On Friday, xkcd #1190—Time—came to an end.
It was a huge project, but since it was all concealed within a single comic panel, I thought I’d end with this short post to explain what was going on. If you want to see the story yourself before I spoil anything, you can use one of the many excellent third-party Time explorers, like the Geekwagon viewer, or one of the others listed here.
When the comic first went up, it just showed two people sitting on a beach. Every half hour (and later every hour), a new version of the comic appeared, showing the figures in different positions. Eventually, the pair started building a sand castle.
There was a flurry of attention early on, as people caught on to the gimmick. Readers watched for a while, and then, when nothing seemed to be happening, many wandered away—perhaps confused, or perhaps satisfied that they’d found a nice easter-egg story about castles.
But Time kept going, and hints started appearing that there was more to the story than just sand castles. A few dedicated readers obsessively cataloged every detail, watching every frame for clues and every changing pixel for new information. The xkcd forum thread on Time grew terrifyingly fast, developing a subculture with its own vocabulary, songs, inside jokes, and even a religion or two.
And as Time unfolded, readers gradually figured out that it was a story, set far in the future, about one of the strangest phenomena in our world: The Mediterranean Sea sometimes evaporates, leaving dry land miles below the old sea level … and then fills back up in a single massive flood.
(A special thank you to Phil Plait for his advice on the far-future night sky sequence, and to Dan, Emad, and everyone else for your help on various details of the Time world.)
Time was a bigger project than I planned. All told, I drew 3,099 panels. I animated a starfield, pored over maps and research papers, talked with biologists and botanists, and created a plausible future language for readers to try to decode.
I wrote the whole story before I drew the first frame, and had almost a thousand panels already drawn before I posted the first one. But as the story progressed, the later panels took longer to draw than I expected, and Time began—ironically—eating more and more of my time. Frames that went up every hour were sometimes taking more than an hour to make, and I spent the final months doing practically nothing but drawing.
To the intrepid, clever, sometimes crazy readers who followed it the whole way through, watching every pixel change and catching every detail: Thank you. This was for you. It’s been quite a journey; I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did!
P.S. A lot of people have asked if I can sell some kind of Time print collection (or a series of 3,099 t-shirts, where you run to the bathroom and change into a new one every hour). I’m afraid I don’t have anything like that in the works right now. I just made this because I thought it would be neat, and now that it’s done, my only plan is to spend the next eleven thousand years catching up on sleep. If you liked the project, you’re always welcome to donate via PayPal (xkcd@xkcd.com) or buy something from the xkcd store. Thank you.
Took all my time reading this notion and I think I did the right thing and wastin my time adding notable words from you to my ideas. Visit us at ameriloan if you have some inquiry about the said matter.
LikeLike
This is a very nice blog. I really found the information here helpful for my project. I want to thank you for doing this and I hope that I will see more amazing blogs like this on this site. Cheers!
LikeLike
Thank you very much sir for uploading this informative blog today.
LikeLike
Proper nutrition is important to everyone. Check the blogs about meredith kessler to know more.
LikeLike
To be inspired is what I need everyday. Look at how determined Meredith kessler is in achieving goals in triathlon.
LikeLike
Thank you very much sir for uploading this informative blog today.
LikeLike
I find out national wiki investigations uk very useful for more information in legal problems.
LikeLike
It is somehow interesting to know the achievements by meredith kessler from triathlon. Check it out.
LikeLike
Wow, that was truly awesome story and execution! Never heard about the Time project before now. It reminds me of the stuff me and my brother used to draw as kids and animate on Macs in elementary school. Kinda made me ask myself why wouldn’t I still do this too… 🙂
Ps. Hopefully this will stand out from the spam messages… x)
LikeLiked by 1 person
you’re actually a just right webmaster. The website loading velocity is
incredible. It sort of feels that you’re doing any unique trick.
Furthermore, The contents are masterpiece. you’ve done a fantastic process in this
topic!
LikeLike
This post is just fantastic, you have great blogging skills
LikeLike
Hi,you’re actually a just right webmaster. The website loading velocity is
incredible. Thanks
LikeLike
To be good like alec maclaren is what I want to be when in certain situations.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Best reviews about Sheffield loft conversions are available here so please check it out.
LikeLike
That was a wonderful information. If you can give time to review this blog of meredith Kessleryou gain more knowledge about diet.
LikeLike
Molto interessante da leggere. Mi piace molto leggere un bell’articolo del genere.
LikeLike
Hi dear,Very nice this blog thanks admin.
LikeLike
We have added XKCD in our list of top 100 web comics for the year 2014; no denying from the fact, the position is quite deserving. Thanks for being awesome and keep sharing fun 🙂
LikeLike
We have several varieties of tasty pizza, pasta wedges, salads, dressings, but the house specialties and delicious desserts.
LikeLike
Like as I expected. Most of the Ferrari in America are sold on this site at a cheaper price, you can have a peak if you want.
LikeLike
Wood house is the best choice for those who want a natural home, economic and ecological.
LikeLike
A good informative post that you have shared and thankful your work for sharing the information.
LikeLike
I love your blog. Very useful and intensely inspirational.
LikeLike
I really impressed after read this because of some quality work and informative thoughts.
LikeLike
Del-ca-mag represents dolomite Delnita amorphous. Del-ca-mag is a naturally occurring mineral in 100% and is found only in Romania to Delnita.
LikeLike
The company of ferrari is now Celebrating 60 years of perfect work and giving freebies check this out.
LikeLike
If you have material that present details concerning the keyword and key term explored for, then your website or the spot of your papers will appear as an selection. Epic Followers
LikeLike
Begin your organization with cheap brochure printing Printed content like publications, guides, publications and catalogues provides professional unlimited marketing principles. http://signprintingequipment.cabanova.com/
LikeLike
These down-loadable mods are usually made by sportsmen, not the documenting action companies, so there is not any ranking process. anonymous
LikeLike
Great and useful work as usual from .
LikeLike
This technique is not too dangerous, be ready to pay a bit more for that and will as renters will appreciate a better environment. click to find out more
LikeLike
It features long and vertical styles that add balance to its whole appearance. more learn
LikeLike
Present are determine of public who have unique goals on cellular program is extra useful for them to create extra cash. http://letsiphoneservicestuff.tumblr.com/
LikeLike
Consequently, what must you keep an eye out to? Genuine websites that are high-content, highly effective company that include 100 % free people registration. amateur slut
LikeLike