Breakout from Bongolaan Webcomic: The Plot so Far...

Well it's been nearly 11 months since I posted Chapter Six of my webcomic Breakout from Bongolaan.   With the exception of my father-in-law passing away, this year-long binge of "Life getting in the way" has been filled with happy occasions.  However I was left with little time to add to the story in terms of both pictures and narrative.

Now, I'm getting ready to--finally--post Chapter Seven!

For those who've been waiting, I appreciate your patience.

For those of you who've wandered off, I hope I can regain your attention.

The story so far weighs-in at 182 pages.  

Because so much time has lapsed between Chapters Six and Seven, I thought I'd include a synopsis as a refresher.  Although for anyone new to the story, I recommend you read webcomic itself:

It is the last day of the year 129 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin, annotated as Stardate 365-129 ABY).  The citizens of the planet Bongolaan are celebrating the Galactic New Year, along with the election of a new president, Zeveg Bharzi.

However, the former president, Bunda Akhtar, has decided he doesn't like being a former president and is planning a comeback coup.  Despite having only two cohorts of battledroids available, Akhtar is confident he'll succeed, because reinforcements are on the way.

After defeating the Galactic Alliance at the Battle of Caamus, the Imperial fleet overran the Core and Mid Worlds and is now sweeping through the Fringe.  One such Imperial task force is now dropping out of hyperspace and is bearing down on Bongolaan.

Meanwhile, four offworlders have gathered at the Presidential Palace Masquerade Ball and are awaiting the arrival of President Bharzi and his entourage.

Cad So Billes:  A Durosian shuttle pilot for the Jedi Support Corps.  He's spent the past year on Bongolaan flying supplies, equipment and personal to various work sites.

Callithea Lockridge: "Calli" is the shy administrative assistant to the Tarsan Ambassador, Fitzroy Heraud.  She's scheduled to leave Bongolaan the next day and return to her homeworld of Tarsus.

Sei'do Avari:  A man of questionable background and reputation, but appears to have considerable technical skills.  Is suspected by Cad of being up to no good, but has been vouched for by Nance.

Nance Windu:  Claims he's not a Jedi, despite being the Jedi-in-charge of the earthquake recovery effort on Bongolaan for the past year.  Unbeknownst to his companions, Nance is haunted by an evil Force Spirit. 

By the end of Chapter Six, Calli's comlink conversation with her ambassador was disrupted by interference, assumed to originate from an approaching thunderstorm.  Ambassador Heraud, along with the Twi'lek singer Shiri Blen and her Rodian agent Geelo, are currently on the outskirts of the capital city, Ratankiri, with the presidential motorcade, getting ready to lead New Year's Eve Procession to the Presidential Palace. 

In actuality, the communications disruption is the opening phase of Bunda Akhtar's coup.  

It's about to rain on everyone's parade, but first there's some loose ends to tie up...

Pending Style Changes for My Star Wars Webcomic

It's said that change is the only constant in the universe.  This certainly applies to any creative endeavors.  The published authors I know often talk about how their writing style improves over the course of their careers.

My career in writing my Star Wars webcomic, Breakout from Bongolaan, is just over a year old and I hope my writing has improved during this time.  Although after doing a complete review of the Chapters 1 through 6, I've already spotted one typo!  And I'm sure there's more...

...anyway, a comic is more than just words.  It's also a visual medium and I continually look for ways to improve on this aspect of it too.  Since I'm no good at drawing, I've relied on taking photographs of my miniatures and model terrain to tell my story.  (I'm not all that great at painting my figures, but that's another issue).  Thanks to a graphic novel workshop during a PNWA (Pacific Northwest Writers Association) Conference a few years ago, I learned this technique is a valid art form known as Fumetti.  

But valid or not, there's definitely room for improvement on my part.  Despite having figures and terrain on-hand I eventually realized I needed some background to give readers a sense of place.  The picture above is my initial depiction of the Bongolaanian Presidential Palace, as seen in my YouTube book trailer.  

A couple months ago, I stumbled across the site Wallpaper Up and I'm now in the throes of shooting new & improved images, like this...

...which I discussed at length on my Redshift Chronicles Blog a few weeks back.  

One of the programs I've been using is Paint.Net, described as a "poor man's Photoshop," to add various special effects to each photo.  However, while I enjoy taking pictures, and I know photography is an art form in and of itself, I feel my images aren't...well..."artsy" enough.  

Also, despite the size of my Star Wars Miniatures collection, I don't have the variety of models and figures needed to create all the necessary scenes.  So I've turned to real-life photography to fill in these gaps.  But in order to make these images "blend in" with the ones of miniatures, I've used the Oil Painting Function under Paint.Net's artistic effects.  The result is somewhat "Impressionistic", like this image here...

...of the New Year's Eve Masquerade Ball at Roberson Mansion.  This helps soften the starkness of a photograph to some degree. 

And speaking of stark images:  It seems like the imperfections in every picture I've used jump out at me.  Maybe because I'm the director's chair, so to speak; or maybe I'm a not-so-closeted perfectionist.  Either way, since I want to create the best possible content for my readers, I've been playing around with the oil painting function a bit more.  

This softens the image and helps hide the imperfections, as in this Oil Painting version of the Presidential Palace...

...but I also think it blurs the areas I want to draw the readers attention to.  Which is why I haven't used this function on any scenes involving miniatures.

Then, just a few days ago while compiling images for Chapter 7, I found myself idly playing around with Paint.Net's Ink Sketch function.  I applied it to the Presidential Palace photo and...

...WOW!  

I don't know about you folks, but I really like this style.  It hides the imperfections I'm worried concerned about, and yet the "ink" brings all the objects into a sharp focus.  I just have to fiddle with the black-to-color ratios for the best result.

Best of all:  It makes it look like I actually drew this stuff.

Part of me wanted to hold-off using this technique until I begin work on Book Two of the Redshift Chronicles, but I'm too excited about this to wait any longer.  

So starting with this upcoming Chapter 7, Breakout from Bongolaan, along with the subsequent Redshift Chronicles books, will have a whole new look.

Unless, of course, I find something better...

The Redshift Chronicles Spin-Off

(Image from:  Next Movie)

After much careful thought, I decided to create a "spin-off" from this blog.  I've been running a Star Wars role-playing game for about a year now.  That is, as much as my work schedule will permit me to do so.  While I'm an omnivorous player, I intend to focus my game mastering energies on my Star Wars Legacy Era campaign. 

I copied and pasted all the "SW Redshift Campaign" material over to it's new home, The Redshift Chronicles. The current Redshift material will remain here, for historical and continuity purposes, but future posts will be uploaded on to the new blog.  Updates can be found on the Studio Spin Offs Tab, on the right and near the top.

I don't think I'll be spreading myself thin, because this is material I've been writing and posting about anyway.  I'm just creating a unique space for this game's story arc on the internet, in order to make it more accessible to readers and fans. 

For those of you who've been following the misadventures of the Redshift Players, thank you for your support and encouragement.  I hope you enjoy the new site.

For anyone new to Stern Rake Studio and are curious about one man's version Star Wars gaming, albiet however warped and twisted it might be from George Lucas's vision, come on over to The Redshift.

Redshift Chronicles: The Origins of MARVIN and Other Odds & Ends

Notes on Figures:

When posting pictures and game reports it is important to list what company manufactures the figures used, or about to be used in the game.  This way, other interested players know where to find the same figures to use in their games.

At the time I posted News Brief #5, I didn't have any information on MARVIN's origin.  The droid will be a new character (PC) and the player informed earlier today the figure was made by Reaper:

http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures

Notes on Organizing Redshift Chronicles Post:

I've been blogging for just over two years now, but I must admit, I'm still getting use to operating here in cyberspace.  One of the comments made on a gaming website was my use of individual postings versus creating a thread.  I'm still trying to finesse that one, but what I did notice was how long the "SW Redshift Chronicles" thread on this blog was getting. 

For anyone who's read my Redshift posts since the beginning, this may not be a problem, but for someone just starting out, reading through my posts--in reverse order--can be a pain.  To help alleviate this, I've added a few more Labels to each of the entries in order to break it up into more readable chunks. 

I'll keep the Star Wars RPG Adventures and SW Redshift Campaign labels in order to provide an on-going narrative.  But for those not wishing to scroll through the entire cyber-tome, I've broken the campaign into the following categories:

SW Redshift Campaign News Briefs
SW Redshift Campaign Intelligence Briefs, and
SW Redshift Campaign GM Notes

In the future, I'll add a SW Redshift Campaign AARs category for any major confrontations that may occur.

I hope this reorganization is less annoying for the readers of this campaign.

Redshift Chronicles: Outtake #1--Bongolaan's National Treasures Stolen?

Stardate: 026-130 ABY/Fringe Info Network (FIN)--Tarsus Bureau

Subsector: Shannekam

Bongolaanian Security Camera Images Were Faked!

FIN has learnded from an anonymous source within the Tarsan Intelligence Service (TIS) that the images from Bongolaan's Pesidential Palace, transmitted 6 days ago, were tampered with.  According to the testimony given by the refugees; after securing the palace command post, they obtained additional weapons from the armory in order to fight their way past Bunda Akhtar's battle droids and rescue Ambassador Heraud.  They were not looting the planetary treasury as claimed by the Bongolaanian Ministry of Justice.

The above image clearly shows the refugees....wait a minute...that's not the right image!...We are...um...experiencing technical difficulties. 

Please stand by.

End transmission.....................................................

Notes on Miniatures:

Figures by Wizards of the Coast

Doorway by Paper Make It

Containers by Topo Solitario:  http://www.toposolitario.com/principal/index.html 

Star Wars Gaming: The Redshift Has Begun...

(Image:  Orion's Thunderbolt)

Redshift:  The astronomical phenomena where stars appear redder than normal, because they are moving away from the observer as the universe expands. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redshift

Or in the Star Wars mystical sense:  When followers of the Light Side of the Force, often characterized by Jedi Knights wielding blue or green-bladed lightsabers; fall under the spell of the Dark Side, represented by the Siths' penchant for red--the color of anger, hatred; and in the case of human beings--blood.

With this imagery in mind, Redshift, is the Star Wars "Legacy Era" we started a week ago.  During this epoch, the players may find themselves fighting along side the grandkids of Luke, Leia, Han and other descendants of the "Rebellion Era," as they struggle to survive the downfall of the Galactic Alliance.

I hosted our first Star Wars role playing game (RPG) last Saturday (28 August), using Wizards of the Coast (WotC) Star Wars Saga Edition rules, (unfortunately, now out of print).  However, my "cunning plan" won't limit Redshift to an RPG campaign.  I intend to use this as a scenario generator for large-scale battles as well.  This way, I can utilize my entire collection of science fiction rules and miniatures:  From my diminutive 6mm figures and terrain, to my robust 25mm pieces--most of which have never seen the light of day, redshifted or otherwise.

(Players and GM wreck havoc in the "Studio")

Our preliminary adventure, Breakout from Bongolaan, found the heroes caught up in an Imperial-sponsored coup on a corrupt planet in the Outer Rim.  The players managed to "...avoid any Imperial entanglements" with the inbound reinforcements, rescue a few VIPs and land on an unoccupied planet.

This episode, along with upcoming game sessions, will be made into a full-length YouTube video and/or an on-line graphic novel.  Until production is complete however, I'll post "Redshift News Updates" and "Intelligence Briefs," to keep the players informed and other readers (hopefully) entertained.

My thanks goes out to Mike Murphy for inspiring me to create a Star Wars version of Bongolesia:

http://bongolesia.blogspot.com/

Redshift

 



A few months ago, I offered to GM (game master) a Star Wars RPG (role-playing game) for my friends in the Puyallup Wargamers group.  While I'm still in the throes of developing the campaign, I plan on hosting the first adventure by the end of this month.  In the meantime, here is the opening vignette for the initial adventure, set in what is known as the "Legacy Era," some 130 years after the Battle of Yavin (Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope):

Here on the Outer Rim, it is said that happiness is seeing the planet Bongolaan in the aft viewport…

At least that’s an image you hope to glimpse when the Aimless Drifter lifts-off from this rock tomorrow. In the meantime, you sip your drink, touch the boarding pass in your pocket like a talisman, and enjoy the Galactic New Year’s Eve party, sponsored by Bongolaan’s newly elected president-for-life, Zeveg Bharzi. Fortunately, the Dear Leader has yet to join the festivities within the palace’s ballroom. Instead, His Excellency is taking visiting dignitaries on an evening tour of Ratankiri, assuming the joyful rent-a-crowds of the planet’s capital will convince the delegates of his popularity.

As you make your way back to the bar for another drink, the band starts to play “Red Stars at Night,” a hit by the holo-vid group,The Sixthe, nearly 30 years ago. Shouldering your way past frenzied dancers, many already high on ryll, giggledust--or both, you realize your fellow off-worlders already beat you to your destination. Once clear of the gyrating mob, you readjust your formal attire, pat your sidearm for reassurance and join your companions-by-circumstance at the bar.

"Red stars at night. Wo oh. Oh oh oh…"

"Red stars at night. Wo oh. Oh oh oh…"

All of you spent the past several months with relief agencies attempting to repair damage caused by last year’s earthquake. However, this first assignment away from your respective homeworlds turned sour shortly after making planetfall. Instead of helping the citizens of Ratankiri rebuild their lives, Alliance credits were used to subsidize gabaki plantation owners and to bribe Bharzi’s supporters--thus ensuring his election. While funds were siphoned-off, relief supplies turned up on the black market throughout the Shannekam Subsector.

"Should have taken warning…"

The Galactic Alliance will investigate Bharzi’s “Credits for Cronies Program,” thanks in part, to your report. Unfortunately, probing Bongolaanian boondoggles will remain on the back micro-burner. Despite the approaching New Year, the Alliance’s war against Roan Fel’s Imperial Remnant continues unabated. The last holo-bite speculated Admiral Stazi's Core Fleet was en route to the Cirius System, hoping for a showdown against the Imperial Armada reported near the ravaged world of Camaas.

"Running, hiding, lost…"

"Couldn’t find, find a place to go…"

But news travels slowly from the Core Worlds to the Outer Rim. So far, there have been no reports of the battle’s outcome—or even if a battle was fought in the first place.

Oh, well. No new is good news, right?

You hoist your fresh drink, turn to your companions and offer a silent “cheers” to ring in the New Year. Everyone quietly raises their glasses in return. Everybody that is, except the human female at the end of the bar, chattering into her comlink, in a vain attempt to be heard over the din of the party.  A recent arrival, she’s an aide to one of the fringe-world VIPs, on a mission to negotiate a new trade deal. While sipping your drink, you recall some trivia about her homeworld Tarsus, an agricultural world beyond the Alliance’s border, known primarily for its beef products and temperature extremes. The cattle baroness is obviously too busy hawking her bantha burgers to join the celebration.

"Someone’s taking over…"

Before any of you sip your drinks, a roar of thunder overpowers the deafening music and reverberates throughout the ballroom. You and your companions gaze up at the shivering skylights, then glance at each other and give a collective shrug. The burger queen continues to prattle-on, despite three more thunderclaps in quick succession, each sounding closer than the last. From what you remember of Bongolaan’s geography, storms during the dry season at these latitudes are unusual, but not unheard of.

"Someone said we could be dead by morning…"

Oh, well. As long as the approaching tempest doesn’t spoil the party, right?

"Red stars at night. Wo oh. Oh oh oh…"

"Red stars at night. Wo oh. Oh oh oh…"


Note: “The Sixthe” and “Red Stars at Night,” were inspired by the band “The Fixx” and their song “Red Sky at Night.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCM4_5uB1ww

Bongolaan's name was partly derived from Mike Murphy's "Bongolesia," while Ratankiri was based on the name of the Cambodian city Ratanakiri.

http://bongolesia.blogspot.com/

Some notable drugs-of-choice in the "galaxy far, far away..."


Gabaki:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Grey_Gabaki

Ryll:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ryll

Giggledust:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Giggledust