Delayed Input 208 Post-Show Assessment

This was a weird episode. A couple weeks ago I mentioned working on a script for a while and then bailing on it when it was clear I couldn't make it work that week. The idea started in earnest, like "What if I make a nice list of cruel predictions", but then when I got to this opportunity to really go off on a digital world adventure I shelved it for another day.  
So I figured it would be nice for this week, but I'll admit there wasn't a point in which I was completely sold on the idea being good at all. I even worked on a Plan B before committing to Plan A, a script about vanity products acting as exciting announcements that maybe we'll get back to. A dumb joke about the Halo smudge turned into the cold open anyway. But after all that, there still seemed like something much more fun about just going off in a stupid direction for 2/3rds of an episode. I guess I knew it wasn't a good idea, but it was a fun idea.
What's weird is that I still write a lot of this stuff with the intention of just letting my future self figure out the hard parts. I was recklessly writing dialogue for Cory Barlog and coming up with Yoz the Demon Drug Lord without bothering to conceptualize what any of that would look like. Future Kyle always takes care of it.
So that's really why this one took so long to publish. Representing the digital world in the simplest possible pixel art seemed like the most efficient solution for visually representing all of this absurd lore, but even that ultra-minimal style just takes me forever to produce and I can't say Past Kyle fully appreciated that.  
But I will say it was fun. Some of the animations are ultra-janky motion tricks in Premiere, but there were some things like the Cyberdragon violently imploding that were really fun to figure out. It felt like making a Game Boy game again.  Going forward I expect Delayed Input to continue sort of like this--mostly regular episodes with sprinkles of very weird episodes on occasion.  

QUESTIONS FROM YOU!
The music was fantastic, specifically during the Cyberdragon encounter, and also the rise of Yaas, how long did it take to find the right tracks?
I actually think it was like 1 or 2am when I was adding music. Normally I like to stash music aside for future use but I didn't really have anything that matched the vibes for this episode. I downloaded 8 or 9 tracks, and ended up using the 3 that matched what was happening in-scene the best. For something like Box Peek I labored over song choices, this was comparatively haphazard.   

What is your process of getting your drawings into the show? Do you use a mouse? A drawing tablet? Do you scan paper drawings? What software did you use for your pixel art?
Normally I'm drawing on paper, scanning, and then tracing over again with a tablet. This week I had a little more confidence (and a little less time) so I just drew the real-world humans straight from the tablet. For the pixel art I used Aseprite, which I love and highly recommend.  

Why do you not like promoting your streams in Delayed Input?
Good question. It's probably more of a blanket issue where I feel uncomfortable promoting anything.
Any post game assessment for ONL?
I could definitely write a whole post about that. I'll say for the sake of this Patreon it did truthfully impact how busy I've been the last two weeks, but sometimes I like to push myself through piling on too many responsibilities. I did end up missing my Delayed Input deadlines but I'd like to think the quality of the show didn't suffer.  

Would you be willing to show us some of the notes you made while creating this episode?

After I finish the content edit of an episode I make a list of all the graphics I need to make and b-roll I need to collect. Most of the time it's a short list that fits on a sticky note, this week I clearly needed more space.

now that you've been doing the show for a while, how is the creative process feeling? is working on delayed input something exciting you look forward to or a stressful commitment that you power through? in terms of how the creative process feels, how is it comparing to shows/content you've produced in the past?
I've been a lot less stressed than Season 1, but I still can't say I've had a single smooth week. In comparison to other stuff I've done, I definitely feel more free to just make a video about whatever I feel like, and do it in any weird way I feel like. I get the impression that I need to find a way to make each new episode have some sort of dangerous or entertaining element for myself to create.

did you kyle bosman, avowed pun-detester, really base a major plot point of this episode on a pun?
"Poppers" was actually a placeholder name, the kind of thing where I typed it out, hated it, but knew I would come back later to think of something better. This process stuff is weird to admit to. I wrote "the helmet rolls off, but it's not Nnvox, it's the princess" and then I asked myself "that's cool but how is that possibly the princess?" and so I thought "it could be like a Prince and the Pauper scenario."
--
"UH OH."
Even I know sometimes a pun is too good to pass up, so my hand was forced and I never came up with a better name for Poppers.

What's one real life thing you are looking forward to between now and next Delayed Input?
Mostly because of the income from this Patreon, I was able to buy a new PC recently which will hopefully not crash as much during edits. I'm really looking forward to getting my beefy new PC set up (which honestly I will also definitely use to play games), and the office/studio sorted out. General cleaning and organization is hard for me to justify when I'm ultra busy, and then harder to justify when I'm recuperating from being super busy, so it'll be nice to have a few extra free days.

These last 8 episodes have really flown by for me. I'd like to thank you again for giving me a consistent outlet and something crazy and fun to work on. Even just making these weekly posts has been rewarding in its own way. The breaks are good but I'm looking forward to coming back with more Delayed Input in September. I don't want to get your hopes up but I'm feeling like it might soon be time to write one good joke. But also I'll be posting a new non-Delayed Input video in two weeks, so that might be cool or a total mess. Thanks for sticking around!