The Tour

[Captain Mike]

I've finally managed to draw a little map for the upper level of the Quicktrip. No lables on it, just a basic design. I'm going to have to get around to putting a finished map up soon.

I'm trying to keep the story flowing as I go along with the tour. So there'll be snippets here and there of Mike trying to win over this new potential client.

this way it gives me the chance to show how a very small crew can operate a large cargo vessel. And i get to develope the characters as they interact with the "new guy".

I hope you enjoy!

[Captain Mike]

Coming to the end of Yukiro's part of the tour.
Next up is Jet.


I'm tryin to actually draw with some perspective in this series. It helps to show the relation between the size of the halls and the rooms. I'm not sure how effective it is. When I get the map polished off you'l have a better idea of what the ship looks like.

I plan to end the tour with a map layout of the ship.
Ooo I just realized that on my map I don't have quarters for Riz yet. Have to fix that.

[Crescentmoon76]

You continue to impress me. I'm already liking the new guy, and I've finally seen the bridge of the QuickTrip. Very original star trek, and classy.

I also like how they disguised the armory, and we get to meet everyone through the eyes of Riz.

Hey, maybe you could make Riz and Gek good buddies. I still feel poor Gek needs development and if they hung out together they could both benefit from the attention.

[Captain Mike]

Maybe.

I've had trouble with Gek mostly because he doesn't interact with Mike as much as some of the other characters do.

This whole storyline by being told from a different perspective allows me to show some other sides of the characters. Like Yukiro's sense of humour. Jet's instructor mode(coming up shortly). Doc's vulnerability(a bit later).

I haven't yet written/drawn Gek's part yet. Having Mike trying so vary hard to gain a client helps I think.

[Crescentmoon76]

I understand that. I have the same problem in my comic, one character is just so easy to write that the others kind of get left behind.

So much so that I retired him, forcing him into the background to push other characters in the right direction and move the new story along. It worked pretty well, especially when my friend came up with another character that could believably counter his personality.

Still even in his retired state Frody was too outspoken to ignore. In the main comic he's a very dark and violent character, but I started coming up with funny scenarios for him. This spawned 'Ethics' which puts Frody in the real world and lets him do his thing upside humanity's head.

[Captain Mike]

Yes finding ways to shake up the flow so you can show more of what you want to get across of the various characters is hard.

Riz came about becuase I decided I wanted Mike to keep that ship he captured. That the ship would need a pilot. Now I get to introduce him to everyone and it's kind of taken off on it's own.


I kind of like the way its developed.

[Captain Mike]

On the 9 of Nov the strip mentioned that when a door is locked that the doorpanel turns red. this is not true for every room though.
When i drew the Armoury door <a href="http://captainmike.keenspace.com/d/20021103.html"> HERE</a> you'll see the door panel is blue.
The armory door panel is always blue.
This is part of the security features. This is not an error by the artist.
I figured that if pirates accessed the computer and saw that the room marked as a supply closet had a locked door that they'd be suspicious.
Since pirates and thieves always go through threw locked doors first on the basis that "if somethings locked there must be something important there" this false blue door panel acts as a blind.

Nifty No?

[Captain Mike]

I've finished drawing the strips that comprosie the tour.
As it stands the tour just covers main deck.
Which is where everyone's cabins are and some other goodiees.
I'm woking on the map for the upper level.

Eventually I plan to getting around to showing off the lower level of the ship where all the engineering equipment is. Basically that's Gek's domain.


More to Come!

[Captain Mike]

The upper level map is done!!

I've got a link to it on my Character's Page.

The Ship map is sort of an easter Egg. If you look you'll find it!

[Crescentmoon76]

Way cool, I enjoyed the tour a lot, Mike is a good boss who knows that his crew needs down time once in a while.

Also I found Doc's little lament about how he's seen by his peers touching. He is more aware of those around him than he let's on.

[Captain Mike]

Way cool, I enjoyed the tour a lot,

Yes it seems quite a number of people enjoyed the tour.
I've had my highest hits during the tour. About 2,200 or so a day on average according to my log.

All in all I enjoyed writing it. Took a little longer than I thought it would but I think the end result was worth the extra time.

Next weekend i'm going to start a storyline that revolves around Gek.
Give everyone a chance to see a bit more "behind the sences" and explore a realitvely minor character.

What did you think of the map? Have you found it yet?

[Crescentmoon76]

The map was good stuff. I think you accomplished your goal I have a much better understanding of the ship now, and got a rare glimpse of the characters.

Now about our crossover...

[Captain Mike]

Now about our crossover...

Well I was talking with another artist about maybe doing a crossover. but that's a little later on. If things work out.

[Crescentmoon76]

Well just know that my interest is there...