Last Umlaut House on December 21

Allan_ecker · Post by **Allan_ecker** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 1:58 pm

After that, you get to suffer through one more crappy Beating a Dead Comic update and then Unit Zero will start up.

I'm re-running the ones that are already on the web at the accelerated rate of two per week. After that.. well, we'll see. It'll either be once a week or once every two weeks, depending on what the buffer looks like at the end of the two-per-week-a-thon. So far, though, it looks like I'll be able to keep up with that kind of schedule, largely because I have Unit Zero storyboarded out clear 'till the fourtieth page or so.

The art style, if you've looked at Unit Zero already, jumps around like a flea on a hot brick for the first seven or eight episodes, so I'm including a title page to give you some idea of what the second chapter will look like. I will continue to study other comics for stylistic aid, but the Unit Zero style should be more stable at least than Umlaut House's. The comics to follow Unit Zero will (hopefully) be even more stylistically self-consistent. (However, between comics, anything goes. Queer as Pony will be a pastell-o-riffic thin-lined emulation of oldschool children's books, for example.)

Just a heads up for my loyal forumites, who are largely responsible for me feeling so good about my comics.

The_Fox · Post by **The_Fox** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 8:25 pm

Sad to see it go, but Unit Zero should be a new fun comic. =^.^= We can't wait to see what you have to show us, Allan. We wait with baited breath.

- Jarylan

Alfador · Post by **Alfador** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 7:29 am

I bait my breath with garlic. It seems not to be very good at bringing 'em in. Perhaps I ought to try a lure.

The_Fox · Post by **The_Fox** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 7:34 am

Alfador wrote:I bait my breath with garlic. It seems not to be very good at bringing 'em in. Perhaps I ought to try a lure.

Try mint. Everyone loves mint.

- Jarylan

*excerpt from an IM conversation*
"You know it's love when you can kiss them even when they have bad garlic breath."
"Jarylan, there's a difference between love and masochistic tendencies."

Lord_foxfire · Post by **Lord_foxfire** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 5:36 pm

The_Fox wrote:
Try mint. Everyone loves mint.

But that might draw more ponies than.... Oh wait. That's partially the point.

Cyril_Dran · Post by **Cyril_Dran** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 5:47 pm

Peppermint is a better bait, I'd think. It has all the plusses of mint, but is mildly sweeter, and has a stronger scent. Plus, if you get the good stuff, you'll never have to worry about sinus pressure again ^_^

Alfador · Post by **Alfador** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 11:03 am

Cyril_Dran wrote:Peppermint is a better bait, I'd think. It has all the plusses of mint, but is mildly sweeter, and has a stronger scent. Plus, if you get the good stuff, you'll never have to worry about sinus pressure again ^_^

I thought peppermint was a subclass of mint? Implied as one of the possibilities by the mere mention of mint?

Cyril_Dran · Post by **Cyril_Dran** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 2:08 pm

No, it's a totally different plant. It has several similar qualities, taste and smell wise, but it is in no way the same thing as mint, or a modification of it. It's like the difference between peanut butter and butter, but a lot closer in terms of taste and smell and stuff.

Allan_ecker · Post by **Allan_ecker** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 3:04 pm

It's a shame Flinthoof doesn't post on this board. I'll bet he'd have a LOT to say on this subject.

Fallwind · Post by **Fallwind** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:54 pm

wait a second....

the 21st is next week!!! GAH!

*does the sad kitty eyes*

Alfador · Post by **Alfador** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:17 pm

Cyril_Dran wrote:No, it's a totally different plant. It has several similar qualities, taste and smell wise, but it is in no way the same thing as mint, or a modification of it. It's like the difference between peanut butter and butter, but a lot closer in terms of taste and smell and stuff.

And here I thought "mint" covered all sorts of mintesque flavors: peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen, toothpaste...

Hat-Kun · Post by **Hat-Kun** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:52 pm

Feh, forget mint. How about some vanilla essence?

Nyamaza · Post by **Nyamaza** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:56 pm

How about baiting one's breath with a soft, honest, and heart-felt saying of "I love you"?

Sorry, after philosophising I can get a bit romantic.

Hat-Kun · Post by **Hat-Kun** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 2:58 am

^^ I'm with that.

Cyril_Dran · Post by **Cyril_Dran** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 11:42 am

Yeah, that's definitely the best idea so far, Shakal.

The_Fox · Post by **The_Fox** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 2:13 pm

Nyamaza wrote:How about baiting one's breath with a soft, honest, and heart-felt saying of "I love you"?

Sorry, after philosophising I can get a bit romantic.

I'll agree with that one, for sure.

- Jarylan

Wildcard9 · Post by **Wildcard9** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 9:37 am

allan_ecker wrote:I'm re-running the ones that are already on the web at the accelerated rate of two per week. After that.. well, we'll see. It'll either be once a week or once every two weeks, depending on what the buffer looks like at the end of the two-per-week-a-thon.

May I suggest instead that you make Unit Zero a weekly comic right from the start? This will give you a much longer buffer time so you can keep to that schedule once you start it. I had no problems when Umlaut House moved to that schedule, and I doubt I will have any problems with Unit Zero following the same schedule.

Wayne

Allan_ecker · Post by **Allan_ecker** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 9:28 pm

Eeeeeeerreuuuhhhhhhhghhhh...

Right now, I'm not planning on going down to weekly until we get through the part anyone who visits my VCL account has seen already.

However, if people were to somehow show huge support for me drastically slowing down the schedule even during ones they've seen before....

I could go with that.

RandomScribe · Post by **RandomScribe** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 6:51 pm

Ummm...

I might be alone on this one, but I'd actually be fine with you simply delaying the start of Unit Zero for a while if that meant you could keep doing twice-weekly updates as long as possible. Once a week is sort of pushing it for me, and any slower than that and I tend to lose track of the plot. >.>

Of course, you could always pull a Commander Kitty and update once every five days.

--RS

Allan_ecker · Post by **Allan_ecker** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 8:40 pm

Huh. Interesting.

Here's where I'm coming from, just so you have all the "dirt":

I have, though some experimentation, determined that I can (will?) (do?) put about an hour a week into comics. My vanity pretty much mandates that I keep up some form of regular schedule, though, since the regular schedule keeps the feedback coming. I am a whore for feedback.

Unit Zero takes about 1.5 hours a comic.

Now, the math should be fairly self-explanatory, except that I've built up a hefty backlog of storyboards and partially finished comics before going into this. That way, my 1.5-hour commitment becomes a 1-hour commitment that slowly drains my backlog. I used a similar technique with the finale: I sat down and spent two hours on several WEEKS worth of BaDC and then devoted my plentiful summertime spare time to backlogging a lot of color comic work.

So, math again.

+1 hour per week
-1.5 hours per week
=
-.5 hour per week defecit.

So, Unit Zero runs at a time deficit, but that's okay if I have a buffer. Incidentially, BaDC is approximately a forty-minute per-week surplus. This math is of course extremely variable, but it is at least accurate -on average- to about ten minutes or so.

I'm particularly excited about the fact that my comic budget skyrockets to around three to four(!) hours a week when I'm working an internship instead of school. If this is a good indicator of what it'll be like working full time as an engineer, the comics will start to really FLY when I get my Masters sometime next year.

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Last Umlaut House on December 21

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