I've got general ideas for the first four episodes so far, and a general idea of some bigger picture things beyond that for this story, but I'm definitely going to let it evolve and lead me where it seems to want to go. I've even got a character in mind for the *next* story after Vero's, but I have no idea how long his will last; I figure once I start to feel like I'm running short of ideas for him, I'll get down to wrapping up his story and moving on to the next one. As those of you from the Matrix Online know, I'd been working for however many years under a single story, so it's a nice feeling to know that I can switch up stories whenever I want with A*. :)

By the way, if you really want to know about A*...

http://lanl.arxiv.org/list/astro-ph.GA/new

o.O

Heh thank you kindly sir..

Ooh, sharp avatar there.

I tried to resist making Mar's nose really big, but the temptation proved too much for me. For instance, in the hallway, for the part where he turns back to look at Vero suspiciously and Vero salutes, I first started drawing something that was coming out like this



but then I was like oh man, that is way too big, it's like one of those troll statues you see around my old Scandinavian neighborhood here, I've got to rein this in. Also it was too much in profile, which I didn't want because I was already going to have a close-up profile shot of him later, when he's staring down the gun barrel. So I junked that and redrew more of a 3/4 view, and a smaller nose, which is what ended up in the final:



As I continued along though with drawing him as he and Vero are having it out in his room, the nose was irresistible, and yeah it felt like getting a bit



large.

I was conflicted about this and the first drawings of Vero without his helmet, because they were leaning toward a cartoonish rather than a realistic style, and the stuff I'd draw up to that point had been more realistic. I'm not sure if I'll change my mind later, but currently I figure that altering style a bit as seems to fit what I'm trying to convey in a given scene may not be a bad thing after all, and there isn't anything inherently bad with a more abstract/cartoonish rendering if it helps convey what I want to convey.

So I think that's helped me learn more of how I want to handle the art for A*, and it happened because when I set out to draw Mar I intentionally decided to draw a character that was really different from any character I've drawn before. I think the look that evolved for him is probably more influenced by Frank Miller's "Yellow Bastard" Sin City character than Scandinavian troll statues, but I haven't checked Sin City in a while so I could be wrong about that.

Wait, here's a shot of him.


Oh well maybe it was the trolls after all.

Just finished recording Mar's dialogue. Had some trouble getting it synced up, but I managed. As for his voice... hm. Suppose its something of a cross between Nixon, Sean Connery, and Kenneth Baker from Metal Gear Solid.

I like what I see, and I'm eager to see more.

I'm very intrigued by the contest, and if my life permits, I hope to throw my hat into the ring.

Couldnt help think he did remind me of an orc/troll when I saw him.

Vero reminds me of John Moira with the mask off. I think it's the combination baldness/angry eyebrows.

Well, I think once you get some voices in there, it will help alot with attention problems. There's plenty of other "long" shows on newgrounds too, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

My Google skills are failing me. I'm guessing the John Moira you mean is not the 18th-century Irish peer?

Akasaka Mob boss, under the McClane tower. Flushed all that MXO knowledge out of your head already? :P