Mimi's last coffee

DecafSilicon · Post by **DecafSilicon** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 8:45 pm

The waitress isn't that lovely in branch 1.

When we later examine this comic's length, how are we going to count the panels? Can we double them up like Scrabble?

Nathan Phillips · Post by **Nathan Phillips** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 10:24 pm

Is the engine that's being used proprietary software? Is it expensive? I'm quite interested in trying this.

Fett101 · Post by **Fett101** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 10:43 am

Here's a thread about the availability of The Tarquin Engine

Nathan Phillips · Post by **Nathan Phillips** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 6:32 pm

The Tarquin Engine seems to give comics a better interface for the non-linear format. This brings webcomics closer to role playing games, which is awesome for geeks like me. I have several stories that would likely be well suited to such a medium.

marvelouspatric · Post by **marvelouspatric** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 10:30 pm

yeah, this totally feels like CYOC with better technology, and hopefully no bad reader suggestions. (ie, mine.) then again, i really miss CYOC, mainly because it totally had a community feel about it.
i really like this engine. makes wish i knew and had flash so i could do a comic with it. altho, i haven't done infinite canvas style comics in a year. but, i reckon given it's ease of use, it really wouldn't have to be infinite. and now i ramble.
anyway, nice work scott.
marvelous patric

www.marvelouspatric.com
www.graphicsmash.com

William G · Post by **William G** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 12:58 am

I'm praying that Carl shows up at some point.

Bumblejumper · Post by **Bumblejumper** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 1:30 pm

Scott has changed the direction of the bottom branch to be diagonal rather then straight down--I wonder why? I hope it's not because of the comparison between this and "Choose Your Own Carl" . . .

Jeff R · Post by **Jeff R** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 1:30 pm

"Marcel" is an anargram of "Me, Carl"

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 3:02 pm

Bumblejumper wrote:Scott has changed the direction of the bottom branch to be diagonal rather then straight down--I wonder why? I hope it's not because of the comparison between this and "Choose Your Own Carl" . . .

I assume it's because the new thread leads upward, and since that goes counter to our instincts, slightly to the right to indicate we're going the right way. Tilting the bottom branch similarly makes the meaning consistent, and looks more harmonious.

Rip Tanion · Post by **Rip Tanion** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 5:08 pm

Mimi in "Choose Your Own Blend of Java?"

DecafSilicon · Post by **DecafSilicon** » Mon Apr 26, 2004 9:09 pm

Caramel macchiato with foam and cinnamon, please.

Jerome Boulbes · Post by **Jerome Boulbes** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 10:05 am

I believe the close-up on the panels is too close. It would be better I think to be able to see 4-5 panels at once. Or to have an intermediate level of zoom.

but appart from that, this an interesting way of looking at a comic.

Bumblejumper · Post by **Bumblejumper** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 3:53 pm

Anonymous wrote:
Bumblejumper wrote:Scott has changed the direction of the bottom branch to be diagonal rather then straight down--I wonder why? I hope it's not because of the comparison between this and "Choose Your Own Carl" . . .
I assume it's because the new thread leads upward, and since that goes counter to our instincts, slightly to the right to indicate we're going the right way. Tilting the bottom branch similarly makes the meaning consistent, and looks more harmonious.

But now he's changed it back. Scott, are you just trying to mess with me here?

John Stephens · Post by **John Stephens** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 11:32 pm

Scott McCloud wrote:Those are imported PNG's (like gifs but not owned by stupid, stupid compuserve creatures) that were drawn directly in Photoshop.

I confess that I don't know the story about these stupid, stupid creatures. Are GIFs pretty bad? Are they doing subversive stuff inside my computer RIGHT NOW?!

Post by **Greg Stephens** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 2:07 am

John Stephens wrote:I confess that I don't know the story about these stupid, stupid creatures. Are GIFs pretty bad? Are they doing subversive stuff inside my computer RIGHT NOW?!

Not so much what they will do as what they fear you might do. Sort of like music file-sharing. For the lowdown on the .gif situation, this link is a good place to start.

gareis · Post by **gareis** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 6:42 am

'"Switching over to the PNG format has given me about a 4K reduction in size per panel." says Christopher B. Wright in An Open Letter to All Web Cartooonists.'

That's odd--I can't remember saying that or writing an Open Letter to All Web Cartoonists, especially since I'm not one myself.

Ben Sutter · Post by **Ben Sutter** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 9:48 am

I really can't wait to see how large this thing is going to be. I notice that the loading screen is the same as Merlin's, so I wonder if he just took the file for, say, Externiality, and added in his own panels. They appear to be the same size?

Which I think is fine. It's like using your friend's piece of paper.[/i]

Connor Moran · Post by **Connor Moran** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 11:34 am

It looks like the two branches have turned back to being perpendicular to the original strain and the original strain is now larger than the others, which I belive is new. It looks like this engine facilitates Scott making a lot more changes in the way the work is put together as he goes along. It will be interesting to watch as he continues.

Post by **Scott McCloud** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 12:53 pm

At this early stage, The Tarquin Engine is basically a template in Flash that I can make changes to. So yes, I just used Merlin's loading bit and screen size by leaving it alone.

I even swiped his html to an extent because I was having trouble getting the table around the .swf file to render correctly (there was a black band at the bottom in IE on the Mac). Hence the plain color links too.

Using the engine is easy. I can make changes like the aforementioned diagonal-to-straight panel changes on the fly pretty quickly.

Rip Tanion · Post by **Rip Tanion** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 2:04 pm

"Give it up" is right. This waitress is a real yenta calabenta; buttin' her nose into other people's relationships. Part of me hopes she ends up like Carl...six feet under.

Mimi shouldn't leave a tip.

Connor Moran · Post by **Connor Moran** » Thu Apr 29, 2004 11:38 pm

Connor Moran wrote:It looks like the two branches have turned back to being perpendicular to the original strain and the original strain is now larger than the others, which I belive is new. It looks like this engine facilitates Scott making a lot more changes in the way the work is put together as he goes along. It will be interesting to watch as he continues.

I'm not exactly sure how I missed the post above mine that said exactly this. Ah, well. Can't always be first.

Bumblejumper · Post by **Bumblejumper** » Mon May 03, 2004 2:16 pm

Why did it never occur to any of us that "last" could mean "previous" rather than "final?"

Duh.

Post by **Greg Stephens** » Mon May 03, 2004 3:39 pm

Not to say "I told you so," but... I mentioned that "previous coffee" might be one interpretation of "last coffee". I bet Scott comes up with a few more possible permutations.

Terrepin · Post by **Terrepin** » Mon May 03, 2004 3:53 pm

Bumblejumper wrote:Why did it never occur to any of us that "last" could mean "previous" rather than "final?"

Duh.

I think this statement is the crux of this Improv. There are so many ways to interpret "Mimi's Last Coffee" (her previous coffee, her final coffee, her coffee that measures about 640 gallons [archaic...re: British... definition of last]...etc.) I can just picture Scott's brainstorming notes for this topic coming up with all of these different meanings, and then deciding to incorporate them all. Thus the branching storylines.

I would imagine that a coffee cup capable of holding 460 gallons would be a last coffee by many different definitions...

Zwol.org

Mimi's last coffee

Flash and engine

Tarquin Engine

choose my own mimi

Conspiracy Theory...

"Give it up, honey"

Monday 5/3 Panels: "Remember my last coffee?"

Last / last / last coffee