The (Apparently) Inevitable Return of DSWC (and the Great CVRPG Overhaul)

[Darkmoon]

So, after having taken over a year off from DSWC/Villains, I'm getting the creative urge to work on the comic again -- which, let's be honest, has always been the way of DSWC. I'm currently looking at getting both comics updating "simultaneously" (DSWC M-W-F, Villains T-Th-Sa), and launching with a little "Intermission" before the next big game: The Alien Wars.

I don't know yet when I'll have some up to show. I want to get a twenty comic or so back log (for each comic) up and running on my computer before I upload them and activate them for private side use.

And, since this is the private side, I will note that while the two comics are staggered on the public side, you fine people will get both DSWC and Villains 7-days-a-week once it's running.

I'll have more to report in a bit, but if you have any thoughts or comments on things you'd like to see in The Alien Wars, I'm open to ideas before I launch full-bore into it.

Oh... and I still have other big news to report eventually. I'll keep you all informed.

[Gabi]

I was looking forward to this. I think it'll be interesting to watch the concurrent updates on both sides.

[Darkmoon]

You and me both.

I will say, it's interesting writing concurrent comics. A different kind of comicing challenge.

[bradypodidae]

The great thing about your challenges is it always means great entertainment for us peeps.

Looking forward to this and best wishes for success!

[Darkmoon]

Well, while I'm working on getting Click 2 CVRPG into shape, I took the liberty of finally doing the big overhaul of DSWC. All the comics in the DSWC archive are now up to spec for my standards, and the "classic" versions are all in the DSWC Classics archive.

Now I have to finish going through the various CVRPG archives and make sure there aren't any display issues -- a bigger task than one might think.

[Destina Faroda]

I guess I'm confused because I read the various topics, but I don't get what "Click 2" is.  Could you please elaborate?

[Darkmoon]

The current comic runs on Clickthulu 1.0. An engine upgrade is out, Clickthulu 2.0 (Click2), with a ton of new features, but I have to do some clean up to use all the features that I want.

EDIT: Oh, and unrelated to DSWC, but I've also taken the liberty of adding in a few more commentaries to the CVRPG main archive. We're up to 535 555 575 595 616, and I'll probably chew through many more before Click2 CVRPG goes up.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

You really think you'll get that far? (he says, just so someone else has posted after DM, so DM has to post again to edit it. *smirk*)

[Darkmoon]

Dick.

And yes, I plan to try and get to at least 1000 comics before Click 2 goes up. I have to get that far, anyway, to correct some of the display issues in the archive, so it seems like a modest enough goal.

EDIT: One thing I was wondering (which I thought of while going back through CVRPG II) is if people would like me to add in a storyline tracker for the time the heroes spent in the other universe (and, really for any other universe comics)? And, if so, would you prefer it to just be a part of the Mirror, Mirror storyline (which currently tracks any appearance of the "other" versions of our heroes) or if it should be separate (such as calling it "Another World")?

Oh, and for the record, we're up to comic 636 for commentaries.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Dick.

Yes? ;-]

[Darkmoon]

Heh.

And yet no answers to my questions, huh?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I would, but... I must admit to not reading your comic for a while now, due to having got entirely too busy for a while, then not wanting to spend the time to figure out where I was up to. :-/

One of the downsides of a frequently updating strip is that catching up on the archives takes ages. :-(

[Darkmoon]

*sigh* You know, I really shouldn't lose readers for the fact that I have regular updates. :p

EDIT: Oh, and commentaries are up to comic 707.

[Gabi]

I guess it's not the best time for me to be at a congress in Rio... But well, I didn't pick the dates. I'll fly back home on the 8th and then check some of those comments (I already checked a few before I left, starting from 513 and then a few more).

[Destina Faroda]

Well, for me, it's just gotten so busy all around that I hardly keep up with anything.

[Darkmoon]

Just fyi, commentaries are now up to comic 905 953. I plan to go past 1000 past comic 1000. I'll keep going for a bit yet (since I need to for the archive cleanup anyway), and will stop for now at the end of Castlevania RPG: Gaiden, whatever that point is (looks like another 70 comics or so 65 35 comics left to go).

Also, although it's not up just yet (I'll edit this when it is), there will be an article (in the abandoned stories) for the failed Castlevania RPG Gaiden game, detailing all the notes I still have (and a lot I had to rewrite from memory, due to a harddrive failure way back when) so that people can get an idea for how awesome that game would have been.

EDIT: It's up. http://click2.cvrpg.com/page/abandoned/gaiden

EDIT 2: Continuing on with the commentaries (as noted above). Had to really reformat Golem's Story to fit the new layout. Sadly, I don't know how I'm going to archive some of the older comics in the new layout. I'll have to talk to my server guy about it before launch.

Edit 3: The great revamp continues onwards. Taking a break from commentaries to get the rest of the archive beaten into shape. Having to redo a bunch of Frankie and Mummy comics to fit the new layout (old comics will, of course, be stored in the Classics Archive).

EDIT 4: And the great archive overhaul is mostly done now. I've gone through an ensured that all comics fit the current layout (only a few had to be tweaked). Now to get back to commentaries...

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

woot.

[Gabi]

Wow! It's impressive how you can do all that and keep updating CVRPG at the same time.

[Darkmoon]

I don't always have a lot to do at work.

Commentaries are up through Gaiden. Now I have to work on Cast Bios. I want to see if I can get them all done before the official launch.

EDIT: Oh, and Quest has started up again.

[Darkmoon]

So... yeah. I started in a new cast bios (as mentioned), and then I got bored -- as interesting as I know they can be for new readers, I already KNOW these characters, so writing more about them is just tedious.

Instead, I'm going through the archives adding a new feature to select comics: Achievements! I figure, since this is already a video game-related comic, people should get achievements for reading the series. You can find them in the commentaries, beneath the Storyline browsing navs.

I'm only up through the first 100 or so comics in the main archive, and these little achievements will be sporadic (I'm trying to avoid doing one every comic or every other comic), mostly to highlight new characters, new plotlines, or plot-goals that have been accomplished.

So... yeah.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

... you mean I'm going to have to re-read the archives?

Dammit.

[Darkmoon]

lol. Well put.

If you want, I can grant you moderator access to the CVRPG back end. You could correct typos in the commentaries while you go. Make yourself feel useful.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Pfft. I'll sit at work and chew through them. No biggie there.

Besides... don't I have shell on the server? ;-]

[Darkmoon]

That's between you and Matt. I have nothing to do with that.