Hey all! I'm new around here, and I joined to get feedback on an idea I had: a rendition of Artyom's journal. For this simple little project, I was going to take a leather bound journal and handwrite all of Artyom's quotes in it. This would include his monologue during the Metro 2033 intro (I was born in Moscow...), all of the level descriptions in Metro 2033, all of the level descriptions in Metro: Last Light, and (I'm kinda debating this one) all of the notes lying around Last Light. Once all this is written down, I want to touch it up with soot, bloodstains, burns, and other wear and tear. Oh, and to keep it authentic, it's all being written in Russian (I'm studying Russian, so this project is both cool and educational) A few questions: 1) How should I organize this journal? Should I start with Artyom's intro speech? Should I include the level description from the Metro 2033 level Prologue (a flashback seems highly out of place in a journal)? For the Last Light portion, should I write the notes after the descriptions for the levels they are found in, or should I mix them up? Should I keep purely to what is said in-game, or should I add any transitions? 2) How extensive should my "touching up" be? Should I absolutely destroy this notebook (lots of stains, soaking the book to age the whole thing, lots of teas)? Or should be a little more conservative with the whole process? 3) Does anybody have pictures of the Russian version level descriptions and notes in Last Light? I don't plan on being in front of my Xbox the entire time I do this project, so having pictures on my computer of all the quotes is going to be essential. I already have the ones for 2033, but if anyone has the Last Light ones (or the links to them), that would be great! 4) Anything else have any comments or suggestions they want to add to this? This is my first handmade anything (I want to make Arytom's watch next), so I'll take any advice. 5) Anyone interested in one of their own? If this goes well, I'd be glad to make more for other people! Thanks!
Hey, I also been meaning to make Artyom's watch . Only problem for me though is that I have trouble reading schematics. By the way, if you don't know already, the lights in Artyom's watch are called nixie tubes. Artyom's journal: 1.) Nice idea. I think the flashbacks will probably be weird, like you said. They seem like they can only work as an in game thing, but I'm sure if they were included in your project, it would turn out pretty cool. Don't add any transitions, keep it as original as possible. 2.) For sure touch up the pages, so they could be all stiff like and yellowed/ browned to give it and old look. Burns would be cool, but not to many. Bloodstains, I say you use on journal entries were Artyom was in a hostile place (were lots of fighting might have been) For example, journal entries done in the Rich and Oktyabrskaya chapters. 3.) Sorry, don't have them in Russian. I would like to see how it all turns out. AND I'd liked to see how you handle Artyom's watch. Any good with schematics ? Aaannnd if you succeed in making one of those watches, man let me tell you, they go for a lot of $$!! Here is one of a few websites that sells these watches (none of really as cool as Artyom's though) and they give you schematics if you also want to build it yourself: http://www.cathodecorner.com/nixiewatch/details.html I'll post a pic later of a Nixie watch that I found I think you would probally like. P.S., Welcome to the forums :yo:
Thanks for the welcome, man, and the advice! I think I have everything I need to make a good start! One more question....should each entry have its own page, or should all the entries just run on? Some of those entries are pretty short. And as for the watch, I'm an engineering student, so I know a thing or two about schematics! It's gonna take a while, but I really want to try and design my own, and stick as close to the actual watch as possible....I'll probably go crazy doing it, but I'll die trying!
So I was looking at Artyom's quotes again, and I think I'm gonna make one little change-up. Prologue says, "The tunnel grew colder. Miller and I were close to the surface now. Soon we'd climb up into the howling wind to fight our way through whatever nightmares were waiting there. My long journey was nearly at the end. But would I have the courage, the will to see it through." Weird way to start a journal, right? Tower says, "Miller and I left the train, then climbed up the tunnel to the Korolev Performance Hall. We were close to Ostankino Tower now. In the frozen streets, we joined the other Rangers in their furious battle that began my story..." I kind of want to combine these two chapters. Any thoughts or ideas on how to do that? Of course, because it will all be in Russian, I'll be translating any changes.
I think if they run on, it would be pretty cool...It is the post apocalyptic world you know, and they need to salvage paper . But I think for the metro 2033 entries, all of them should run on since they are just the prologues. For the Last Light ones, I think they should run on as well, but keep journal entries from different chapters separate. For example, keep all the journal entries from the Chapter, Sparta, together by doing run ons. The following chapter, Ashes, I would leave a gap between that chapter and Sparta. Like, lets say Sparta’s entries finish up a quarter of the way down a page. Turn the page and then start the entries from Ashes on that one; So on and so forth. Hopefully I explained that right. The watch seem like a tough project! Here are some pics that I wanted to show you: Spoiler Here is probally the coolest one I could find, but as you can see it's not really like Artyom's watch. Spoiler This one has the same size type of nixie tubes in Artyom's watch, but as you can see, they are not in a circular case. What I've read a lot is that it is extremely difficult to try to squeeze in four of those tubes into a circular case, so they just decide to make it how it is here. I have not seen a four-tube circular nixie watch before (and I don't think anyone else has), but I'm sure with a lot of time and patience, you can make it happen. By the way, what kind of engineer do you want to be? I think the combination of the two would work since the two are very similar. Maybe something like, " Miller and I left the train. The tunnel grew colder as we were neared the surface to our destination, Ostankino Tower. Soon we'd climb up into the howling wind to fight our way through whatever nightmares were waiting there. My long journey was nearly at the end. But would I have the courage, the will to see it through?" Don't now how to include one of my favorite lines from the game though. " In the frozen streets, we joined the other Rangers in their furious battle that began my story..." Hmmm hwell:. But something like that would work. If I figure out how to include that sentence, then I'll post up here. EDIT:Just thought of something. You could put the letters, CCCP, on the top of each paper, to make it more like Artyom's journal.
There MAY be a way to get all the journal entries on the PC if you hack the files. Then it's just a matter of saving all the images and figuring out which level the entry belongs to. But I did say MAY.
Great advice, all of it! I really like the idea of staggering the journal entries by chapter, as well as somehow putting CCCP in the corners. I am still wrestling with how to combine those two chapters...I like what you did, and sadly I think you're right about how I can't add that line about the Rangers. =/ I'll see what I can do, though! As for the watch, yeah, it definitely is....I'm studying to be a mechanical engineer, so I'm gonna wait until school starts so I can have my electrical/comp sci roommate help me out with this...I know circuitry basics, but by no means can I pull this off alone And sadly, majnu, I don't have Metro on the PC =/...I think I'm gonna have to sit down and take pictures of all the level descriptions...one problem is I can't find the exact transcription of the M2033 intro speech, and I don't trust my Russian enough to transcribe it myself Last but not least, this is the journal I'm gonna use It's not exactly salvaged Soviet/Russian material, but it's a cool-looking journal I already on hand
Useful links off the top of my head: Artyom's level quotes and journal in english Artyom's level quotes from M2033 in english YT playlist for the russian version of the first game that the descriptions can be pulled off for reference You can also set the text language of the Last Light to Russian and pull the text from there.
The first two links I've already seen, but that third one was perfect for what I'm trying to do. Spasiba, friend!
