Nobody 2018/11/05(Mon)10:54 No. 126365 ID: cc0a23
File 154144408653.png - (250.12KB , 1615x937 , rock bts.png )

One obvious thing that I'm doing wrong is the sub-glacial update speed. I apologize a thousand times over for that, but there's not much I can do about it. I am extremely busy with about half a dozen hobbies besides this one crammed into my spare time. I've made excuses in the past for when an external event slowed me down even more but really, I'm just a slow worker due to overburdening myself. I do as much as I can in all the spare time I have; I don't really play games, or watch movies, or have many other distractions so it's not as if I'm sitting on my ass and twiddling my thumbs instead of making updates.

Another obvious thing that might turn people away is how I constantly keep changing art styles. I apologize for that as well, although one of the main reasons for me to make this quest is to try to practice and improve my shitty-to-mediocre art skills. Which means trying new things often, hoping that something will look less crap then what came before, (even if it never really does). I'm also always trying new art styles to refine the process so I can put out updates quicker; while this sometimes works, it just means that I have more time to get swallowed up by other things that crop up. Since it will not take me long to make the update, it's safe to put it aside so I can do something else first. And I end up doing the very quick update the night before actually posting it, 3 weeks late.

Nobody 2018/11/05(Mon)10:55 No. 126366 ID: cc0a23
File Jack.webm - (4.00MB )

While I'm making this thread anyway, I might put any sculpts I make here as well, so that I don't shit up the fan art thread with my own self pity and bullshit. This one is a bit of a failed experiment; I will probably redo Jack again at some point and he won't have wet noodles and yarn for hair, or have a literally rectangular face true to the drawing. Worth trying, though. Maybe it would have worked.

I mean, so far I really would say it's the update speed that's the big killer. I'm not sure what you can do about that if everything about you situation is unchangeable as you suggest. Another thing though is I feel like the plot might've gotten lost a little bit? Although that also ties into update speed, so...

For what it's worth, I'm one of those readers that don't really suggest much.

Other than that, main thing I could say is that the quest was more interesting before, but I'm not sure why. Part of it was the mystery coupled with the seeming danger. But I also remember really enjoying the first encounters with Nouille. Saving the prisoners and dealing with blue guy was also entertaining to see the kinda messed up situation they had to deal with.

Lately I found myself kinda in "wait" mode. Kinda waiting for the next interesting part of the quest. The "Dream" was kinda interesting, but maybe it's just cause I like Nouille. At this point, anytime we get to see her do whatever and have cute reactions is enjoyable to me. Katie seemed also likable but I feel like we didn't see her a whole lot ever since she can walk around a bit. And her not being in the title band here seems distressing, lol. Maybe I missed something. And jumping from mind to mind gets a bit tiring at the rate it happens seemingly randomly.

I dunno. Just some thoughts based on what I am currently remembering. I could have gotten elements wrong or whatever.

>>126368
Sounds like you're suffering the effects of waifu withdrawal. I prescribe more four-armed red ladies to ease your symptoms.

I've been following the plot as best I can. Xyphylys' infodump went a long way towards helping us understand Jack's plight. That said, I think Jack's done enough hole digging on this seemingly barren rock. Maybe it's time he started digging himself out of trouble?

I do love the model work.

>>126368
I think that's part of it for me as well. I like Katie and Nouille, particularly worried about the former. Aside from that, it feels like things are in a pseudo-lull so far to me.

>>126372
I'm concerned that Katie isn't even showing up in the Q&A page.

honestly the art style shifts haven't been terribly noticeable, I'd worry more about the sudden plot derailments. Feels like we're being shuttled from place to place rather than exploring the world in an organic matter, especially when we're leaving plot elements unfinished before leaving.

I get the gimmick of hiatuses happening in semi-real time too, but I'd drop it since it's more likely to just cause frustration. Helps to think of how a quest will hold up in an archive binge vs real time players.

Don't read too much into Katie not being in the Q&A thing. I don't have her model ready right this moment, otherwise I would have put her in somewhere.

>>126375
Also, sorry if I don't reply to specific feedback. It is all invaluable, but I need to process it and think of how to move forward.

>>126369
Red lady still need to win me over. It's not too late, but yeah I'm vaguely indifferent about her, though leaning on dislike.

Male characters could be cool, but so far, again, no one has made me really like em much. Though I do really like the expression in this panel: >>/quest/908377 He still have to do likable things.

>>126375
That's a relief.

>>126378
This is a quest of hot bods and terrifying faces, although Nouielle manages to be both cute and scary.

>>126405
Yeah, that's a part I really appreciate about her. She has a messed up mouth but still manage to be a cutie that deserves to be hugged a lot.

Disclaimer: By slaves, I mean we're going to make HER free them.

I need to finish building up some assets before I can continue. I should have been doing this in the background while Jack was in trenchtown so that there would be no delay, but I have been waiting until I could get my hands on something that will hopefully help me make my art somewhat less shitty moving forward. I'm also going to use this time to upgrade to blender 2.8 and make some other improvements that should make things a little better.

Anyway, it shouldn't take me too long. Say, 2 to 4 weeks. In the future I will strive to have the next section's assets done before I get to the end of the current section, so that I don't need to have delays like this. I apologize and appreciate all/both of you who are still reading this molasses covered glacier of a quest.

>>127347
>appreciate all/both of you

Ha haha, you do you.

Nobody 2019/11/23(Sat)13:16 No. 131493 ID: 853489
File 157454379252.jpg - (854.53KB , 1513x917 , quickie render.jpg )

I checked back here out of curiosity and it seems like someone bumped this thread. I don't know if anyone is still curious, but if you are, here's a status update.

The tech stuff went more or less according to schedule. I didn't finish what I intended to do, but I was progressing along at a good pace and I didn't hit a road block or anything. Still, it's clearly a losing proposition to try and make environments in CGI, since it takes too much time to prepare which nullifies any time savings down the road- I think it would be a smarter idea to switch the workflow and instead prepare the characters in advance and render them, while drawing the environments myself.

Anyway, problems with the tech stuff aren't why I haven't been updating the quest. I'm a very private person and I don't want to get into personal details but this has been an extremely difficult year for me, beginning from around February and going straight through to now. In all honesty the difficult circumstances have been going on for longer then that, although it progressed to a worse stage in February. I tried to write it off as time consuming 'hobbies' in one of the first posts in this thread. I'm not entirely sure why I did that except that I really don't want to depress people or involve them in my personal life... although it has the unintentional effect of making me look like a lazy, good for nothing asshole, instead of a stressed out asshole that's in a bad place. Anyway, that was responsible for a lot of the slow down last year, which progressed into a total stoppage this year.

I'm sorry for not coming back on here to give an update until now. I am still interested in continuing this, although it won't be for awhile yet. I still need to take care of a few things more before I can settle back into updating this. I think I'll also have to change my plans a little for the quest- I'll have inevitably lost a bunch of readers from the year long hiatus and nobody wants to start reading a quest at part 5, right? But I think I have a solution to that.

(Attached image is how far I got with Nouille's village, which may not look close to being finished, but it was, for better or worse. Painting would not have taken more then a week or so- at least, not at the crap amateur-hour level of fidelity I was aiming for. Replacing the sky and setting a proper lighting/shadow system, adding smoke and fire effects, tossing in some asteroids, and other assorted polishing steps would have only taken a few hours out of a single day.

I think I'll be doing something else, though. I have some ideas in mind to make it more friendly to new readers.)

Nobody 2019/11/23(Sat)13:17 No. 131494 ID: 853489
File 157454386070.png - (180.13KB , 1600x1334 , village.png )

>>131493
(For comparison, this is the same village from the christmas comic I did awhile back.)

Sorry to hear you've been going through a rough patch lately and hope it get's better soon. Just remember though that you should worry about yourself first and if life is kicking you in the groin don't feel bad for taking time to try and let things sort themselves out. While I wouldn't mind seeing this quest come back the idea of a quest is to be fun, for both YOU and the reader. So don't feel the need to force yourself to do something if you're not enjoying it.

Again though, glad to hear that you're alright even if things haven't been going to smoothly and hope that it clears up soon. The 3D looks great.

Well, even if it didn't solve the problems you hoped it would, the work you did in 3D looks amazing. I hope what life throws at you sorts out, and remember interest in ROCK is not dead.

>>131493
Hey it's pretty stellar seeing you around again at the very least

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