Well it’s been a while since I’ve written one of these, but there’s a lot to talk about. From illness affecting uploads to videos randomly exploding, let’s talk about these peaks and troughs.
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another blog!
This is my first one of these for 2024, and despite not writing a blog for a while, writing posts on websites is now my new normal. I’ve been working on articles as part of the day job for almost a year now, so I’d like to think my writing has improved massively, but that’s not up to me!
As this is the first post of 2024, I thought I’d use it as an opportunity to talk about how things are going, any changes that might be coming soon, and things that were meant to happen but haven’t. So without wasting any more time, let’s get into it!
The peaks
Let’s start with everything that’s going well. Most videos on the channel now average 100 views within their first week, which even a year ago was an unthinkably high number. Along with that, I’ve actually had some content do exceptionally well, hitting figures as high as 500 which is just mind-blowing!
March 2024 was also my highest month for both views and watch time, with both being nearly a 50% improvement on their next highest. This is also staggering, and I can’t thank you all enough for watching my videos throughout March and helping the channel grow.
All of this helps motivate me to continue producing content of this level. Switching things up with the new animations, the little preview at the start of each video, and the thumbnail tweaks I’ve been making seem to have really worked well for the most part.
I’m also doing a pretty good job of staying ahead of each series. At the time of writing, I have every episode of From Steam to Electricity for May recorded and edited, with all that’s left to do being to upload them ready to go live.
Elsewhere, I have the next couple of episodes of the M4J Network prepped, with the first almost fully recorded. This is a continuation of adding trains back to the network, but this time flying solo. So far things are working well, but I don’t envy those who make timetables for a living!
Finally, Summerset MTR is progressing nicely. The addition of Ravine Town means there’s yet another location players can potentially move into if they choose to join the project. This new town is one of my favourites, but there’s still work to be done before I can call it finished.
Despite these peaks being very encouraging though, there are still some moments where things are less good. In the interest of fairness, I wouldn’t mind quickly going over those too.
City woes
The biggest issue for me on the channel right now is consistency. An episode of a series might do very well one week, but the next week’s episode, despite being just as good in my opinion, ends up flopping.
This is definitely the case with Summerset MTR. Connecting the Loop was the video that defied all expectations, smashing the 500 barrier in less than five days and, to be honest, making my week that week. The next episode, however, didn’t make anywhere near those numbers.
The Fishing Town was one of my favourite builds. Starting with the station, then building out the boardwalks and fishing huts, made me finally realise that this project is starting to come together nicely.
Thanks to the work of Master Trams also, the city feels real, despite the blocky appearance. Every district feels unique, with its own identity, purpose, and architecture. Just travelling through each area feels like a proper journey, with the trip from Wood Bridge to Riveton always revealing something new.
That’s why I’m disappointed that the series isn’t getting picked up by more people. Whether it’s an SEO issue on my end or lacklustre thumbnails, people just aren’t watching like I thought they would. The Fishing Town episode still hasn’t broken through 50 views as I’m writing this, despite being the follow-on from Connecting the Loop.
Each episode takes several hours to produce, with the end result sometimes making me question if I should continue making episodes. The city will live on no matter what, with Patrons invited to join whether videos continue or not. As for right now, the series is continuing, but this may change moving forward.
Freshening things up
Another issue I’m experiencing right now is health-related. The last couple of weeks have seen me struck down with some kind of virus, with my voice being heavily affected. As a content creator, our voices are our tools, so not having one makes recording videos quite tricky at the best of times!
The good news is I have managed to still record some time-lapse footage for a new series coming soon. The bad news is without commentary this footage is basically useless.
At the time of writing, my voice is getting back to normal. the result of all this, however, is that twice-weekly uploads might be difficult with the backlog of recording I need to catch up on. I do have a solution for this, but it feeds into the whole ‘disappointing views’ issue.
I want to fill May with games where I can just play for 30 minutes and make an episode. Much like Transport Fever 2, I like to be creative without it taking hours to achieve. Summerset MTR is a series that takes a lot of time, so this series will be reduced to once, maybe twice a month just like OpenTTD for the time being.
The quality of content will, of course, remain high. But by playing a different type of game, I can churn out two or three episodes a day, which will fill the schedule in no time at all. I also think I have the perfect game to do this with, but I want opinions first.
I’ve seen City Bus Manager played a lot recently, and it’s a game that has definitely caught my eye. Building various bus networks looks a lot of fun, and could actually help when it comes to planning bus networks in both Minecraft and OpenTTD. But I want to see if my audience wants to see this before I hit record.
Let me know in the comments below, over on Discord, or just through YouTube if you’re interested in seeing City Bus Manager come to the channel next month. Any other thoughts and feedback are also appreciated as I’m trying to keep the channel’s momentum going for as long as I can.
Moving forward
So those are the peaks and troughs affecting things right now. Despite the downs, there are still plenty of positives to look at.
Burnout seems to be non-existent right now, with ideas for new and existing projects coming to me all the time. This means all current series can continue without issue, with new ones joining the roster and perhaps even some old ones making a return too!
Having gauged your feedback on a recent poll as well, it looks as though channel memberships are a viable option so I’ll be looking to set that up in the coming weeks too. Thanks to everyone who voted on the poll, even those who said they couldn’t join right now. It’s all valuable feedback to help make the channel better for all.
As for things that were meant to happen but haven’t, this site is one of them. Riding the high of videos doing well completely distracted me from overhauling the website, so that’s been pushed back to hopefully beginning soon. I already know what needs doing, it’s just finding the time to actually do it right now.
Thanks, everyone. 2024 has been a great year so far so I want to keep that going for as long as possible. All I ask is people keep watching, liking, commenting, and subscribing. Every form of interaction helps, so feel free to ask questions, make observations, or just offer thoughts on every video.
Be sure to check out my Patreon too, and maybe even sign up if you see something you like. Every tier has its own rewards, so no matter which tier you join there’s still something for you.
I’ll be back to full creating again soon, so for now have a great week, thanks for reading, and until next time, I will see you soon!