07/10/2010 [PF #124] - Sexy Beast

[Lore]

Gotta admit, that was not quite the reaction I was expecting. I suppose if you're into that type of thing...

[VAE]

heh.. the matchbox thing reminds me so much of a czechoslovak kid's tv series theme song... (a played one) the setting was that an old guy received a large packet by post box office and inside was (alive and well) his granddaughter.. i don't remember much of it's content except the song.. but it fits

[Meany]

Ah, so he's a polytheist is he?

Anyway, Wils' eyes in the fourth panel seem a bit...oh what's the proper word?  Creepy?  Disturbing?  ****ed up?  I assume by now the general meaning I'm trying to convey is getting through at least.

No questions for this one.  

[Tapewolf]

Technical details / whinging

This strip took about 12 hours to colour, most of which was spent on the middle two panels.  The line-art was a bit rough there in places and I spent about three hours tidying up before I even got as far as colouring it.  30 layers were used, though only about half of them are visible.
Getting the reflections to look right was the single biggest issue though there were others, like what Page's rosettes should look like.  Sadly Wuff was not available for comment

Ah, so he's a polytheist is he?

Unless the details have changed since, there are at least four gods in the DMFA universe.

Anyway, Wils' eyes in the fourth panel seem a bit...oh what's the proper word?  Creepy?  Disturbing?  ****ed up?  I assume by now the general meaning I'm trying to convey is getting through at least.

I hate doing eyes, it always goes wrong.  I was more concerned about Kris and Azrael's eyes...
However in that case, it's worth showing the original lines to get a feel for Wils' expression.


http://www.project-future.org/stuff/things/124_closeup.png

EDIT:

heh.. the matchbox thing reminds me so much of a czechoslovak kid's tv series theme song... (a played one) the setting was that an old guy received a large packet by post box office and inside was (alive and well) his granddaughter..

That reminds me.  Originally I was going to quote from a song about some kid who kept a beetle named Alexander in a matchbox, and his/her grandmother accidentally released it.  Unfortunately I don't know the name of the song, and I'd have to dig through a load of cassettes to find it.  I don't have a cassette player at the moment and I didn't actually like the song anyway

[LionHeart]

That reminds me.  Originally I was going to quote from a song about some kid who kept a beetle named Alexander in a matchbox, and his/her grandmother accidentally released it.  Unfortunately I don't know the name of the song, and I'd have to dig through a load of cassettes to find it.  I don't have a cassette player at the moment and I didn't actually like the song anyway

I believe that song was based on a poem by A. A. Milne. That's where I first encountered it, anyway.

IIRC it was his nanny, who was looking for a match, and didn't realise what was in the box, who opened it and let the beetle out.

"Nanny let my beetle out, and Beetle ran away."

Ha - found it!

[Chakat Blackspots]

Seems he likes being in the panther body.  Also, remind me what the bird flying across panel four is supposed to mean?

Also, the floor reflection is totally wrong too.

[Tapewolf]

I believe that song was based on a poem by A. A. Milne. That's where I first encountered it, anyway.
IIRC it was his nanny, who was looking for a match, and didn't realise what was in the box, who opened it and let the beetle out.
Ha - found it!

That's it, and yes, it was an A. A. Milne poem.  Though since I read those when I was about 6 I can't remember any of them.

Now if I can just work out who recorded it, it's going to bug me for days...

Also, the floor reflection is totally wrong too.

No, it's not.  It's mostly wrong.  "Totally wrong" is what I have spent the entire f***ing afternoon trying to fix.  By all means, if you want to have a go I can give you the xcf file.

[Suwako]

Sexy panther~

On note of the mirrors reflection, the fifth panel's faulty reflection is far more notable. Than the fourth is okay enough for me to glance over it when not looking for mistakes, but I do have a short attentionspan. The face he's making in the fourth panel is hard to see because of his colours, but the eyes stand out, it's indeed a little weird, but seeing what you had to work with....

So... he is into robophilia? :X Sure there is a actual term for it, but I am too lazy to search.

[VAE]

Fridge brilliance to the rescue!
The view shown would be justified if the upper part of the mirror was slightly forwards inclined...
And the mirror stands because there is a guy holding it... it is very possible that as he is bending forwards he used the mirror as support and isn't holding it straight!

[Tapewolf]

First, apologies for my outburst.  However, I have spent an inordinate amount of time redrawing the floor over and over and over and over again, redesigning the entire background at least once and so forth.  It was not fun and it feels like I've been told I shouldn't have bothered.

I have uploaded the XCF for this scene and if anyone wants to have a crack at redrawing the reflected floor they are more than welcome.  The layer of interest is, amazingly enough, 'reflected floor'.

On note of the mirrors reflection, the fifth panel's faulty reflection is far more notable. Than the fourth is okay enough for me to glance over it when not looking for mistakes, but I do have a short attentionspan. The face he's making in the fourth panel is hard to see because of his colours, but the eyes stand out, it's indeed a little weird, but seeing what you had to work with....

What bugs me somewhat is that the reflection in the fifth panel doesn't quite match what the panther is doing.  Unfortunately that requires Ren to fix...

So... he is into robophilia? :X Sure there is a actual term for it, but I am too lazy to search.

Actually it's something slightly more subtle than that.

[Chakat Blackspots]

So... he is into robophilia? :X Sure there is a actual term for it, but I am too lazy to search.

Actually it's something slightly more subtle than that.

Maybe he's like one of those furries that basically like fursuiting so much that they live in their suits and consider it sexy to do so (not that I know if those kind of furries actually exist or not)?

[Lore]

So... he is into robophilia? :X Sure there is a actual term for it, but I am too lazy to search.

Actually it's something slightly more subtle than that.

Is he like that one guy in Ghost in the Shell who gets off on inhabiting other bodies? o_o; (Granted, that guy swapped cyber-brains with an android maid.)

[Tapewolf]

Maybe he's like one of those furries that basically like fursuiting so much that they live in their suits and consider it sexy to do so (not that I know if those kind of furries actually exist or not)?

I figured that if you were to take a furry universe and try to work out what their equivalent of furries was, there are two ways it could go.  (Probably more than that in DMFA, because you'd also have Beings who wished they were 'Cubi, Demons, Angels, Fae etc...)

EDIT:

I might have another crack at rendering the floor in the morning :-/

[Chakat Blackspots]

Maybe he's like one of those furries that basically like fursuiting so much that they live in their suits and consider it sexy to do so (not that I know if those kind of furries actually exist or not)?

I figured that if you were to take a furry universe and try to work out what their equivalent of furries was, there are two ways it could go.  (Probably more than that in DMFA, because you'd also have Beings who wished they were 'Cubi, Demons, Angels, Fae etc...)

I remember somewhere in the forums the mentioning that there are also those in the DMFA universe that want to dress up as humans.  That might be the closest to what it would work with those humans who wish to dress up as anthropomorphic animals.

[Lore]

Maybe he's like one of those furries that basically like fursuiting so much that they live in their suits and consider it sexy to do so (not that I know if those kind of furries actually exist or not)?

I figured that if you were to take a furry universe and try to work out what their equivalent of furries was, there are two ways it could go.  (Probably more than that in DMFA, because you'd also have Beings who wished they were 'Cubi, Demons, Angels, Fae etc...)

I remember somewhere in the forums the mentioning that there are also those in the DMFA universe that want to dress up as humans.  That might be the closest to what it would work with those humans who wish to dress up as animals.

Damn Skinnies. They're all bald and pink. Freaks.

Actually, the idea of "furries" in furrae is extremely amusing.

[Chakat Blackspots]

I remember somewhere in the forums the mentioning that there are also those in the DMFA universe that want to dress up as humans.  That might be the closest to what it would work with those humans who wish to dress up as animals.

Damn Skinnies. They're all bald and pink. Freaks.

Actually, the idea of "furries" in furrae is extremely amusing.

Do they dress up as a wild animal?

[Tapewolf]

Do they dress up as a wild animal?

Wils is a Feralist.  [EDIT: Spoiler removed - it will be covered a bit in-comic later]


EDIT EDIT:
Feralism is covered in chapter 18, so it's a away off and probably not going to happen until early next year if my math is right.  If anyone wants to see the spoiler I can put it back

[Chakat Blackspots]

Do they dress up as a wild animal?

Wils is a Feralist.  [EDIT: Spoiler removed - it will be covered a bit in-comic later]


EDIT EDIT:
Feralism is covered in chapter 18, so it's a away off and probably not going to happen until early next year if my math is right.  If anyone wants to see the spoiler I can put it back

Ah, so he does like dressing up as a wild animal.  No, I don't mind the spoiler being there.

[Tapewolf]

Ah, so he does like dressing up as a wild animal.  No, I don't mind the spoiler being there.

MINOR SPOILER - LOOK AWAY NOW:

Wils is a Feralist.  He kind of wishes he was quadrupedal.  He doesn't have a quad suit or anything but he would, for example, have a picture of a feral cat or something as his forum avatar and maybe write stories about feral animals that can think but don't have hands.

[Chakat Blackspots]

Ah, so he does like dressing up as a wild animal.  No, I don't mind the spoiler being there.

MINOR SPOILER - LOOK AWAY NOW:

Wils is a Feralist.  He kind of wishes he was quadrupedal.  He doesn't have a quad suit or anything but he would, for example, have a picture of a feral cat or something as his forum avatar and maybe write stories about feral animals that can think but don't have hands.

That's not too far off from a small part of the furry fandom is like.  But it is pretty interesting.

[joshofspam]

You know that comment makes spooks picture he did for the last topic all the more amusing.

Now I beggin to wonder if he's going to insist that he get fur for that body?

Though you realize that Jacob won't just make money on the body itself? Think of all the accessories a body could carry.

Neon eyes, shape shifting, glow in the dark fur, in-head game system, mp3 or DVD players, and all the other goodies that a flesh body can't  carry.

[VAE]

The problem with selling those is that they are so ridiculously expensive that you would either lose cash on every sale or have a market size between delta and epsilon...

[MT Hazard]

I assume that if the androids don't breath, they they don't speak in the normal way either, using some kind of speaker instead. That could also explain one of the reasons Josh's voice was distorted after his second 'rebuilding'.

[Tapewolf]

I assume that if the androids don't breath, they they don't speak in the normal way either, using some kind of speaker instead. That could also explain one of the reasons Josh's voice was distorted after his second 'rebuilding'.

Actually they use a hybrid system.  The fundamentals and resonances are synthesized electronically and the transducer in their throats uses a compressed-air technique based on the auxetophone principle. However, the lips and tongue are used to shape the sounds in the normal way, otherwise - if it were mimed - it would look more like an animatronic creature.

The android voices tend to warble when they are deeply distraught.

[MT Hazard]

That's a well thought out answer. I'm guessing that unlike an auxetophone they have a good volume control else you'd have a couple of VERY LOUD ANDROIDS!

I fundamentally believe that the development of the next generation of robots relies on the creation of an artificial subconscious,or a set of electronic instincts, things that take minimum computing power to implement and free up resources  for higher functions. Speech alongside things like walking could be taught to one generation of robots and then copied into the next generation, forming their basic operating system, their lower mind. (something else you have touched upon in the comic)

what are peoples thoughts on this?

[Gabi]

I love how the bird with the scarf keeps coming back at the most awkward times.

[Tapewolf]

That's a well thought out answer. I'm guessing that unlike an auxetophone they have a good volume control else you'd have a couple of VERY LOUD ANDROIDS!

Yes, like a normal person the androids are able to speak softly, normally or shout as the occasion demands.  However, they can also shout more loudly than a normal Being would be able to.  (An idea I kind of stole from Caves of Steel)

I forgot to mention that only the androids have this technology - the aircraft and panthers use full speech synthesis since they're not supposed to be indistinguishable from a living creature.

[Inumo]

Does that mean that the panthers/aircraft can only talk in one set volume, or can they control their little volume slider on their own?

[Tapewolf]

Does that mean that the panthers/aircraft can only talk in one set volume, or can they control their little volume slider on their own?

Automatic gain control.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Heh. Been a while since I read Caves of Steel...