Return & A New Look

It's been quite some time since we've done pretty much anything at all on SMWorks. So, hello again - we're back with newer and better things! You may have noticed the website is completely different now in terms of content. Practically everything old is missing! (but not really)

Let's talk about what's new and answer some questions!

Firstly, SMWorks is rebranding as my own personal site that is not based on Trainz. Instead, we're going to be focusing on the things I actually enjoy that don't make me want to put a fist through a monitor: my photography and musical interests. These are the things I want to show off and present instead of an old, dead video game. So, the most important thing is how the line about "no future content will be in development for SMWorks" in my last blog post... is now completely false!

Well, technically, it's true, because it was about Trainz. Of course, this site has had Trainz content on it for years and there are people out there that have a use for some of the assets here, so it's not going away - yet. But for now, the big question any old user of this site will have: where is all the old Trainz content?
Short answer: Legacy tab.
All of the old stuff - Downloads, information pages, etc. - will continue to sit in the Legacy tab for a while until I decide to pull it permanently. As to when that'll be, I have no idea; it could be two months or two years. It will not stay forever, but it will stay for now. Everything is completely unchanged and the pages were simply moved, so nothing should be broken, but if anything is and I haven't caught it, do let me know. The other important thing to note is that, yes, Trainz content is still not in development anymore nor will it ever be, and any active support for issues that may come from installing it is now completely zero.

On the topic of what's new for the site, that would be primarily be the photography section. I want to have a good platform for showing off what I create that mirrors what I post on Flickr, as well as having a place to talk more in detail about some of the things done to get the final photo, whether that's the trip to get there, the moment the photo was taken, or the post-processing - that's what we're here for now. In essence, we have become your run of the mill photography website but, hey, these photos mean more than some .cdp files to me. More on this below!

That also does mean the blog here should get some more usage. In particular, I'd like to write more about some of the photos & videos created out of the trips I take and all the things related. Especially with the recent UP 4014 & 844 Great Race I've just returned from - that's generating quite a few published photos and soon, equally as many posts here about it! Do note though that I won't limit the blog to exclusively photography stuff, but I won't start posting personal stuff, either. This isn't meant to be a blog all about the ins and outs of my life, but if there is something relevant, I may post about. I'm talking major life event sort of things only, really, so don't worry about that if that's not your thing.

One other new addition is the musical stuff. Though I'm not quite at a producer level by any means (I have yet to create a track worthy of listening, so), I am becoming more and more proficient at DJing as time goes on and I practice more. This is something I'd like to do more of and ideally make something out of, so I'd like to highlight some of it here as well. I've been doing it in some capacity for about a year now and I like to think I'm not too bad at it - I'm no El Hornet or Andy C, but I'm, well, me, and I can fill a little niche in my area of the United States which is drum & bass in a dnb-less place, so... hey. That means something to me at least. Anyway, the music spot here on the site is meant to show it off a little more and act as as an example of what I can do to those who might be looking for something like this, especially if they're at all in my area... 

The last really, really big new change is coming soon this summer I'm going to be adding in a little bit of a storefront here. In particular, we're going to see photo prints become available! They may not be for every single photo, but generally you can assume that if it's on the "Photos" page/gallery, then you can buy a print of it. All of them will include a choice of different sizes (e.g 8x10, 12x16, 24x36, etc) all at different price points. Right now as to what those price points are? I'm still working on that. I hope to make them pretty reasonable based on what you get - there's no sense in me charging hundreds for a photo, as it stands. So unless you plan on buying the entire catalogue when it shows up, don't expect to break the bank for a print or two! Of course, this is coming later this summer - sometime in July or August 2019, so stay tuned for that (and more info).

But, anyways, yes, this is something that is going to show up soon. Before I make it public I want to make sure that what you get is actually of quality, so between now and summer I'll be getting samples and organizing everything to work as smoothly as possible and make sure everything is up to par. The Home page has a photo of what one of the store pages looks like right now, which is certainly early in the development cycle and not the final. I believe you can expect this to be released late June or early July if all goes according to plan (which will even include more photos I can't post right now!).

So, to wrap things up: SMWorks is finally getting the rebranding it deserves. Ever since I departed from Trainz last year, SMWorks has been completely and utterly dead. Now, the site is going to have some actual purpose and will be something more than a forgettable video game website. We'll see where things go from here, but right now, things look good for the site.

Oh, and one last thing... maybe it's time we actually got a proper domain name... :) As always, more to come in the future.

Cheers,
​SM