Rising Sand

[Lacuna Caster]

Hey- folks here like Six Billion Demons, right? The tilt is little more comical, but this looks like it might be up your alley. Fifty pages thus far, art is attractive, story is decent.

http://risingsand.glass/

[Elanasaurus]

Just saw it. Man, what a sad ending. I have no idea what Qeb was trying to do there. And what a sad world they all live in.

[Anarchic Fox]

Started reading it, since the art is gorgeous. I'll try to answer Elanasaurus' question once I'm done.

[Anarchic Fox]

My theory is "group of talented people play a great tabletop campaign, think it would make a great story," a la Weis/Hickman or Erickson. The setting does look an awful lot like 2nd edition Dark Sun.

[glitchritual]

Hey there! I noticed someone reading from this URL in our analytics, and decided to snoop around.

You're close! RS is not based on any campaign I've personally played, though tabletop is very much in its DNA; the world was initially designed as a campaign setting for D&D, before ballooning out of control into its own system! somewhere along the line, Jenn (who draws the comic) convinced me we should tell our own story in this world first, and we shifted focus to the comic. As for the influences of the setting specifically... that's a whole other, complicated kettle of fish, and tbh has little to do with tabletop at all!

At any rate, we do plan to eventually go back and get the game to a fully playable state, but for now, we're on our way to getting the first volume of the comic wrought as dead tree.

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story! It only gets wilder from here!

[Anarchic Fox]

Woohoo! My guess was only two steps removed from being right! I'll keep reading, and hope that it isn't all grimbright. (Bright because arid canyons and deserts.)

Best of luck in finding success. :)

[Elanasaurus]

I'll keep reading, and hope that it isn't all grimbright. (Bright because arid canyons and deserts.)

Spoiler

Show

It is.

[halfeye]

I find that site difficult to navigate. How do others feel about that?

[Anarchic Fox]

I find that site difficult to navigate. How do others feel about that?

The navigation buttons are very small, but they're standard otherwise. What did you find difficult about the site?

[halfeye]

The navigation buttons are very small, but they're standard otherwise. What did you find difficult about the site?

Small doesn't help, however I think they seemed to be swapped left to right, left for forward, right for back (I could be confused about the left to right bit, that was when I was expecting the small forwards to be next page), and once I worked out that the big back was first and the big forward was end, and the smaller back was previous chapter and forward next chapter, then there didn't seem to be an obvious way from page to page. Turned out there was a button below the image, extreme left (i.e. not with the other navigation buttons), for forwards, but I still don't see a button for back one page, and that forwards button seems to disappear when you get to the end of a chapter, which means there's extra messing about to read the thing as a whole, a page at a time.

So I've read to the end of the first chapter and stopped.

[Ibrinar]

That is weird the smaller middle button are one forward/ one back for me as expected and I see no chapter buttons. Though for forward I just click the image anyway.

[Anarchic Fox]

Halfeye, it looks like the page is broken on your browser. The exact same buttons appear both above and below the image, centered in their frame, which is a convention many webcomics (particularly those with big pages) follow. What browser do you use? I'm not asking in order to defend the web designer, but because they apparently read this forum, and it might be useful information for them whenever they return.

[halfeye]

That is weird the smaller middle button are one forward/ one back for me as expected and I see no chapter buttons. Though for forward I just click the image anyway.

Well, I see four buttons under the image, and the first chapter at least is only accessible via that button below the image (or if clicking the image works, that too), maybe the rest is one chapter that single clicks, not multiple chapters?

Since it seems my experience is not universal, I'm on Windows 7 Home Premium with Firefox 60.0.2.

<edit>

I just went for another look, the link at the top of this thread page takes me to a page with only two buttons. Clicking the right of those, which is the lesser, takes me to a page with four buttons, but clicking on the new buttons takes me back to the page with only two buttons, clicking the image takes me back to the page with only two buttons. Okay, seems that's the last page and going forward from it doesn't work. I suppose I got confused.

[glitchritual]

When you show up to the RS site, it's on the most recent page by default (which is currently just a general promo image to not spoil the last 'real' page, but I see how that may be mistaken for a cover page. Duly noted!); on that page, the only available buttons are 'first' and 'previous', because you're at the end. As with most comics, 'first' will take you all the way back to the beginning (which itself only has two buttons, 'next' and 'last'), and 'previous' will take you back one page (which should cause all four to show up). You can advance through the pages most easily by just clicking on them. Arrow keys are a no-go for now, unfortunately.

When Jenn and I began RS, we were more focused on just getting the content out there than building a bespoke site; right now, it's literally just Tumblr's equivalent of ComicPress, which is definitely not the most feature-rich option! We're currently on hiatus building our buffer for part 2, and revamping the site is on my list, at the very least to make improvements to navigation and the archives. I appreciate the feedback!

[Onyavar]

Finished first chapter. The background of their fantasy world is still hazy to me, but I just quickly dived through the graphic story.

So. Language problems. Ro and Qeb killed each other; and the two others are likely to collect as much of Qeb's treasure and vamoose, leaving Dal behind. Her options are limited - does she continue the path that Dal showed her; does she return to the city she lived in; does she return home? In any case, she hasn't many friends left, even if the two rogues don't leave her behind.

However, I smell a backstory comic up, explaining why she left home.

The intricate art style exaggerates everything: objects, persons, their features. It makes them memorable and exposes them so that they seem both comical and brutal - it fits the story world, I guess.
The word "grimbright" fits the style wonderfully.

[glitchritual]

I smell a backstory comic up, explaining why she left home.

You're not wrong! We're kind of aiming for a back and forth sort of thing, where we revisit the past timeline periodically, progressively explaining more about why Dal (and others) feel the way they do about things. I'd call them mere 'flashbacks' but I feel they're a little more extensive than that; the next one, opening Act 2, is what would be on a newsstand almost an issue long! Eventually, the past will reach the present, and several holes that were left open should be otherwise filled in.

As for what's coming next, don't worry about it. :p