Does anyone here play Half-Life / HL2 ?

Deezer · Post by **Deezer** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 1:20 pm

I need a show of hands please, then I will tell you why I'm asking!

Smight · Post by **Smight** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 3:58 pm

*Hand* (what's that look like?)

Wp · Post by Wp » Sun Jan 09, 2005 4:07 pm

Exactly. You are several weeks too late.

LAGtheNoggin · Post by **LAGtheNoggin** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 4:12 pm

Eight times completed Half-Life, on my fourth for the sequel, and looking forward to the new mods.

In other somewhat related news, there's gonna' be a Natural Selection 2. Except it's gonna' be a fully fledged game and not a mod, there is a possibility of a Natural Selection: Source though.

Yup.

Now a show of hands for people who played Natural Selection, that'd be interesting.

Deezer · Post by **Deezer** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 4:35 pm

I ask a favor of you all, as comic artists:

Read this strip and tell me if you find it funny or not.

This is #4 in a series of HL2 related strips that I'm doing for HLFallout.net. Up until this strip, the response has been about 90% positive.

Most of the feedback I've gotton from this one however, has been either "I don't get it" or "Not funny"
I have taken into consideration the fact that most of these comments are made by hardcore gamers, not artists (comic artists). I can deal with rejection, and I know that not every strip is going to be gold. I also know that this strip's audience is just a tough crowd to begin with.

So I came here to ask some fellow comickers thier opinion of it, perhaps offer some feedback and opinions. You guys can rip me apart, trust me, I can deal with it!

Smight · Post by **Smight** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:26 pm

The laughing at the end seems kind of forced. It's like with sitcoms where they have an audience laughing to try and make a joke that isn't funny seem funny. That being said, I don't know what the joke is supposed to be so it might just be me.

BrownEyedCat · Post by **BrownEyedCat** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:28 pm

*doesn't play half-life*

So he put the brain-sucking crab thing on his head instead of the hat . . .

Was the crab his pet? Was he the thing he was about to go looking for?
If so, it does seem rather sitcom-y.

Deezer · Post by **Deezer** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:55 pm

Smight wrote:The laughing at the end seems kind of forced. It's like with sitcoms where they have an audience laughing to try and make a joke that isn't funny seem funny. That being said, I don't know what the joke is supposed to be so it might just be me.

The whole premise of the strip was that it is a sitcom. The strips name is "My So-called Half-Life" but for this episode it's "That's my Hedy!"

Kind of like "Hey kids, it's time for That's my Hedy!"

So the forced laughter is intended.

As far as a joke, there's really not a joke unless you count the Doctor putting the headcrab on his head instead of a hat. Now that I think of it, the funny part of this whole strip, to me, was the fact that it was a spoof of cheesy sitcoms.

It's becoming more clear to me now that I didn't emphasize that enough, resulting in people mistaking it for being campy, when that was what it was supposed to be spoofing!

Thank you so much for the feedback, Smight.

BrownEyedCat: Yes, the crab is his pet. Usually they are enemies, but this doctor "debeaked" this one and named her "Lamarr" after the 1940's actress/scientist Hedy Lamarr.

This, of couse all coming from Marc Laidlaw, the guy who actually wrote the script for Half-Life and HL2.

Thanks for the feedback!

BrownEyedCat · Post by **BrownEyedCat** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 6:30 pm

Yay! I got it right! Which of course means it's not impossible to get from a standing start. I think you've got the right idea for fixing it, too.

Hedy Lamarr? Ooooh, that's a terrible pun. I love it!

Collapse · Post by **Collapse** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 8:53 pm

I play HL and HL2 quite a bit, and I honestly don't find that one quite funny. I agree the forced laughter and his embarrased expression kills the joke.

Deezer · Post by **Deezer** » Sun Jan 09, 2005 9:32 pm

Wow, thanks you guys. Good feedback round these parts!!

I'm going to work more on comedic timing and overall flow.

YarpsDat · Post by **YarpsDat** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 8:40 am

I only played HL..

About the comic... at first I thought it was quite funny because I misunderstood what's going on. (more about it later)

Then there was the forced laugh, and it turned it into not-too funny.

And then you explained that "Yes, the crab is his pet. Usually they are enemies, but this doctor "debeaked" this one and named her "Lamarr" "
and it's no longer funny.

You see, I thought there was an invasion going on, and that someone(human) named Lamarr disappeared, and the doctor decides to go out of their hiding place to find her, so he wants to wear a hat, but instead he wears a brain sucking crab, and dies! omg, rofl!

But it turns out the joke is nothing like that: "Lamar" disappeared, so he wants to go to find her, and omg, there she is. >_>. "hahaha"
At least now I know why the laughter is forced.

If you want some more ripping apart, then I'll add that the non-drawn backgrounds ruin it quite a bit.

ShineDog · Post by **ShineDog** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:42 pm

i think the visual aspect doesnt quite work... it doesnt quite look like hes putting it on his head, even though to any HL2 player thats obvious. - however - agreed - the last panel kills the funny.

and headcrabs with eyes just looks WRONG man.

good art though.

Collapse · Post by **Collapse** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 9:43 pm

I dunno, I find Hedy's expression in the last panel amusing. The only thinkg amusing about the panel

TheBladeRoden2 · Post by **TheBladeRoden2** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 9:52 pm

I would just eliminate the last panel and have Dr. Kleiner go on his way with Lamarr on his head.

Doesn't bring all the funny back but it's a start.