chillyche

I present... Another asset from Macross Aria. Pencils/Inks by Cannon_Fodder, colors by me, Proto-Cola design by Anime Nanashi AKA Aurel Tristen.

Oh man, is having a macross ringtone nerdy? Love it or hate it, I got my new phone right around the time that I found the Frontier OST, and though nyan nyan and ninjin loves you yeah were close runners up, I went with (one of the 90 versions of) Aimo. My GF liked it. I also had the OST permanently housed in our car.

Hey, everybody, I'm ChillyChe on these boards, and I'm the writer/director of the fan film Macross Aria. I'm proud to present the Beta-Beta Rough Cut version of Mercury's Word -- a news publication from the universe of Macross Aria. I'm opening up the site to everybody here, to see a little bit about what we're building with the Macross Aria project. As we move forward, continuing development on the films, we will also be upgrading and adding content to Mercury's Word. What you're seeing here is only a percentage of the first version. But please, come on over, and check it out. The site features in-universe articles about life on the frontier circa 2014. The ARMD Pegasus is stationed in Groombridge 1816 System as part of the Eden Fleet in the early days of the colony. Content will include science news (projections of genetic drift due to mass cloning), culture and entertainment articles (who will reign as Miss Macross Eden?), UN Spacy updates (what's the deal with increased Zentraedi pirate activity in Eden space?), music (latest hits from all your favorite galactic idorus), videos (interviews with Pegasus crew members), webcomics (this most certainly includes illustrations of VF-Girls!), and more. While the site is a tool for providing background information on the world of Macross Aria, it's also its own stand-alone project, made possible by the work and dedication of fans largely from the MacrossWorld community. Stop by. Check it out.

We'll be adding some new webcomics to Mercury's Word now and then, so, you know, check back from time to time.

All in due time for UN Spacy. The feedback the team gets from the Z v M beta will help them as they balance for UN Spacy. I, for one, am happy to see any kind of release. GO TEAM!

That's a great pic. I've colored a few people's lineart on this board, though right now I'm focusing mostly on Macross Aria related stuff. But if you draw a hot picture, I might try to flex my skills. Except, I'll tell you right now, I don't do hair as well as that. Crooked smiley goes here.

And now, a classic tale of boy meets VF-girl. From Mercury's Word.

From an artists standpoint, I like to hold onto a project until it's something that is reasonably polished. From a modder's standpoint, there's a line that has to be drawn. A lot of people who have been following this thread want to get their hands on SOMETHING. Whether its finished or not. And seeing something that plays, even if it's just one mission, will reignite the flames of interest. For games, a beta is like an interactive trailer. But, the grain of salt there is that a bad trailer sometimes does more harm than good. Of course, if a trailer is received poorly, just go back to the drawing board and make a good trailer. Regardless of what you thought of the finished film, the 3rd trailer for J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie got a lot of people -- Trekkers and Laymen alike -- excited to see that movie, after the previous two trailers had excited only some people. As a result, the film did quite well, particularly with new audiences. I think the music had a lot to do with that. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF SONG, am I right fellow Macross fans? Anyway, I've been going through the same kind of debate with Macross Aria. I wanted to withhold content until we had something I could call FINISHED. A finished teaser, a finished scene, a finished SOMETHING. We have a lot of stuff that is WIP. But the thing about cloud-based projects -- that is, with dev teams spread out all over the world, working in fits and spurts -- is that these things thrive off of interaction with the communities that support the project. For Aria, our current character designer, the talented Cannon_Fodder came to us after drawing a picture based on an early sketch we had posted. If we hadn't posted anything, we'd still be sitting around with that initial sketch, instead locked designs, and all sort of other fun stuff. And after posting the audio teaser, one of the voice actors sent me rerecorded lines, because he felt he could do better. So, I guess, I'm advocating releasing something. Even if its another video of game play. Heck, I'd love to cut a trailer of exciting gameplay footage (hint hint). But I DO think a beta, no matter how rough around the edges, will show that this thing IS happening. I think maybe just keeping the link in the family so-to-speak would be wise until you collect some feedback and tune a second beta. Word. Oh, disclosure: I've never played HW2.

2008, thanks. Corrected above. In mean time, just another plug for Mercury's Word at http://www.macrossaria.com/mercurysword... don't want that to get lost.

How big will the file be? I have some hosting space.

I knew that somebody here would be able to tell me the source of that image. I suppose I should have just asked. Anyway, I can't figure out the year that MC 08 was published. I'd really like that to cite it properly here, if you or anyone else happens to know. Ultimately, we will be replacing most of our google searched items with original assets created by the Aria team, however. Some images we may continue using as a link to the original material that our fan project seeks to honor.

Okay, now for our biggest update so far. I'm proud to present the Beta-Beta Rough Cut version of Mercury's Word -- a news publication from the universe of Macross Aria. I'm opening up the site to everybody here, to see a little bit about what we're building with the Macross Aria project. As we move forward, continuing development on the films, we will also be upgrading and adding content to Mercury's Word. What you're seeing here is only a percentage of the first version. But please, come on over, and check it out.

Introducing some character art of Captain Rafe Townsend, Apollo Leader circa 2014. Lineart by Cannon_Fodder674, colors by me, original background Tomotake Kinoshita (Macross Chronicle Issue 08, p 25, ©2008) -- Thanks to sketchley for finding the original source of the background painting.

This is soooo OT, but, when I beat Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, the end boss battle took something like 5 hours. I started hours before my job. Paused, went to work, came home 8 hours later, and played until the wee hours of the morning. Subsequent attempts were in the 20 - 30 minute category. I just wanted to say, I feel your pain about ridiculously long sessions spent on a single mission/battle/whaever.

I know now what I must do...

too cute.

Sshhh! Maybe he doesn't know! Keep balancing, Shadow!

kawaii.

There's an ftp drop box for stuff. I'll PM you the data. Now that we're expanding the Aria universe past the three episodes we have planned, there are many possibilities for music, from soundtrack to score to inspired by. Actually, PM coming up!

So, we're really close to launching something in beta form. But in the mean time, here are a few pictures of character concept art by Cannon_Fodder674:

Cool. Hey, I'd love to see your VE-3 Howlers. It looks like your photobucket link down there isn't working anymore?

I haven't seen the VF-11 done here, unfortunately.

So, if there were an Electronic Warfare squadron made up of say, VE-1s, one might see a designation of SVQ as opposed to VAQ? Thanks Talos!

Wow, it looks like everybody's a winner! You've gotten new inspiration to pick up the pencil, and Macross Aria has tons of great new designs. This is exactly what I had in mind for the Aria Project, was bringing artists together through the web, to collaborate, and collectively inspire each other. The momentum is building. And I just ordered a new OS, a new HD, and soon, a new version of 3DS Max 2011, so hopefully this will mean more work to show the community!

Hey everybody... can somebody tell me what the SVF squadron designation we all seem to be using means?