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Future ideas and tips - Tell us about what you think Stripgenerator needs in the future
NEW SG FUNCTIONS DEBATE | author: Zigmund | 28.09.2007 10:19
i need to debate some things with all of you, because i need different oppinions.
there are two major functions which could be included in Strip Generator. first would be importing bitmap images (any kind) and the secound would be drawing with the mouse (as in painter).
now, do you think these two functions would destroy what strip generator had been trying to achieve?
would the art of it dissapear or would it become even better?
would people still apprechiate the effort, or do you think there would be no more effort because you could import or draw any kind of image?
this is a serious issue for the future of strip generator, so please, share your oppinion!
Naturally if I have understood English well
perhaps limit the quantity of importable bitmaps (and the size)
also, i think that we should be able to create our own "actors"
ie allow me to save my space invader so i could import him anytime
see linky
http://escargot.stripgenerator.com/2007/09/26/invasion.html
i'd like to see more vector tools rather than an all out painting program
we might as well just use photoshop then
I don't want to see the nature of this site change too much
-ben
the question is if it would change the naration of this site to the point when it would become more or less spam. meaning we would have all colors and all media (from photos to printscreens) and it would become a cross-media thingie - all still in the concept of a comic ofcourse..
the negative thing is that the craft of doing a comic for hours till its perfect wouldnt be apprechiated as much..
still, i think we would gain a big deal of creativity...
1) Who knows what kinds of pictures people would upload. Family friendly or not family friendly.
2)If people could upload pictures, then all someone would have to do is trace over the picture. And easily pass it off as his/her own. Then some of the 'wow' factor of StripGenerator would be lost.
I say yes to saving your own objects/creations/characters. But I would have it to where you could email the person and ask permission to use his or her own creations.
But if you MUST put it in, you should seperate the comics with these functions and without these functions into two groups, so that we can distinguish which is which.
i only do these "paintings" while i think of something funny to pop into a comic strip...
suffice to say, my funny-bone is broken at the moment :(
-Ben
its the same reason why i argue for copy/paste functionality
i don't see the difference between spending an hour making 10 space invaders or making one in 5 mins then exporting as an actor to use later (or copy pasting it)
as for the bitmap images, thats why i argue for either number and size limitations... i mean... being limited to 3 20x20 pixel images surely wouldnt make a HUGE difference would it?
i really dont want the feel of this site to change, i do however want to make life easier for myself and others :)
If the site admins want to differentiate between art strips and comic strips then im fine with that too.
but let's stick to this debate, i want to hear more pros and cons..
Do not introduce this or there will be no point in the website!!!
This wouldn't be good either for people whose strips are mostly humor with little drawing. It's already hard for them to get noticed.
My idea: Simply seperate the two branches of ART and COMICS.
A library function could be interesting though ...
About the drawing tool: it would be awesome, yes, but when I do my comics, I exactly know which characters I will use, which shapes, etc... But it is a good idea.
If you don't add limits to your system, I think that it would lose its soul!
I mean, maybe maybe instead have a texture fill tool with a very (and i mean *very*) limited quantity of textures to choose from.
well it's just a thought at the moment... let it stir around in my head a little first...
but you all have a point though. seems that such features should be made for a new brand of stripgenerator..
If you foresee a path where Stripgenerator moves closer to being an application for serious comic artists, then image import and drawing are far, far less important than a save function.
The inability to save works-in-progress is the big limiter for me, as lately I have not been able to string together the couple hours needed to create and publish what I want. If I could work ten minutes here, fifteen minutes there, Jake and Lazlo would not have dwindled in frequency to one or two strips every week or so.
If you do not foresee such a development path, then I don't see where adding these tools enhances the current application. It opens it up to "anything goes" and I think you will then see the community deteriorate. Now, I understand this community is relatively small, and keeping it intact (with slow growth) may be less important to you than expanding the overall usage of your application.
Perhaps it's time for the development to fork: 1) a downloadable client piece (perhaps requiring a purchase) that combines saving, import, drawing etc. with quick upload of strips to a "pro" section of the site, and 2) the current online free tool, with its limitations and community intact.
thanx for all your comments..
ie, the things that he thinks will probably be implimented and the things that are possible / easy to impliment
so far its been all speculation and possibilities, i'd like to hear what is actually planned for the future :)
-ben
A lot can be implemented from technical point of view, the problem is time and financial part of the whole thing, plus, even more important in my opinion, what do people want and does it serve its purpose to a brand.
And I totally like the overall opinions right now.
http://horatius.stripgenerator.com/2007/09/21/telling-the-kitties-apart.html
http://horatius.stripgenerator.com/2007/09/21/telling-the-kitties-apart-part-2.html
It's amazing to me that we can make such distinct "personalities" come alive with just a few changes.
A draft save would be a useful improvement in functionality. As would being able to organise the blog - if anyone from outside comes to my blog they would be reading the latest strip first rather than the first strip first (I have a chronological strip). Be nice to have the option to switch the order.
perhaps something like this?
I love how this community is evolving and how everybody is able to understand and feel the concept behind stripgenerator which made this entire issue of new tools and your response completely homogeneous.
I'll do however have another question and i'll try to throw a bone, from my aspect of this evolutional step of stripgen..
How do you guys feel about limitation on developing your own style?
One could argue some of the pioneers here developed their style by creating complex drawings based on given shapes, but that is just one of the possible styles - i'm more trying to point out the issue of not being able to create your own drawing style, your own charachters, your own environments etc. so even if you have a great story to tell everybody, you are forced to do so with our visual language or. style if you want, not yours..
I think that this is very high price to keep stripgenerator (any thus every comic strip created with it) branded and "watermarked" with stripgenerators visual identity! It is possible to preserve the logic of giving every user same chances and possibilities and to keep this strip ecosystem visually homogeneous and ordered and yet empower users with another way of differentiate themselves from thousands of others. In this case strictly visually, but i'm certain that by providing you guys with a flexible and clever enough system will only invoke more creativity and new, subtile ways to stand out of crowd with your art.
What do you think? How do you feel about that?
I agree with all of it!
As far as importing BMP... I think that can be too dangerous and not as fun. Drawing with mouse could be a little fun.
Lew
I would rather have bitmap import now to save characters, than to have to wait for the properly implemented feature.
A drawing tool would be bonus!
saving stuff as characters, something like that is coming in near future.
abstain about drawing with mouse
totally agree with saving stuffs as characters
Colors given to bribed users is great thing. Separate editor for making new characters would be nice. Third shelf for those new characters would be nice. This would be good option because it will keep same SG, and guys who are making this can make easier make new thing and add it, rather than redoing this which is proved working and reliable.
NOTE!
Giving that advanced options to bribed users adds that something to SG.
In stead give the two "bribed of today" (or maybe 3 or 4 if @ is out) a 'gift' the following day. That would give more people the opportunity.
As to other features: Seeing what GREAT work people can do with a limited set of tools is - to me - what SG is all about. So: Not too many tools please!!!
The strips would be MUCH different one of the other, etc...
The "Painter" function would ruin the Stripgenerator image!!
The strips would be MUCH MUCH MUUUUUUUCH different one of the other!!
But i really agree about saving humans/beings/objects/shapes/bubbles!!
We could have a whole library for personal use in these topics that i mentionated!
And... Please... No more colors! Green and Yellow arent much SG style, so just imagine how would be with purp, pink, etc.!!
thanx for your oppinions, it helped much!
Scalable text would be cool, too. That would make it possible to work with symbols.