RAD! (Blog)

G'day guys, how is it going? Sorry for the radio silence, I've been a bit of a downer lately without much to report. Been in a bit of a cocoon but I'm coming out the other side of it now with a RAD update for you all!

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PRO SKATER) April 14th will be 10 years since my first Tony Hawk review (THPS1) so of course, we gotta go back to the past! I was never happy with my original THPS quadrilogy of videos so I'm remaking ALL 4 of them cause I replayed them all, psyched for the upcoming remake! If anyone remembers, I did the same for Crash Team Racing in 2019 ahead of Nitro Fueled and people really like it. These will replace the original episodes, however all will still be archived in playlists on the channel if you really just need some cringe!

Exclusive Access patrons will also get 2 videos of me REACTING to all 4 episodes, during the pre-production phase of these new ones. As of writing, I've just completed the final script and will be looking to get these smashed out in time for the coming deadline next month.

So Where Have I Been?) March has kinda sucked ngl, not for any particular reason. Nothing bad has happened, it was just a real depresso month feeling unmotivated, a lot of self-loathing, all that good shit. Once the Ape Escape video was released it felt like a weight off my shoulders and I just burrowed in at my computer for a couple weeks.
I'd had a wisdom tooth out at the start of March which went fine but it just put me in sloth mode I think during the week of recovery. FUN FACT: getting another tooth out in a couple days! So my goal is to get these Pro Skater episodes filmed prior to that, so I can edit during recovery.

But yeah for real, been feeling very burnt out on the whole YouTube thing lately. So while it was a phase of severe depression, it was nice to just vibe with some games. Played Donkey Kong Country Returns HD which was my first time with the game, thoroughly enjoyed that. I've also been slowly adding ideas down to paper for some other projects I'd like to pursue in the future, more serious video projects. That's all I'll say on that!

If Pro Skater is for April, I'd like something simple for May and then I've got plans for June I'd like to achieve before the THPS Remake in July. So I do have plans for stuff and I am working slowly, it's just getting that ball rolling again. I've been trying to take up some new (and old) hobbies which have caught my interest and really helped to create separation between work and play, so that's also been a real good thing for the mental health. I do hope for both of those to eventually make it onto your screens but only time will tell, my priority video wise is still focusing on these upcoming big episodes and perhaps getting some shorts out of them as well, since they've been helping out the channel big time this month given the lack of videos or streams (aside from the Tony Hawk stuff).

Post mid-year Plans) Once ALL of that is done, I'd really like to get through a few more GTA games this year (I think I've mentioned this previously) but that's subject to change of course. I'm not gonna have them all done before GTA 6 but I'd like to at the very least complete both Stories games on PSP and PS2. Since videos like that take longer, I plan to start playing through those very soon for eventual review much later in the year.

Beyond that I'm not sure honestly. Will there be Hawktober or not? No idea! Given we're kind of doing it earlier than normal, I'll just wait and see how I'm feeling. I do still have plenty to talk about though so no worries there but if not, I'll save it for next year. Everything past July is yet to be cemented into any kind of actual plan but I will keep you posted of course!

New Computer) I allow myself one big tech purchase each year for the channel, last year I setup a local DAS drive to overhaul my storage for files, videos, gameplay, logos, all that shit which makes the channel tick. I went for that OVER a new PC because I knew mine still had some life in it. A year later I think we're getting close to the end!
Nothing is dire quite yet but during the Ape Escape video, I experienced my first blue screen purely on a lack of resources and overheating despite only doing a simple editing task at the time. Was still able to get the video done and I've had no issues since beyond a lack of speed, but this machine is 8 years old in July so it needs some work.

The problem is my C:/ drive is maxed out (as it's only 120gb) and the actual tower is also damaged and has needed replacing for a while. At that point it's gonna require a bit of work, so I may as well get a new machine for around the same price given a lot of the parts are at the end of their life anyway. Once I get that sorted in the coming weeks, I should hopefully be more equipped to stream a bit more consistently again without fear of issues and video production can flow better for a long time.
I've also had some game capture issues because of my current machine beginning to scream for death so new machine should fix all that up as well.

Thankfully for March despite only one actual video going up, shorts, donations on stream and viewership on older Tony Hawk episodes has actually got the channel earnings above the 4 figure mark for the first time in a while which was an unexpected surprise. What that means is: roughly 70% of the new machine has already been paid for and I can use some saved Patreon money to cover the rest, with extra leftover for the next thing I might need!

So that's really cool and as always, I owe you guys a big one for always helping me to keep doing this. It's seriously a team effort and you're all excellent. Thanks very much! 😊

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Closing Thoughts) So that's where I'm at guys! tl;dr:

• Remade Pro Skater episodes incoming!

• May will be a light month

• Something planned for June 👀

• New Computer before THPS 3&4 in July

If anyone has questions, I'm always happy to answer either here or on Discord so don't be shy. Again I'm on the other side of this bout of sad boy vibes so I'm feeling good, keen to make stuff! So take it easy everyone and I hope you have a great fucking day, cheers! 👍