Your advice would be welcome.

I started a web-comic about 2 years ago, and I like to do something fancy for my "landmark" episodes; for example, I created a "free stuff" page full of wallpapers and stuff for episode 50, and episode 100 saw me reveal the name of my main character. With issue 200 coming up, I quite fancied creating the episode on the Speccy, using OCP Art Studio. But instead of putting up a jpeg as I usually do, I'd like to make it loadable into a Spectrum, with a prize available for the first person to send in a photo/jpeg of said episode. Gimmicky, yes. But it makes life interesting.

My quandry is this...what would be the best format to offer to my readers? MP3, .sn, .scr...or can anyone think of a better format?
Post edited by The Lone Magpie on

Comments

  • edited March 2008
    tzx?

    too short...
  • edited March 2008
    dekh wrote: »
    tzx?

    tzx is too easy. Type tzx into google and the tzxvault pops up first thing. That there is a major hint on what to do with the thing.

    Likewise tap can be found in google without too much trouble if someone tries "tap format" (7th hit is wos, 3rd hit is the jupiter ace which might delay them a little).

    sna is another instant hit...

    If you use an audio format, someone will have to recognize it's an audio recording from a computer (the easy part!) but then only the geekier will know what to try with it and even fewer of those will know it comes from a spectrum. I guess it depends on who your readership is. But if you want the contest to last any amount of time, a wav is probably the only way to go.
  • edited March 2008
    I would suggest .WAV or .MP3. You could just provide the screenshot so someone would have to enter the correct command into a spectrum / emulator to load the pic (not putting it here incase it gets googled and give the game away!)
  • edited March 2008
    MrCheese wrote: »
    I would suggest .WAV...
    Far too big.

    Where is this web comic then, eh? Or is that a secret that we also have to discover for ourselves? Hmm? Eh? COME ON!
  • edited March 2008
    Yep dont do .wav, those files will be huge. Probably mp3 is your best bet
  • edited March 2008
    Eek! Sorry I took so long to respond, my interweb access, as always, is rather limited.

    I like the idea of an MP3, as it means everyone (including non-spec-chums) has a chance to hear it and guess that it might be Spectrum-borne. Then it would be up to the reader/viewer/listener to decide what to do with it...wonder what the hell that garbled sound was and ignore it, or recognise it as a Spectrum "sound" and deal with it accordingly.

    And, at the risk of spoiling the competition before it's even born, the address for my comic is www.keezees.com A word or two of warning, though...

    a)The first 13 episodes, created over 2 years ago before I had got into my stride, are in the process of being cleaned up, and I am in the slow but tedious process of ridding the entire comic of the terror that is COMIC SANS.

    b)It's a bit grim right now, as my main character's life has to fall apart before the "adventure" begins; nothing to lose, et al. But Robert Burns is about to turn up as a "culture-clash comedy" style main character in the not too distant future, so there's good times ahead.
  • edited March 2008
    Hah! I am right now at the panel where you first reveal the full name of the character. What's that thing called again where you re-arrange the letters of a name to be something different yet sensible. Good play there :-)

    EDIT
    Oh, no!!!
    I clicked on a link on yer site and when I clicked "back" to get to the panel I was on, it plopped the VERY FIRST one on instead! :x

    ARGHLE-GARGLE!!!

    Is there a mini-menu of the panels so I don't have to click "next" for a long while?
  • edited March 2008
    ZnorXman wrote: »
    Hah! I am right now at the panel where you first reveal the full name of the character. What's that thing called again where you re-arrange the letters of a name to be something different yet sensible. Good play there :-)

    EDIT
    Oh, no!!!
    I clicked on a link on yer site and when I clicked "back" to get to the panel I was on, it plopped the VERY FIRST one on instead! :x

    ARGHLE-GARGLE!!!

    Is there a mini-menu of the panels so I don't have to click "next" for a long while?

    Eek! Sorry, there isn't. I've been playing about with javascript and I've downloaded different "standard" web-comic codes, but I can never get them to work. The strip navigation system is the best I've come up with so far, but yeah, you're right, I could maybe work on a mini-menu page with direct links to every strip...I'll need to have a think about how I'd get it to work.

    Cheers for checking out the strip, though! :D

    PS The name of the main character took a while to come up with...my name doesn't lend itself too well to anagrams. It was going to be Torkin McGuyver for a while...or Mortin Gryvcek. I chose Nick Grymtrove in the end, even though it sounded a bit Harry Potterish...
  • RNDRND
    edited March 2008
    .mdr :p


    lol
    Facebook @nick.swarfega Twitter: @sw4rfega
  • edited March 2008
    RND wrote: »
    .mdr :p


    lol

    *googles mdr*

    ...are you...French? If so, cheers. :D
  • edited March 2008
    I could maybe work on a mini-menu page with direct links to every strip...I'll need to have a think about how I'd get it to work.
    Drop down box spawning into different frame, if you're into frames, which seem to be evil incarnate to web bods but have never done me bad.
    See Penny Arcade's comic section for a drop down box that works.
  • edited April 2008
    Vertigo wrote: »
    Drop down box spawning into different frame, if you're into frames, which seem to be evil incarnate to web bods but have never done me bad.
    See Penny Arcade's comic section for a drop down box that works.

    I loathe to use frames myself ("Hey, wait a second, I bookmarked this page, and all it's giving me is the nav bar!"), and I shudder when I find a page that uses them. Actually, to tell the truth, it's been that long since I last used one, that I can't remember how to implement them accurately. I could go down the road of creating a seperate page for every strip, ala PVP, but if I do decide to do it, I'd better do it soon. I don't fancy the prospect of creating 500 seperate webpages in a year or two...

    BTW are you talking about the archive at PA? I can't check it out, it seems to be down at the moment.
  • edited April 2008
    BTW are you talking about the archive at PA? I can't check it out, it seems to be down at the moment.
    Yes. Oh, that's a pain.

    And I know everyone hates frames :) Do I care? No! Because I hate blogs and every fuckwit has one these days and all it does is make it easier for people with fuck all to say and minimal computer literacy to make sure everyone knows about their tiny, shit little lives.

    And relax.
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