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Bud Backer

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Everything posted by Bud Backer

  1. Bud Backer
    Michael, I'm right there with you re: Forrest Gump. The sneak previews etc were a total turn off. *phooey*
  2. Bud Backer
    The moment TMI was mentioned, I knew...
  3. Bud Backer
    I thought it meant Too Mediocre Intestine Glad to have you back; the joint isn't the same without you!
  4. Bud Backer
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  8. Bud Backer
    Just as I finished my Comic for the CMFB Beta, I felt quite exhausted. It was a lot of work. But I really wanted to finish Apache, which I had all the screenshots for but had interrupted to do the Beta CAAR. When Apache was finished, I felt rather different than I expected. Instead of being glad it's all done, it felt a bit of a let-down, as I was actually really enjoying working on it. It was a different graphical style and narrative focus and style as well, and when it was over I kept looking for something I wanted to do. @kohlenklau suggested an Afrika Korps comic, using his mod for CMFI. As he can attest, I find mods (beyond a file or two) fiddly and limiting in that one has to have multiple installs in order to play normally, or to do QB's which by now anyone who knows me here will be aware is how I play 99% of the time. That said, the visuals he showed us all here with his mod were just inspiring. Like many others here I think I was enamoured with the North African war long before Normandy was catching my attention. And so I fell into his trap. Ok, not really. But we both had some ideas and in a moment of fantastic synergy, they meshed perfectly, and a scenario was born, as well as some graphics work beyond what his mod included. I hope you enjoy. PS: I've said this with every Comic I've done here, but it bears repeating: click on the images to see them full screen. You're missing stuff if you don't.
  9. Bud Backer
    Yes, well, I've brought that back to the team too.
  10. Bud Backer
    Its not a huge amount of data, but I did find it interesting that casualties were clearly proportional to distance from the infantry, and quite minimal until one got to less than 200m. Even then, we're talking about a man injured or killed, here or there. Only less than 50m were the casualties significant, but then, that's not strange as I was seeing grenades etc at close range, and infantry was disembarking the half tracks because they are immobilized, and caught in the open, which means the casualties were actually higher than they would be had they kept to the protection of the half tracks.
  11. Bud Backer
    You're very welcome! Thank you for taking the time to post here.
  12. Bud Backer
    What you say seems to be about right. I ran a test... I made a totally flat map. 14 halftracks, all immobilized, with infantry squads opened up in them, side by side, about 20 m apart. 10 US squads, in trenches, at ranges in intervals going from approx 10m - 390m distance. No bazookas. The short range is meant to simulate close encounters and surprises. Ran for 5 min, with no input from me other than end turn. Results: GE wounded: 20 GE killed: 7 GE OK: 88 German casualties were 0 for the 3 most distant halftracks - so 392m - about 300m. So this is all small arms, no MMGs, no HMGs, just rifles and BARs. I'm not sure this is unreasonable to expect the losses we see here. Please, I encourage anyone to make their own test to see what happens. I for one was surprised by the result - but for the Americans. Even in trenches, they had 82 killed, 32 wounded, 0 OK. Likely someone can devise a comprehensive test regimen, I did this just on the fly to see what happens. Edited to add: I am not saying that this proves anything one way or another - but I am saying that, annoying as it may be to lose crew or passengers in the 251/1, the results to me do not seem to be wildly at odds with what I think to be realistic. Again, that is an opinion based on my own expectations, YMMV.
  13. Bud Backer
    That's a tricky question to answer. I'd say, it depends on how you define safe. And that's not being snotty. Absolutely safe: I dunno, 3 km where no rifle or MG bullet will ever reach? Likely that's not what you mean - I take your meaning to be: safe enough that he has a reasonable chance of survival. What is reasonable? Let's say, 80%? You can see how my assumptions may not be yours, and it gets difficult to work with the same expectations on an issue one may even agree on! But to the issue that the OP raised, I've seen arguments both ways, and I'm honestly not swayed by either "side". My own experience is that halftracks will save a lot of lives if the men are in them rather than walking on the open. I've seen instances where a spray of bullets ricochets off the vehicle and everyone is fine. I've seen in my Rundstedt CAAR battle repeatedly two things happen: 1. Bullet ricochets off the gun shield on the half track 2. Bullet penetrates the gun shield on the halftrack. I'd be hard pressed to say one happens overwhelmingly more than the other, but on average, I'd be inclined to estimate that the penetrations are still noticeably fewer than the ricochets. But these are my impressions. Not test results. Impressions can be misleading. I'm sure some may even say - "well this isn't what I saw so you're wrong." Ok. I believe you. But all I'm believing is that you have a feeling for something, just as I do. The developer has changed things when shown they are wrong. Why do you think this would be any different on this singular issue? Why be averse to helping make that change by setting something up and giving everyone the evidence that is needed? Guys we've all been hanging out on this forum for ages together. Let's stop arguing and try to help out, please.
  14. Bud Backer
    That's good advice, thanks. With the seemingly limited interest in Apache I had to ask as I was wondering what went wrong here, and if I was just wasting my time with a wrong approach. That's really great, again, it was another thing that I was trying for the first time, so I wasn't sure if it worked well. Yeah, I think that for the readers here, it's a bit different from many stories or films where you're fairly sure the "heroes" won't get killed. But the comics you know that the risk is quite real, that the vagaries of battle may kill the very characters you are keen on seeing survive. *chuckles* I feel your pain. The management of the images - from screenshots to the finished product - is a serious PITA. And I'm an organization freak. You can't keep the story fluid in your head except some so basic concepts that they are not necessary to recall. To make a story, I have to story board it, like they do for movie scene planning. Managing the images then is the second stage, which is a nuisance of first order. And it gets worse the bigger the comic (or AAR) one wants to do. Rundstedt had over 700 screenshots, IIRC, and several hundred other edited images. It was gigs and gigs of JPGs to sort, organize, ensure I'm not using any of them twice, keeping them for reference to ensure I'm keeping story continuity... In answer to the first part of your question - you have to recall that I do everything for these comics on the iPad, except play the game. So I'm using several apps for actually editing the images, creating motion effects, enhancing the images and so on. Layout software to design the frames when the ones I have are not suiting the panel configuration I need to present a scene in an interesting way, apps to upload and mange the online collection, comic design apps, sketching apps, Adobe Acrobat, photoshop apps made for the iPad, and so on. The workflow is laborious, and varies depending on how much image manipulation is needed before I even start using it in the comic. You asked: The answer is the latter; I make them and upload as I go. They don't get posted directly to the BFC forum, they are sent to a hosting site, and then inserted in the forum posts but hosted remotely.
  15. Bud Backer
    True. I wasn't sure anyone noticed that, as no one commented on it. Trust you to catch it!
  16. Bud Backer
    Haha! Good point! Thanks for killing Lt. Lawrence for me!
  17. Bud Backer
    Announcing.... Good Old Days
  18. Bud Backer
    Getting a distinct style was my goal. Great to hear! At the very least they weren't intrusive for you, which is good. Yes, I felt that if I was presenting any of these as a comic, there had to be some elements that were going to be personal to the reader; IE: characters. That's a neat way to express it! Nope, no replaying turns. The unusual part of the comic creation process here is that it's one of the few instances of a writer literally having no clue how his story will end...and having to be flexible enough to adapt to whatever happens. It's quite true - in Rundstedt there were two losses I didn't want to have happen that I had to wrap into a story - The Easy-8 (though I got some mileage out of Cliff, the surviving crewman, for a while) and Lt. Lawrence himself. He was supposed to be in future US-based comics! But I managed to get a decent XO (Blanchard) grow into his shoes. Hopefully I'll get to do another one with him in it. Thanks, thanks a lot, I really am ecstatic that you and a number of others enjoy them as much as you (they) do. It's really a big deal. Yes, well... we've already started talking about it.
  19. Bud Backer
    Ok, damn you, you sold me on it! I was going to return to my AAR to complete it, but the fact is I'm aching to do another comic. I'll save the AAR for when I'm really in the mood, so I do it justice; there's a lot to show and tell there and it would be a shame to just blitz through it. So a DAK comic. Starring a younger Warner of La Ferme DuPont fame, and I have a new character to introduce as well! I've sent you an email.
  20. Bud Backer
    Fair enough. You're not the only one who wants it more "realistic" looking. Can you try to put a finger on what was off-putting of the colour scheme? Speech bubbles? The narrative boxes in the frames? Something else? Thanks RE: the terrain. Given the tiny maps we were using, it was a challenge to get the look of the terrain right on the beach scene, though I think it worked ok. But @kohlenklau really nailed the inland map appearance in my opinion. Then they served their purpose, if they added to the ambiance. That was the whole point of them, and the original newspaper clipping. If you remember those Life magazines, then you probably also recall Look magazine too! But more on point, the objective here was to put images in that could become art, and since the comic was in colour, colour art. I'll keep an eye out for any of the old iconic photographs from the period. Were we in North Africa, this one comes to mind... The approachability is certainly a consideration. Personalizing any of these comics is something that I feel is essential, which is why even Rundstedt spent some time with a small cast. You're welcome. And thank YOU for taking the time to write something interesting, and helpful.
  21. Bud Backer
    My favourite is the one on the upper right in the panel below. As Apache accelerates, the smoke seems to dissipate from the muzzle while the rest, as it has no significant velocity, remains thicker.
  22. Bud Backer
    Put the boss in it....and click Open Up. C'mon, you know you want to!
  23. Bud Backer
    Haha Very Nice! Like you I also grew up first reading about the desert battles... I still have a strange sense of romanticism about that stuff !
  24. Bud Backer
    Oh, great map! I had a brutal but fun fight with @XIGundocIX on this map as the Russians vs his US... The terrain is a lot of fun, with plenty of cover.
  25. Bud Backer
    So a bit of background and thoughts on Apache, with the hope that you will give some feedback (so I know what works and what is a waste of effort) 1. This is the only comic that did not have the old-style comic halftone dots. I edited and enhanced the screen captures, but they were left to appear otherwise as they naturally would look, rather than like a comic. Originally, Rundstedt was going to be in the same style as Apache, but when I asked a few people what they thought, the opinions were unanimous: make it more like a comic! Personally, I really like how Rundstedt came out so the advice was good. But what do you think of the look of Apache? Would it have looked better if I made it more like a comic? I wanted it to look more like a graphic novel but maybe that wasn't the best choice? 2. Every comic I've done has a colour scheme that is unique. Starting with Somebody's Hero, I tried to make the colour scheme relate to the country the comic is about. Hence, bright red for the Soviets, red-white-blue for the G.I.s, and red-white for the Canadians. Did that work? Was it even noticed? Does it matter? 3. In an effort to make Apache more like a graphic novel, I included several full-panel "art" pieces - HMS Abercrombie was one of them, but there were others, usually something I made from a screen capture in game. How did that work? Did it make the comic more interesting, original, or was it just "filler"? 4. More than any other comic I've done, here I was trying to tell a story. The focus was on Apache, and not on the whole battle. The other comics (Somebody's Hero less so) were all trying to show the full scope and action of the battle. In some cases I found scenes almost repetitive in Rundstedt because static situations would arise in the battle, and I had to find how to present the same situation in different ways to keep the reader interested. But Apache was focused on the story of the tank and her crew. Did that work? Is it more interesting to read a smaller scope story over a full AAR of a battle?
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