Line #16 Main/Machinomics


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/CiemWebcomicSeries https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/machinomic.jpg]]]]
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3	"Machinomics" are comic-styled narratives that combine video game screenshots with player narrative to tell a story. They're like {{Machinima}}, only they're the static {{Webcomics}} version. They may crossover with other genres of media, or may be played straight. A straight-up Machinomic is one in which all the characters, backgrounds, etc. are created INSIDE of a video game or similar medium. However, a Machinomic may also [[RogerRabbitEffect import video game characters into]] PhotoComic backgrounds or may even place RealLife actors inside of video game backgrounds. [[http://digitalph33r.forum2u.org/machinomics-t2612.html?sid=772042fff4c18da50b50bea7f7d38e74 This forum]] bears an early example of this term being used. However, the term has now been adopted elsewhere, including on [[http://www.comixpedia.org/index.php?title=Machinomics Comixpedia.]] A Machinomic differs from a SpriteComic because the characters are fully 3-D, as opposed to using sprites like those in early video games.
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5	Reasons run the gamut for why someone would choose to make a Machinomic instead of simply making Machinima. Perhaps you are a lousy editor, or your video card is inferior. Maybe you're planning to do stuff that isn't possible in-game for the sake of telling a better story. Or maybe, you just don't have good audio recording equipment. Or, perhaps you have bandwidth issues. Or perhaps you're hand-making every model and prop in 3D editing software, instead of a 3D engine released with a game. Or perhaps [[ActingForTwo you don't have any voice actors other than yourself]] which can be a problem if you have characters of both genders. Regardless your reasons, Machinomics can be a good substitute for dozens of other Webcomics formats and for Machinima. Machinomics may use a variety of Webcomic publication formats, from being straight-up comic strips to formalized [[http://web.archive.org/web/20130405021021/http://www.comixpedia.org/index.php?title=DVD-Storybook_Hybrid_Webcomic DVD-Storybook Hybrid Webcomics]] (a.k.a., DSHW, inspired by storytelling exchanges on game websites and by DVD menus) to basically anything.
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7	Machinomics bear some flexibility over Machinima in the simple fact that the user only needs to assemble images and text using screenshots and manipulating them with image software. A live screenshot may be captured from any work, but scripted shots are just as possible. Games that allow a user to pause gameplay without obstructing scene view are particularly useful. Quick machinima video clips may also be paused, with clips from these videos assembled into Machinomic material.
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9	Popular sources of Machinomics include ''VideoGame/RainbowSix'', ''VideoGame/TheSims'', ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]'', ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' and VideoGame/GarrysMod for ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.
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11	Not surprisingly, there's a lot of overlap between this trope and a LetsPlay, particularly the narrative type rather than an illustrated fanmade walkthrough.
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13	[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] machine economics.
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15	----
16	!!Examples:
17	Examples should be listed according to the game software used to make them.
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19	[[AC:''VideoGame/HalfLife2''/''VideoGame/GarrysMod'']]
20	* ''Kendl Core'' is a comic made using ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' and ''VideoGame/GarrysMod''
21	* ''Webcomic/{{Concerned}}'' is another comic made using Garry's Mod.
22	* ''Webcomic/LifeWithLamarr'' is yet another comic made using Garry's Mod.
23	* Some of the parts in ''Webcomic/DrawYourOwnStory''.
24	* The now-defunct Internet community based at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHWOnline PHWOnline]] was dedicated to creating comics using Garry's Mod. During its operation, it spawned such classics as ''Ravenholm Armory'', ''Kenny the Cop'' and [=BrashFink=]'s stunning comic ''Apostasy'', detailing the events immediately prior to ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.
25	* Currently, a new Internet community called [[http://metrocop.net Metrocop]] hosts Garry's Mod comics both new and old, from the aforementioned ''Apostasy'' to the more recent ''The Adventures of Hercule Cubbage'', as well as many more.
26	* [[http://war-neighbors.thecomicseries.com/comics/first War Neighbors]] is a Garry's Mod comic about two unnamed Halo modeled characters with the orange soldier having a one-sided rivalry with the green soldier.
27	* [[http://space-blood.thecomicseries.com/ Space Blood]] Mostly does that with Space Ship Models and some Backgrounds from Garry's Mod with the character and other backgrounds being made from a comic making software, downplaying the trope.
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29	[[AC:''Franchise/{{Halo}}'']]
30	* ''Pac-Catchers'' was a proposed comic by Checkered Fox at the now-defunct [=DigitalPh33r=] Forums, with the proposed cast doing a mock-ad for Pepto Bismol. It is quite possibly the TropeNamer.
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32	[[AC:''VideoGame/TheSims'']]
33	* The creation of {{Machinomic}}s is essentially built right into the Sims games with the "family album" feature, which allows the player to take snapshots, arrange them in the desired order (though the first game lacks this feature, forcing creators to take all their pictures in order), and add captions of any length.
34	* The whole point of The Sims Story Exchange (all known versions) is to use players' derivative products as free advertising for the game.
35	* Dozens of sites that feature [[GameMod Game Mods]] also feature storyteller forums, whose purpose is similar. Mod The Sims' Social Forums are one example, with the Creativity sub-forums featuring over 150 different Sims Comics of varying levels of quality from various site users.
36	* ''[[http://arrendaleheights.blogspot.com/ Arrendale Heights]]'' is an ongoing SoapOpera Machinomic created by MLEK, that has been hosted at various website hosts over the years, currently on blogger.
37	* ''[[Webcomic/CiemWebcomicSeries Ciem]]'' (pictured above) is a DSHW Machinomic from Dozerfleet Comics, available on [[strike:several websites]] Mod The Sims Social. While the original story also served as a promotion for the DSHW format, ''Ciem'' sought in so many words to be the TropeCodifier.
38	** It's now available on MTS only, although an in-the-works series called ''Cataclysmic Horizons'' seeks to repurpose and reuse a lot of its characters.
39	* ''[[http://my-sims-reality.livejournal.com/131599.html Food For Thought]]'' is another Machinomic, put out my My-Sims-Reality at Website/LiveJournal.
40	* ''What Lies Beneath'' is a strip format Sims comic at [=SimsSoaps=].com.
41	* ''Webcomic/StrangetownHereWeCome'' is one using the characters from the premade neighborhood Strangetown.
42	* ''Fanfic/AnAstronomicalAlphabetacy'', ''Blog/HermionesABCs'', ''Blog/TheMarinaLegacyTransformed'', and ''Blog/MyFavoriteThingsTheLegacy'' are ongoing Machinomics that follow the legacy challenge rules.
43	* ''Webcomic/AliceAndKev'' is a particularly [[TearJerker heartwrenching]] one, using ''The Sims 3''.
44	* ''[[http://deception-pass.livejournal.com/ Deception Pass]]'' is one of, if not THE most popular Sims story ever.
45	* ''The Scumthorpe Files'' is a collection of storylines that follow the legacy of the Scumthorpe family. Mainly written by [=MinghamSmith=] but had several expanded family branches that follows separate storylines.
46	* ''Webcomic/FortuneAndRomance'' is a prequel to the storylines at the beginning of ''The Sims 2''.
47	* ''Webcomic/EightCicadas'' is a dramedy that uses ''The Sims 3''.
48	* ''Webcomic/BellaSquare'' is a sequel to several of the ''Sims 2'' storylines.
49	* ''Webcomic/{{Simtopi}}'' is an UrbanFantasy made with ''The Sims 2''.
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51	[[AC:Various]]
52	* ''Webcomic/TheDailyBlink'' is a VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft webcomic satirizing the game and surrounding fanbase.
53	* ''Stolen Pixels'' is a weekly machinomic by [[Webcomic/DMOfTheRings Shamus Young]] made using a variety of different video games hosted at The Escapist.
54	* The comics in ''[[Magazine/TopSecretMagazine Top Secret]]'' are a variant: the cartoonish[[note]]Made with vector graphics in [=CorelDRAW=], apparently[[/note]] characters are overlaid on top of (photoshopped) video game screenshots and interact with the videogame characters. Of course, since the comics were made in the early 90's, we're talking about 2D pixelated graphics here.
55	* ''Jenny Everywhere's Infinite: Quark Time'' uses ''VideoGame/SecondLife'' snapshots to create its panels, following the stories of several MediaNotes/{{Jenny Everywhere}}s.
56	* SceneryPorn and TechnologyPorn being a key part of the game's appeal, most ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' {{LetsPlay}}s and [[AfterActionReport Mission Reports]] use this format to a greater or lesser extent.

Context Main / Machinomics