Well That was Unexpected Thread III: I Throw Comics at the Wall, You See What Sticks

[Emperor Ing]

Well I am making WTwU the Game so that's kinda like that. Sort of.

Comic 738. EXPOSITION!!

Questions? Comments? Critique?

[ti'esar]

Well I am making WTwU the Game

Wait, WHAT?

Questions? Comments? Critique?

Man, what is it with Torn and the lizard (sorta) women? Is it the haircut? Tell me it's not the haircut.

But seriously, I'm actually a bit disappointed here. The Superintendent may be the most card-carrying villain in the comic (well, him or the Apprentice, but the Apprentice is kind of boring so he doesn't count), but I was hoping for a slightly more original motive then just the belief that organics and machines are incompatible. At least, assuming his motives are the same as the Hypt Dragons, anyway.

And still no backstory on Arc, even when Torn directly asks about it? Though I guess that might be coming next comic. I'm more curious than ever what's responsible for the differences between her and the normal Hypt Dragons - not just in personality, but also in capabilities and appearance.

[Keios]

I would have to agree with ti'esar. It's a fine reason, and well explained, but I find it a bit lacking when trying to justify ominicidal, complete genocide of everything else in the universe.

[Emperor Ing]

Well I knew it would disappoint some people. Still it makes sense to me so i'm sticking with it. Besides, Arc is speaking as a Hypt Dragon, not as the Superintendent, there's still hope he just wants to commit omnicide for the evulz

Wait, WHAT?

Yep. I'm making a game, more specifically a roguelike RPG that will be based on planet Aios in the setting of WTwU. I think it will take place a year before Comic 1, and will run as its own self-contained story. There will be plenty of crossovers from your favorite characters, within reason of course (I'm pretty sure making the Tau Empire a relevant faction in a for-profit game constitutes a copyright violation) and I plan to write it with as much humor and silliness that I can implement.

The working title is Heroes* of Aios.

You will, of course, make your own character. Currently I have planned 6 races and 6 classes.

Races:
Human
Elf
Dwarf
Lizard
Vessel (Robot)
Dragon

Classes
Warrior (melee focus)
Gunner (range focus)
Paladin (tank focus)
Technomancer (healing and summoning)
Sorcerer (guess)
Dragon (Only dragons can use this class. Also, dragons can only select this as their class.)

I've only been able to work on this in my spare time for the last two weeks, so there's very little actually implemented. Here's a screenshot of what it looks like.

Spoiler

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ANYWAYS!!

Comic 704 Alternate. I had this in mind for a while but only got around to making it today.

I'm actually not 100% sure if this would have worked or not, because you have a spell that cannot be protected against versus someone who's completely immune to all forms of magic. It's an unstoppable force against an immovable object.

Questions? Comments? Critique?

[ti'esar]

My problem with the Hyptians' motive for omnicide isn't that it doesn't make sense - it's just kind of unoriginal. Which is fine when the Superintendent is doing hammy rants about THE INEVITABLE EXTINCTION OF ALL LIFE, but feels weirder when it's being more formally exposited about like this.

Spoiler

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I'm not terribly familiar with roguelikes, but is that look normal for them, or is it just because it's at a prototype stage?

As for the alternative comic: heh. I've been sort of wondering when that staff would turn up again ever since Rand looted it, though I always thought that Clanor was the only one who could cast Ultimate Destruction and the staff was just a focus.

Am I wrong or is the first one that wasn't a genuine alternate possibility, just an after-the-fact joke?

[Emperor Ing]

Yes, it's in the prototype phase. No real graphics or anything yet.

Also I see what the problem with that kind of expositing is.

Comic 740. Rand's here to help, though.

Questions? Comments? Critique?

[ti'esar]

Ah, it's good to see that no matter how much he grows as a person, Rand will still always be ready to come to the rescue whenever everyone else starts paying a bit too much attention to the story and background material. Though I'm not sure what to make of the fact that his magic is grey again...

And there's that backstory on Arc I've been waiting for. Not what I was expecting, though it sounds like it would have been interesting to see (and I'll bet we'll wind up seeing more of some of things mentioned in it).

By the way, shouldn't this only be Comic 739?

[Keios]

You can always count on Rand to stop the nonsense and get on with the plot. The real plot: the snowball fight. There's still no winner!

[Emperor Ing]

The snowball fight continues, Lahvin wins due to not knowing to hold back. Casualties: Yes.

By the way, shouldn't this only be Comic 739?

Yes, yes it should. The confusion came because I accidentally saved the Comic 704 Alternate as Comic 739 on my computer.

Anyways, here's the REAL comc 740.

Questions? Comments? Critique?

[ti'esar]

So it's all right to exploit the suffering of Rand's dragon buddy to make drinks, but not to give your dragon buddy a fun ride? Bit of a double standard there, Marney.

Still, always good to see the party managing to resolve interpersonal conflicts in a peaceful manner, especially when said conflict is between these two. Looks like Rand's actually sticking to his decision to handle things more maturely with Marnia.

Though speaking of peaceful resolutions, we're getting awfully far into the "attack" on Hypt without any of this comic's typical over-the-top violence having occurred. I get that it's all about sneaking in at this point, but we're overdue some explosions.

[Keios]

Though speaking of peaceful resolutions, we're getting awfully far into the "attack" on Hypt without any of this comic's typical over-the-top violence having occurred. I get that it's all about sneaking in at this point, but we're overdue some explosions.

This can only mean one thing: all the violence and explosions you could expect in a chapter of this comic, a lot of which should've happened already, will be condensed into a smaller number of strips. I don't know whether to be excited or afraid.

Also, I absolutely love Marnia in the fourth panel.

[Emperor Ing]

Also, I absolutely love Marnia in the fourth panel.

Going by your comments, I wonder if I should start another spinoff series with just Princess Marnia drinking things while wearing glasses.

A funny thing happened on the way to the workshop. Comic 741.

Questions? Comments? Critique?

[ti'esar]

...Poor Professor Savaddor's having a really rough chapter, isn't he?

I'm assuming what Ser's shouting is a reference to something, but I must admit I'm not recognizing it.

Going by your comments, I wonder if I should start another spinoff series with just Princess Marnia drinking things while wearing glasses.

You laugh, but that standalone image from Comic 718 came as close as anything ever has to becoming my new avatar. Well, I would have asked first, but you know what I mean.

[Keios]

You laugh, but that standalone image from Comic 718 came as close as anything ever has to becoming my new avatar. Well, I would have asked first, but you know what I mean.

It's decided: get on with it. The Spinoff. We expect a rough manuscript by monday, as well as 40 different "Marnia drinking" sprites.

But seriously though, one Custode is one too many for a single person to be in command of, even if that person is Princess Marnia. At this point, I'm confident the only reason WH40K's universe and anything that opposes The Imperium exists is because the Custodes's superior sits on his ass all day millenia, giving them nothing to do.

[Emperor Ing]

Poor Constantin Valdor. If he wasn't so obsessed with remaining by the Emperor's side at almost all times, he'd realize the army of Khorne-punting badasses at his disposal could fix the galaxy and still be home in time for dinner.

Comic 742. This comic was a LOT harder to make than it really should've been.

Q? C? C?

[ti'esar]

Of course, the flip side to keeping the Custodes hanging around doing nothing is that, while they may not be solving any problems for the Imperium, they aren't creating any either.

As for the current comic, I'd been wondering whether Kaylethia would have the common sense not to pursue her campaign against Torn during the middle of a very dangerous and important mission, and I can't say I'm surprised by the results. I guess it might not be totally self-destructive, since he seems to be allied with Magebane and Magebane seems to be allied with the Superintendent, but still, learn to prioritize, Kayl.

For some reason_* the last panel is very amusing.

*The reason is the Custodes.

[Keios]

Of course, the flip side to keeping the Custodes hanging around doing nothing is that, while they may not be solving any problems for the Imperium, they aren't creating any either.

What are you talking about, you madman? Look at that last pannel! Custodian shenanigans are always good shenanigans.

And I think Kaylethia's real problem is, not prioritizing Torn above everything else mind you, but that she's OBVIOUSLY underestimating him, specially since she knows what he is. She should expect nothing of what she's planned to work, and go for the extremely impossible or improbable.

[HalfTangible]

Of course, the flip side to keeping the Custodes hanging around doing nothing is that, while they may not be solving any problems for the Imperium, they aren't creating any either.

Did you not see any of the AtC comic strips?

[ti'esar]

Did you not see any of the AtC comic strips?

No, actually - I was always under the impression they were much more dependent on WH40K knowledge than the main comic, and while I've gotten better acquainted with the setting in the last year I still can't really call myself a member of the fandom.

Though I can pretty easily guess what some of them are like.

[Emperor Ing]

No, actually - I was always under the impression they were much more dependent on WH40K knowledge than the main comic, and while I've gotten better acquainted with the setting in the last year I still can't really call myself a member of the fandom.

Though I can pretty easily guess what some of them are like.

By now you probably know enough to be able to understand what's going on. I would recommend you read 'em. It's not like you need to know who Malcador the Sigilite is or what happened in the War in Heaven.

Speaking of which I do need to make a new AtC and Black Crusadin' comic. I'll do that next.

Comic 743. Although it's four panels, again my muse escaped me. It doesn't help that the full moon begins this Sunday

Questions? Comments? Critique?

[ti'esar]

What's the full moon have to do with it?

Questions? Comments? Critique?

Yeah, I would think Rand would have learned a little lesson about how seriously to take betting with Torn after all the havoc that was unleashed by that last little incident they had.

I'm not sure what it is the Custodes are doing this time, nor I am sure that I want to know.

The wooden beams in the middle of all the hi-tech stuff look a bit strange.

[Keios]

The wooden beams in the middle of all the hi-tech stuff look a bit strange.

I bet he has some kind of da Vinci machine.

[Emperor Ing]

I can tell you what the machine is, but you'll all be terribly disappointed. It's a catapult.

Ask the Custodes 13: Art Class is up.

Questions? Comments? Critique?

[ti'esar]

...But what happened to Custodian Colter?

On the subject of Ask the Custodes, I decided to go ahead and read through the rest of them (a couple of the Chaos guest star ones were genuinely laugh-out-loud funny, BTW) and had a couple of minor issues:

1. Two of the entries in the archive aren't actually linked
2. Is the text on the door to the Imperial Palace in the very first comic supposed to be readable? I can't make it out, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be able to.

[Emperor Ing]

1. Two of the entries in the archive aren't actually linked
2. Is the text on the door to the Imperial Palace in the very first comic supposed to be readable? I can't make it out, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be able to.

1) AtC 9 pt 5 and AtC 10 don't exist yet.
2) It's supposed to be readable but I was far more interested in making the fact that it's the door to the Imperial Palace clear than showing the joke written in the text. In a future comic I should definitely give you all a closeup to make it more legible.

[Keios]

Manga-style pannel? In my western comic?

....Proceed...

[Emperor Ing]

Well i've recently been enlightened to the glory of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, so...

Shenanigans will ensue.

Comic 744 is up. No, I have no plans to introduce Stands. Yet.

Questions? Comments? Critique?

[ti'esar]

...Something tells me that thing in the last panel isn't dangerous at all, and Savaddor's just being sensibly cautious about the presence of Custodes in his lab.

[Keios]

...Something tells me that thing in the last panel isn't dangerous at all, and Savaddor's just being sensibly cautious about the presence of Custodes in his lab.

Well, they ARE the most dangerous thing in his lab, despite whatever he may have in it.

And, indeed, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure can be an enlightening experience even for the most veterans in mangas/animes.

[Emperor Ing]

Well I just figured out a way I can introduce Stands into WTwU Though even then, it's just thoughts so i'm not saying one way or another whether they will be a thing. It won't be for a while though.

Also, good news! I've figured out how the overarcing plot works! It only took me 740 comics to do so!

Meanwhile...745.

For the record i've never forgotten about that running gag, there just hasn't been an occasion in a LONG time to use it.

Questions? Comments? Critique?