Things may look a little different around here...
For the last couple of months, I've been hard at work. rebuilding the site from the ground up with new and improved functionality. It's been a tonne of work, but I am so pleased with where I've ended up! I hope you like what I've done with the place!
So, why the change?
A couple of months ago I ran into an issue where I could no longer upload any props, which is a pretty big deal considering the site is all about creating and uploading assets. It turns out I ran into a strict limitation on Squarespace for how many assets I could upload to a "Simple List", which was the preset I used to add props. The recommended limit is no more than 500, I was at over 1000... whoops.
Although this was big limitation, since the website's inception I have run into several issues which I've just powered through for the sake of releasing assets.
Unable to bulk edit anything to do with the List i.e. Categories, Naming
As the Prop count got bigger, the slower each minor edit became
The options felt quite limiting without diving into custom code or plugins
I was only able to upload a few props at a time without the website crashing as it ran out of memory
As time has gone on, the problems had piled up enough that choosing an alternative was the only course of action... so here we are!
I've hopped on over to Wix, which I've found suprisingly intuitive and alot more flexible than Squarespace. It's also made the process of adding assets a breeze in comparison to before, which was always the goal.
Whilst there is still work to be done on improving the workflow of getting a prop from Blender to the user, I'm very happy with the jump forward this new website has provided me.
What's new?
Can now sort by Newest / Oldest
Newest props have a 'New' tag on them
Entire website makeover
Various new Categories added in the Model Library, including 'Kitbash'
Various new pages, including the Donation page
Props are npw edited and adjusted through CMS
All props have had their icons rerendered for consistency & in a new colour
.GLB file added to Downloadable .ZIP
Icons have been removed from Downloadable .ZIP
Each Asset has a 'More Info' button, allowing you to see more of the model before you commit to downloading
A few more things are tucked away behind the scenes, but I hope the website speaks for itself!
Anything else in the pipeline?
Whilst I do love a good roadmap, I've already defined my 2024 goals and it's important that I make good on my promises before I add more to the list. With that said, the last feature I'm itching to add is a Store Page.
This doesn't have a definitive date, but now that the biggest hurdle of revamping the site is done, I can put some more mental energy towards this, so stay tuned!
I'll end this by saying thank you for visiting and checking out the resource. It's the beginning of a new chapter and I'm excited to share more soon.
I couldn't have done any of this without the financial support I've received through Patreon, Ko-Fi, Epic MegaGrant and various other donations, so a big, big thank you to everyone.
Until next time, I hope you enjoy the site and happy creating!
Tim