The past week was a bit messy due to some IRL nonsense, so I just focused on drawing the comic. Since I don’t wanna go too long without updating y’all here with something, I figure a preview of what’s to come and a look at what I did prior is in order!
So for the most recent page in Layne’s room there’s a picture above his bed, which is supposed to be him as a kid on a podium where he won a karting race. The last time you saw this was early in the comic and that original drawing asset is pretty low resolution and it looked kinda… shit when I tried reusing it. So I decided to redraw that picture. Considering it was gonna be shrunken down a bunch I didn’t spend too much time on it, but I think it turned out okay!
I also redrew the picture on the wall of Mario Andretti’s Lotus F1 car to better fit the black and white art style I’m using now.
I’m really excited about the comics ahead! They’re coming along nicely. I’m also experimenting with a more flexible style of panels that I can still be dynamic with, but have the ability to cut em up easily for various social media platforms.
Now here’s a little insight into my obsessiveness. Take a look at the suspension details on this page:
I spent an entire day refining this to look ‘right’ to me. At first, it was just a rough take on what it looks like from the incar perspective on iracing. Then I cleaned it up a bit. From there it was just a bit too visually complicated and didn’t mesh well with the rest of the art, particularly with the other perspectives of the formula vee from farther away as those details ended up not making sense in comparison, so I had to sorta ‘simplify’ it while still somehow making it make sense mechanically. So I basically had to break down elements of the suspension into simpler shapes and leave out details that weren’t necessary. I’m glad I spent the time to do this as if I went with the initial version I’d be mildly annoyed every time I looked at this page..
There’s still a ton to do. I am really hoping sim racers appreciate what I’m doing here as I don’t think anybody has truly captured that excitement and fun we experience when sim racing. Either it’s seen as boring or they nonsensically exaggerate stuff and are silly with it… This arc is hopefully relatable to folks in the sim racing scene and I’m just aiming to create something that *I* would enjoy reading. Hopefully y’all will like it too. 🙂
I might have an update for next week, but with the whole election hysteria taking over, who knows? Whatever happens, keep calm and carry on.
Board Track Racing is a fascinating bit of motorsport history that I’d like to talk about a bit. It’s largely a forgotten sport that was only active for a little over a decade during the early turning of the twentieth century. Why? Insanely dangerous and insanely expensive. During a time when World War I veterans with a death wish and a new level of adrenaline to chase along with the obscene amounts of money being tossed around during the Roaring Twenties, such an exciting form of entertainment was perfect for its era.
Now what WAS board track racing? Imagine oval racing… but scarier.
Started on two wheels and expanded to four wheel competition, where my interest lies. It was called “board” track racing because the tracks were constructed with wooden boards, and with a minimal knowledge of the engineering behind it, the sketchiness of these tracks was an understatement. Later on there was some number crunching done by somewhat competent engineers, but what remained the same was the insane costs of construction and maintenance… and the speeds.
Indianapolis 500: 111.73mph
Fulford Speedway: 142.93mph
Same year.
With banking that’d put Talladega to shame, these guys took what amounted to basically lawnmowers with bicycle tires up to speeds that wouldn’t be seen at Indianapolis for decades. Where the 1950’s and 1960’s era of racing saw a tremendous amount of fatalities, what was seen during the era of board track racing was basically a blood sport for the spectator’s entertainment. Few survived long enough to retire.
When the Great Depression came Board Track Racing went. With few survivors from that era, there just wasn’t really anybody clamoring for it to come back when the world economy recovered. And with the increased focus on safety over the years we’ll likely never see anything like it again.
That said, the concept of essentially wacky hot wheels inspired track racing just seems fun. You see it in arcade racing videogames and people love the idea of it… but you won’t see anybody with a pulse race this way again… in reality. Perhaps iRacing could give it a crack? Would be pretty cool to see a realistic take on this largely forgotten style of racing.
If you’re curious like me, here’s a few documentaries I enjoyed that do a deep dive on the world of board track racing:
With the nostalgia bug latching onto me recently, I’ve started revisiting some old favorites. Pokemon being one that pretty much every kid has at least one major experience with dumping countless hours of their life into.
As an overall property I didn’t watch too much of the anime, Digimon was my jam as a kid and I’ll die on the hill that its theme song blows Pokemon outta the water. Yet I wasn’t a total outcast as a kid, or at least tried not to be, so of course I collected the cards when they came onto the scene during the late 90’s. I was literally the exact target demographic and age. Resistance was futile.
What saved me was not being able to keep up with my friends. I’d get like… one or two packs a month. I had a friend who would get cards all the time. His dad even took him to a niche collecting card spot and that motherfucker had BINDERS of cards. I think what ended my enthusiasm for card collecting was when we went to Blockbuster one time and my mom bought us each a pack of cards.
Dude pulled a holographic Charizard. Not. Fair.
As for the games… I went hard on those. I vaguely remember getting Blue as a kid and not really knowing what to do, but I ended up getting Yellow and a Game Boy Pocket (that my brother destroyed with a sharpie when he was a stupid baby… that’s a whole other story for a different time. I got a Game Boy Color shortly after that.) and I probably dumped hundreds of hours into each release from that point. Gold/Silver/Crystal was such a huge deal with its day/night cycle. Fire Red and Leaf Green introduced those little wifi warts that made trading on the school bus SO much easier. The last game I really was invested in was Diamond on the DS. After that I was too old and too cool for Pokemon games.
Guilty admission: Around 2004-2005 I used to run role-playing threads on the nsider forums as the ‘leader’ of Team Rocket. As embarrassing as that is to share, it really did cultivate my love for crafting stories. I actually was so involved with it that I grew to be friendly with the Nintendo of America staff that operated the nsider forums and when Twilight Princess was first previewed I got a print with the signatures of all of em on it lol. After so many years and so many moves, I’ve unfortunately lost it.. To be fair… it was kind of a crappy print. Probably off a cheap laser printer as an easy gift for an overactive user in their community lol.
Fast forward 15 years and I started hearing rumblings about a 3D Pokemon game and after getting a Switch to finally play Breath of the Wild with its sequel looming I was mildly curious. I didn’t think much of Arceus when I picked it up, but upon playing it holy crap. I was in. This was the Pokemon game I dreamed of as a kid. And I adored the new battle mechanics. Being even older and yet much less cool, I didn’t care what people thought about me playing Pokemon. It was fun! I even beat the dang game, which is quite an accomplishment for a known quitter like me.
…
If Ash can become a world champion at 35, then there’s still time for me to become the very best.
When Scarlet and Violet were announced it was the first Pokemon games I actively was excited to see released in ages. They got roasted pretty bad when they finally came out, but I had fun with em. Yes, they were buggy. Yes, Game Freak struggles with the 3rd dimension (Seriously they should’ve adopted that retro 2D/3D Octopath Traveler / Dragon Quest HD-2D style. They used to be SO good at pixel art!), but the core gameplay was FUN. Especially if you played it at the same time with friends. Being able to adventure through the world and catch stuff with others was just a good time. The first DLC was crap. Second DLC was okay. Overall I enjoyed the experience. Enough that I had the craving for more. What about those games in the series I missed during my absence…?
I began my adventure looking back with Heart Gold. That game is quite possibly the most refined old school Pokemon experience you can have. After that, I played Black and Black 2. Peak sprite art from Game Freak and was a delightful play. The later games I’m dabbling with are okay, but if ya wanna go back to the older style those two generations were the peak of traditional Pokemon.
I actually like and prefer the new direction that Arceus introduced in the overall design. Scarlet/Violet was kind of a mix of that and traditional Pokemon. I hope Legends Z-A brings back and expands upon what Arceus started. I liked how much quicker and interactive the battles felt.
I will say there’s a certain charm to the traditional Pokemon formula. Funneling you through an obvious direction and straight up expecting you to grind away mindlessly. Those games ended up being kind of a fidget spinner for me when I wasn’t feeling great due to chronic pain. If I was having a hard time I could at least grind away and level up my pokermans. The end result was the longer I was in pain, the stronger my team would be!
So while I have a newfound appreciation for that old formula, I still want them to pursue the quicker and more interactive style that Arceus introduced. With its sprawling open-world design… just hire better 3D artists/designers Game Freak. You can afford it.
