Neomyn Pics

Uh, for some reason the previous post won't allow you to view the pics in thier original size in a seperate window, which it normally does. So, to try and fix that, I'm going to repost just the pictures and home that it, y'know, allows it this time...

Neomyn Concepts

Hey, guys! I'm so excited, as this marks the first official "unveiling" of my comic project! I'm not going to give much in the way of story, but I do have some character concepts that I've been dying to share. A while back I comissioned a dear friend of mine to draw up some character sheets based on descriptions I sent her. She did no less than an outstanding job (duh!) and perfectly nailed everything I was looking for in the leading characters for Neomyn. She recently sent me the "lineart" for the characters and I took that and whipped up some flat colors and glow effects, tossed 'em on a background texture and wham-o, I have the first completed element of my comic!

So, without further delay, I'd like to show you guys the first three characters of Neomyn. But first, a little background...

Neomyn

Neomyn have the ability to control the four elements of the planet--Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire--and “bend” them to their desires. What marks a person as a Neomyn physically is their arms; specifically, from the elbow to the ends of the fingers. As the physical focal point of their power, the skin on a Neomyn’s lower arms is blackened and “cracked” like the top-most layer of a lava flow, with the neomynari (the power of the elements) constantly glowing beneath; the glow shifting with the element controlled--Fire, red; Wind, purple; Water, blue; Earth, green. The Neomyn’s arms will revert back to a “default” color when not willfully controling an element; this represents their mynari’ethra--the element with which the Neomyn is most powerful. Though it’s extremely rare, there have been Neomyn who have stopped touching the neomynari and, eventually, even their mynari’ethra which causes the glow to fade.

TechMage

TechMages are normal men and women that have been imbued with the mysterious technology discovered by Garek Mandrygorn in his exile from the Neomyn order. Like the Neomyn, the TechMages’ arms are the physical representation of their powers, however, that’s where the similarities end. Unlike the Neomyn, a TechMage’s arms aren’t the result of a natural power but, instead, a mechanical alteration. From the elbows down, a TechMage has replaced his flesh and blood with bionic implants composed of a strange metal that forges and imitates the natural shape and movement of the original arms. The end result is an appendage that looks as if it has skin of quicksilver. These implants house a special technology that grants the barer the ability to generate and manipulate intense energy fields, forging them into whatever shape they can imagine within the confines of their physical limitations. A TechMage of the highest power (Emperor Mandrygorn and Lord Slashtyrn for example) can generate an entire suit of armor composed of coherent energy sectioned into plates, while a TechMage at the lowest end of the power scale can simply generate an energy blade and/or shield. As a show of strength, the TechMages all wear a specially designed armor.

TechMages who were once Neomyn--of which there are only two in the entire Legion--have a physical characteristic that sets them apart dramatically from all others. Where a "regular" TechMage's arms are just silver in color, those who were Neomyn have constantly swirling "ribbons" of color in theirs; Garek's arms are gold with silver ribbons and Tymn Slashtyrn's are silver with gold ribbons.

Okay, well, that should give you a bit of a run-down. Now for the charactersheets!

Razorn Lyngari

Cera Raavel

Garek Mandrygorn

A Snipit of an Update...

Hey, guys! I'm just droppin' a quick line in to fill some time and let'cha know what's goin' on in Ray's World...

...not much, really.

Well, that's kind of a lie. I am officially 3 pages from finishing the script for the first issue of Neomyn (tentative title), my big project. I will start posting character sheets and various other concept arts in the next few days and then whenever I get new ones. As of now, I am only about a month away from having a pitch package ready to send out to as many people as I can get to look at it. Since I have a sort of soft spot for Moonstone I'm going to start with them. I hope to have someone pick up my book by the end of the year and have the first issue in reader's not too long after that.

This is a concept that I have been working on most of my "adult" life--since as far back as junior high at least. All the core elements are boiled out of every original idea I've ever had and mixed in with concepts that were borne from several different inspirational backgrounds (there'd be no Wheel of Time without the Lord of the Rings, right?) and rolled into a story that has grown and taken on a life of its own and become something special. I've never been this excited, this...taken in...by any of my many creations. It's as if this story was there all along and just waiting for the right time for me to tell it. Waiting for the right inspirational spark to set ablaze my creative fuel (upon further examination that might be a bit over the top, but, meh). Anyway, I am 100% invested in this project and hope to see something come of it.

As for the rest of my world, well, here's a quick shot for you. I recently entered the world of HD entertainment thanks to my lovely girlfriend and her generous purchase a 42" Vizio LCD HDTV (that's a lot of letters...) as a "late Christmas gift". The first thing I did upon opening and setting up the beautiful piece of technological art was hook up its long-estranged sibling (my 360) and turn that badboy on. Let me tell you that it was a near-religeous experience when that little silverball phazed into existance with the startup sound playing over the crystal-clear image. If you have not gone to HD yet, I strongly recomend selling a child if need be. Having finishing Assassins Creed, crawled through the digital grass of a long-deserted Chernobyl in Call of Duty 4, destroying Rainbow 6 Vegas 2, and gone back and seen Gears of War as it was meant to be seen there is just no going back.

Anyway, sadly, that's about all that's happened outside of the comic. More to come, I'm sure. Stand by.

Later!

Dear LucasArts

Dear Story Developement Guys at LucasArts Game Department,

I, a loyal (which is stressed because, well, you guys have made a few faux pas here and there, *cough-Jedi Battles-cough* but I keep coming back) and dedicated fan. I am anxiously awaiting your next installment of Star Wars cannon and, though I am a little disheartened by the delayed release, I'm sure it will be the shining achievement in your ability to tell a story while "unleashing" the full potential of the Force. The videos I've seen and the articles I've read have done nothing but fuel the fires of my need to play this game.

All that said, however, I have something I'd like to say...

Please, for the love of your fans, move past the Galactic Civil War period. Seriously, we've seen enough. With the exception of the Knights of the Old Republic games, every single Star Wars game to date is based around the 30+ years between Episodes I and VI; with the a decent amount smack dab in the middle of the Original Trilogy. A time of fantastic battles and larger than life heroes, to be sure. But, c'mon, guys! There is a veritable plethora of great characters and stories to be told beyond the six movies.

In fact, there's an entire war. Waged, I might add, against an enemy FAR scarier than the Empire and rediculously evil. If you really think about it, the Yuuzhan Vong are the perfect badguys for a video game series. They have a caste system which could be used to tier the enemies faced within the course of the game, their weapons and technology stand up against a lightsaber (the primary weapon of most SW games' main hero) and their single-minded drive to enslave or destroy all life in the galaxy makes for the perfect antagonistic motive.

And, as previously mentioned, there is a wealth of deep characters from which to choose from. You could even make a game in which we, the fans, get to choose to take on the roll of a number of the Original Three (Luke, Han, and Leia...duh) in a branching storyline, lending to a game with multiple endings; an aspect most gamers love as it justifies their $60 purchase with more playability. If you want to stay away from the Original Three, but still want to do the branching story idea, you could make a game starring the three Solo children; three Jedi with similar goals and morals, but vastly different personalities and strengths. This give the player a chance to cater to a personal playing style or experience the game from three unique points of view; something we all look for when playing a game. Hell, if you want to stick to what you know, guys, you could even make a game starring our old pal, Kyle Katarn; a character we grew to love in the original games and did a little cheer every time he was mentioned through the NJO series and would love to see brought full-circle with a frontline role in the first of what would hopefully become a series of games in this time-period.

Here, I'll even run you through some story ideas just off the top of my head.
We'll star with one using the Solo children:

**for anyone reading this who hasn't read the NJO series all the way through, this next bit contains some spoilers**

Star with the player taking on the roll of Anakin Solo, the youngest of the Solo kids, leading the strike team on the mission to Myrkr. Give players not familiar with the NJO series a recap in the form of an opening crawl or montage cutscene (maybe even obtaining the voice tallents of the original actors?) and then toss them headlong into one of the most vital missions in the story. Starting with this particular mission would accomplish several goals in the form of one massive introductory level: First, you give the player their first real look this new evil and the world in which they exist through the woldship that the strike team attacks in their mission to destroy the voxyn (a great boss for said level, btw), pulls the player in with a character that feels familiar and new, then propells them into an emotional character-driven story when, at the end of the level, Anakin sacrifices himself to save the strike team.

From here you can choose to take the roll of Jaina and play through various mission which all lead up to her becoming the Sword of the Jedi. With Jaina, you could even incorporate space-flight missions as she becomes a memeber of Rogue Squadron and then, once she is granted Knighthood and dubs herself Yun Harla--the Yuuzhan Vong trickster goddess--leads her own squadron.

With Jacen, you have the whole Vergere storyline. You can lead the player through Jacen's capture and subsequent escape from the hands of the Vong with the help of Vergere and, later, Ganner Rhysode. I, for one, would love to witness Ganner's heroic Last Stand on Yun Yuuzhan (the terraformed Coruscant) through the eyes of Jacen as he works to complete his mission to convince the World Brain to turn on the ecosystem.

Or....

If you want to use Kyle...

Kyle's would be a simpler story, to be sure. You could take the player through the developement of Kyle's strategies for and missions to save Yuuzhan Vong captives during the war. Again, with Kyle, you could include space missions since, in the final battle of the war, the then-Knight was one of a select group granted a seed-partner and Sekotan ship.

Well, there you have it; and that's just off the top of my head. You guys should know more than I do, that this time-period is ripe with characters and stories enough for ten games! To be honest, I just don't understand why you haven't done it yet? Is it George? Is he afraid that the Yuuzhan Vong are too scary for the younglings that would play these games? Cause, seriously, Darth Vader was one of the scarriest s.o.b's of my childhood and, let's face it, that's exactly what a badguy needs to be. That makes the hero's triumph over the evil-dude all the more exciting.

Of course, if you wanted to give the player a personal experience and allow them to create their own character, you have the whole Alpha Red project to focus on. Just for starters.
Anyway, those are just some of my ramblings. Like I said, before, I'm all for any game you put out...well...that is, until I play it, in which case, if it's sub-par (as far as my personal preferences go; I wasn't a fan of Republic Commando, myself) then I'll move on. It's just that my Star Wars fandom has, over the past decade, grown deeper roots in the Extended Universe and I feel that the New Jedi Order is the best of the best in this area and I'd love to see these characters brought to life in a digital experience.

Don't get me wrong, though. I'm a huge fan of the current series, Legacy of the Force. However, this only lends more to my argument for a game starring Jacen Solo.

Thanks for listening (sort of) and making games set in a galaxy far, far away...

Keep up the great work, guys!

Ultimate Demotivator...

My very first demotivational poster! I created this a month ago and posted it on my Dev gallery http://www.rayloth.deviantart.com/ to a seemingly growing fanbase. The idea for this came to in a flash and I went home and made it in a little under fifteen minutes. Having recieved the dreaded RRoD TWICE now, I felt that this was my way of reaching out to my fellow gamers. I hope y'all enjoy it.

Please don't let me see you post this somewhere else. It's time-stamped and marked with the copyright that DevArt puts on posts, so I'll know you ripped it off. :D

Geek Justice...

Okay, so I noticed that it's been a bit o' time since my last blog and, unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot to report. I mean, that is to say, I'm once again back to not having my Xbox...I really do think that Microsoft's Hardware Design Department is full of morons. I'm sorry, Kate, but I just can't buy that Microsoft (yes, even the Big Bill's Company) had the foresight and asshole-ingenuity to purposely design a system that would constantly fail and, thereby, force their consumers to purchase new machines. There are a few things wrong with this idea...1: Since the discovery that the RRoD (that's Red Ring of Death for those not "in the know") was more than just a "marginal few" and, instead turned out to be a whoppin' 33.3% of all systems sold in the first 2 years of the console's life, Microsoft has extended their full repair and replacement warrenty on all units purchased. This means that they are not actually forcing their consumers to purchase new Xbox's and earning twice the money per gamer but, instead, replacing or repairing the units for free and, with shipping and handling paid for as well, Microsoft is loosing money per unit that fails. And B: any high-end retailer and manufacturer has to see the fault in a plan to purposely design a system to fail even if they don't fix it...especially in a market that is rife with dangerously compelling competition.

Now, here's the problem with the Xbox 360's design (which, by the way has nothing to do with why I love the system...if there was no chance of getting the RRoD I would enshrine the damn thing). Microsoft built the system's innards and then several casings in which to put them in. Now, if you've read or watched any of the videos that came packaged with the system, you'll see that several of the casing designs were pretty solid ideas. Some weren't as "sleek and sexy" as the P.O.S. they went with, but they looked edgy and streamlined while maintaining a solid spec. And, let's be honest, as ugly as the original system was, it was solid and, unless you packed the fucker into a TINY cubby hole in your entertainment system that your friend put together and then played the thing for 8 hours straignt...well...it didn't overheat. But which design one out? The one with the worst possible air-cooling set up. Here, let me give you an idea of what I'm talking about... ) ( ...that's pretty much what the system looks like head-on. Now, imagine that you have a crap-ton of microchips and various processors, a DiskDrive and CPU to cram into this "sleek and sexy" body. Where do you put it? )o( That's right...right smack dab in the center of the bottleneck...y'know...the place that is MOST LIKELY to TRAP all that HEAT...And, what does heat DO boys and girls? That's right...it MELTS SHIT....

So, you're telling me that this group of people were capable of designing and building a system that can render lifelike light and shadows, give objects inside a digital space real world physics and creat and control an series of AIs that can outthink most people between the ages of 9 and 45 and they couldn't think far enough in advace to foresee that shoving all those processors into the center of an hourglass was a silly idea? I'm...uh...in the wrong business.

Aaaaaaaaanyway...this marks the official FIRST appearance of Sarah in the strip! This is hands down the best female I've ever drawn. :D Helps that the subject matter was so awesome that my subconscious wouldn't let me screw it up. Also, I am officially turning this into my one and only blog. It won't be strictly for OaG anymore, but will still include the lovely lil' strip.

Later!