Toonbots -- random thoughts, October, 2000

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(Oct 21, 2000) (the toon)
Well, so you're wondering what the heck this page is supposed to be, right? Well, Toonbots will end up being a comic strip at some point. Right now, it's a showcase for the amazing Toon-o-Matic, which slices, dices, and (as of October 21, 2000) draws panels on the background graphic of your choice. See, the problem with my wanting to join the Webtoon elite is that I don't draw all that well. And while that doesn't stop everybody, on top of that, my scanner's broken. And that still wouldn't stop just anybody, but frankly, I don't have the time to draw. So perversely I've decided that I do have time to write a drawing tool. Shyeeah. So in a couple of years, maybe Toonbots will be a real comic strip. For now, the Toon-o-Matic might be a nice tool for somebody wanting to lay out panels to draw a strip on.

And besides, I'm having fun. And having "drawn" one Webtoon (which, OK, consists solely of some interestingly laid out panels), I think I'm now a member of the Webtooning elite. Right, guys? Guys?

Who needs'em anyway?

(Oct 23, 2000) (the toon)
Hey! I can do text! (Well, kind of.) It's suitably baroque, too, with plenty of intermediate files. Good stuff. Anyway, I'd be the last person to say that people should return to this page, but hey, I have a Saturday and a Monday -- so far I'm on a six-day-a-week update schedule. Check back tomorrow. Maybe something will have happened, eh? But the point of this little project here is that I don't have to keep deadlines on it -- it's not exactly the paying work. No promises (unless you pay me.)

(Oct 25, 2000)
It's a good thing I didn't promise.

(Oct 28, 2000) (the toon)
Captions work. Ain't that grand? And of course the groundwork has been laid for a more extensive set of layout tools, including characters and dialog, both of which will probably give me more flexibility.

I'd like to note at this point that it's pretty nice to sketch out story ideas in the form of finished strips. Even without the ability to draw characters or dialog or props or sound effects or backgrounds, the storyline possibilities are just endless, and so it's nice to take a few iterations to get it just right. I wish that slacker of a Toon-o-Matic would get the caption boxes to match up with the white space around the text, but it's a waste of time complaining to it. Seems like it just doesn't understand plain English.

At this rate (three strips in a week or so) I'm going to have to get an archive set up. Good thing I do Web design for a living.

(Oct 29, 2000)
Got started on an archive today. I realized that my usual code doesn't really do 'next' and 'previous' links (yet), so I'll have to code that up. But at least I've built nice individual pages for the "older" strips, dating way back to last week and the halcyon days of yore when Toonbots was young.

(Oct 31, 2000) (the toon)
Well, it was still technically Halloween as I posted this. I was going to skip today's riveting episode, but after trick-or-treating with the kids, I guess all this sugar in my bloodstream wanted to do something, so I messed around with colors instead. Hope you like it. No, wait. I'm an artist. Your opinion is of no importance to me whatsoever (and I plagiarize, too.) Speaking of which, why haven't you posted more on the forum, you slacker? You think I do this for my health? You oughta be ashamed of yourself. Cut your hair and get a job!

Oooh. Bad flashback there.

These thoughts are continued for November. Eerie but true.