I’ve been working on some lintels for Smile Game Builder so you can walk underneath to the door. This one needs a teeny bit of tweaking, but you can walk through the door. It always bothered me that there was this wide-open space above doors, so I decided to resolve it.

This will be included in the Hi-Tex House Terrain Pack as a bonus model when it’s complete.

This is just a quick update on what’s going on and a few plans. I was feeling "off" yesterday so didn’t do a whole lot. And I’m back in work Tuesday. I’m slowly getting into a routine though, so it’ll make this new time management system I have more flexible around work.

So the plan is that I’m first focusing more on revamping and updating the blogs, bringing them up-to-date and tweaking them. They will then be ready for the new branding.

The second focus is on finishing the Smile Game Builder Hi-Tex Terrain and House Terrain packs so they’ll be ready as a single pack.

And starting next week, I’ll be back to the regular once-per-week video tutorials for awhile before transitioning properly to two tutorials per month, either as two videos or one video and one blog post.

Bear with me during this time. I’m getting back on track slowly but surely!

The Hi-Tex Terrain House Pack 1 for Smile Game Builder is finished. There are 65 terrains in this pack with a number of variations for you to use.

The release date and price of this resource pack are yet to be decided.

Say What? Why?

As part of YouTube’s sweeping changes and newest, most recent hyper-fastidious rules, my channel will no longer be eligible for monetization because "it doesn’t meet the new threshold of 4,000 hours of watchtime within the past 12 months and 1,000 subscribers". And there are other limitations being imposed as well that will benefit neither you guys nor I.

My channel is a very small hobbyist channel, primarily focusing on tutorials and showcase videos for SGB. Smile Game Builder is a constantly evolving engine, but its overall user base is still comparatively small. And that essentially makes it a niche game engine.

As a result, my channel doesn’t make a lot of money in the first place, but every little helps, even if paychecks are sporadic (usually every 5-6 months). This would normally contribute towards web hosting and other investments (such as video editing software) to ensure that I can produce regular, quality tutorials, as well as additional software to create assets and models. With this new imposition, it would mean that ALL of my videos – both those currently uploaded and future ones – will be automatically rendered ineligible for monetization.

This isn’t really about the money, it’s about principle. It’s very deflating when you work so hard to build something from the beginning to a point where you feel comfortable with it, at a slow but steady pace to fit in with your lifestyle, only to have it ripped away from you where you essentially have to start all over again.

What’s Next?

It may be a case of continuing to upload the tutorials on YouTube as consistently as I have been until the "requirements" are met, thereby, maintaining consistency and presence.

However, based on the analytics trends, that may not happen for some time because I’ll still fall short on persistent subscribers and expected watch time. Thus, within the 30 days before my entire channel is no longer eligible for any kind of monetization, it likely will not reach these targets. It may be doable with an inordinate amount of hard work, but it’s simply not practicable. And it becomes extremely disheartening.

And this means re-evaluating the entire business model around which part of the rebranding is based, including advertisements and sponsorships (present and future). So this raises questions on whether it’s worth it and whether or not it would benefit both RPG Maker Times and you, my supporters and followers.

As many of you may already know, I’ve been thinking about RPG Maker Times’s re-branding and re-marketing strategy for a while now. And part of that has been Tryggr the Troll, its official mascot. As an example of the lunacy of their demonetization bot, most of the videos he’s appeared in seems to have resulted in almost instant demonetization, yet others where he isn’t as prevalent, or where he isn’t present at all, have remained intact. It begs the question as to whether a bare-chested fantasy troll in a loincloth is really so "suggestive", or whether I should completely eradicate him as a mascot and create something more "genteel" just to appease the "sensitivities" of this bot. I was willing to do this to ensure compliance with YouTube’s new terms; there’s no point now.

Therefore, Tryggr is – and will remain – the face of RPG Maker Times as it transitions into its new form for 2018.

What’s The Future?

The future isn’t as grim as it may first sound. I will be posting regular tutorials and more regular content elsewhere (not primarily on YouTube), which will become the official Smile Game Builder Tutorials & Showcases channel.

And while, since YouTube is still the "devil everyone knows", the usual weekly tutorials will continue. The numbers of the tutorials on YouTube may not match either.

As always I will update on my Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Thank You!

To end this otherwise depressing topic, I’d like to thank everyone who has supported and encouraged me so far, all of my followers and current sponsors.

Without you, this wouldn’t have become as much of a passion as it has. I enjoy creating tutorials and showcasing others’ works. It’s often said, "Do what you love and love what you do." I will certainly continue doing what I love doing for awhile at least. But I will do it elsewhere!

I’ve been experimenting with some new texture techniques, so decided to try it out in a Smile Game Builder model. And this is the result.

It doesn’t look too bad. This is part of my "secret" model theme – and there IS a theme to the models I’ve shared. This is why there’s no tutorial until Sunday (back to the old schedule), plus I’ve been updating the blog – or trying to – on and off, and bringing it up-to-date.

Here are a few more Smile Game Builder models for my "secret" project, which I promise I’ll announce a bit later. These, and the models I post for awhile, ARE all part of that project.

I’m not happy with the texture though so might have to tweak it a little bit and start experimenting with some new texture techniques I learned. Most of the textures I use are created manually so it’s more challenging.

The Smile Game Builder model set poll I did recently did onFacebook and Twitter had some very interesting results. Thanks to all who participated in it.

And it seems that the most popular guesstimate of what my model set – combined from Facebook and Twitter – was unexpectedly the "Old Ruins" set. Perhaps that’s a most wanted set.

I’m not, however, working on that right now. I’m still keeping it under wraps until I have a few more models. The screenshot is an example of some of them so far. As I gain more confidence in 3D modeling, I think I’m going to attempt on doing an old ruins set.