Ascalon and Oink: DotB comic

Griphyne

Griphyne

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

Canterbury, UK

Defenders Of The Blackblade

Mo/R

Last Comic Posted: 8th July 2007
Current Episode: 43


I figured it's about time to update the first post. It's over a year of me doing these, nearly a year and a half. It's about a small guild of people, our guild, and one completely strange and disordered adventure that seems even now unending. We cause trouble as per usual, and Arenanet chase us down and try to make us pay for our crimes against NPC humanity. That's pretty much the basic plot... if there indeed is one...

Do post your comments, and I mean even if you hate it. I know some people really aren't fans of pixel comics, and I'd be the first to admit mine isn't one of the best out there. But post anyway telling me why it sucks, and if you love it, well tell me that too. The only reason I keep doing them is knowing people keep enjoying them.

=============================

Original post as of 2-25-2006 as follows:

Ok, so where do I begin? Basically some time before christmas the idea got into my head that I needed to do something original and creative for our guild. The result was me making a quick comic together whith the main characters we'd all created in game. As a first comic it wasn't bad, but it wasn't excellent, so I went ahead and made a week's worth before I went home for christmas. Since coming back in January it's been about one new stip per week, with the odd excepton.

So after I got to fourteen of the things some people in the guild suggested displaying it for a larger audience, something I had been considering myself since the fifth or sixth strip. Naturally apprehensive of the response it would have outside our own guild I waited until the fifteenth was done, then pushed myself to post them. So here they are. There may be some 'in guild' jokes you might not catch, but for the most part it's all good fun regardless. What else can I say but: enjoy. I look forward to hearing any feedback (even if it is negative).

Comic 1 - The Saga Begins.jpg
Comic 2 - My Desert Farm
Comic 3 - Procuring Storage
Comic 4 - Farmer's Market
Comic 5 - Missing Christmas
Comic 6 - Eggnogged
Comic 7 - Hanging Around
Comic 8 - Alright In The Light Camp
Comic 9 - The Plot Thickens
Comic 10 - Three Headed Surprise
Comic 11 - Death Of A Hydra
Comic 12 - Best Laid Plans
Comic 13 - Judgement Day
Comic 14 - A Weight Of Warriors
Comic 15 - Raising Rurik
Comic 16 - A Dark Force
Comic 17 - Guild Tension
Comic 18 - I've got a Hench
Comic 19 - What's All This A Boat?
Comic 20 - Let Battle Commence
Comic 21 - The Damage Dealer
Comic 22 - A Princely Plan
Comic 23 - War Torn Diagnosis
Comic 24 - With A Prince In The Sails
Comic 25 - Clinical Board-dom
Comic 26 - All In The Head
Comic 27 - Dealing With Death
Comic 28 - Unsober Sailor
Comic 29 - And To The Victor
Comic 30 - Guildies Collide
Comic 31 - Fall From Power
Comic 32 - Jail Birds
Comic 33 - A Tree Issue, A Tree Issue
Comic 34 - Losing The Fat
Comic 35 - The Cold Shoulder
Comic 36 - Crews Control
Comic 37 - Hidden Consequences
Comic 38 - With Extensive Loopholes
Comic 39 - And A Side Order Of Pain
Comic 40 - Needing New Windows
Comic 41 - Good Vibrations
Comic 42 - Like Father, Like Moron
Comic 43 - The Spread

Seren!ty

Seren!ty

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Feb 2006

[iDum]

R/E

The site is down...

Shadow Zone

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Sep 2005

Great comics! I want more

Yanman.be

Yanman.be

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2005

Belgium

[ROSE]

A/

nice comics...keep up the work

Numa Pompilius

Numa Pompilius

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

At an Insit.. Intis... a house.

Live Forever Or Die Trying [GLHF]

W/Me

Great stuff!
"I've got divine favor in my pants of superior vigor!"

actionjack

actionjack

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Oct 2005

Kali

W/E

Good God, Sweet PIXIALS!!!!!

love the fine square blocks on the girls... so sexy~

Very good style, love it very much. How did you draw the 8-bit style characters? I want to learn how too.

Griphyne

Griphyne

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

Canterbury, UK

Defenders Of The Blackblade

Mo/R

In constructing character sprites for this I started with some old "Legend Of Zelda: Link To The Past" character sprites, but just extended their height. From that simple character layout I manipulate hair, facial shape, body structure, etc to make a unique character. The terrains I use are very basic recolours from the same game. It's hard to say how I do it, because I've been fooling about with small pixelwork for so long now. Mostly once you've got a general idea of how you want it and a base character to change, recolour, add to and resize it becomes just a matter of trial and error. Things like the hydra take a little longer, but are essentially the same process with less to start from and more image in your head of what you're about to construct.

Oh, I also take and use reference pictures from in game to work from. Usually a clear idea of what or who I'm making makes the process easier. I keep it open as a new image while I make the character sprite, and adjust the sprite accordingly adding as many details as so few pixels will allow. I also aught to mention I resize after making each individual frame by 300%, the actual sprites I work with are actual pixel sizes.

I'm glad people like them. Not that I'm surprised, I just appreciate such positive feedback.

Keep it coming.

Mercury Angel

Mercury Angel

Avatar of Gwen

Join Date: Apr 2005

Wandering my own road.

It reminds me a lot of the humour found in 8-bit theatre, despite being higher resolution sprites. It's cute though, and was a nice read.

Symeon

Symeon

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2005

I thought I recognised the kind of graphics in those scenes from somewhere!
Link to the Past was an awesome game.

Anyway, extremely good job there man. I love all those pixel characters, and loads of good jokes in there. Looks like you've put a lot of effort into it, 'cos it rocks!

kais

kais

Academy Page

Join Date: Nov 2005

China

The Hatebreeders [Evil]

nice! great work
i like the whole old gameboy graphic style. nice jokes too.
hmm btw, just asking... is the person who plays the monk such a perv or its just one of those guild jokes? (dont take this as a insult or something)

Griphyne

Griphyne

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

Canterbury, UK

Defenders Of The Blackblade

Mo/R

Since the monk is me...

It's mainly just me making fun of myself. No, I'm not a perv. The Griphyne in the comic just evolved to become a very, very exaggerated version of my character in game.

Gonzo

Gonzo

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Feb 2006

Netherlands

Defenders of the Blackblade [DotB]

W/

Still loving it

Haroldinium

Haroldinium

hey you... shutup

Join Date: Dec 2005

haroldinium raiders

Me/Mo

mabey you should make a game out of it, in a retro pokemon style. lol it could go in the activities section. i would love to see that

actionjack

actionjack

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Oct 2005

Kali

W/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by Griphyne
In constructing character sprites for this I started with some old "Legend Of Zelda: Link To The Past" character sprites, but just extended their height. From that simple character layout I manipulate hair, facial shape, body structure, etc to make a unique character. The terrains I use are very basic recolours from the same game. It's hard to say how I do it, because I've been fooling about with small pixelwork for so long now. Mostly once you've got a general idea of how you want it and a base character to change, recolour, add to and resize it becomes just a matter of trial and error. Things like the hydra take a little longer, but are essentially the same process with less to start from and more image in your head of what you're about to construct.

Oh, I also take and use reference pictures from in game to work from. Usually a clear idea of what or who I'm making makes the process easier. I keep it open as a new image while I make the character sprite, and adjust the sprite accordingly adding as many details as so few pixels will allow. I also aught to mention I resize after making each individual frame by 300%, the actual sprites I work with are actual pixel sizes.

I'm glad people like them. Not that I'm surprised, I just appreciate such positive feedback.

Keep it coming. oh.. and what program do you use? I tried it in Photoshop before, but it is not really efficient.

Griphyne

Griphyne

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

Canterbury, UK

Defenders Of The Blackblade

Mo/R

A game out of it... interesting... very interesting.

I use Picture Publisher for all my artwork. This isn't to say other programs aren't better, I'm sure they are. Having said that, my experience of photoshop is so small that I wouldn't be able to give much assistance at all on how to use it for pixels.

Picture Publisher works well enough for me. I find that it's been capable of everything I've asked of it, and I've had it some time now. Before that I used to use a very old program called Photofinish for all my small pixelwork, but annoyingly that doesn't run on XP. Surprisingly enough, Paint might actually be a damn fine place to start. Zoom in to 8X view and it becomes a decent workplace. To each his own I suppose. As long as the program allows you to close in, copy and paste areas and use a 1 pixel brush without hassle they should be pretty good.

With any luck the next strip should be up by the same time tomorrow or tuesday. It honestly depends how tired I am from Uni, but it's half done already. All I need is to settle for an hour or so and it'll be complete, but easier said than done.

kais

kais

Academy Page

Join Date: Nov 2005

China

The Hatebreeders [Evil]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Griphyne
Since the monk is me...

It's mainly just me making fun of myself. No, I'm not a perv. The Griphyne in the comic just evolved to become a very, very exaggerated version of my character in game. stupid I didnt see that before anyway thanks for answering, what you said was what I had in mind even though I asked

Sinborn

Sinborn

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2005

California

Me/

+Makes love with the comic, dirty, nasty, raunchy love.+

Griphyne

Griphyne

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

Canterbury, UK

Defenders Of The Blackblade

Mo/R

^ I'm going to take that as a positive response. Unless it's meant to be literal... in which case it's just creepy.

Episode 16 is complete and up. It's been added to the list in the first post, but I'll post the url here as well for convenience.

Comic 16

Davedefiant

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Feb 2006

Defenders Of The Blackblade

R/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Griphyne
A game out of it... interesting... very interesting. god, dont give him anymore ideas, or he'll completely forget about the comic, believe me, i kno this guy >.<

oh, and one thing...I'm not fat!!

Goats17

Goats17

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Feb 2006

House Zu Heltzer, laughing at them.

The [GEAR] Trick

N/Me

ROFLMFAOTIP, thats a great comic.
"Oh, bugger. Didn't think of that."
LOL

Gonzo

Gonzo

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Feb 2006

Netherlands

Defenders of the Blackblade [DotB]

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Davedefiant
god, dont give him anymore ideas, or he'll completely forget about the comic, believe me, i kno this guy >.<

oh, and one thing...I'm not fat!! I have to admid it, you lost some weight. Been working out?

Kinroan

Kinroan

Academy Page

Join Date: Nov 2005

Newport, NC USA

ANT

N/Me

great stuff, man...great stuff

Martian

Martian

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

The Arse-end of no-where

Grey Mortals

Me/E

Love the comic man but wots with all these crazy RLY things? That last one looks like my vice principle....

Haroldinium

Haroldinium

hey you... shutup

Join Date: Dec 2005

haroldinium raiders

Me/Mo

ha its these stupid owls, lol i remember that. i mad a cupple of my own in fact lol

Griphyne

Griphyne

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

Canterbury, UK

Defenders Of The Blackblade

Mo/R

I... ok. I see I've got owls. I do not endorse the owls, nor support them... nor even understand why they're there to be honest. Crazy forumgoers.

Anyway, I should have the next comic done tomorrow with any luck. It would have been up today, but I had things that got in the way. I should be able to find the time for it now it's the weekend.


Edit: Oh good, the owls are gone. Nice work mods

What I was going to add was that I was thinking of giving the individual comics names before I get too many of them to bother. I'll probably come to my own decision on the matter, but I thought I'd just throw the idea out there to see what others think.

Edit 2: It's now up. I'm not bumping the topic because I know the mods don't like that kind of thing, so I'm just going to wait and hope somebody realises I've updated it. Comic 17 - Guild Tension

Gonzo

Gonzo

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Feb 2006

Netherlands

Defenders of the Blackblade [DotB]

W/

Wow with our forum down all the time, I must've missed this one. It's great Griph

Kai Nui

Kai Nui

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2005

Behind you with a knife

Celebrity Gangsters [FamE]

Me/

NIce, one of the better pixel comics I've seen. Keep them coming, not only are they funny, but they look good. (Points off for the Zelda backgrounds though.)

Griphyne

Griphyne

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

Canterbury, UK

Defenders Of The Blackblade

Mo/R

Points off for the backgrounds? The whole style is in the old Zelda one, if I was to change the backgrounds everything else would just look out of place. Meh, nevermind. As long as you enjoy it.

Episode 18 - I've got a Hench is up. First post changed accordingly.

Martian

Martian

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

The Arse-end of no-where

Grey Mortals

Me/E

HeHe Martian thinks Mhenlo is stoopid :P

Clusmas

Clusmas

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jul 2005

Brisbane, Australia

n/a

Absolutely brilliant. By far the funniest Guild Wars stuff I've ever read.

PieXags

PieXags

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2005

The Infinite Representation Of Pie And Its Many Brilliances

Great stuff man, great stuff. I'm really enjoying this comic so far, it's great to be able to already assign roles and personalities to all the characters, works really well and is great for a laugh. Keep 'em coming mate.

Mojo Moo

Academy Page

Join Date: Dec 2005

Unholy Gladiators (UG)

Mo/Me

Great stuff Thanks for posting them

BakedMonkey

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

R/

man i admire your work, its awesome thanks for sharing the fun =D

SylverDragon

SylverDragon

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jan 2006

Cheshire, UK

loving it keep it coming

Sol_Vie

Sol_Vie

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2005

Boston, MA

Blood Of Orr [BoO]

Haha very cool. Read em all and they're great!

Curlyfry

Curlyfry

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2005

New York City

those were sweet! im so using those pick-up lines in real life!

Summer

Summer

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Dec 2005

Temple of Ages

SEXY

Mo/Me

Your comics are awesome! I laughed through the whole thing!!

Keep up the good work

Nevin

Nevin

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jul 2005

Started out kinda slow, but it got really good at the end.

Csquirrelrun

Csquirrelrun

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Oct 2005

New Zealand

Me/

Where's the endorsment from ArenaNet ($$)? This is the funniest Guild Wars story I've read! Great work, keep it up.

zeldamaster

zeldamaster

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2005

Kingston, Jamaica

The Court Of Pure Souls

E/N

absolutely beautiful. a true work of art. /sheds a tear
i love the stlyized nes style graphics, y cudnt guild wars b like that? :P