Panel 1:
A blue screen with a number 18 in the lower right.

Panel 2:
A woman appears on the monitor: When can we expect communication with earth to be established again?

Panel 3:
Darzi appears: We haven’t established a firm timeframe; however, it shouldn’t take more than a year.

Panel 4:
Darzi (continued): The good news is that humanity now has a sustainable population on this side. In the meantime—

Heather, Triss, and Quizzik stand in a diner, in front of the same TV.

Quizzik: OUR work is done.
 

Center World 11.4

It's been too long! Schedules are still very difficult for me to keep, so I just plan to post pages in singles or batches as I finish them. I love you all!

More Sand Than Oil

More Sand Than Oil is my contribution to Quake Brutalist Jam 2.

Atmosphere and visuals were my focus for this one. I brought it to life with some custom rain sound effects, as well as blending sand with concrete brutalism. Of course, throwing in a few references to Front 242 didn’t hurt either.

I have to admit that playing the first Quake Brutalist Jam was one of the things that made me pursue Quake mapping. I’ve played mods for Quake for a very long time while lurking just outside of the community, but never thought that about making my own. Then, I was presented with a stunning collection of art pieces that people were bringing to life inside this old game.

I found and downloaded Trenchbroom, and I was hooked.

Some notes on inspiration and my process for this map follow below.

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Die Farbe (The Color)

I have a new map for Quake out, this time as part of FireBlu Jam! It’s a small Runic themed map that I planned and put together over about 2 days.

As is the case with Doom’s fireblu texture, this jam is full of alternating red and blue textures, and at times, flashing lights.

Overall, there are some maps with some really smart use of these textures. Of particular note is Fire Is Raging Eagerly. Blu Lingers Underneath. by IceColdTofu, FIREBLU Infestation by Avix, and Rottensweet by Adib Murad.

Updates:

This map has also been updated to better support co-op play (along with the rest of the pack). Also, if you have issues with photosensitivity, there is an alternative version in the Slipseer discussion tab that does without the animated red-blue texture.

Trailer by Common Cold

Upright in Blue

Upright in Blue is another Quake map, this time built on Arcane Dimensions. I put it together roughly over two weeks in total for Explore Jam 3. As such, the map doesn’t feature any combat, and instead focuses on exploration and collection of secrets (in this specific case, company memos).

It’s based on the locations seen at the start of Center World, Chapter 7, when Heather visits Darzi at Calgary Gate. This time, the building is explored at night, when it is (mostly) empty. However, you will learn that someone is aware of your presence.

The jam as a whole is quite varied, with a lot of sink your teeth into. Simon “Sock” O’Callaghan has contributed two maps, in addition to the start map, which itself is filled with puzzles to solve and much to explore. Aesopolis’ contribution, Nook of the Earth, is one of my personal favorites, that I also highly recommend checking out!

Some of these maps will cause Quakespasm to crash. It is recommend to play with VKQuake or Ironwail.

Download Explore Jam 3, now released on Slipseer.

Licked Clean

I’m working on a little bit more of a buffer before I post more comic updates, since I want the next few pages to appear closer together!

Meanwhile, I’ve put together a couple more Quake maps over the course of the past few months. One is yet to be released, since it is part of a larger map pack, but is complete. The other has been released over the weekend, as part of Dog Jam, a fun little project with a restriction on using just the rottweiler.

The map is titled Licked Clean. You are stripped of your weapons and fed to the dogs in a metal dungeon.

The custom models by Kebby really elevated this to something a little more fun and unique; however, I do think the concept was somewhat under-utilized, where I wish more people joined in. All-in-all, this was a neat piece to practice with.

You can find and download Dog Jam on Slipseer.

Lost in the Sauce

I had to let my drawing hand heal some after a small injury last week. Since I still wanted to do something creative with my time, I put together another map for Quake, this time for a speed mapping event. It’s titled Lost in the Sauce.

It’s a remake of cs_italy (Counter-Strike: Source), with some added Quake flavor for single player, along with some small extra added areas that I felt could exist within the original map. I ran right up to the wire with the time limit, so I had to rush a couple of sections, but I’m pretty happy overall with how this one turned out!

You can download it with the Quad Run II map pack over on Slipseer.

A few of my personal favorites in the pack are Get Digging! by Pinchy, The Dissolution of Mind & Matter by Repator, and Dances with Quads by Mazu.

Rancid Retrofit

It’s been a while!

I mentioned this in the comments for my latest comic page: I’ve been busy! I’ve ended up with my own house, so my life’s been consumed with furniture shopping, rearranging things, and figuring out how things are supposed to work out. As a result, I’ve had to take a break from updating the comic. I’m slowly getting back to it, now that I’m settled in again, and I hope to post some new pages soon once I feel comfortable with a small buffer.

In between all of that, I’ve also taken to dabbling in some new things lately, including mapping for Quake after discovering Trenchbroom. This isn’t my first experience with game development or mapping, but it is my first experience doing anything like that in a true 3D space! The result is my first completed map, Rancid Retrofit, which was created as part of Sewer Jam 2.

It’s a Rubicon 2 themed map, and has a few fancy tricks going on, thanks to the Alkaline mod, such as working ladders and rising water. There are also new enemies that don’t exist in regular Quake.

If you’re not familiar with Alkaline, I definitely recommend checking out the page and playing the mod’s campaign. Of course, you’ll need a source port, and the .pak files in the id1 folder from the original Quake game to play.

Sewer Jam 2 on Slipseer.

Dead Light

Happy Halloween! This year, I have a story written by Di, featuring Iris & Phoenix, to present for the occasion.

Sometimes things felt just plain wrong.

Not wrong like realizing too late that you answered incorrectly on the test, or say the wrong thing in front of your girlfriend’s parents. Wrong with a capital w, and it was persistent. Not constant, thank god, but close enough to it that it was starting to make everyone feel on edge. Iris was agitated, tapping the tips of her pointed fingers on the edge of the boat, while Phoenix kept himself busy leaning against the mast, flicking a lighter open and closed with his thumb. He should have retired below deck with Midnight, away from the churning visuals of the water around them, but neither spotwould lessen the misery brewing.

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