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OR:TS - Frequently Asked Questions |
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Here are some answers to some of the questions you might have about Otaku Revolution: The Strip. |
| The obvious question: Why are you doing this strip? Well, it started with Bob and George: The Comic Strip. After reading that strip for the past several months, I started checking out the rest of the site, and I became a participant in their message board. After a while, I decided to make a sprite version of myself, and before long, I got the idea to make sprites of other people, particularly the members of the Otaku Revolution board. After playing around with the idea of making a strip, I developed a plan, and that's evolved into the site you're looking at right now. And it's pretty fun to do these strips... |
| How often is the strip updated? Currenlty, the update schedule for both Otaku Revolution: The Strip and Otaku Revolution 2015 is Monday night and Thursday night. Strip postings may be delayed on occasion; however, this is usually due to a busy personal schedule and the inability to get online from my home computer on that particular evening. If I go on hiatus, it will be announced, along with an expected return date. (In the past, I've put the strips on indefinite hiatus; I currently do not plan on taking any more breaks for the forseeable future, but if I do take a break, it will be a defined break, with a definite return date.) |
| Where do you get your ideas? From the combined experiences I've had on the message boards; from the time I joined the Big Bang Attack board in May 2000, to the formation of Otaku Revolution in December 2000; various chatroom adventures involving members of said boards; to a lesser extent, things that I've seen on other boards (from Planet Namek and Unrivaled, to places like UGE and Walt's ezboard); and the occasional "tribute" to other strips, and various anime and sci-fi series, movies, and websites. Add to that my own odd personal experiences in real life, and throw it all in the blender that is my mind, and that is where the strip resides. At least, until I have a chance to translate it into an actual strip. |
| What is Otaku Revolution, anyway? Well, to know what Otaku Revolution, the website and message board, were, you'll have to check out the Internet Archive. As far as the strip goes, though, Otaku Revolution is a city (more like a city-state, officially "The District of Otaku Revolution") located on a peninsula roughly the size of San Francisco (although nowhere near as hilly). 2001 Otaku Revolution map - Circa June 2001, following the Great Blackout of 2001 2002 Otaku Revolution map - Circa July 2002, the time of the First Party 2003 Otaku Revolution map - Circa March 2003, some months prior to "Otaku Revolution vs. PezHed" 2005 Otaku Revolution map - Circa September 2005, the beginning of the arc debuting at that time 2006 Otaku Revolution map - Circa June 2006, or the "Prelude to an Alternate Time" arc Bonus - Subway Maps! 2002 Subway System Map 2006 Subway System Map Much of the city hasn't been depicted, but the downtown area is toward the north, centered around the site of the former Admin Building (now the Department of Civil Safety), hospital, police station and courthouse, Sports and Recreation Center, and A Twist of Lime. Please note that Mikers' depiction of OR in his strip, OR: Side Story, is a bit different, due to differing creative interpretations. |
| What about the rest of this world? Although I have yet to render a map such as the one for OR City, there is a basic layout of the world, which is a fantasy world that is Earth, but isn't (kind of like the Earth in the Dragonball universe). Much of this Earth has not been laid out, though, as it no doubt consists of various other locations representing untold web communities; the primary focus is on the local continental area that contains OR and its neighbors. However, Antarctica remains identical to its real-life counterpart, except that it is a bit more populated, thanks to OR: Side Story/Penguin Chronicles. Gogeta Island, home of the former UGE, is several miles to the west of OR, along the coastline. It is connected to the mainland by a long causeway. Further west, as the coastline turns toward the south, is the abandoned Namek City (Planet Namek). Many residents moved on to Shadow City (Shadows of Namek), whose location is something of a mystery at this time... A few hours south of Namek, well inland, is Unrivaled City. Mostly harmless. Quite a ways northwest of OR, along the northern shore of the North Sea, is Arctic Nightfall. Utterly harmless in relation to OR, although no formal relationships exist between the two. Finally, just to the southeast of OR, between the Dragon Mountains and the coast, lies the location of the former BBA. And for the record, any animosity that existed between communities in the past is pretty much gone. If there's any feeling between communities, it's apathy. |
| What is this about this "BBA" thing, anyway, and why is it a wasteland? "BBA", of course, refers to the Big Bang Attack website, ran by Korey "Longshot" Marceniak, and mentioned above in the "Ideas" topic. From March 2000 to January 2001, Longshot ran a message board along with the website, and for a while he hosted the Temple O' Trunks forum. It was through the BBA, and often specifically via the ToT, that many future OR members met online for the first time. However, a lot of things went down that resulted first in the ToT forum being removed from the board, and subsequently the board itself being shut down. Several months after the board's demise, the website itself was shut down due to a lack of interest. It's not really a pleasant memory, but it is a significant part of OR's history, as the ToT played a significant part in the formation of the Otaku Revolution board. In terms of the strip, it is established that after the Temple relocated to what became Otaku Revolution, Longshot decided to bring a very abrupt end to his city, ordering an evacuation before literally destroying the city. A small bay was formed by the explosion where the downtown area used to be, although a few buildings on the perimiter managed to survive the blast, despite being buried. |
| How do you make your sprites / strips? Well, I started with sprite sheets I downloaded from Sprites, Inc., and a couple of other sources that I happened to stumble upon. For the bulk of my work, I use Microsoft Paint. (I save a sprite set as a 24-bit BMP file before I start editing, so that I'm not restricted by the sprite sheet's original pallette.) Once the sprites are done, I assemble them into the strips in Paint. For special effects and other work, I use Jasc Software's Paint Shop Pro 8. Past work was done with a trial version of PSP7, which expired in December 2001, or with Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2.0 (a much weaker overall program, but still effective for layers and some effects - I used PD for the Cell Cruiser teleportation effect, for example). In the past, I saved strips into the GIF format for posting online; beginning with the Otaku Wars saga, and going back retroactively to the Karaoke sequence at A Twist of Lime, I've been using the PNG format instead. Plans to convert the older strips to PNG have been in the works, although I did lose a significant portion of strips in their original BMP format... the first 100 strips have been converted, but I haven't had time to give the rest their proper treatment. A couple of strips really need touching up, as well. For converting files to GIF, I have utilized Gamani's GIF Movie Gear. For PNG files, I began converting them with Broderbund's The Print Shop PhotoPro, but I currently use PSP8 (which can be really useful, as it can reduce colors - and therefore file size - with minimal loss). Something I've come across in the Bob and George chat and forums is that some spriters and stripmakers are coming across a problem when converting their files to GIF format. When they convert their files, the resulting image comes out looking spotty. This process is called "dithering", and it is designed for converting photographs to GIF format. When you're converting your files, make sure to look for an option that says "dithering" or "dither to pallette", and turn it off. This prevents your spotty images. And if you're doing your own sprites, please, NEVER save them as JPEG files! The JPEG compression format makes them come out with color distortions, and it just isn't a pretty result. Always save sprites for your own use as 24-bit Bitmaps, and if you're posting them online, save them as GIF files in one of the aforementioned programs (NOT PAINT), or if you have the capability, save them as a PNG file. I would actually recommend PNGs, as they not only can display thousands of colors (unlike the GIF's 256-color pallette), but for images that do contain a GIF-sized pallette, a PNG actually (usually) produces a smaller file (meaning less disk space, and all of the benefits that result from that). For actual strips, though, JPEGs are acceptable, especially if you're using 32-bit or photo-quality backgrounds, but only if you're using high-quality (low-compression) JPEGs. Never, EVER, save from Microsoft Paint into a JPEG file. |
| Why don't you use any Mega Man characters? Two reasons why: 1) There are numerous comics already featuring these characters, and that's just within the Bob and George fancomics... I'm sure that there are even more out there on the Internet; 2) I have more characters than I know what to do with already. I'll use guest appearances featuring members of other communities on occasion, but not the Mega Man characters themselves. |
| Can I use your characters/sprites/backgrounds in my strip? Short answer: No. Long answer: I have to take it on a case-by-case basis. Remember, almost every character I use represents an actual person, be it a member of Otaku Revolution, the former UGE, Arctic Nightfall, or the Bob and George community. If you're an established stripmaker who is looking for some guest appearances, then I will take into consideration providing you with my sheet, as I'm willing to accept requests to cameo in other strips, although I am much more reluctant to release the use of other characters; if you're just starting out, and are looking for a cast, then you really should find a way to develop your own cast. I have invested a vast amount of time and work into the sprites and backgrounds I have made, and several others (such as Ryan, Nikki, and Mike, for example) have put a lot of hard work into the sprites that they've submitted (not to mention whatever cleanup work I do on them and additional poses that I make for them). For those reasons, and a good number more that I don't wish to get into, I'm not going to give these materials out freely. |
| Can I be in your strip? Put bluntly, I've tried to restrict the number of active characters I'm currently using in the strip. If you're not a member of OR, and haven't already been in the strip, then the answer's an almost-certain no. (I reserve the right to make exceptions, although they will be extremely limited at this point in time.) |
| How do I contact you? Via the Private Messages at either Arctic Nightfall or Bob and George (username is Rob on both), or by commenting on a post on the OR Livejournal. If you want to send me an e-mail, you have to PM me first. If you wish to submit a sprite sheet for consideration, I will PM you the address to send the sheet to (unless you choose to post it online yourself). |
| What's with this bar, anyway? A Twist of Lime is much more than a bar... it's a complete entertainment and resort complex! The basics of the bar's history is explained in the strip, actually. Credit to MIKEFG883 for coming up with the name of the bar, A Twist of Lime; and credit to ChibiMajinVegita for the original bar concept, and MarlePluto for the Luv Shack concept (which has been reimagined as Hotel Chibi). |
| What about Otaku Revolution 2015? What's the deal with that? OR2015, of course, is my concept of a dark future, the result of a terrible war between Otaku Revolution and its allied forces, and a dark army led by Jiggs of the former UGE. Many of OR's leaders were wiped out in a massacre that preceded the war, and the dark army nearly won. What turned the time in favor of the Alliance forces was the introduction of PezHed's superior military technology, allowing the Alliance to win the war. Following the war, Pez remained in command, and supervised the rebuilding process. However, in the years that have passed, an empire has formed under her, that has turned corrupt. Now, it is April 2015, and someone has arrived from the past... This was an idea I'd been kicking around for the strip, and instead decided to spin off into its own, allowing me to get back to opening the bar (which had been much-delayed as it was). Of course, in one sense, OR2015 was resolved before the strip even began, as its main character (me) had already returned, and affected enough change to prevent the massacre that set off the war. However, it is still a story I'd like to tell, and it is a story on a grand scale... Presently, 2015 updates on the same schedule as OR:TS, and I've kept the strips in sync, so that when I post OR:TS 0670, I'll post OR2015 0170 at the same time. |
| Okay, what's the deal with you and Pez? That's between us. Actually, we're just friends, although I do care a great deal about her. Kind of like how I feel about my sister, except with less animosity. Plus, she's been a consultant on the strip. As far as anything else... let's just say that I'm a realist. As long as we're friends, and as long as she's happy, I'm happy. |
| I hope that does it for now... |
