visual sense.
I'll also experiment with a lower framerate. For some reason I could have sworn I heard Homestuck uses 60fps, but after viewing the .fla files themselves it seems it uses just 25fps, so I'll try that. Might be easier to manage, too - less scrolling around on the timeline.
As for the kernelsprite, the design was made with its post-entry form in mind, where the mirror would be in place of the sprite's head. It sorta does look a bit "inanimate" or "item-like" in kernel form though, so I see what you mean. The personified version does seem like a neat idea, one which I might have to try making as a bonus image, aha.
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Post by Sharkalien on Jul 9, 2016 3:38:19 GMT
I'll also experiment with a lower framerate. For some reason I could have sworn I heard Homestuck uses 60fps, but after viewing the .fla files themselves it seems it uses just 25fps, so I'll try that. Ahahahaha, hholy shit, 60fps? As IF |
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Post by continuityofficer on Jul 9, 2016 3:39:50 GMT
Yeah. I can agree with the wall of text thing. Im thinking that instead, i do it with something similar to flash back intermissions. That works- though that means more panels = more wait between updates. Is update speed an important factor for a forum adventure? Someone mentioned a few pages ago that art quality was equal to or not as important as update speed. I've been trying to balance both by making decent art (don't have sprites to use, so it takes 2 hours to finish an image) and updating daily with 2-3 panels. Should I sacrifice update speed for better pacing (same art, but 5-6 panel updates every 2-3 days instead) or sacrifice art quality (still daily updates, but using sprites for each character rather than drawing them out, saving the style only for EPIC moments) When I made my adventure I very purposefully decided I was going to go for a very quick art style that I know I can personally draw really fast. I wanted to have updates often, since I want to create an adventure that will actually reach the end, and I wanted to try and avoid walls of text by making multiple panels for any diolouge. To acheive this, I decided to sacrifice detail substatially to have an extremely basic art style while using different mediums entirly to show off the importance of other moments. I think its been good for my adventure, its worked well, and i've been able to get through the story at a speed im comortable with, without having large amounts of text at once. That said, I think it works for my story because my story is often very silly, with lots of trial and error problem solving, with a focus on jokes and stuff (Whitch ironically, I intend to make this concept into something more serious later), and I don't think that's the best thing for all adventures. You need to find a balance that fits with your stories personality and your stories scope. That's is the goal I think. |
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Post by Zerio on Jul 9, 2016 3:50:54 GMT
I'll also experiment with a lower framerate. For some reason I could have sworn I heard Homestuck uses 60fps, but after viewing the .fla files themselves it seems it uses just 25fps, so I'll try that. Ahahahaha, hholy shit, 60fps? As IF I'm unfamiliar with framerates and flash in general lmao |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2016 4:33:42 GMT
I believe Homestuck uses the standard 24 fps setting in flash Anywhere from 20 to 15 fps is good enough for HS-styled animations unrelated but holy shit oceanfalls is about to be pushed into the second page in the fanadventure forum page
i really gotta update it hhhrhrghgh... i wish i werent so busy FUCK
i rarely have the time to check the forums now augh ;_; |
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Post by Sharkalien on Jul 9, 2016 5:22:59 GMT
unrelated but holy shit oceanfalls is about to be pushed into the second page in the fanadventure forum page i really gotta update it hhhrhrghgh... i wish i werent so busy FUCK i rarely have the time to check the forums now augh ;_; You don't HAVE to update it right away. Life comes first, you know? Funny, the only reason why I haven't updated Househeld by now is because I'm making a fucking stupid and ostentatious "hiatus over" banner |
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Post by Blizzriel on Jul 9, 2016 15:16:05 GMT
As much as I'd like to get going on my planned adventure (I already have the first area and a bunch of basic sprites done) I think I need to finish all the backgrounds and furniture first so that I can focus on updating. Nature is so hard to represent in pixels. How make tree not look like green poop on stick?
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Post by Sharkalien on Jul 9, 2016 21:54:45 GMT
As much as I'd like to get going on my planned adventure (I already have the first area and a bunch of basic sprites done) I think I need to finish all the backgrounds and furniture first so that I can focus on updating. Nature is so hard to represent in pixels. How make tree not look like green poop on stick?I'll be honest, I don't even have the rest of Leo's house done Or any of the other character sprites, for that matter Or their guardians Or their rooms BUT I do have a transparent image of a Shrek-themed box of Fruit Gushers! fml, man |
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Post by continuityofficer on Jul 11, 2016 9:41:56 GMT
Hay, I just lost an upd8 because my computer rebooted, its not too much of a problem because I wasnt that far into it, but is there a safer way to make an upd8?
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Post by Arashi500 on Jul 11, 2016 11:18:03 GMT
Hay, I just lost an upd8 because my computer rebooted, its not too much of a problem because I wasnt that far into it, but is there a safer way to make an upd8? Uh, I suppose you could put it in a .txt or word file and save it as you go? That's what I do now. A GoogleDoc might work too. |
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Post by eerr on Jul 11, 2016 14:18:55 GMT
Google Docs automatically saves. Their servers are available online everywhere(aka your next computer.) As well, they will back up your stuff better than you can.
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The framerate was increased from the first couple of flashes since I felt it was a bit jittery looking then, but you might be right in that it's a bit too fluid; I might tone it back down for the next one, whenever that is. Out of curiosity, may I ask what you may have done differently?
