Savestate

I thought it’d be fun to post some making of Savestate stories.

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The first comic drawn was the third comic posted, Winter Fun. I drew it on paper with pencil and pen, scanned it, and colored it. The process took far too long so I bought a Wacom Intuos and later got a Cintiq. And, yes, I still have that original comic. Now that I think about it, I should probably get it framed.

I had always planned to release each comic on Wednesday, because as anyone who shops at comic book stores knows, Wednesday is new comic book day. That and, at the time, it seemed like everyone else always posted new content on Mondays or Fridays. Not sure if going against the grain like that helped or hurt Savestate, but it doesn’t really matter. Wednesday is Savestate day.

The first comic was supposed to be posted on January 2014, but then I noticed that Pokemon Bank was launching on February 5, 2014; so I wrote what would become the first Savestate comic to coincide with that. Weirdly, Nintendo was saying Pokemon Bank would be the ultimate way to store your Pokemon, and it didn’t even last as long as Savestate.

Every Savestate comic continues to be made on the same computer. A late 2012 iMac named Gilliam (after the computer from Outlaw Star). That thing is a beast and will not die. Too bad modern Macs aren’t as reliable. That iMac pulled double duty as my gaming PC until Doom Eternal was released and I had to build a new PC to play it.

The original software I used to draw Savestate was Manga Studio, which was just an English version of Clip Studio Paint sold by Smith Micro Software. Once Celsys started selling their own translation I swapped to the official CSP.

In 10 years I haven’t missed a week. (Unless someone can point one out to me which means I was likely abducted by SG-1 Asgards and had my mind wiped.) Some of those were pretty rough. Drawing while you’re sick isn’t fun, but I didn’t want to break the streak.

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Thank you to everyone who ever has and/or continues to read Savestate. I honestly thought this would be something I did for a few years before it fizzled out, but I’m still having a blast writing and drawing Savestate!

Charms are back in stock in the Store and there’s finally a Riley charm to complete the cast!

I know a lot of people have asked about offering more sketches in Savestate vol 1 and I definitely want to do that, but I’m waiting on some work related stuff to clear up first. I’d hate to take orders and then make you wait since I wouldn’t be able to work on them right away.

Update – I should probably also mention I’ll be at MFF this year in the Artist Alley Marketplace. Which means I’ll have an assigned seat in the Artist Alley instead of having to enter the seat raffle everyday.

Savestate is holding a Mario Maker 2 contest! Grand prize is a hardcover copy of Savestate with a colored drawing inside!

How to win?

• Only available to those living in the US / Canada since the book will have to be mailed.
• You have until Friday, August 2 to enter.
• Play and beat the Mario Maker 2 level with course ID 478-FBB-2HF
• At the end of the level will be a code written in blocks. Take note of this.
• Send an email to savestatecomic (at) gmail.com with your Mario Maker name and the code from the end of the level.
• Everyone who finishes the level will be entered into a drawing to win the grand prize.

FAQs:

• Do I get anything for being the first to beat the level?
  • No. This isn’t a speed run. People have school, work, and other video games to play.
• Do I need to send my mailing address?
  • It would make things easier but it’s not required. I’ll contact you to get that information if you win.
• What if the winner isn’t able to claim the prize?
  • If I can’t get in contact with the winner to get a mailing address then a new winner will be chosen from the list of those who’ve completed the level.
• Why do I need to email my Mario Maker name and the code from the end of the level?
  • To keep things fair. Mario Maker keeps track of who’s beaten each level, however that information is publicly available. The code at the end of the level acts as proof that you’ve actually reached the end of the level and aren’t just pretending to be someone on the leader board.
• What if no one beats the level?
  • Then I’ll make an easier level and we’ll try this again.

Update

So I’m an idiot and didn’t realize Mario Maker 2 still had level previews, which meant the secret code was visible to everyone. I’ve fixed this and uploaded the level again. For those that had cleared the original level, I have a log of all previous clears so don’t worry about having to re-beat the level.

Special acclamations to shifter311 who not only was the first to clear the level but held the record at 8’37”.