Updates

First off, I just thought I would mention that Episodes 17 thru 20 of The Phoenix Imperative have all been screenshot.  I will be editing them later on tonight, then I will start posting them, if not tonight, then tomorrow morning.  So hang in there just a bit longer folks :)

Speaking of episodes, I have finished roughing out the episodes for the rest of the first chapter, "Rude Awakenings".  My best estimate on how many episodes there will be for "Rude Awakenings" in total is between 40 and 50.  The rough outlines total about 20 more episodes, but with the possibility of having to split some of them, and my habit of making new episodes on the fly, it is quite possible the entire chapter could reach about 50 episodes.  That seems to be about the norm for a story run, judging by the works of my fellow Nexus comic producers lately.

With "Rude Awakenings" roughed out, I have started working on chapter two "Restoration's Foundation".  Currently, I am working on the story outline for the chapter, and once I have that completed, I will begin with the rough outlines for the episodes.

I have no idea at this time how many episodes chapter two will be made up of.  There are quite a number of things I wish to establish with the second chapter, including the introduction of new characters, the start and completion of some of the side quests in Fallout 3, as well as the introduction of the Main Quest from the game.  I decided early on that the main plot would play an important part in my story, but would not be played out exactly as it was in the game.  I need to keep all of you folks guessing as to whether or not you know what will be happening next were that story element is going ;)

While I am working on the rough outlines, I will be continuing to work on the scripts for chapter one.  As it is, I manage to pick away at the scripts whenever I have the time to do so.  I consider having one episode scripted (except for the animation/pose choices) a day a big accomplishment.

Oh, and before I forget, I thought I would inform you of another new guest star in the comic.  His name is Stryder, and he is the creation of fellow Nexus member and comic creator deshaz.  Most of us that know Stryder only know him as "101", but up until now, no one was told what it was.  My friend vancleef (Nexus) was supposed to reveal Stryder's name in his own comic by now, but his gaming computer has been giving him some problems as of late, so no new comics or revelations from him anytime soon :(

I have previously posted links to vancleef's comics, but I think it is time I updated those links, as he completed the story arc of his last comic and started another since then.  I will also provide links to deshaz's works as well as a couple other Nexus comic creators.  I hope to have these links published shortly after getting Episodes 17 thru 20 posted here.

Busier Than Usual

Well, it has only been, what, a week since I posted Episode 13 of The Phoenix Imperative, and now I have three more Episodes for you folks to read.  As usual, choose an appropriate resolution to view them with.

Episode Fourteen: Reporting In
Episode Fifteen: Friendly Dinner Coversation
Episode Sixteen: A New Friendship

Finally A New Image of the Cast!

As you can see at the top of the page, I finally got around to getting a new shot of the cast including Ultrajet's character Bridget!  I think it is long over due, but since I am basically finished testing the limits of my new video card (for now), I thought I should get back to doing screenshots.  This was much easier to do than the captures I had taken for Episodes five and six.  Not having to fight with low fps to get the shot set up, then save and exit to reset the graphic settings and start up again (sometimes having to reposition the actors) made this much less of a headache.  I might even enjoy doing this again :)

I will be starting on the comic again later this evening.  The plan is to have the four episodes I wanted to give to you folks before the laptop died, posted sometime this weekend.  I am aiming for Saturday, but as we know, "The best laid plans of mice and men..."

New Section on the Blog

I have been wanting share my various game related screenshots with everyone here for a while now.  I understand not everyone that stops by is a member of the Nexus, and doesn't get to see what silliness I've been up to, or what progress I have been making with the visual element of the comic.  Well, I have that corrected now.  If you look to the right side of your screen, you will see a new heading, unimaginatively named Images, with a link below it to my online photo gallery.  What is in this gallery, currently, are random screenshots from my FO3 game plays, plus some "Phoenix Imperative" related material.

That material includes my first multi-panel comic, entitled "Jet's Arrival".  It is called "Cast of The Phoenix Imperative 2" on the FO3 Image Share.  I finally received a copy of Ultrajet's character, Bridget, and decided to use the opportunity of finally including her to do an actual comic strip.  Making it was a learning experience, and one I fully enjoyed :)  I consider it a "behind the scenes" episode for the comic.

I plan on getting around to adding two more galleries to the list soon.  One for "production shots" used in making my screens, and the other strictly for material related to "The Phoenix Imperative", including promotional screens.

EDIT: My appologies to anyone that has tried the link for my screenshot gallery.  The URL was copied wrong, and when I tried to edit it correctly, Blogger started messing it up.  I deleted the link and started fresh.  It works now.  I tried it to make sure...this time *looks sheepish*

Umm, Oops

So apparently I really need to pay more attention to proof-reading and spelling in things I publish publicly.

I have recently made a change to the blogs title, adding on the name of the comic.  You may or may not have noticed, but one reader did notice, and was kind enough to point out the fact that I spelt "phoenix" incorrectly.  The e and the o were in reverse order.  And it is probably spelt that way throughout the blog, and everywhere else I've mentioned it >.<

Its a wee bit embarrassing, but I'll live.  Thanks again Michael!

In other news, we have a gentleman on the Nexus named vancleef (yes, not capitalized) to thank for the idea of my using guest stars in "The Phoenix Imperative".  Just to make it an almost complete sharing of characters between the two of us, my character and star of my story, Cameron, has been converted to a companion and will soon be ready to get shipped off to vancleef for use in his adventures of Silas Caine.  And those stories have turned out to be damned good, in my opinon.  Hope my story turns out to be half as good :)

The Story So Far

Ok folks, here is where we stand.  I now have eleven episodes outlined, and another one "under construction", so now I move on to scripting them.  There are also two "promo" ideas rattling around in my skull, as well as an introduction strip.  I need to do some more thinking on them before I will commit to anything there.

I have also decided on grouping the episodes together in either chapters or books, not sure which to call them, but both lables more or less end up being the same thing for now.  If nothing else, using a sub-title to section off the story will help me focus on an individual theme, as well as give you readers a hint about what's to come in the short haul.  As a teaser, I'll tell you that the first two books/chapters are currently entitled "The Pheonix Imperative: Rude Awakenings" and "The Pheonix Imperative: Past Tension".  Obviously, the name of each part will begin with the overall story title.

I think I have all the poses available to me visually referenced now, including Lost Riders updates to his Slave in Pose pack.  The mod included a visual reference of the first 83 or 84 poses, but it wasn't updated along with the mod.  No big deal, I have to learn what these things look like anyway.  Under the heading of "Too Much Information", I used Satanslilhelper's Susurrus for the references, and found that to be a little more arousing than I cared for *ahem*

That said, I have also started practicing with setting up poses, angles and editing the screenshot.  Four of my recent works are posted on the FO3 image share, and I'm going to eventually get around to creating an image area here for non-Nexus members to view.

You folks are getting closer to seeing the first episode, but I still have a way to go before it gets posted.

Still Here

It has been almost two weeks since I last posted, so I thought it best to do so again.

In case you were wondering, no, I haven't given up on the comic, or been ignoring it.  I have encountered a bit of writer's block and a few other problems related to the project, but I am still plugging away at it.  I have been coming up with a few new episode ideas, but I'm having some trouble trying to actually get the ones I have connected.  I am also revising my list of companions to use, as I still haven't heard back from everyone I've sent permission requests out to.  Since I'm not sure about hearing back from Loxy in regards to using Jessi and Kelsey, I think I'll send one off to Blackblossom about her version of Jessi.  I haven't noticed her around the Nexus for a while either, so that might be iffy as well.  Doesn't hurt to try though.

On that note, Odile has converted Ghost into a companion recently, and I have aquired a copy of her.  I should be able to "bug test" Ghost later this weekend and see how she works.  Another producer of FO3 comic strips on the Nexus also has access to the companion version of Ghost, so you might be seeing her elsewhere before you see her in "The Pheonix Imperative".

With having the required part of my move to a new residence completed tomorrow, I will soon have more time to allot to episode outlining and scripting.

The Name Game

It must difficult to go through existance without a name.  Bad enough that your creator forces you to wander around in a blasted an unforgiving wasteland filled with hostile mutants, crazy humans and irradiated food and water, but to not have a name?  That's just plain mean.  Ok, just kidding ;)

I posted Ultrajet's main character as the "Toon with No Name" and now I'm running with it.  Sorry UJ, I'm not trying to pick on you.  Your toon does need a name though.

If you are familiar with Ultrajet's screenshots, maybe you have a few suggestions for her?  If you're not familiar with her work, maybe you can take some time to visit her profile and take a peek at what she's done.  Might get the wheel's turning :)

Speaking of names, I've been wracking my brains trying to come up with a title for the comic.  I have been rejecting several I have come up with, mostly due to them sounding way to familiar to me.  They have been reminding me of other comics and a few mods posted on the Nexus, actual published books, and one or two TV shows or motion pictures.  I am currently working with this:  The Pheonix Imperative.

What images or themes does that evoke in you?  Feel free to share your thoughts on that. 

I'm Sorry, Who and What is That?

It has been pointed out to me that not everyone reading this is going to be familiar with the names of people and mods that I have been mentioning.  I appologize to everyone for my lack of foresight on this matter.  I will change that starting here.

I have mentioned that certain members of the Nexus and f3Underground community will have their favourite main characters guest star in the comic.  The members and their characters currently on onboard are as follows: bethjunkie and Rain; satanslilhelper and Susurrus; Ultrajet and The Toon with No Name; vancleef and Silas Caine.  You can check my friends' profiles through my Nexus profile here http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/user/1957928-druuler/.

In regards to featured mods and their authors, the only ones I currently have permissions for are Crystals Compound (http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12840) , Enclave Hideout (http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13982) and  Companion Victoria (http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14971), by MDC519 and Jasmine(http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=15758), by keldable.  Their profiles can also be accessed via my Nexus profile.

In Negotiations

Ok, the post title isn't entirely accurate, but its close enough for this post.

So I have already mentioned that there will be some familiar faces from the Image Share appearing in the comic.  I have heard back from Ultrajet, and she's interested in having her character join the team.  Not only that, but she was kind enough to share some gameplay personality with me.  That rather lengthy bit of mail helped work out some more story details that I will include later on.  I promise that you won't be seeing a radically different version of UJ's "toon" than you have in her own screenshots.  Now if only we could come up with a name for her...;)

There are also a number of companions in my game that I have gathered off of the Nexus, and basically can't play without.  I'm sure some of you can relate to that.  During the initial work on the story when it was originally intended for a table-top RPG campaign, several of these companions played important parts in the main storyline, and had their own sub-plots as well.  I'm hoping to use these companions in the comic, so I thought it proper to get permission from the original authors in most cases.  Unfortunately, three of these modders haven't made appearances on the Nexus in months, in some cases longer.  I've sent out PMs and am awaiting replies.

One reply was almost immediate.  So, I can happily inform you that MDC519 has given his blessing on the usage of his three Fallout 3 mods in the project :D

There are still two more modders I need to contact, but I'll do that later on today, after I've had some sleep.  This constantly correcting my typing is making this take longer than needed ;)

Today's Actual Update

Ok, here is another update originally posted to the gang on the Nexus.

April 8, 2011

I have four episodes outlined, and am starting a fifth. Once I have an even ten outlined, I will start scripting them. Hopefully, LostRider will have his latest pose pack released soon so I can start going through it to see what inspiration I can get from it.

In regards to guest stars, Satanslilhelper and Vancleef’s characters are confirmed for their inclusion, and Bethjunkie and Ultrajet have expressed an interest in having their lovely creatures join in the fun.