Merlin's Tarquin Engine

Discuss Scott McCloud's current online comic project. Be sure to check out <a href="http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/mi/mi.html">the latest improv</a>!

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CPolack

Merlin's Tarquin Engine

Post by CPolack »

How would one get their hand's on the Tarquin Engine? Is Merlin offering it as open source?

Curious Chris
Jason Alderman
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Post by Jason Alderman »

Don't think it will be open source:
http://www.talkaboutcomics.com/viewtopic.php?t=10543

I'd pay for it, though...as I'm sure many folks would.
Joey Manley's even trying to negotiate licensing it for WebcomicsNation.

jason
BuckBeaver
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Post by BuckBeaver »

I'd like to use it for a webcomics/video hybrid I've been thinking about.

Hopefully the public version will be released soon.
Check out my NEW blog - PuppetVision
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Guest

Post by Guest »

I read concerns about using Flash somewhere else on the board (the Mimi's improv thread) While I don't share these, I'm willing to developp the engine on other "plateforms".
The simplest would be SVG + included javascript.
Image inclusion and "viewport coordinates" are fetures of SVG, so the javascript would be very simple to program.

The advantages against the flash approch would be :
- Cashing of the images in the browser
- viewing the comic without waiting for the whole set to load.
The drawbacks
- Engine included in a reusable source form.
- SVG plugin is far less commonly installed than Flash's.

Other possibility : java version
Advantages :
- Engine's source code protected. (not that much of an advantage, since it's the concept of the engine that is both most valuable and easy to steal)
- viewing the comic without waiting for the whole set to load.
- Very wide support, view Mimi and Externality on your PDA/Phone...
Drawbacks:
-More developpement.
-Bigger download for the engine


Are you intreressed in me developping them (for free) for you Merlin ?
ShadowCaster
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Post by ShadowCaster »

Forgot to login Sorry
William G
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Post by William G »

Say, has there been an upgrade since "Mimi" started?

I'm just wondering because the images are scrolling a lot more smoothly for me now
jazzsammich
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Post by jazzsammich »

i'm curious... how many levels of images can be used with the Tarquin Engine? is there a limit?

--jim k.
ShadowCaster
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Post by ShadowCaster »

level of image ? if you meen zooming level, there can be as many as you want, you don't really click on the images : the images are just specified as the visual layout of the page. Invisible clickable rectangular areas are specified separately from the visible layout (usually on pannels but it can also be used to have different levels of zooming by specifying areas around a set of pannels or around the whole comic as Scott did). Clicking on such a pannel adjust the view area around the clicked rectangle.
The main limitation in my opinion is file size : all the pannels are bundled in the .swf file so you have to wait for the whole comic to load before being able to start reading. Using SVG instead of flash allows HTML style image linking and so reading of the comic before it's fully downloaded.
(Are you reading my posts Merlin ?)
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Post by Merlin »

> (Are you reading my posts Merlin ?)

I am, yes!

Sorry I haven't been replying - been too busy to think lately. But today is my "catching up on posting" day so here I am, catching up.

> Are you intreressed in me developping them (for free) for you Merlin ?

I'm very appreciative of the offer, but In my head I feel I need to get the engine to a point where I'm happy to put in down, before I'm ready for other people to start picking it up. Does that make sense?

When I finally, finally get my own version of the engine out there in some way for people to use, then I'll start thinking properly about the best way to take it forward. A non-flash version of the engine is a distinct posibility, but I need to get the Flash version fully sorted first, if only for my own peace of mind.
New Experiments In Fiction

www.E-merl.com
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