Zeros 2 Heroes - Posts

Game Design!

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:40:55 -0700

Please don't hate me for my absence from this site. I actually lurk quite a bit, I just don't have the spare time I used to.

So Sturstein may have mentioned something about me studying when he unveiled our little side-project (more on that in a second). Well, to elaborate, I am currently taking courses in Level Design at the UBIsoft campus here in Montreal! It was my second time applying for the course and I managed to fight my way in!

It's a great course so far, with classes about 3D modeling and animation, but my favorite class right now is Narration where we swim deep within the secret lairs of story-telling in all its interactive video-game glory. The course itself is about a year, so you won't be seeing my name in any mainstream credits just yet. But you will... Oh, how you will.

In the meantime, I'm trying to kick my own ass into writing so I don't fall out of habit. I was actually hoping to have a Slaughter Inc story ready to show, but I haven't quite completed it: in short-story form, it's the continuation from issue 1.

I'm also trying to finish writing the second issue to the adventures of Mirka (aka, Under Vattrovian Skies). I gotta say, working with Bruce on the project was a lot of fun. We would constantly bounce ideas off each other, being totally honest when we felt something didn't work or felt out of place and we ended up with a vastly superior story as a result, I think. The whole process was a great exercise in creativity, so really, I have no excuse no to get on this right away (well okay, it is three-thirty in the morning as I write this, but whatever).

I haven't even seen the physical copy of the comic yet, but anyone who has, don't hesitate to let us know what you think. Both Bruce and I agreed quite early that we'd be doing this for the sake of making comics, not to make a ton of cash (though a ton of cash is never unwelcome), so we encourage you to pass the comic to your friends, family and enemies (also: strangers)!

I can relate

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:04:13 -0700

As an owner of a tool & equipment rental business, I cannot stress enough the importance of having the right tools for the job.

We actually have a bin for old equipment, tools, and other blunt objects that we felt might be useful in a zombie apocalypse. I actually put a category in the database called "Zombie Apocalypse - NO DISCOUNT".

Our puny 18" Stihl saws have nothing on the Revmaxx though.

I truly hope this comic gets serialized or produced properly for the screen. I would be all kinds of demented happy!

Zebra Girl!

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:46:32 -0700

Joe England over at Zebra Girl has done me the honor of promoting Slaughter Inc in his news section! If you've never read his comic before, go read it now! The art is consistently amazing and the story is all sorts of awesome!

Those of you here from Zebra Girl: welcome to the madness! Enjoy your stay! Help yourselves to some complimentary braaaaaaaains...

I Love Sarah Jane

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:24:57 -0800

A friend linked me to this, an excellent short coming-of-age film... with zombies.

WARNING: Contains graphic violence and gore.

This is the sort of thing I want to populate the world of Slaughter Inc with. The more I work on the story, the more it's becoming about the world that surrounds them and their place in it.

No Update This Week

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 13:45:36 -0800

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of update this week but I've been nursing a horrible cold. It's that time of the year when the weather decides to pull a fast one and get only warm enough for your body to drop its defenses, only to freeze right back up and make you sick!

Anyway, anyone feel like being the artist for Empire Of Death?

Page 2 is up!

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:56:15 -0800

Page 2 of An Empire Of Death is now up!

I welcome feedback, comments, criticism, questions and requests! I know the pacing is a little slow, but the scripting actually takes longer than the writing. This is strange for me since my other comic, Sandwich World, was scripted pretty much as I drew it (which is why there are many instances where the dialogue makes me cringe).

The six-panel format is to sort of simulate the camera's POV, which is somewhat limiting but, later on, will allow for some interesting shots. It also occurs to me that an update need not be limited to six panels, but however many I need to get each point across.

Anyway, enjoy!

Left 4 Dead

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:54:54 -0800

Zombie Apocalypse! Zombie Apocalypse! Zombie Apocalypse!

I hope the story leads to instances that Gregory's greed will bring him and his team in ala-Left 4 Dead scenarios. It offers venue to either improve or degrade his humanity.

I also hope the Zombie taxonomy grows beyond Lurkers and Runners and the virus/pathogen mutates the zombie into weirder and more dangerous species.

Anywho, great start, I love it so far!

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:59:19 -0800

This proves once again that zombies make everything better. It's not out just yet, but I'll definitely try and get my hands on it once it is.

In other news, tomorrow I update An Empire Of Death!

An Empire Of Death

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:57:01 -0800

Got questions about the Slaughter Inc universe? Let Mildred and Steven be your guides in: An Empire Of Death, a Slaughter Inc documentary by the characters themselves.

An Empire Of Death will be an ongoing serial comic set in the Slaughter Inc universe, written and drawn by me (unless another artist wants to take over. Invitations are open!). As far as cannon goes, this is on par with Fan Fiction in that this is me brainstorming and playing with ideas that may or may not make it into whatever final product emerges from the property.

I encourage you to ask questions you'd like the characters to answer! I can't promise that they'll provide reliable answers, and I can't promise either that they'll have time to broach every topic. However, the point will be to remain informative and, if possible, entertaining.

I'll try to update at least once a week! More if I can, and if you're an artist that wants to get in on this, send me a message! Just remember that it would fall under the same disclaimer as Fan Art/Fiction.

Read!

http://www.zeros2heroes.com/strip/53

How awesome would this be?

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:11:27 -0800

If I were able to make a Slaughter Inc televised series, here's how I would do it.

First, with whatever grant money I had, I would take a tour of the US, following in the hypothetical plot path Slaughter Inc would take. Ahead of time, I would communicate with city officials and discuss with them the theoretical fate of their city should it come under zombie attack.

The show would then, while following an overarching plot, move through the actual locations as the convoy. Casting extras would be awesome: how many people would volunteer to play as a zombie invading their own town?

Local actors could play customers, and in later seasons Slaughter Inc could visit other places in the world (whilst keeping it cannon, of course) in the same way.

Just a thought.

Slaughter Inc. - Q&A

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:39:21 -0800

A few years ago, when trying to design the world for my Nanovel, I invited forum-goers to ask me about the nature of the sci-fi world I was developing. The result was a series of questions about things I hadn't considered yet, like how the government worked, or what sort of power sources ran the city, etc.

I'm currently working on a small project that'll help flesh out the world of Slaughter Inc; that is, the post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world of tomorrow. It'll be through the eyes of some of the characters and be pseudo-cannon, in the sense that it'll as much about discovering the world for the audience as it will for me.

I'm not one for planning ahead. I'm the kind of writer that defines his world as he writes it, letting the characters and event run the show. I try to excersize my "author's veto" on character actions as little as possible.

So while I have a general idea of which themes I'll be exploring with this project, I'm curious to know what you're curious about. What questions would you like answered? What are you unclear about? It can be about anything, whether it be the characters, the biology of the zombies, the governments, the colour of the sky... whatever!

I can't promise I'll answer them all, and I can't promise that those I do answer will be satisfying, but that's because it'll be through the non-omniscient view of the characters themselves.

So go on, ask away! I plan on launching the project before the end of the week, but there's no time-limit on when you can ask questions.

And yes, I know you're curious about the Jack-in-the-box. That'll be revealed during the feature film.

Kids Vs. Zombie Kids

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:13:03 -0800

I don't think anyone posted this up yet, but this is an awesome piece by Jason Chan.

Just Finished..

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:46:11 -0800

<3ing this.

Updated Fan Art

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:05:53 -0800

I finally updated the fan art gallery with the pictures by Will Gibson and Crackwalker! Check 'em out if you missed them the first time!

Left 4k Dead

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:39:40 -0800

Can't afford Left 4 Dead, or maybe you don't have a computer that can run it? Fear not! A 4k version is available!

Clicky!