Nexus Point
A Stafford Comic
Friday, 14 August 2009, 15:24
Just an awesome update!
Posted by Drentsoft
Things have got a little bit crazy around here. As I said last time I've been working to set up a new business. A lot of my time has been spent developing a new CMS for my site. Why?
[a] Much as I love btPHP it doesn't do enough for what I need and maintaining the static pages was just annoying
[b] Sometime during the development of my new CMS btPHP started acting up for some reason. You may have noticed a lot of the pages weren't loading the comic images and now none of them load fully. Anyways thats a moot point because as soon as I get this new CMS fully integrated to my site I will be switching to it permanently.
I thank you for your patience during this transition and hope it is a smooth one. The new URL for The Nexus Point will probably remain the same but in an all lowercase format. I shall try and write a redirect rule which directs any old links to the new one.
That is all.
Tuesday, 16 June 2009, 05:26
Just checking in again
Posted by Drentsoft
I'm currently setting up and trying to get a business off the ground which is taking up most of my time right now so apologies for the lack of activity around here recently.
Wednesday, 22 April 2009, 05:19
Just to say hi
Posted by Drentsoft
Just keeping the site up to date really. A new page is in production but I can't guarantee when I'll be up, sorry. Theres a lot going on at the moment.
See you guys soon. Hopefully with a new page.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009, 13:29
Page 31 is up!
Posted by Drentsoft
As promised page 31 is now up!
Thats all I really have to say for now... except... check out the Twitter updates! :D
Tuesday, 24 March 2009, 17:59
Page 31 Preview Uploaded
Posted by Drentsoft
Just so you know I am still working on the comic, here is a very pixelated version of the page as it stands so far. I should have it finished sometime tomorrow.
Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 12:19
HP Are just plain weird...
Posted by Drentsoft
Thats right.. they've now sent my original laptop back, having sent me the TX2 as a replacement - Like 4 weeks after I got the TX2 and about 4 months after I sent the original back to them. Thats just bad management... especially after they nagged me on the phone for 2 weeks to send them the original back - 2.5 months after I'd already sent it back.... just.. weird.
Saturday, 07 March 2009, 18:41
Bad Derwent
Posted by Matt
Derwent promised me...PROMISED me....that he'd have the next page done and up by tonight. But it looks like he's let me down.
I hope you will join me in shaking your head disappointedly at him, and maybe he'll do it tomorrow.
Sunday, 01 March 2009, 15:17
Death Check
Posted by Matt
[Pokes Derwent with a long stick]
[Derwent moves slightly after a few pokes]
Yup, he is still alive. and I think the next page is currently in production!
Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 18:48
No new page today sorry
Posted by Drentsoft
I'm afraid I've been a bit swamped with other things the last couple of days, doing things like logo designs for people and stuff like that. I hope to have a new page up tomorrow and hopefully another one on Friday (or failing that some time over the weekend).
Saturday, 14 February 2009, 20:20
A new page is up!
Posted by Drentsoft
I've decided to try and keep the comic going to its intended schedule as much as I can despite the laptop problems, as such the new page won't be displayed until Monday. The clever ones out there should be able to access it by fiddling with the URL (but I'll leave that to you to figure out). I will have a new news update on Monday.
Stand by for more awesome.
Saturday, 14 February 2009, 05:11
Hi all and a Happy Valentines Day
Posted by Drentsoft
... if you're into that kinda thing :)
SO!! Update!
HP finally sent me a replacement for my TX2550EA laptop. Its nice and new and shiny and black and has Bluetooth (The TX2-1015EA). Due to the bluetooth I actually class it slightly higher spec than the previous model. HOWEVER! This new model supports multi-touch which is kinda cool. Unfortunately this means that the tablet screen is no longer supplied by Wacom but a lesser known company called N-Trig. Why is this a problem? Well normally it probably wouldn't be. This time:
[a] there is no eraser on the digitiser pen... Something I could get used to in time
[b] Pressure sensitivity only works in the Windows input panel, Windows Journal, Windows Live Messenger, ArtRage and Sketchbook Pro. It doesn't seem to work in ANY OTHER SOFTWARE!!! This includes Photoshop and Illustrator the two main pieces of software that I use to make the comic pages with.
As you can imagine I'm more than a little miffed that the replacement for a broken laptop can't do everything the original could and intend to raise the issue with HP, N-Trig, Adobe and possiby Dell (they also use the N-Trig in their XT laptop and their customers have had this problem for over a year *Angry face*).
Anyways Rant over. I hope you understand and bear with me whilst I kick some corporate butt... through the medium of interpretive letter-writing! *Idiot-Trying-To-Do-Kung-Fu-Kung-Fu-Noise* <- That wasn't a mistake...
Friday, 13 February 2009, 16:24
Tut Tut, Derwent!
Posted by Matt
Getting behind on your daily updates, aren't you?
He's finally got a replacement laptop that should actually work, so maybe he'll get back to doing the comic more regularly, if he's not too busy drawing scantily clad, muscly, old men, which is his favorite hobby.
Saturday, 07 February 2009, 18:11
New Page!
Posted by Drentsoft
AHA! A new page is finally up! I hope you like it. I think its fairly self-explanatory. If you don't think so, why not gimme a buzz on the forum.
Friday, 06 February 2009, 03:50
So I missed an update
Posted by Drentsoft
I apologise... but I felt that sorting out things on the site was a better use of my time, considering the flurry of updates from Wednesday. I would also like to point out that I was able to put Random Ravings back up. I even managed to update it!
That is all.
Hey... SNOW!
Wednesday, 04 February 2009, 18:14
Testing... French Men Can't Swim
Posted by Drentsoft
An epic title to the first film to start a minor tri-continental scuffle. Some knees were bumped, some shins scraped and a puppy spontaneously combusted.... In an Australian lady's soup. OK. Maybe it wasn't that spontaneous... Maybe I fed it some dog food laced with TNT... I'M SORRY ALL RIGHT!
This concludes todays Emergency Broadcast test.
...
......
...
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP
In other words... I'm still working on the page and it will almost certainly be up by Friday :(.
Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 19:03
Yes, Well....Enough of That....
Posted by Matt
Hello, everybody!
[Derwent tells me there are actually readers, I'm not sure I believe him, but feel free to prove me wrong with the flashy new comments feature]
My name is Matt. You may remember me from such appearances as The Nexus Point Page 22, and maybe the back of my head on page 23, I don't really remember. I was pretty drunk during the whole of the filming of that scene.
Anyhoo, I know Derwent and he's given me admin rights so I'm going to take advantage of that fact. However, I'm "only to use the Newspost as a helping agent from here on in!" or he'll lock himself in his room and sulk.
My own website is currently only in the planning stage, as my web monkey has exams at the moment, so I may as well help out here, make the site look slightly less dead, and then shamelessly plug my own site once its up!
I may also post the pilot strips for my own possible webcomic, which also features me and Derwent, to fill the gap in this dark, laptopless time.
Enjoy.
tl,dr; I'm Matt, I'm helping out, and shamelessly plugging my own stuff while I'm at it. woo! ^_^
Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 18:39
Update... again....
Posted by Drentsoft
I kinda blew up the site earlier (trying to solve a weird issue thats now fixed with a dodgy hack type fix) I still need to put Random Ravings back up but its a start.... Also... WOO! You get 2 newsposts for the price of 1 today!! ^_^... but I'm updating again to just say that I didn't get to finish todays page because of the problem with the server exploding. Theres a downside to every plus. :)
EDIT - I smell of Honey! And Poops is Matt's favourite activity. /EDIT
Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 18:38
Poops!
Posted by Matt
Breaking news: Derwent is smelly!
It's true!
Tuesday, 03 February 2009, 09:42
I am actually working on the next page
Posted by Drentsoft
No I haven't got my laptop back... but I thought I'd try and relearn my Intuos cos it is a really good piece of equipment :) Its going OK actually. More on this later. I hope to have it up later today. I've almost finished inking the page then I just have to colour and caption it. :)
Monday, 02 February 2009, 04:50
Hello there!
Posted by Drentsoft
Yet again I have updated the news on my site!
I would like to tell you today about one of my absolute favourite TV series... Futurama. Its hilarious, its sci-fi and its 100% geek/nerd approved. I thought I would just remind all you Futurama fans who may have somehow forgotten... Into The Wild Green Yonder is out this month!!
Only 21 days to go!
I'm both beyond excited and a little worried as it may be the very last Futurama release... EVER!!! This must not be allowed to happen so please, buy the DVD.. or Blu-Ray as soon as you can!
If you've never seen Futurama but like comedy or Sci-fi or failing that are an animation connoisseur then I urge you to check out Futurama somewhere! Buy a series or one of the recently released feature length episodes!
That is all for today. I apologise for the Futurama-plugging but it had to be done.
Tomorrow: Quantum Scientification and why its good for us All!
Sunday, 01 February 2009, 17:45
An update
Posted by Drentsoft
As promised I am giving you a funtastic, awesomelicious news post....
Today I moved some furniture round the house. Its much more spacious... the rest of the day has been spent playing COD5 on my Xbox 360. Its a pretty cool game and if you have a 360 with a Gold Live account you can email me for my Live Account... though to be honest it should be pretty obvious. :)
That is all... More tomorrow.
Saturday, 31 January 2009, 05:18
Update
Posted by Drentsoft
Just a word about the lack of updates. I am still, after almost 2 months... without my laptop. So until I get it back there probably won't be any new comic pages?
I hear some people somewhere, shouting. "But you said that you could finish the page on your desktop in your last news post!" And you'd be right! I did say that. Unfortunately, as with some other skills, drawing on a Wacom properly can take months to get used to (with the not-looking-where-you're-drawing thing)... and only take seconds using a tablet PC to ruin. I can still use my awesome desktop Wacom (I'm using it for sketches and the like)... but no where near as well as I was able to use my laptop's screen. I vow instead to at least update the news post everyday with SOMETHING rather than try and release sub par pages (of which I know there have been a few already) until my laptop comes back. I also intend to put up some work in progress pages (rough sketches of the page layout with no text) if this goes on for much longer. I'd rather not have to resort to this though as they look no where near as funky as a finished page.
I thank you for your patience whilst I deal with corporate imbeciles.
I also apologise for this massive newspost. I promise the daily ones won't be nearly this long :)
Sunday, 21 December 2008, 20:19
Darn you HP!!!
Posted by Drentsoft
My laptop has lost keyboard functionality again... this may delay todays page a bit but hopefuly not.... :( stupid laptops
(typed on the on-screen keyboard in tablet mode...)
Will have to finish the page on my desktop now :(
Only got it back from HP week ago for the same problem :(
Wednesday, 31 December 1969, 19:00
Note about navigation
Posted by Drentsoft
I would just like to inform readers that at this point in time I'm having trouble with the PHP or SQL for the navigation of the archives and news archives. This shouldn't actually affect anyone reading through the archives I just wanted to inform people that the buttons reading "First, Previous, Next and Last" on these 2 pages do not work. This isn't a problem as they shouldn't actually appear when the problem is solved.
Thanks for your patience whilst I try and solve this problem.
edit / - This problem only affects the mentioned links on the following pages: http://www.drentsoft.com/NexusPoint/archive.php
and
http://www.drentsoft.com/NexusPoint/news.php. Just in case I didn't explain it properly :)... again this does not actually affect the navigation of these 2 pages as they shouldn't be visible on these pages anyway -/edit
Sunday, 07 December 2008, 18:29
Page 28 is up.
Posted by Drentsoft
This marks the 28th story page of the comic, 29th actual comic post and 31st news post (that didn't get deleted when I broke the system [Of which 4 have been entirely separate posts]). Why is this important? Well its not really... just something for me to say really... I'm also slightly statistics compulsive. :)
We'll be getting back to some kind of story arc-ness tomorrow (hopefully). Much excitement will occur and crazy people may well be harmed.*
In other news I'm hoping to have a Random Raving finalised sometime soon. Would have been done sooner but I just haven't been happy with how they've been turning out.
* This is not a guarantee that crazy people WILL be hurt and of course as usual with most works of fiction... no real crazy people will ever actually be harmed in the production of this comic.#
# Unless it helps make the drawing better.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008, 15:51
Page 27 is here! - Alfred's Introduction!
Posted by Drentsoft
Lookit! Two pages in as many days! ... admittedly single panel pages but thats to give these characters the most out of their introductions. Anyways I hope you like Alfred.
Monday, 24 November 2008, 19:38
Talia's Introduction
Posted by Drentsoft
Hope you enjoy this one... was trying out some new techniques for faster page completion.... It actually took almost as long as a full page in the end but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Enjoy. :)
If you feel like it, discuss on the forum. /edit - Just in case its not clear... thats a winky smile.... - /edit
Thursday, 20 November 2008, 20:07
Page 25 is up!
Posted by Drentsoft
This one was crazy! it required switching between 2 programs across 2 computers several times. Anyways. Thats all I have to say about it for now. Check out the forum.
In other site-related news, I have several half-finished ideas for Random Ravings I hope to have those up soon. :) /edit - Just in case its not clear cos my drawing isn't the most consistent... Dan is the guy from the car incident a few pages back... Here (feet) to here (hand). - /edit
Monday, 10 November 2008, 21:17
The comic is Back!
Posted by Drentsoft
So as you may have guessed the comic is back! Well... more or less.... I still need to add the text back into the comics but I'm well on my way to doing that. Also I can't believe I missed this but Chapter 4, page 7 is full of little errors. The first is that the three captions on panels 3 and 4 should be speech bubbles, not voice overs. The 2nd is that the first caption on panel 4 has the word "won't" spelt as "wont't"... oh well I'm sure I'll get round to fixing that sooner or later.
In other news the comic system broke when I was trying to install a second comic system on the server and forgot to change a setting... which made the original system get wiped to default settings. Anyways I managed to get the new comic system sorted out... You can find it here.
I've been wanting to do a little on-occasion comedy sketch style comic for a while now but I didn't want to break the continuity of the Nexus Point story. Therefore I am proud to present: RANDOM RAVINGS OF A DRENT'S MIND! I shall update you on both comics when a new Random Raving is up... At the moment there is just a desktop background that I made a while back, up to test the system but I have a concept ready for developing into an actual comic for Random Ravings.
One last piece of news. You may notice that the comic site has had a slight update with a new menu bar that now links all the parts of my site to each other. This will make the site easier to navigate and is indicative of a general site redesign. I hope you like it. Enjoy :).
Phew! Quite a news post and not even a new page to show for it... I apologise for that. A new page should be up today or tomorrow (For either TNP or Random Ravings).
Thursday, 30 October 2008, 08:59
Page 23 is up!
Posted by Drentsoft
Not much to say about this one really. Hope you enjoy. Discuss if you wish at the forum. EDIT In an attempt to update more regularly I may change the style of the comic to a looser, more arty look, similar to that used in the dream sequence on page 14. I'm hoping this will both increase the turn around of the comic and eventually the overall look. /EDIT
Monday, 06 October 2008, 11:40
Page 22 is up
Posted by Drentsoft
This one took longer than it probably should have but I'm more or less happy with it. Enjoy :)
Friday, 03 October 2008, 15:46
Page 21 is up!
Posted by Drentsoft
This one took a very long time and I had to give up on it... Anyways I hope you like it and I shall move onto the next page and hopefully get it done much quicker and to a much higher standard. As usual you can find the forums here. <-
Tuesday, 16 September 2008, 17:17
Page 20 is up!
Posted by Drentsoft
Finally got a new comic page up. I'm planning, now that I have a portable graphics tablet, to make this a fullish-time venture which should hopefully, barring any unforseen problems mean regular updates. I'm also using new software, a combination of the GIMP for storyboard sketching and then Inkscape for inking and colouring... I'll see how this goes for a while, its a bit fiddly but looks nicer... I think :)
Get to the forums and enjoy :).
Tuesday, 15 July 2008, 18:42
Ooooooh yeah! Page 19!! BOOYA!
Posted by Drentsoft
So yeah... wotcha think? Tell me in the Forums!
Quite happy with it too :)
Sunday, 13 July 2008, 07:54
Page 18! Like a speed demon I am!
Posted by Drentsoft
Yet another page is up!... Not my best but never mind... On to the next page! ^_^
Thursday, 10 July 2008, 21:17
Page 17 is here!
Posted by Drentsoft
I vow never to do rain again!... if only for my sanity...
No that doesn't work... [a] this is England... it always rains
[b] A lot of the story is gonna require rain :/
[c] this is England
Anyways I hope you like it... Note the lack of backgrounds? 1 part laziness, 1 part artistic licensing so to speak... Also... no more cars... like EVER!!! Uuunless I get massively good somehow...
Have fun and remember to Forumate!
Thursday, 19 June 2008, 20:08
PAge 16! Wooohooo!
Posted by Drentsoft
So Yes... Page 16 is officially up. I personally like panel 2 the best....
Note: Do not keep drawing thinking you've saved regularly when you haven't saved for over an hour... It ends in a random PC crash that loses you two panels worth of work... On the plus side the two lost panels kinda came out better in the end so it's not all bad :)... I miss the upside down hat!!
Ahem
Anyways I direct you to the forum for to discuss page! /Edit: The comic page link colour seems a bit off ATM... any time you see reference to the forum, the word "forum" is most likely a link, either to the relevant topic or the forum main page...:Edit/
Sunday, 08 June 2008, 20:03
Page 15!
Posted by Drentsoft
So page 15 is here at last woo! To the Forums!
Also in other news I've finished uni and I'm awaiting my results.....
Wednesday, 07 May 2008, 18:43
Page 14 is here!
Posted by Drentsoft
So I decided to go for a slightly different style for this page. It's basically the way the page looks when I first sketch it but coloured, which I don't do until after the page is inked usually. I personally felt this gave it a more stylised look which suited a dreamy/nightmarish subject. Surprisingly this took more time than a usual page. Anyways tell me what you think of the style in the forums.
Monday, 05 May 2008, 19:38
Page 13 is up! And I didn't even have to use the word finally!
Posted by Drentsoft
That's right! 2 comics in less than 24 hours! in fact less than 22 hours... You may not be able to see it yet though cos I had to set the second page to appear tomorrow so the site didn't get messy. Come midnight though you're in for a treat... i guess lol... now I'm off to draw the next.
Get to the forums!
Sunday, 04 May 2008, 22:11
Page 12 is here!
Posted by Drentsoft
Whoop whoop! Its here and its happy! Page 12! Nearly finished uni and then hopefully there'll be all the time in the world to do the comic... At least until I get a job.... If you haven't already, go to the forums!
Thursday, 06 March 2008, 09:27
Page 11 has arrived on platform ... uuuh 11...?
Posted by Drentsoft
Page 11 is finally up! It would have been up much earlier in the day but the server was having some PHP problems... or something... anyways the cool thing is I've kinda already sketched out the next 2 pages and started the script for the next chapter so I mean it when I say the next page should be up much sooner than this one was from the last one.... Confused? I know I am... Now get posting on the forums! And those of you who have VIP status can check out the previews for the next 2 pages when I upload them tomorrow.
Also a word about the drawing of this page. I'm really not happy with it but I needed to get it out so the story could continue. I'm gonna try and just do the comics as well as possible as often as possible. I'm hoping that this will cause a slight drop in quality over the next few pages but hope that overall the increased output should increase the overall quality of the pages much quicker. Now to fix my computer eyes so they can blink by themselves.... More on this development soon....
This newspost was brought to you 24 hours late by CrazyTech PLC.
P.S. The forum post for this page iiiis: Here!
Tuesday, 08 January 2008, 16:04
Page 10 is up!
Posted by Drentsoft
AHA! See? Thought it'd be ages in coming dintcha! Betcha did! Anyways its up now so happy reading. Pretty happy with the drawing considering there was a lot more free hand in the final image than usual but it could've been better. Never mind. Its the story that counts :)
Also I'm gonna try and set up a post in the forum with previews and works in progress of the Nexus Point pages. You'll need a password though... ^_^
Monday, 31 December 2007, 19:00
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE NEXUS POINT!
Posted by Drentsoft
Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and good times to come in 2008 from The Nexus Point!
Check out the Nexus Point Forums. Also check out my DeviantArt page: Drent. The first chapter of The Nexus Point is already up on it: The Nexus Point - Chapter 1. I'll soon be putting up random snippets from the pages up too to tantalise random passersby to my Deviantart page. Things like random panels and the occasional page.
Friday, 28 December 2007, 21:59
Page 9! Woop Woop! Page 9!
Posted by Derwent Ready
Well its finally up! The long awaited 9th page of The Nexus Point! I'm really happy with how the 4th panel turned out... like reeeally happy! Its partly what took the comic so long. I just could not draw that last panel in any way that I liked. Also I may have cheated slightly on the 2nd panel but shhhhh no one needs to know, eh? See you all soon and here's to hoping the next page doesn't take quite so long next time :P
Friday, 26 October 2007, 22:30
Page 8 is up
Posted by Drentsoft
Not all that much to say. Not very happy with the drawing on some of the panels but never mind. It works more or less. Get to posting on the forums :)
Sunday, 07 October 2007, 16:56
Page 7 is finally up!
Posted by Derwent Ready
Sorry for the long wait. I had to get back to university for the start of a new year therefore much packing, moving, unpacking and sorting out uni stuff... but its finished now so woooo! Get forum posting!
Monday, 10 September 2007, 22:23
Delays
Posted by Drentsoft
Page 7 is in production but I'm not having much time to work on it atm, sorry for the upset to the regular(ish) update system - should be 3+ updates a week but that depends on free time :)
Tuesday, 04 September 2007, 21:39
Chapter 2 - Page 1 AKA Page 6
Posted by Drentsoft
So... its fiiiiinally up. Took a while deciding what to do.
I'm not too happy with the face in panel 3 or the chair in panel 1 but i think i like the rest... Gotta get a forum set up so I know what people think... if there's anyone out there reading this that doesn't know me you can get in touch at drentsoft@gmail.com
Thursday, 30 August 2007, 21:59
Page 5 is UP!
Posted by drentsoft
As can be seen by the title of both the comic and this news post.... Page 5 is up... also I suppose..... the new page gives it away too but never mind :) Edit/ - mini page brought to you by Jupiter Spare Ribs... the sparest ribs in the known universe... actually... its just cos it looked better landscape an keeping the same width on the page as the others made it uber tiny... i like it though so tiny it shall stay /Edit
Tuesday, 28 August 2007, 22:17
NIGHTMARE!!
Posted by drentsoft
Man this page was a nightmare to draw... I'm sure it shows at least a little... really happy with the funky eyes though...
Saturday, 25 August 2007, 10:20
2nd page - The Story Continues! Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuuh
Posted by drentsoft
Yeah so... I'm not as happy with this one as I was with the first. Let's all just call it a slight experimental error due to startup hiccups :)
On the plus side I think it carries the story on well
Wednesday, 22 August 2007, 21:00
Evil Page
Posted by Drentsoft
For anyone besides the obvious people who are reading this, I am having trouble customising the comic pages. I should hopefully have a new layout fully integrated soon though ^_^ For a rough idea of what it should like: www.drentsoft.com/NexusPoint/index2.htm Feedback?
Tuesday, 21 August 2007, 20:00
Welcome! First Comic!
Posted by Drentsoft
This comic is a fantasy about a university student in the small town of Stafford discovering dark secrets that may very well save the world from an apocalyptic second coming.
F.Y.I - Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire in the Midlands, England... they speak with a mildly funny accent there ^_^
This comic is written, designed and created by Derwent Ready.