Recently I have been informed that the internal YouTube team has confirmed the channel was hijacked. I was then told to create a new brand account so they could give it ownership of the channel. What's weird is, after I made said brand account, it got deleted. I told them about this and am now once again waiting on an answer. I think what's happening is that there's two teams not communicating with each other, one was just aware that the channel was uploading spam videos and according to their protocol, they took it down. The other is the team I have been communicating with and is aware that the channel was compromised. So I think what happened was that the unaware team figured the spammer was trying to recreate the channel and do what they were doing before, so they took it down preemptively? LOL I don't know. All I do know is that things should be all back to normal pretty soon, yes, deleted channels even with all their videos gone can be restored, I've seen it happen before. Thank you to all who have been messaging me and informing me as to what has happened; I am aware. :)

-T4k

About five days ago, my YouTube channel was hijacked, and just this morning they started uploading videos. I promise, they're not from me! About two days ago I got a hold of YouTube and they told me the situation has been forwarded to their internal team; as for a time frame, I haven't been given an estimation. This could be sorted tomorrow, it could be a month from now. I do not know! But I got a few messages from people informing me of what happened, so I figured I'd just post this to anyone who may be confused.

I'm sort of glad this happened, this was a bit of a wake up call for me; I was starting to take my channel for granted. I was getting all "how come I'm not getting as many views as I used to, how come I have so many subscribers but barely any of them are watching, how come..." blah blah blah, but you know what, when the channel was taken away from me, I realized "hey, there at least ARE people watching what I am uploading, there's people who don't have views whatsoever on their videos and would love to have even 50 of them." Once (or, if, I don't know) I get this channel back, I will be a happy man.

​-T4k

2019 was a weird one. An interesting year for me. Not good, not bad, but interesting. The workload was at an all-time high for me, both with my animation job as well as my own personal projects. But the first thing I got released was in early October: a Madness fan game I call Madness Gemini. It was based on a concept I had conjured a little over a year ago, but not knowing whether it would work well or not, I decided to test it with some good old fashioned Madness Combat characters. The response was generally positive, so if I ever get around to it, making a game with a similar system is not out of the question, one day.

A little over a month later, I finally released an animation: Mick the Mercenary: The Rescue. It was without a doubt the biggest, most detailed project I have ever tackled. It initially was just going to be a little promo video for the film some friends and I made a couple of years ago, Mick the Mercenary: The Movie, but I got a little carried away with it.

And just in time for Christmas, I hacked together a little seasonal 'toon, A Smashing Christmas Dinner, a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fan animation. It's graphics are not quite up to par with what I've done lately, but I did not have the time. Well, I could've detailed it a bit more, but then It would probably take until about New Year's to get it done, if not later.

So what was wrong with this year? Although I got what I would call an entry-level dream job of mine, as far as my personal stuff went, I was pretty disappointed with how many people were able to see my last couple of videos; it's true when they say that you shouldn't just focus on numbers, views, followers, subscribers etc., but at the same time, if you spend months to years on a project and then only a handful of people are notified of what you had created, it's pretty discouraging. Especially when you've reached a point where you'd at least think a decent amount of people are watching, but the damn website doesn't let 95% of them know (talking about YouTube, not you, Newgrounds!!) Ah well, let's see how 2020 unfolds!

-Ben

Merry Christmas! Just released a little SSBU Christmas magic today, which you can watch on YouTube right here. Enjoy!

-T4k

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the whole YouTube bell icon thing on top of subscribing is ridiculous. I virtually lost over 95% of the subscribers Twisted4kStudios has been garnishing over the last 7 years or so simply because of its implementation. The last few videos I published that went viral were not because of them, but rather the fact that they started trending and appearing in people's suggested videos. When you have a video with its own original topic that's not correlated with anything that people are actively watching, your only realistic bet on the ones who will view it are your subscribers. And it's a little difficult to notify them of its existence when the website refuses to notify them. If YouTube wanted to have the bell thing, it would have been nice if they had it on by default for all of the channels users were already subscribed to. It's almost like being subscribed to a magazine, and then after a few months you realize you haven't gotten anything from them because the company thought you weren't reading them. It's completely crazy, but then again, it's YouTube, what can you really expect?

What an absolute shame. In short, it looks like I will have to rebuild my little empire. And I have a few tricks up my sleeves.

Take care.

​-T4k

It took me longer than anything I've ever worked on in my life, but Mick the Mercenary: The Rescue is done. I started production on it shortly after Mick the Mercenary: The Movie was released as a way to help raise awareness of its existence, but it ended up being a drastically huge project that took quite a while to animate. I am happy with how it turned out, but how many people will actually lay eyes on it? I think the answer to that is completely up in the air; it's an original animation with no references to anything, so I have no idea who will be able to find it online. We shall see.

So now what? I finished a script for the next video that won't take me two years to finish. From now on, uploads should be a lot more frequent. Stay tuned!

-T4k

I can't believe it's been 6 months since my last post here. Half a year. It's just been so busy. Working full time, moving to a new house, it's been nuts. But things are finally starting to settle. I spent so much of my free time on this Madness Combat fan game, Madness Gemini. I wanted to get it done in time for Madness Day, but the workload did not allow me to. Ah well, at least I'm fashionably late!

It's been so long since I've finally finished and published a game, and it's a nice feeling. There was so much more I wanted to add in and edit, but I really needed to just get that MVP; every time I thought I was done, something else just kept coming up in development. But if people play it and like it, I'll continue to update and patch it.

This actually worked out perfectly because this was a game system idea I had for a bit, and I wasn't sure if it was going to work or not. What a better way to test it then with Madness characters? I think it works, but I'll have to wait and see what the players have to say.

I'm also getting close to finishing a video I've been working on for over a year now. That is also exciting.

Download Madness Gemini right here, or play it on Newgrounds! Downloading it gives you the advantages of having a full-screen option as well as raw 44khz audio, versus the online version which is exported at MP3 160kbps (not as good, but smaller and can actually get uploaded to the site).

-T4k

Hello, peeps! Recently I've officially been garnishing near full-time work doing what I love to do: animating! It is now my day job, and for the time being it looks like it should stay pretty consistent. Looking forward, it might turn into something much more.

And when I'm done animating for the day, what do I do? You got it, animation! I'm gettin' pretty close with this video and I'm so excited to finally release it. I also want to publish more artwork, but most of it has really just been for practice... it's been a little rare, as you may have been witnessing, that I upload something I think's decent. I've really been trying to focus my efforts on this video, though, so... plbtlbplbltpl

Outside of sitting while pushing buttons and staring at a screen for almost the entire days' time, I've been hitting the gym, eating better, and going out of my way to relax at the end of it all. I learned from someone I really admire that it's important to relax deliberately. Work hard play hard, as they say. It's true. Life's been good. 2019 is turning out to be awesome, and what's odd is that it's not only for me, but for almost everyone else I know in my life; it's like we're all going through changes or something.

-Twisted

Happy Valentine's Day!

I haven't been posting much lately for two reasons, one, there isn't much news you haven't already read to report, and two, I've been busy. I practically have weekly animation commissions now, and though the animation is relatively simple, it still takes up time. Combining that with the fact that I'm working on a big cartoon that I've been on for nearly a year, and that I'm practicing drawing in general, it makes for a very tired Twisted.

These last few weeks have been a little heartbreaking, if you were to ask what's been going on in my little emotions. Keeping it brief, and since none of this has to be publicized to begin with, I've been having a few relationship issues. It's painful craving affection or communication from someone you want to spend time with, however deep your feelings may be, but they simply don't feel the same way, or, at least, aren't willing to share what's going on in their own heads with you. Although not always the case, it can sometimes feel like total rejection. We've all got our own little imps we deal with, but one that keeps coming back for me is this one, I realize. But perhaps it's just karma, I've done the same thing to others for my own reasons, feeling as if they're justified. Maybe there isn't anyone else to blame.

It raises the question why we desire to be with those who don't even care to be with us. At times it feels like arbitrary emotions are hijacking my logical reasoning. All of this stuff really messes with your mind, which affects your body, your spirit, and progress and performance of projects. I try to just turn my brain off and work, just get this stuff done, because it's just what I love to do. I love finally publishing something I'm happy about and being able to share it with those who find it entertaining. Which brings me to another thing...

They say don't focus on numbers, how many people are looking at your stuff, how many people are clicking a like button, etc. All very true, confidence comes from within, and you shouldn't actively be looking for people's approval and praise. That being said, even if you feel something you created (in my instance, artwork) is good, and after publishing it and getting a very underwhelming response, and then comparing it to something you feel is similar which gets a much more positive, impacting reaction, it makes you question yourself. You start to wonder "is this actually good", "am I just attached because I made this", "am I just crazy", and so on. The world and websites are very biased, but when that bias seemingly is against you, it can truly kill your confidence if you're not grounded.

So basically if you got anything out of this post, just stop overthinking. Hope you and your sweetheart have a nice Valentine's Day, and if you don't have anyone right now, be your own sweetheart.

-T4k

We all knew this month would come.

Just droppin' in to whoever is reading these things that I'm doing a lot of stuff still. I was about to change the site update sign to somewhere in November, and then I realized it wasn't November anymore. I can't believe my last post was in September. Time has been flying by so fast for me it's been insane.

Why? Still working on a big animation project for the channel, and then there's also commission work I've been doing. Tryin' to bring home the bucks. I wanted to draw more, but because of all this work, and on top of my day job, it's been nuts. However, for those of you who care, life has been pretty kind and generous to me as of late, and I do have the time to get everything done. Remember, having time is a choice.

I really want to get the video released before 2019, but due to its quality level, and if I want to keep it consistent, I don't see it happening... unless I REALLY BOOK IT!! Wish me luck.

-T4k