Dominion starts up today.
This section deals with the build up to war from many different view points. Most of the familiar cast members will be returning this time around, even though a few of them are now inaccessible;)
At any rate, daily updates will be going on as much as possible (hopefully all the time). Things have been a bit tumultuous in my personal life these last few months, though things are now beginning to smooth out I think.
At any rate the story is progressing, and the artwork has improved I think from the earliest days of the strip. We’ve broke in a number of new pieces of software during the creation of Requiem. Over the course of things we’ve used everything from Bryce 5-5.5, every version of DAZ studio that has been made so far, Vue 5 infinite, 3d Studio Max, Carrara 5, and Poser 5 and 6. Carrara and Poser 6 seems to be the god combination for things right now …combining a nearly flawless import from Poser with excellent realism for rendering and high speed work. And it is fast. Amazingly fast. Simply as a rendering tool it is superior to Poser 6 in every conceivable way, and is a whole hell of a lot less buggy than Vue 5 Infinite is. (which seems to crash as often as a drunkard drag racing a Camaro at a 150mph)
The story is progressing though…and the end of Requiem and what happens after has already been written. some people out there are going to real pissed about how it ends, some of you won’t. The main things is that in the end, there isn’t any winners. Just like life, in a way.
Some times nobody wins…some times thats just the way things are. What irritates me is that it took me this long to finally realize it.
On locations: A lot of real life scenery and locales have been used as inspiration and backdrops for the Requiem universe so far…Wolf Bay being based off of Melbourne, Australia for one, The most notable example of that is The City of Erech itself, which is based to a very, very large degree of the city of Toronto, which I was privileged to spend two weeks in on business in early 2005 (Thanks again go out to Fionn MaCools Irish Pub whose workers were gracious enough to answer a great many questions about the city I came to love.) Other places that were inspired by real life locales will be making their debut as well…and thanks should go out to them as well…..Squatters Pub Brewery in Salt Lake City whose staff filled in some of the blanks on SLC’s landmarks and geography for me. Also, thanks go to a certain bartender at the T.G.I. Fridays in Sandy Utah (A Warsaw Indiana High School Alumnus), who graciously allowed me to pick his brain as well.
God…who else gets credit for this last section….L.R. Plageman, whose knowledge of ranch practices, horses, and cowboys in general filled in a lot of the back story behind the Ranchers Association and the River Crossing debacle. The original Dreamland Barbecue in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and all of the staff at Coral Industries down in Tuscaloosa as well, ….some of the methods they were using to put together products had an influence on later building construction. Thanks also go out to one of the best Italian restaurants I ever ate at in my life “Cafe Venice” in downtown Tuscaloosa (they have an absolutely gorgeous bar, one thatI am planning to build and use in an upcoming comic someday). Thanks also go to Tom Le bre of Glazing Contractors out in Gaithersburg, Maryland. And I certainly can’t forget Al Shapiro, the owner of Pittco Architectural Metals out in Illinois, who was gracious enough to let me pick his brain over lunch one day about construction and building practices.:)
On the personal side of things…I gotta send thanks out to Jaison Stefaniak, (author of Dragon Girl Noriko) friend of damn near thirty years now. Jesse aka Chartreuse of Metanoia, Chelsea Gaither (Blue Skunk). , Erin C. (You know who you are “quit”;) ), Toga, Magestorm, nemtetsemnewty, princesabin, and a number of other folks out there. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to keep this crazy mess going through everything that’s went down. Everybody else…well you know who you are…everything that has ever needed to be said on that score already has been long ago.