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SillyVamp

Biff Strigoi Morti
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First up: The strip is Fine. Nothing drastic is going to change but enough stuff is going on that I felt the need to write this. Don’t skip it if you’re actually curious as to what's going on behind the scenes of BtV.

So here’s what's going on... I'm holding off on posting the strip for a bit.

On the website, there’s stuff going on that needs to be worked on. Things I've needed to do for a while. One of the projects that I kinda’ had to take up was working on and updating the ancient codebase that runs the place. Biff runs on webcomicConfig. For those who don’t know what that means… Biff the Vampire is a comic from 2006. With the exception of a handful of months back in the day, it runs on a set of scripts hailing from 2002-2003. It has had very few modifications and updates from myself and others but it’s effectively 20 years old. o.o

SO! What I did a couple of weeks ago was suffer a pain I hoped never to suffer again: I went into the PHP and tried my damnedest to get things working on something other than the PHP 5.3 I’d been stuck on for literal years. Thanks to the original folks who left their marks on the code before me, I didn’t really have to do much. It was kind of terrible just how little needed fixing to make it a viable system all the way up to the latest version of PHP 8 I was able to run locally. = P

Now comes the dread "Break".

With this current Story Bit done and the things that have been pulling me away from getting things posted everywhere else (Sorry about that, by the way), I have to go through and update my current site to the new code and make sure it still functions. Like I mentioned, it's not a fantastic update by any means but it's something that will take time. And I’m not just doing this to take advantage of the bleeding edge of PHP tech. No… I want to update the site proper and get off of webcomicConfig. It’s a Fantastic bit of kit that's served me exceptionally well for a VERY Long time but it lacks things. Things like tags and searching that comes in handy for new readers.

If I want to move to anything else that requires a modern version of PHP, I have to update my existing site or else I’ll have to take the comic completely offline for large chunks of time. This goes double for if I actually find something I like and I find myself having to move over (at the time of writing) 621 strips, their assorted newsposts and possibly even their comments. Instead of killing my comic and replacing it with a classic Construction GIF or just a static page I’d have to update manually (seeing Just how good I am at doing that here), I’d rather update my code and, at the very least, future proof things for a little while as I look into other non-WordPress platforms. = )

Oddly enough, this little dive back into the PHP has lead me to do something I wanted to do ages ago – I've brought back this ancient codebase. I'm calling it webcomicConfig Revive. It’s currently hosted over on my Patreon as a free post for no other reasons than it’s easier for me to update and it has comments so I can interact with folks.

You can find it here: [Comic Code LinkTastic!]

The reason I need that ease of updating and the comments is I’m looking for help getting it beyond what it is. I want to add in those fun features (if possible) as well as, you now… make it more modern than what I can manage on my own. If you follow the link, you’ll see the current Needs list there.

Besides all of that, I’m also thinking about doing these breaks more regularly. I’ve been doing longer Story Bits and I’ve been trying to up the quality of the strip. This can only be done with time. If I continue like I’ve been, it’ll only end up with more of these weird stops and starts and odd breaks while I try to build buffers and research things. I’ll also just be fighting back Burnout while the comic falls apart and I don’t want that.

Instead, I’m going to simply take a break from posting to work on things in the background. This next one has a character I’ve only ever drawn once before during a Drawlloween a few years back so I need to figure out what she looks like in my comic’s style. I need to do a Little research to get some things locked down and solid. I also want the freedom to do the One Thing I’ve been putting off longer than updating the codebase… Making the Rest of the Friggin’ Biff Books! >.<

So! That’s the state of the comic as it stands right now. Things are going pretty good all things considered. I’m going to take a break from posting for a bit to make products, update the website's code and build a buffer.

Maybe the next time I get around to making a journal post over here, it’ll be sometime sooner than a little over a year from now.

‘Till next time! = )

*Poof*

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That's pretty much the whole thing. You have Slightly under a week to scoop any books you've bought from me through there.


I'm giving myself the birthday gift of removing my stuff for sale. Yeah...? o.O


Seriously though, I have the Ko-Fi shop as a replacement. I'm still at the bulk of my usual online haunts. Folks can still buy stuff from me. If it weren't for my need to keep an eye on things and to be polite to folks who've bought stuff from me, I'd have dropped that place a while ago. I'm an "Artist"-type Guy of my word.


So... yeah. Download anything you've got from me from over there while you can.


*Poof!*

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That's right! It's done, dusted and live at a fair number of places to buy. = D


You can get Vol.6 (and the Rest of the Biff Books) at...

- The Biff Shop [Link]

- Drive Thru Comics [Link]

- Lulu [Link]

- Ko-Fi [Link]


You might be asking "Hey Proph? Where's Gumroad and comiXology?"


Well... about that. See, one of the higher-ups at Gumroad had a bit of a public breakdown and some of their actions During said breakdown on their company Twitter feed that made me realize that Maybe I shouldn't sell through them anymore. -.-


The comiXology thing is actually a different reason entirely. Amazon decided to fold the long-time comic shop into their main Amazon branding and kinda' destroyed over a decade of links. Biff Books are currently not available though their existing shop situation. Unlike the GR deal, I knew this was happening but I didn't think it'd happen so soon after they sent out the warning. Figured I'd have a year to plot & prep... I had like six months at best. Any past purchases folks have made Should still exist. As to if you can redownload then now, I don't know.


I Do plan on getting Biff Books back up there for folks to buy again. I don't know if they'd overwrite existing purchases or even count as the same thing but I am going to publish through their KDP system. It won't have the fantastic Panel View job done by the old CXSubmit folks but it'll have something. But that will probably happen later in the year.


Another plan in the mix is setting up an Itch(dot)io shop. This was a thing I wanted to do this year aside from everything else. That will take me a little longer, too, 'cause I found out it has options like custom coding so... Yeah! You know I'm going to make it look pretty and match my existing stuff. = )


For now, check out the shops. Maybe buy a book or two. I'm off to do some quickie Destiny 2 stuff and ink some comics.


'Till next time! = )


*Poof!*

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With things being how they are in the current Art world (and me finally having a bit of Mad Cash during dA's sale), I figured I'd drop some funds on a membership once again. It's only been... over a decade... since the last time I did this and the bonuses back then weren't really all that interesting.


Now? Well... besides the longer term Enneff-Tees protection, I really popped for it over on this account 'cause of the ability to schedule posts. I dislike getting so wrapped up elsewhere that I end up forgetting to post the strip here either on Wednesdays or just Super Late in my day (like right now!). This gives me the chance to pop a finished strip up early, set it to drop when it needs to and you fine folks don't get stiffed 'cause I find myself away from my system at 3pm in the middle of the week. = )


The one thing I am going to miss is the HTML goofiness.


I worked Hard on my little Journal skin. It had stamps and user bars and matched the comic's page...


Good times.

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Hi. o.o


After the "Fun" that was 2020, I've finally gotten back to drawing comics in enough volume that I have a buffer again. For how long, I don't know. I'm going to roll with it and keep adding to it until I can't again.


In the past few months, I Did manage some Biff-related stuff beyond just the few strips I've posted. Red & Vinnie have popped in a few places. So has the couple from my old 'So You've Become a Werewolf' pamphlet - Red & Wolfie. I'm going to go through & drop some of the extra stuff I've done (which I Think it's just the recent Valentine's pic?) to the Off-Sides & Extras galleries.


That's unfortunately all for this quickie update. I wish I had more to post for the moment but, well... yeah. Like many folks, this whole situation destroyed A Lot of drive to make stuff. Now that I'm in a slightly better headspace, I can get back to doing what I should've prepped for all last year:


Celebrating the 15th year I've been doing this strange strip about a Silly Vampire and his friends with neat stuff for you fine folks.


'Till next time!


*Poof*

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