Well, there it is. Probably not a surprise to most, but I personally feel a bit let down. I could easily list a bunch of lame and boring excuses and reasons why I don’t have a comic ready, so, I will.
1) I need to have it fully written before I even start.
With Concerned, I had a lot of the comics written, at least in my head, before I even started making them. But there was a lot I didn’t know, and it sort of caught up with me towards the last few chapters. If I do another comic, I don’t want to wind up like I did with Concerned: sitting there at midnight, trying to come up with ideas for the comic that was due the next morning.
I have tons of ideas for 1Fort, but a lot of gaps in the story as well. Hopefully I’ll figure out the rest soon.
2) I’m not really up for doing a comic right now.
I’m having fun just plain gaming right now. TF2 is a blast, and this is really the first time I’ve had a bunch of friends all into the same game at the same time. I honestly can’t imagine spending my evenings doing comics while watching all the Steam notifications popping up and telling me all my friends are playing TF2 and having a great time while I’m sitting there all alone, slaving over a hot ragdoll.
3) I’m a bit of a perfectionist.
This is literally true. I’m a bit of a perfectionist. The bit of a perfectionist that I am is the bit that wants things to be completely, utterly perfect. I have an image in my head of how I want the comic to look and feel, and when something doesn’t turn out exactly how I want it to it feels like a knife in the nuggets. However, I’m unfortunately lacking all the other bits of a perfectionist, namely, the motivation to work endlessly at something until it is perfect. So, what I generally wind up with is something less than perfect that I absolutely loathe.
Take Concerned. Please take it, because I honestly can’t even look at it. It’s so far from the image that I had in my head that it quite honestly pains me to read it or look at it or really even think about it. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a few bits I’m okay with, and some of the jokes turned out well, but I think it could have been a million times better if I’d taken more time with it.
Granted, Concerned was a joke strip so it probably didn’t need to look that great anyway, but I really want 1Fort to be a real comic, and I want to be happy with it. I did some test pages just to see how I close I could come to how it looks in my head, and it’s just not there. I need to learn how to use Photoshop better and get a lot better at posing, and really come up with a storyboard instead of just throwing it together at the last minute. If I’m really going to do this, I’d like to do it right, for once.
So, that’s it. No comic yet, and no real idea when it’ll be ready, if ever. Things at my job are calming down a bit after a hectic couple of months, so I might be able to direct a bit more energy in the right direction.
I’ll pull another deadline out of my butt just so I feel some more stress about it — let’s say September. 1Fort didn’t come in May, but it may come in September.
57 responses so far ↓
1 Electrice Goobaloo // May 20, 2008 at 9:15 am
Its ok, as long as it gets done this year
wow, after playing all those Valve games, now you cant make a release date
Small world, huh?
GOOD LUCK!
2 Lack_26 // May 20, 2008 at 9:22 am
@Goobaloo, Coincidence I think not. It is my belief that Valve are brain washing Chris at this very moment, soon he will join their design team for episode 3 and then feel really apathetic about it.
3 Trid3nt // May 20, 2008 at 9:25 am
Done when it’s done eh?
4 Pentadact // May 20, 2008 at 9:49 am
I think I somehow missed that May was your deadline, so this isn’t disappointing at all. Take your time, and don’t do it if it’s going to become a chore. Every time I’ve had to pose something for a screenshot in the mag, I’ve ended up wanting to just reach into the screen and snap the Gman’s limp stupid neck with my bare hands, so I appreciate how much effort must go into Concerned’s perfect poses. It boggles the mind to think you find them lacking.
5 Matt // May 20, 2008 at 10:03 am
Just change “May” to “Maybe” and you’re all set :P
Keep having fun, we’ll be fine without the comic up until you release the first bit, when we’ll demand a new one constantly.
6 Punjabi Fury // May 20, 2008 at 10:15 am
Quality over speed is a solid philosophy.
Playing Valve games has taught me that I can wait forever for something awesome, so I will :-)
You’ll still be doing blog posts though, right?
7 Christopher // May 20, 2008 at 10:31 am
Yep. I’m working on a Monday Map Missive, I’ll have a new Demoman ready tomorrow, and some more Living In Oblivion before the end of the week.
8 Newt Pulsifer // May 20, 2008 at 10:38 am
Oh boy, you’re the best!
I have also forgotten that you would supposedly have some comics by May.
The blog is so nice, and the posts are marvelous (like the one about Pyro achievements, or the new VIP maps.. just to mention some. Awesome!)
Take your time, and please, do not quit “blogging” until September!
Cheers, mate! Have fun ^^
9 PsyWarrior // May 20, 2008 at 11:09 am
It’s kind of fortunate that 1fort attracts people who play valve games, as we’re kind of used to things being pushed back so that they can be done right :)
I look forward to the new 1fort and LIO posts. You made me buy Oblivion, and I’m obsessed with it now (damn you!).
10 Punjabi Fury // May 20, 2008 at 11:10 am
Oooh, lovely. That’s plenty to tide me over till the comic ;-)
11 Malc // May 20, 2008 at 11:26 am
Chris,
Though you were disappointed with concerned, I thought it was one of the best written and visually funny comics i’ve ever read. Cant wait to see what you have in store for us when you get down to writing 1fort.
12 CitrusFreak12 // May 20, 2008 at 11:32 am
Heh, I’m not surprised really. I kinda figured this would happen.
If you ever need any photoshop help, lemme know. I’m no expert but I’ve used it for something like 10 years now, which is pretty impressive considering that’s half my life so far.
I’m rambling now.
“TF2 is a blast, and this is really the first time I’ve had a bunch of friends all into the same game at the same time.”
MEFIGHT HAS CAUSED THE DEATH OF UR COMIC OH NOES.
Oh you probably mean Real Life friends, don’t you. :P
13 Wossname // May 20, 2008 at 11:42 am
TBH, I first started coming to this blog for promise of the comic, but I’ve really grown to enjoy all the posts, including OT stuff such as Oblivion.
Take your time and don’t overlook the community for Photoshop advice (been using it for 11 years, but that’s only about 1/3 of my life).
14 Binks // May 20, 2008 at 11:52 am
There’s a comic coming!? Awesome, Concerned was a lot of fun, whatever you come up with should be great. I know what you mean by the bit of perfectionism, I have the same thing. Large near perfect ideas in my head, and then I’m never happy with how they turn out in reality because I don’t want to put too much time into them.
Concerned was extremely well done however, especially near the end (the Nova Prospect chapter and the sibling were some of the best parts in my opinion). Don’t know how you can dislike something to awesome :P.
(And, just because part of me feels the need to throw it in, if you’d like any help with photoshop I’ve gotten pretty good with it, especially in the editing area (not the creating area, too much artistic skill missing :P). Just drop me a line if you need help with anything).
15 atomicthumbs // May 20, 2008 at 11:57 am
:(
16 CitrusFreak12 // May 20, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Just a heads up, Chris, you probably won’t make the September deadline either.
January of next year! Now that’s a good deadline…
17 All the hype // May 20, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I personally wanted it to come out, but I am patient. I respect your decision. When I was reading concerned, there were plenty of moments that could have been better, and after you changed your update schedule, I felt that they benefited from it. I’m sure this comic will be very great.
18 Mike // May 20, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Does this mean no LiO either? :(
19 TK // May 20, 2008 at 12:51 pm
@Mike: Chris said: “I’m working on a Monday Map Missive, I’ll have a new Demoman ready tomorrow, and some more Living In Oblivion before the end of the week.”
20 mr. Brit // May 20, 2008 at 1:01 pm
concerned was brilliantly put together but I understand where you are coming from. I have the same problem when I draw, it never comes out as you imagine.
No-one’s gonna begrudge you for taking your time. You don’t get payed so you can do as you please with it. I’m happy with more posts and oblivion updates!
21 Kreachure // May 20, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Chris: I don’t know why you want to do a “Concerned greatness x A MILLION” comic. All I know is that for as much regret you may have about it, I loved Concerned just the way it was, and I have been waiting for something like that (not a million times better) for a really long time.
I sincerely hope you get the comic to life, the way you want it. But I’d rather see a naturally hilarious strip with whatever level of photoshop it may feature, than nothing at all. I don’t expect you to do something you wouldn’t want to do, but… I don’t know what else to say really. In the end it’s your call to do or not do whatever it is you want to do. It would also be my call to feel… disappointed about the whole deal.
Again, I hope the comic sees the light of day the way you feel it was meant to. But until then… a ‘kbye’ from me seems to be pretty suiting.
22 RC-1290'Dreadnought' // May 20, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Just stick to [url=http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Valve_Time]Valve time[/url]
Html codes probably don’t work, do they?
23 go // May 20, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Dude, take your time, and try to overcome your perfectionism. It might not be perfect, but I just know it will be great. Concerned was.
24 Sam // May 20, 2008 at 1:46 pm
How ever much time it takes you. No point chucking out something you don’t want.
Still if you thought concerned was bad at points…I can’t wait to see 1fort, because I never saw a bad comic in concerned. They all rocked.
25 S-Guy // May 20, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Ah, its ok. If you put a lot of time in it, it should come out nicely. Everyone needs a little time (and usually caffeine) to get all of their ideas right.
~For the record, I really liked Concerned.
26 Chijts // May 20, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I agree with these other guys, relax about it. Don’t set yourself deadlines. But I think alot of the time the majority of creative things people do are never how they turn out, and that they feel they could do so much more.
There is a problem with trying to plan something out fully in advance though, you may find you miss out on those spur of the moment ideas that you would never think of otherwise, or it becomes too polished.
Concerned is one of the only comics that made me actually laugh out loud, and frequently.
27 Frohman Lives! // May 20, 2008 at 2:08 pm
@TK:
Different TK who leaves comments sometimes here.
YOU STOLE MY NAME.
@Chris:
Well, it’s a shame I won’t be seeing the comic this month, but I’m hoping it will take less time to come out than, oh, say, Episode 3 (Which we should see on shelves some time after Armageddon). I totally understand not having everything ready, and the perfectionist bit I get (Even though it doesn’t quite apply to me, Grand Master Underachiever of the Year).
So best of luck to thee and I shall continue to worship you as an Internet God until I get proof that the delay wasn’t worth it (Unlikely, so you won’t lose any worshippers any time soon.).
28 Ledundead // May 20, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Well, alright then. If it wasn’t for this blog, I wouldn’t have this memerized:
We got intruder alert!
Contact Kruger immediately! Tell him to double the guard in the train station area.
Do you really think anyone could get that far?
We’d better not risk taking chances. And if anyone managed to reach the upper monastary…
Then what?
Then we’re all dead.
That was from memory. Thank you, Chris Livingston! I can wait indefinitly for 1Fort, because I could just read Concerned again. You truly are a perfectionist if you think you could make it a million times better. Well, best of luck planning your story, I know how much that part sucks, especially if it’s an original story.
29 Jonah // May 20, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m not dying waiting for the new comic. I’m dying waiting for new blog updates! Keep those coming. They’re fantastic reads.
30 Enemyinsurgent // May 20, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Ahhh, thats blows it hard. Well hope to see it in the coming months.
31 madlep // May 20, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Man, you ARE a perfectionist. Concerned rocked :)
I know what you mean though. I’m the same way. It’s ridiculous the amount of stuff I start before the perfectionist in me clashes with the slack bastard in me, and I just give up on it or postpone it indefinitely.
32 Punjabi Fury // May 20, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Also, I really can’t imagine how you could improve on Concerned. It was bloody brilliant.
Concerned got me into the Half-Life series, which lead to Steam and everything that comes with it (TF2 included). Hell, it got me into PC gaming full stop.
Thanks you for that Chris.
33 tm.Mr.Sin // May 20, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Bah, take yer time. What yer doin’ here so far is entertaining. Makes my days in hell go by faster.
34 Blaze // May 20, 2008 at 4:01 pm
It’s cool, dude. Just keep blogging here and I’ll be fine with that. I was actually starting to get a little worried because you’ve been so quiet this past week.
35 SenatorPalpatine // May 20, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Too summarize the comments up to now:
1. Take your time with 1fort, make it your way, but we’ll love it even if it doesn’t exactly match your version of perfection.
2. Concerned was awesome, wtf are you talking about?
3. Please keep blogging.
(Also an undertone of 4. September??)
36 Tomical // May 20, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Chris, as everyone else is saying, take your time.
When Concerned was over and you stopped updating the extras, I thought you were gone for good. But I knew that I would wait forever just for a few more strips. And now, I don’t really mind waiting. I do, however, look forward to 1Fort greatly. It’s even my first bookmark page.
Just in case.
Anyway, September would be great because then it’ll be around my birthday!
…Unless you delay it again. That would suck.
37 Gimp // May 20, 2008 at 5:56 pm
At first i came to this blog for a hilarious new concerned style tf2 comic. But after visiting quite regularly and being distracted by your clever and witty blogs along with your other projects (i.e. living in oblivion, demoman etc) i completely forgot about the tf2 comic and only now did you remind me about it. So dissapointment never came into the equation, keep up the good work and as everyone else has been saying take your time
cheers
38 fan boy // May 20, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I think you are being a bit pessimistic. concerned was not always perfect put your posing was very good! very very good and it inspired me to begin posing as well. i don’t mind if you delay it but don’t beat yourself up for not doing something brilliantly. don’t forget you got a better computer from the donations. just keep at it and you’ll be ok! continue the brilliant blog by the way.
39 chris12 // May 20, 2008 at 6:29 pm
my good sir, one question.
1. whats your email? if you dont wish to show it,
at least, make a fan one, only for us to post on (like 1fort@hotmail.com) to sent your fan letters, comments, and maybe, maybe, pics. pretty pics
or our stuff. screenshots, or even our attempts on making cool stuff (like acjieving something hard on TF2, or whatev.)
also, fan art.
dont forget the fan art.
and well
2. will you do errr stuff, after you feel a bit more comfortable?
i hope so.
take your time man,
its coo.
and err well.. um.. ahh.. do some more blogs, k?
or stuff
love you!
(and concerened is great)
40 chris12 // May 20, 2008 at 6:29 pm
concerned.
41 Mr. Munchlax // May 20, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I loved Concerned, and I got excited when I heard that you were possibly going to do a new comic so I’ll be patiently waiting for 1fort! Take your time and make it awesome!
42 AR // May 20, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Allow me to voice a different opinion. Chris:
I hope you kick the “perfectionist” bit of you in the nuts :)
No-one read Concerned for your ability with Photoshop or the ragdoll poser. I sure hope that 1Fort is the sort of comic that can stand on its own, without the need for “lens-flare”.
And I really hope that you’re the sort of writer who can pull out something great (and, dare I say, improvise) at the last minute.
You were on Concerned. Best of luck :)
43 Baggie // May 21, 2008 at 1:57 am
I’m quite glad you’ve decided to leave it until it’s what you want, cause that’s going to make it all the more awesome. Wish you luck!
44 go // May 21, 2008 at 2:25 am
Forgot to mention 2 things:
I’m a huge fan of concerned, an I wrote you an email some time ago, when TF2 was quite new, trying to encourage you to make a webcomic about TF2. Found out about 1Fort just yesterday, and my heart jumped. Do it! No matter when, but do it, please, with sugar on top.
2nd: will there be a comment to the comics again? I enjoyed those a LOT.
45 Pope Guilty // May 21, 2008 at 2:41 am
Between this, notmydesk, and Concerned, we all know you’re capable of high-quality writing and posing. I had no idea that May was supposed to be a deadline- I’ll happily wait for your next project as long as it takes.
46 Phil // May 21, 2008 at 3:08 am
I know a lot of people have already offered their Photoshopping services, but I’m always available for random graphics jobs. You have my email ;D
Sorry to hear about the comic being pushed back - but I agree that you should sort out plots and planning and things first to ensure the comic runs the way you want. Needless to say, we’re all looking forward to it!
47 Lack_26 // May 21, 2008 at 3:42 am
To be honest I really wouldn’t be that bothered if the comic never came out, since this blog is brilliant. But I would still love to see the comic eventually, but not until you’re happy with it.
48 WILDCORE // May 21, 2008 at 4:51 am
may ya update ya fontpage
49 Rxe // May 22, 2008 at 12:39 am
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh oh man. A TF2 comic + you = huge success!
That’s the best news I’ve heard all week.
And I disagree with that other dude–beyond your writing, your ragdoll posing is excellent, and always managed to impress me. I deal with drawing comics myself, so I was really impressed at how well you composed each panel. I don’t care when this comes out; it just makes me happy to know it will exist.
50 Gothic // May 22, 2008 at 4:11 am
Remember, the longer you wait before climaxing, the harder the orgasm!
51 MadTinkerer // May 22, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Chris: Many people who do really good stuff tend to look back on stuff they did ages ago (or in some cases, even recently) with horror at what their younger selves considered publishable. This seems especially true of works where the fans love the early stuff just as much as the later stuff.
Case in point, the epic comic Fans/Faans: http://www.faans.com/index.php?p=96
Like you, he’s gone back and started adding notes to the bottom of the comic pages (there’s 1676 in total), and a lot of those notes are spent pointing out all the flaws in a particular page. Another example: http://www.faans.com/index.php?p=110
While the later storylines are undeniably a lot more refined, in my opinion the only serious flaws in his early strips are the inconsistent pacing and (as he pointed out on page 2) introducing / referencing too many different things at once. But other than that, the early strips still hold up well to the later ones.
I won’t say you’re completely wrong about Concerned. I originally read the whole thing before I played Half Life 2. Then, one of the first things I did after I played through Half Life 2 & eps 1 & 2 was go back and read all the way through Concerned again. I found it very entertaining both times, though familiarity with the game and the capabilities of Garry’s Mod did result in me noticing a lot of “flaws” I hadn’t noticed before.
I realize it’s probably even worse for you, because you have access to all the “sets” and posed everything yourself. But it’s still a darn entertaining comic: pretty much the best thing ever done in Garry’s Mod. Seriously: the next greatest thing ever done in Garry’s Mod is probably Bananaphone (http://youtube.com/watch?v=neKXc7pw4go) and Concerned is FAR better than that.
(Well, all right, the PHW Comics Archive (http://comics.phwonline.com/archive/) is actually the second best thing ever done in Garry’s Mod, but that was done by a bunch of different guys, and Concerned is still FAR better written than most of the PHW comics.)
In any case, you might not be able to see past Concerned’s flaws, but it’s still the best of it’s kind. I even tracked down a copy of almost everything you used in the comic (the correct version of dm_citadel was a pain to find, especially since there’s a completely unrelated map with exactly the same name floating around), just to play around with all the stuff I saw in the comic.
Take your time with the 1Fort comic. I would have accepted something AS good as Concerned, but we are all used to waiting for awesome from Valve, and if we have to wait for awesome from you, that’s fine by me.
(If you are still feeling at all un-confident about your ability to make 1Fort awesome, bear in mind that LiO definitively proves you’ve still “got it”.)
52 MadTinkerer // May 22, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Let me give you another specific example: http://comics.phwonline.com/archive/WTL/45/
I chuckled at the punchline (the “good news” line), but it just ain’t Concerned.
REALLY looking forward to 1Fort and the next LiO.
53 Dave // May 23, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I totally know what you mean when you talk about perfection. I’m almost exactly the same when it comes to drawing, which usually results in me putting a picture in my mind on paper, resulting in me finding a flaw and tossing the picture 1/4 of the way through it. But really, even if you did a few non-sequit(e/o)rs, and told us you weren’t totally pleased with them, that’d be fine. They wouldn’t be perfect, but we’re starving.
54 Dave // May 23, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Haha, post then proof-read. Pardon any ridiculousness in the previous post, and anything else I post in the Internet.
55 Jerryboy1993 // May 23, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Well, there is always other TF2 comics to read, but if it is gunna be as good as concerned, i would have to say yours is going to be the best. So take your time while we all read the other crap comics =D.
56 Nathan // May 25, 2008 at 11:59 pm
We’re(Well, at least I’m not) pressuring you to make them anytime soon. ;p
Have fun gaming!
57 macho // May 26, 2008 at 1:40 am
dude, Concerned was great. I know those photoshop and posing details are important to you but I don’t really care that much about it. As long as it’s a good idea. Nevertheless I understand your desire for perfection and I wish you good luck.
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