egscomics

Parable - 144 - HD

Pretty sneaky, Susan.

Commentary

I think Shrink spells should absolutely be a thing for stealth and accessing areas in games with magic, though I know that's easier said than done depending on the game.

I've made my own magic for Skyrim before, and there's engine-nonsense that gets in the way of it working how one would expect. Specifically, the "hit box" of both the player and non-player characters don't resize with the player model unless reloaded...

Parable - 143 - HD

Enter NPC name...

Commentary

As some of you may know already, I actually considered the name Jack for Jay, but decided against it. This was at least in part due to there already being a female character in the Mass Effect franchise named Jack, and that felt like a toe I didn't want to step on.

One might also recall that she also goes by Jill (commentary for comic referenced ...

Parable - 142 - HD

You know he's evil. He said so!

Commentary

Previously, in the previous EGSNP commentary:

"Wait! This will be great for the next comic! Huzzah!"

And now, our story continues.

Or did. I guess these are read after the comic, if they're read at all.

Parable - 141 - HD

It's possible Susan only grew back temporarily to make the last couple comics easier to stage.

Commentary

Past me: "Okay, later, Susan will shrink down, and jump onto Jay's shoulder."

More recent me: "Oh. Um... I probably should had Jay's shoulders down more. Right. Only place left is the top of Jay's head, and all the issues that come with that."

Now me: "Wait! This will be great for the next comic! Huzzah!"

Parable - 140 - HD

Maybe sleeping like that is actually comfortable?

Commentary

- Story comic: "Jay"

- Story comic: "Pony-hair girl?!"

Because she's a PONY, Susan. Same reason she's got the tail, which I notice you do not question for an instant, which I suppose is fair enough with Grace.

What I'm wonder...

Parable - 139- HD

I haven't tried that sleeping position. I bet it's not great.

Commentary

While this scenario is quite different, the wording in panel three deliberately references an episode of Justice League Unlimited called The Great Brain Robbery.

Spoilers for that episode ahead, obviously.

Hero The Flash and villain Lex Luthor switch bodies (because reasons). Lex, a villainous villain, decides to make the most of the situation by finding out...

Parable - 138 - HD

We had rails?

Commentary

That's probably not actually the best way to jump, but darn it, that's how she's jumping.

Also sneak-running on all fours, because I wanted something different to convey moving quickly in a sneaky way. I'm 100% sure that would actually work terribly, but I like it in combination with the halo.

Speaking of which, I did the "halo stays big" thing as a joke, but I like how it's a constant frame of reference regarding her size.

July Poll #2

Femme Tedd totally not dressed like any known cartoon characters, be they meddling sleuth, a sarcastic cynic, or a mouse mechanic.

Can vote for more than one

July Poll #1

Rhoda the werewolf!

Can vote for more than one.

(I'm hoping to draw the results of this one the first week of August, though I will prioritize Story and EGSNP comics)

Parable - 137 - HD

EDIT - Minor shadow correction

Her inventory defies time and space, okay?

Commentary

In which we learn the size of Susan's halo isn't a quirk of it technically being a hat. It's because Susan's just that good.

Bandits in Skyrim and raiders in Fallout 4 will sometimes talk to themselves about turning their lives around or having regrets, and in the former, they will sometimes genuinely talk about paying off their...

Parable - 136 - HD

I'm not sure what I'm writing anymore.

Commentary

- BARD!

I woke up yesterday morning, having been up WAY too late and not properly rested, and I had NO IDEA what I was going to do for the this comic.

Well, that's hyperbole. I knew I wanted Susan to make progress, which meant being on the ship and shrinking. I just wasn't sure how I was going to go about it.

Then this happened s...

Parable - 135 - HD

He's a guard, you know.

Commentary

I'm just going to leave this to interpretation so one of you can hopefully make me sound clever, 'cause I've got nothing. 

Parable - 134 - HD

Lodge... Ick?

Commentary

Dan is unavailable to comment on this comic. He is presently making sure there is enough blueberry fruit spread in his secret underground safe room.

For reasons.

He did, however, leave the following notes:

"I'm not sure what is being added to the peanut butter and chocolate. Metaphorically, I mean. This is clearly referencing Mario Bros. It's just I describe the combining of things as 'peanut butter and chocolate' (as one does)...

Parable - 133 - HD

You were right with the second one, Susan.

Commentary

This is the part where Dan laughs maniacally.

Susan is intended to be 1:6 scale in panel one, which would be around 16.67% volume and height (about 10.67 inches tall in this case, or 27 cm).

I think Sarah needs to try that headband look in the main comic sometime. It just works.

Parable - 132 - HD

A timely complication.

Commentary

AKA why it's recommended almost everyone who plays Skyrim gets their Illusion skill up to 50, thereby gaining access to the "silent casting" perk.

Fun fact, that perk makes abilities known as "shouts" silent. You can literally shout someone off a cliff without breaking stealth.

In any case, yes, this is more peanut butter from one video game getting into another's chocolate.

Also, Catalina is adorable.

Parable - 131 - HD

Rhoda what are you doing Rhoda 

Commentary

Whoops! These things happen when you inexpertly combine mechanics from different games!

And yes, Susan likes abs.

Fable 2 was the first RPG I played in which armor didn't boost your defense. Beyond boosting or lowering social stats, they did nothing beyond change how you look. Which I actually liked while playing that game, because you could just level up your defenses separately while wearing wh...

Parable - 130 - HD

Susan? Susan? Susssssaaaaaaaaan...!

(Metal Gear Solid reference yay)

Commentary

Panel one references... Well, it could reference a lot of things, but let's say Skyrim.

Panel three references the Metal Gear Solid games, in which main character Snake hides, and feels quite safe, under large boxes. One might assume a box changing positions would be a dead giveaway, but as I've gone on about, change blindness is a thing. If someone doesn't see ...

Parable - 129 - HD

Spooky scary eye o_o

Commentary

So hidden, much hide.

I'm not sure how many video games this could possibly be in reference to, what with the eye visualization for being spotted, but the "caution, not danger" bit is in reference to Fallout games.

Parable - 128 - HD

Catalina is a Very Important Kitty. 

Commentary

My intent may well for that to be hair, and not actual cat ears, but that's not going to stop me from having Catalina emote with them.

VIP as in "Very Important Person", which is an acronym that tends to get applied to people who receive special treatment in some way, be it because they serve an important function, or are just a fancy pants famous person or something.

Parable - 127 - HD

No one will believe it happened.

Commentary

See? I know you were all worried that Catalina was only around to do cute stuff with Rhoda, but...

What do you mean none of you were concerned?

What do you mean her doing cute stuff with Rhoda was more than enough?

What do you mean this development enrages you, and you have sworn vengeance?!

What do you mean I'm typing this before anyone else has even seen the comic and no one could have possibly asked those thi...

Parable - 126 - HD

What painting what

Commentary

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!

That painter IS intended to be Sarah. I expect many will hop, skip, and jump all the way to that conclusion on their own, but the way I draw characters, the fact that I gave her eyelashes alone might result in doubt.

Parable - 125 - HD

Sneaky McSneakface

Commentary

I don't recommend trying to walk while crouched. It's easily hard on the knees, and those are kind of important. In video games, though, you can do that for days, no problem.

I've mostly been poking fun at Fable 2 in Parable, but that game said "hey, remember the stealth options in Fable? Yeah, we don't need that."

And to be fair, they didn't. It wasn't that fantastic a thing in the first game, and t...

June Poll #2

Lisa attempting to LAWYER at a smaller size! Specifically, arguing that exposure to something from Germahn Labs doesn't cause shrinking. 

It's not going well.

Shrunk evenly all around, height is listed for simplicity.

Can vote for more than one.

June Poll #1

Amanda attempting to SCIENCE at a smaller size! Specifically, to undo that smaller size.

Shrunk evenly all around, height is listed for simplicity.

Can vote for more than one.

Parable - 124

Nonetheless, Not-A-Monk Rhoda's come a long way with her biases regarding morality.

Commentary

Alternatively, given the halo Rhoda could have mistaken Susan for having fallen in battle.

I much prefer this to momentary Rhoda-anguish, however, even if a declaration of vengeance could have been good.

Sales Tax 2: The Maybe Taxening

First post on the subject <- Most info here, including a link to Patreon's page on it, which I'm also linking here. 

To summarize, depending on where you live, and what's in a reward tier, there may be sales tax on pledges starting July 1st.

I don't think it's applicable ...

Sales Tax

Starting July 1st, there might be some sales tax applied for some patrons. 

I haven't been sure what to say about this myself, and to be honest, it kept slipping my mind. Patreon said it would be sending out e-mails about this on its own, so I'm hoping this is old news, but I'm sorry I didn't send something like this out sooner.

I don't know whether any of my tiers are likely to be subject to sales tax anywhere. When setting up the tiers, I basically had to c...

Parable - 123 - HD

Whose dog is this

Commentary

I tried a version of this comic without the panting, AND IT WAS DEAFENINGLY SILENT. Have you ever seen an old sitcom without the laugh track? It was like that. A thing of nightmares that now burdens my soul.

Anyhoo...

Game Maker: "This game lets you be good and evil! It's like two stories for the price of one! Think of the replay potential!"

Player: "But I hate all the evil options an...

Parable - 122 - HD

The bird is not the word after all.

Commentary

A happy accident in the previous comic was that I forgot to ink in Susan's halo.

I realized this before I shared the comic, but I decided to keep it that way, as I was already imagining the halo having some physics to it in this comic.

Also, it was less visually busy to not have the halo behind Susan saying "bird".

And way easier to just not fix.

Parable - 121 - HD

It's the word!

Commentary

You might look at Susan in disbelief in this moment, BUT...

For one, she was startled. Heart pumping, full of adrenaline, people often don't act rationally.

For two, have YOU ever suddenly had wings you weren't aware of on your back?

For three, can YOU see your own back clearly without a mirror?

For four, you would TOTALLY think there was a bird on your back?

CASE CLOSED.