Even Moar Largos

Fred had an ok past few weeks production-wise, including visual novel, comic, and other art work.

Fred got more of the sketchy early backgrounds and Largo characters redrawn. These early scenes were from before we really had a handle on how to do this well. So there were a lot of different Largo poses that were drawn, with little effort to reuse or modify existing character drawings. Fred is paying for that all over again as he redraws some of that early work to improve the quality of the artwork.

We struggled a bit with deciding where to stop on redoing Largo drawings. But we’re now going to just redo the ones up until they leave for the Japan. The ones on the plane and at Narita are good enough, and we’re better off moving on. There are still a couple more early Largo’s to redraw, and then a longer list of minor tweaks and fixes to the Book 1 Piro canon route. That’s next.

Shadow also made some technical improvements to our stand-in BakaQuake scene. It had been taking up way to much memory and resources, but he’s made some significant improvements there. Our original concept for the BakaQuake scene is still stuck in development, so we will likely be using this stand-in for some time yet. I think the stand-in works pretty well though.

Fred hit his 4 comic per month target for June and got a jump on the comics for July. Thank you very much to supporters of his Patreon for helping make this possible. If you haven’t caught up on the most recent comics, Ninjagrrl (above) is a lot of fun.

Fred also worked on a few more story development artworks. Above you can see Junpei and Yaku in a possible future scene. Junpei’s hair is normally striped with blue, but he’s blonde here. It will be interesting if/when we find out the reason why. The color and pencil versions of this drawing as well as many of the original pencil drawings from recent comics are available in the Megagear store.

Sorry this is taking so long. Thank you all very much for your patience and your support.

New Server and Forum

The past several weeks have been up and down for Fred and Megatokyo. Fred’s dad had surgery, and with his age and health issues that required a lot of help from Fred. Also, Fred struggled with the comics over the last month. He’s happy with the results, but the actual process of creating them was more difficult and time-consuming than usual.

Fred did get some work done on the visual novel, continuing to clean up and improve some of the early Largo character drawings. Hopefully the comic production will flow better again soon, and that’ll leave him more time for visual novel work.

In spite of Fred’s struggles with the comic, he did just meet his goal of getting 4 comics done for May, and they’re good ones. The first comic for June should be coming soon. Thanks again to supporters of Fred’s Patreon for helping make the more frequent comics possible.

Speaking of the comic, the main Megatokyo website has been moved to a new server. Fred drew the picture above of the new server (Yumemi) comforting the old server (Akiko), who is very tired. With Yumemi, the site should be faster and more reliable than with poor tired Akiko.

We also updated the Megatokyo forums to a new server and updated software. Posts from the old forum were not brought forward to the new, but the old forum is still visible if you want to look at an old post. People who had visited the old forum while logged in sometime in the last year have had their accounts migrated to the new site. This new forum should also be faster and more reliable than the old. The forum for discussion of the Megatokyo Visual Novel is now part of the main Megatokyo Forum, where hopefully it will not get overrun by spambots like the old VN forum was.

Sorry this is taking so long. Thank you all very much for your patience and your support.

 

Cleanup

Fred had more family and life issues these last few weeks, but he still managed to get some good work done, including more progress on the visual novel.

LargoAwesomeness

The playthrough review Fred did a few weeks ago generated a good sized to-do list of stuff that needs cleaned up and tweaked. Most of the cleanup issues are from the early scenes, before we got settled on how to do things. Above, you can see a new background for outside of E3 as well as a redrawn Largo. These were way too sketchy with the initial drawings, but are much better now. There will be more of this kind of thing to come.

PirokoModel

Fred also made some model drawings of Piroko. Java plans to use these drawings to develop a 3D model of Piroko for use in the BakaQuake video. We’ve been struggling with figuring out how to make this work right, but we think we have a way forward now. We also think we’ve overcome some of the things there were holding up work on the Piro-route OP, so that should be moving forward now as well.

ComicNinja

Fred put out 4 comics in April, and plans to try for 5 in May. The support for Fred’s new Patreon has made a big difference here. Thank you very much to the supporters.

GreatUnderground

Thomas Knapp released his latest Megatokyo Endgames light novel “The Great Underground Empire”. This one is the further adventures of Pirogoeth following the events in the last book. You can find it on Amazon, Barnes-and-Noble, or Kobo in both print and ebook.

SavePointPing

Fred managed a couple more development artworks, including the Ping above from his ‘Save Point’ alt universe.

TwitchEmotes

And finally, Fred added a few new emotes for subscribers to his Twitch channel. These are all girls from Megatokyo, except for the 2nd one, who is Taisiya from his planned reboot of Warmth. Fred does almost all of his drawing work live on Twitch, so join us for the livedraws.

As always, sorry this is taking so long. Thank you all very much for your patience and your support.

 

Comics

The last few weeks were pretty productive for Fred, in spite of losing power and internets for nearly a week due to a bad windstorm in his area. Fred got 4 (!!!!) comics done in March, some good work on the visual novel, and some other artwork as well.

BoothReview

Fred got the last items done on our initial ToDo list for the Piro canon route for book 1. Next up was a thorough review, looking for what needed cleaned up and improved. Fred did some of this live on Twitch.

EarlyLargo LaterLargo

Overall, it looks pretty good. There is a difference in the sketchiness of the artwork between some of the early scenes and later on. You can see it in the Largos and backgrounds above. Much like the real comic, Fred is getting better at this as he goes. He’s trying really hard not to go back and redo all that early stuff, since that would delay things even more. But there is some of that early stuff (like the screenshot above) that he is going to improve. He made a list of things like that during the playthroughs, and that’s what we’ll be working on next.

BakaQuakeSketchy

Shadow got the BakaQuake scene working with the temporary thumbnail sketches that Fred had made. We still hope to replace this with something better later on, but it’s kinda neat the way it is. The music Shaggy made for this scene works really well, and Shadow still wants to add some sound effects. Fred is going to leave these sketchy like this for now, but he does plan to clean up a few of them a bit to make the action more clear.

HeadPats

Fred also had time to do a few story development arts, including the Mugi and Miho above as well as one with ZomZom having a human form like in the Dragon Maid anime.

This past month was also Fred’s most productive for comics in years. It’s really the support folks have given to his new Patreon that has made this possible. Fred is thrilled to be putting out comics at a decent rate again, and long may it continue. Thank you.

Sorry this is taking so long. Thank you all very much for your patience and support.

 

Darkness

Fred had a pretty productive few weeks since the last update, including some good work on the visual novel, three new megatokyo comics, and setting up his new Patreon site.

NightBackgroundLargoDedBrw

For the visual novel, he photoshopped a bunch of his existing backgrounds to turn them into night scenes. He also redrew or tweaked some of the existing character art. The Largo above had looked a little strange in the first version, but this is much better. Fred and Shadow also worked on the timing for the temporary BakaQuake scene. We still hope to replace that with something much better eventually, but the current version is actually kinda neat.

We’re getting even closer to finishing up the Piro canon route for Book 1. Fred still has some misc objects to draw, DarkMorford is finishing up the OP, and we’ll need to do some serious playthrough testing and polishing. But it feels really good to have a milestone in sight.

SavePointFlightDeck

Fred also drew another of his Bomber Girls series. This one is on the Flight Deck, with the ghost of Asako floating in the background.

One of the big things Fred got done these last few weeks was finally setting up a Patreon site. The idea is to provide a way for people to support the comic directly, so he can spend more time making comics and less time making drawings intended for sale. You can read all about it in his Rant on the Megatokyo site or go straight to the Patreon site itself. Please consider supporting, and a big Thank You to all who already have.

Sorry this is taking so long. Thank you all very much for your patience and your support.

 

PiroQuake

It was a fairly productive few weeks since the last update. Fred ended up in the emergency room with a kidney stone, which wiped him out for a few days. But other than that, he got a little work done on a whole lot of different things, including two comics and some work on the visual novel.

StoreStuff

Fred got the 360 degree background done for the visual novel scene where Piro chases his tail. Shadow rigged up a quick little game where you spin around and have to catch the tail. It works pretty well, I think. You get distracted for just a minute, and that makes Kimiko showing up as much a surprise to the player as it is to Piro.

PiroQuakeStoryboard

Fred also did a lot of work on new thumbnail storyboards for the BakaQuake scene. We had initially hoped to do something fancy here, actually using the quake engine to make a short movie. But that has proved much more difficult than we had thought. We haven’t given up on it, but these storyboards will go in its place for now. The to-do list for Piro canon route Book 1 is getting ever shorter. It feels good to be approaching a milestone.

SavePointYaku

Fred also got a little more work done on Warmth and drew couple of new Save Point bomber girl scenes (including the Yaku above). I think he has almost enough already for a Save Point calendar later this year. He also started on the cover for Chemi’s next Megatokyo Endgames novel “The Great Underground Empire”, and he got the new Miho blankets on order.

In spite of this being a reasonably productive few weeks, Fred would like to be doing more: especially comics and visual novel. He has a plan. More news on that soon.

Fred streams his drawing work live on Twitch. He’s had some problems lately with his Comcast line, but he’s working on trying to get that fixed. Join us for the live draws. They’re a lot of fun.

Sorry this is taking so long. Thank you all very much for your patience and your support.

Tail Chase

It was yet another rough several weeks for Fred. The artwork for the last couple of comics have taken more work than usual, and he’s had less time to draw with his son off of school for the holidays. But he did get some good comics done, and some progress on the visual novel. We’re hoping things will pick up again now with school starting again.

kimikoiac

He drew the Kimikos for the scene at Megagamers where Piro rips the tail off of his costume. He still needs to finish the background for this scene, which is tricky because it follows a 360 spin as Piro chases his tail. Shadow has turned this into a quick minigame where you have to catch Piro’s tail. Fred needs to draw the tail as well, to replace the purple placeholder above.

pingbox

Fred also drew a couple of new Pings for the scene where Piro and Largo return to Tsubasa’s apartment to find him having left for America. She stands there for a while as Piro reads his note, so we needed a couple more poses make it all feel less static.

characterheights

Fred also drew another street scene for Yoyogi and got a little better organized with a character height chart. Next up should be finishing off the background and objects for the Tail Chase scene.

In other news, Thomas Knapp has finished the first draft of “The Great Underground Empire”, the next Megatokyo Endgames light novel. This one will continue Pirogoeth’s adventures from “The Daynish Campaign”.

As always, you can watch Fred work on the visual novel, comic, and other stuff live on Twitch. Fred had some real problems with Twitch streaming these past few weeks, but he got a new modem and that has made a real difference. Join us for the live draws. They’re a lot of fun.

Sorry this is taking so long. Thank you all very much for your patience and your support.

Moar Largos

It was another rough several weeks for Fred, but he did manage to get a few things done, including some work on the Visual Novel. Hopefully things ease up on him over the holidays and we can make some good progress on the visual novel and Fred can get the comics back to a more regular release schedule.

largomonster

Fred drew a bunch of new Largos, which almost finishes off the Largo drawings for the Book 1 Piro canon route. Fred was able to do some of these drawings by modifying ones that were already done. Changing Largo’s shirt or adding Boo on his shoulder in Photoshop are a lot faster than drawing from scratch. But he did have to draw some new poses as well, like the one above, and those take more time. Largo is so expressive that he needs a lot of this kind of thing.

pingcg

He also colored the Ping CG event for when Ping is first introduced. We’re getting closer to being done with the Book 1 Piro canon route. Next up for visual novel work will likely be a few drawings of Kimiko.

mihoblanket

Fred finished the design of the new Miho blanket. The new blanket is only available via pre-order from the Megagear store, and will be available for preorder until 29 December. This is an afghan throw like the other blankets of the last couple of years. It is not a fleece like the original Miho blanket was. Unfortunately the mill that made those old fleece blankets closed down years ago.

asakowings

Fred put a bunch of new Fine Art Prints up on Megagear. These are mostly from the development art and coloring he has done over the last year or so, and they are very nice. He also put up more Original Arts on Megagear, which are mostly panel art from the more recent comics. This is a great way to help support Fred and MegaTokyo.

Sorry this is taking so long. Thank you all very much for your patience and support.

Youmacon

The hard drive failed in Fred’s main computer a couple of weeks ago, but fortunately he was able to recover just about everything. In spite of that delay, Fred did manage to get a good bit of work done, including some good work on the visual novel.

largolacksbeer yanigasawa

For the visual novel, Fred got the Yanagisawa drawings done for book 1, as well as about half of the Largo drawings on the immediate To Do list. Largo is so expressive that he needs a lot of variations drawn. We also realized that we were not being as consistent with the heights of the characters as we wanted. So Fred did a lot of scaling and reorganizing of layers in photoshop to make that all work better going forward. We’re not done with the Piro canon route for book 1 yet, but we’re getting closer.

youmacontshirts

The folks at Youmacon asked Fred to draw the tshirts for this year’s con, with a pirates vs ninjas theme. They turned out really nice. It took Fred a good 2 weeks to do these, what with all the extra cleanup, coloring, and vectoring that he doesn’t normally have to do with his comic work. This is the main reason why the comic, visual novel, and other projects were delayed some.

Fred and Thomas Knapp (author of the Megatokyo:Endgames light novels) will be at Youmacon again this year. If you are in the Detroit area, stop by and say Hi. Fred will be doing 2 panels and will have some advance copies of the Megatokyo Omnibus 2 and a bunch of Fine Art Prints for sale.

omnibus2

The Megatokyo Omnibus 2 is scheduled for release on 15 November, but it is available for preorder on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The Omnibus 2 includes books 4 through 6 plus bonus material and clocks in at a massive 752 pages. If Fred has any leftover from Youmacon, he might offer them through the Megagear store, but he’s not going to stock them. So you can wait a couple of weeks for your local bookseller to have them, or you can preorder now from the big online sites.

mihoblankettest

Fred also got working on a design for a new Miho blanket. The design isn’t finalized yet — he wants to add a bit of color, but needs to talk to the blanket folks yet to see what would work best. He should have these available for preorder through the Megagear store before xmas, with delivery early next year.

Fred is planning to start on the next comic today. You can watch Fred draw the comic, work on the visual novel, and do other drawing work live on Twitch. Join us for the live draws. They’re a lot of fun.

Sorry this is taking so long. Thank you all very much for your patience and your support.

Ping-chan

Fred had another rough few weeks, including middle-of-the-night emergency dental surgery and other family medical issues, the continuing issues dealing with his parents’ failing health, and some struggles getting the art right for the latest comic. But he did still manage to get some good stuff done, including some visual novel work. Hopefully things are easing up for him now, and we’ll be back rolling on the visual novel.

pingstandby pingmaid

Fred did get the Pings finished, cleaned up, and integrated into the visual novel, which is a big step forward. It’s interesting. After 16 years of Megatokyo we’ve become used to Ping as a very sweet person, and it’s a bit shocking and sad to really look at her introduction again and how Tsubasa, Piro, and others treat her more as a thing than a person. The visual novel works really well in with things like that.

pingcgpencil

Fred got the CG event for Ping’s introduction drawn, though he still has to color it. And he also got started on the Yanagisawas. Next up will be a lot of photoshop work to make the different variations for Yanagisawa and Largo that are needed for the rest of the Book 1 Piro canon route. Not only are we getting to the point where we can reuse some existing artwork rather than Fred having to draw everything new for every scene, but he’s also able to modify some previous artwork to change outfits or expressions instead of having to draw completely new from scratch. This should help a lot with the upcoming Largo artwork. We’re hopeful that this will start to make a real difference in production speed going forward.

mihodrunk yakupingmegumipoker

Fred also did some more character development drawings. These are from the same alternate universe as last months drawing of the MT girls as the crew of the ‘Save Point’ bomber aircraft. Fred gets most of his story ideas by drawing, so this is kind of how he writes and develops.

Recent comic panels and development art like these are available at Fred’s Megagear store. Unfortunately, Fred’s t-shirt printer and dyesub are both broken, so the store only currently offers original arts and fine art prints. Fred is planning to outsource t-shirts and other swag, probably to Zazzle. But like with many other things, he is so overwhelmed with stuff to do that he hasn’t had time to get that done yet. Hopefully soon.

Fred and Thomas Knapp (author of the Megatokyo Endgames light novels) will once again be appearing at Youmacon in early November. If you are in the general Detroit area, stop by and say hi.

As always, you can watch Fred work on the visual novel, comic, and other stuff live on Twitch. Join us for the live draws. They’re a lot of fun.

Sorry this is taking so long. Thank you all very much for your patience and your support.