Year 1: 8/11/2003 - 8/9/2004
Year 2: 8/11/2004 - 8/10/2005
Year 3: 8/11/2005 - 8/9/2006
Year 4: 8/11/2006 - 8/10/2007
Year 5: 8/13/2007 - 8/8/2008
Year 6: 8/11/2008 - 8/10/2009
Year 7: 8/12/2009 - 8/9/2010

No Ink update today for two reasons. First, I'm deciding what to work on next now that nearly all the menu related stuff is done. Second, I've got to get up really early for my flight to PA so I want to get to sleep soon. I'll probably have internet access while I'm there, but I can't be certain. Depending on how things end up, Friday and Monday's updates may be a bit early or late. There's a slight chance one or both of them will have to be skipped, but I'll do my best to avoid it. So I'll hopefully see you Friday.

Josiah

I hoping to finish up the first draft of my book today! There's still more work left to do after that (some revisions, some Power Points, a web site, etc), but this should complete the vast majority of it. Anyway, time for one last menu for Ink (well, actually there's two left but I think I'll save the second one for later).

Ink's Options Menu:
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The following options will be available in the menu.

Music Volume: Adjust the volume of the music.
Sound FX and Voice Volume: Adjust the volume of the sounds and voices.
Subtitles: Turn subtitles on or off for spoken dialogue.
Language: Chance the language of the voice overs and/or text.
Controls: Change the button configuration.

Designer's Comments:
Can't really have a game these days without an options menu. Nothing too special here. The exact options selection may change slightly as the development progresses and it's decided that a particular option is or isn't needed. As a note on the language option, that's an iffy one. Personally I think that if multiple language versions of a game are completed in time, it's nice to include them all on one disc (never know when someone will want to play the game in a different language). But it's not that simple. Translating a game can take a lot of time, especially if you also need to re-record all the voice acting, so there's no guarantee that the other language versions would be done in time for the initial release. Then there's the whole disc space issue. While text (even a lot of it) usually doesn't take a huge amount of space, voice overs do. While the PS3 uses blu-ray discs which could easily hold multiple language tracks for most games (though for some even a single dual layer blu-ray wouldn't be enough). the 360 and Wii use DVDs which have far less storage space to spare. So, while having a multiple language option would be nice, it's not always very practical.

Josiah

This week's voter bonus comic is up, and marks a return to regular Blooper Reel strips.

I'm back from a brief trip to Steamboat springs with my parents. Though I'm only around until Wednesday when I'm off to PA to visit my grandparents for a week. I'll try to keep updating while I'm gone, though it'll depend a bit on what my internet access is like. Either way, I'll make sure to get another Ink update or two up before I go. Right now though, I need some sleep. Got a lot of work that needs to be done over the next few days. Most of it involves my book. I'm very nearly done with the first draft. After that there's just a bit of editing and a couple other minor issues to do (creating a companion web site and Power Points mostly) so I'm looking forward to finishing that up. I've been doing a lot of Car Washer work lately and well, so hopefully it won't be too long before its finished either.

Anyway, I'll see you Monday!

Josiah

Without further ado, it's back to Ink!

Inks's Menus: Talina's Log
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All enemy information scanned through Talina's All Seeing Eye moment of power can be viewed here. Enemies that have been encountered by the player but not scanned will have abbreviated entries. The log will also include Talina's notes on various important locations and characters. As information will be written in Talina's own voice.

Designer's Comments
It's always nice to have a place where the player can review previously scanned enemy information. And since Talina's job was to record all of her observations for her master, it makes perfect sense to store all the information in her log (and fits with the game's writing theme). It also fits her character (and serves a useful game function) to record information on important people and locations in the log. Basically, her log can be thought of as the database that a lot of newer RPGs have. But, since Ink is all about the writer, all the information in the log will look and sound like it was written by Talina, giving it a more personal touch.

Josiah

Well, the DVDs are done and I'm mostly caught up on other things (which I only got behind on due to the DVDs in the first place). Though I still need to get a lot of writing done this week if I want to get the first draft of my textbook done before the end of the month. Actually, the end of August is the 50% marker according to my contract, but I'm trying to finish up early so I can focus on other things like my job search, Car Washer, and a few other projects. But, now that I'm caught up on PV stuff, Ink updates will resume on Wednesday. See you then!

Josiah

There's a new voter bonus comic! It's the last of the special Forum Awards series and features NintendoGamer and PoisonWing14, winners of the Best New Member award. There's a new ROM as well.

Hate to do this when I was just starting to get back into regular Ink updates but I'm gonna have to cut this news post short too. Those DVDs I mentioned Wednesday? Well, what was supposed to be a one day project has stretched into three. See, aside from the fact that rendering and encoding video takes a long time (especially when you don't have the latest and greatest computer), it turned out that there were some weird sound glitches in the original video that I had to correct (which required more rendering and encoding). Plus, while I normally love Adobe software, Premiere Elements decided to make things more interesting by crashing frequently. Fortunately, I saved often enough that I never really lost any work. Unfortunately, after a crash it could take 5 - 10 minutes to reload the program and all my video files, plus it developed a tendency to crash about 90% of the way through a lengthy rendering process... Anyway, not a lot of fun and it tied up my computer for a considerable portion of the past three days. I think I'm just about done now though (hopefully...).

Enjoy the weekend!

Josiah

No time for an Ink post, or much of anything else today. I was making some DVDs for my dad and all the rendering, editing, and encoding tied up my computer for nearly the entire day.

See you Friday!

Josiah

I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. The World yesterday. I like the graphic novels, but I wasn't expecting much from the movie both because it's a movie based on a book I like (they tend to have a lousy track record) and since it's a story that doesn't seem all that well suited for live action. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised. I could complain about some of the actors (Scott just doesn't look right (but was otherwise pretty good), Ramona is a bit too deadpan, Envy's hair is the wrong color) though they were pretty good overall (Kim especially was spot on). I could also complain about some of the changes they made to the story (the whole subplot with Todd cheating on Envy was dropped, Gideon was more of a smarmy asshole than an evil mastermind, NegaScott's appearance was totally pointless, etc). But, overall, it was well done and I enjoyed it. Now back to Ink...

Ink: Josiah's Novel
<Insert novel interface mock-up image here.>

Josiah's novel contains a complete readable version of Josiah's unfinished novel (written in standard novel form). It should be updated periodically throughout the game to cover new story developments and/or changes. At the start of the game, the novel will cover story material that the player hasn't reached yet in game. Once the player catches up to that point, the story will update as it happens. The novel will include a bookmark and chapter skip feature.

Designer's Comments:
Since Ink is all about an unfinished novel, it makes sense for players to actually be able to read the novel instead of having the usual plot summary option in the menu. When the game starts, it will contain everything Josiah has written so far, which will amount to the first several chapters of the novel. However, due to Josiah's presence and the unknown force rewriting his story, much of that changes as the story go on. While the early novel will provide some hints about what comes next and how Josiah originally intended the story to go, the later novel serves as a plot summary and reference. It should also make for a good read on its own. Actually, if Ink were to have a special edition release, or something like that, the complete printed novel would make a good bonus item...

Josiah

There's a new voter bonus comic, this one featuring Bioniclemanda121. New ROM too. And, as promised, Ink is back! Unfortunately, I don't have time to do a very long update today, so it's back to the menus for now. Though those'll be finished soon enough and then...

Ink's Party Formation Menu:
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The party formation menu displays images of all available party members. Their order can be rearranged to change the members and battle formation of the active party.

Designer's Comments:
Yet another rather simple menu. Any RPG which has more party members than slots in the active party needs a way for the player to switch his party around. Of course, sometimes certain characters won't be available for story reasons and Josiah (barring certain rare parts of the story) is always part of the main party. But other than that there's nothing too special here.

Have a good weekend!

Josiah

Today marks Pebble Versions seventh anniversary! That's quite a long time, especially in the world of web comics, where the majority only make it a year or two at most. Occasional problems aside, it's been a pretty good ride so far. Sure I kinda wish the story was a bit further along, but it's getting there. Definitely moving faster than some sprite comics. While PV has been fun to make, the best part about it has certainly been all the great people I've met because of it, especially the guys on the forums. You guys are the ones who make this all worthwhile (especially since I really don't make any money off of it :-P ) It's always good to hear from fans, whether you've been around from the beginning or only found PV recently. I hope you've enjoyed things so far and I hope you enjoy the rest of the comic as well (however long it takes to finish). As always, feel free to drop me a line with any comments or suggestions you may have. I read all my e-mail (except the spam) and reply to most of it.

So thanks again for seven great years and here's to an equally good year eight! I'll see you Friday with the return of Ink.

Josiah