For most of the creator blogs, we’ve focused a great deal on large beautiful showcases. In many showcases, there are vast, user-created worlds, that can transport users to places such as apocalyptic futures, Asian-style gardens, large oceans and so many more! Of course, these types of worlds as extremely impressive and it’s easy to lose yourself in them. Still, sometimes the best worlds are the smaller more simpler ones which focus more on details.

Matthew_James’ showcase, Simplicity is one of these showcases. Featuring a small house on an island, it really does suit it’s name. However, one step inside of the house and you are met with a design full of intricacies. This house is full of small, impressive details, giving users much to explore, even though it’s a much smaller space.

In this interview, Matthew_James discusses where he got the idea and how he got started as a builder on ROBLOX!

ROBLOX: About how long did it take you to make Simplicity?

Matthew_James: I started the house in December of 2013 and I finally added the finishing touches a little more than a year later in January of 2015. The total building hours are probably in the ballpark of around a week or two, but there was a whole lot of time in between my bursts of progress with inspiration searching and planning.

How exactly did you go about making Simplicity? What were some of your main techniques you used?

As far as building techniques, my main goal was to make the house proportionate to the ROBLOX character, imagining it to be an average adult height. That was a real challenge getting everything to fit and still look normal. But I think the real way I went about it was that I was very meticulous about putting it all together. The very first thing I did was start the foundation of the house and went from there. I would build and add some to the map, take a break from it, and I wouldn’t come back to it until I had more inspiration and a plan. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going with it when I first started putting it together, but eventually more ideas came to me and I would write them down when I was in class, traveling in the car, or watching TV. When I did start putting things together though, I was constantly doing them over and making sure that they fit the character of the place. I made 2 previous islands before I decided to keep what there is now, there is another set of Adirondack chairs saved somewhere on my computer, there are 4 or 5 other attempts at the boat, and it took me several months before I finally had a well thought out plan for the attic. I wanted everything to look good and right and it took me a while to make it that way.

Where did you get the idea to make this game through ROBLOX Studio?

I like to search for pictures and go on Pinterest to see nice architecture and interior design and get ideas. When I see something I really like, I’ll think about building it and I always manage to get really helpful inspiration online that I use in my work. The front of the house and the office room came from images I saw on Pinterest after searching for things like “small house”, and one of my old builds called House Design blossomed from a picture I saw online as well.

One Image which inspired the house on the island in Matthew_James’ Simplicity

Any interesting facts about this games in particular?

One thing I think might be unique, or at least something I really like about my showcase, is that every single part (other than the triangles of the island and the trees) is named and organized so I can find where it is without too much of a hassle. If I want to change the mesh size of the bottom of the kitchen sink, I’ll find that specific brick located at Workspace > House > FirstFloor > Rooms > Kitchen > KitchenSink > Drain > Bottom. If I want to change the brightness of one of the light fixtures in the attic, I’ll find it at Workspace > House > Attic > Lighting > Fixtures > LightSource1 > PointLight.

A look at some of the amazing detail in the kitchen of the house!

What got you into building on ROBLOX in the first place?

Way back in early 2009, one day my friend had been telling me all about ROBLOX and I made my account that evening once I got home. The very first thing I did was join his game and we built a couple of houses out of the building blocks at Happy Home in Robloxia and I’ve been building ever since.

Did any other builders on ROBLOX inspire you?

Of course. There are too many fantastic builders out there that have inspired me to name all of them, but one person in particular was AgentTech. I’ve always loved his work, and his Island House was what inspired me to put my house on an island too, though in a very different way, in the first place. When I’m lacking inspiration and need ideas, I seek out the wonderful people of the building community and look at their work to help fuel my creativity.

Do you have tips for other builders who want to make games similar to yours?

I’ve gotten this question many times before, and I hope that every aspiring builder out there gets this advice: practice, practice, practice. Some people have extraordinary talents and can use studio to create some fantastic things at their first crack, but for the rest of us it takes time and patience. You have to learn what your style is and how to best manipulate the tools given to express yourself. There’s just so much you can do with ROBLOX and so many ways to go about it that it can seem overwhelming or confusing, but as long as you keep working at it and don’t give up, you’ll get there. It took me 7 years to get to where I am today, and I’ve still got much to learn!

A detailed office room, modeled after a real office Matthew_James discovered on Pintrest!

Anything our users can look forward to from you in the future?

Right now, I’ve started working on a much bigger house with a plan and a design and I’ll have some friends help me out with it. It’s a huge undertaking for me and, with everything that I’m caught up in, it’s tough to spend countless hours putting it together, but I always enjoy building and I hope to get it finished by 2017

Perhaps in the future we will see some more amazingly detail houses from Matthew_James! In the meantime, be sure to check on Simplicity on ROBLOX today!

Connect with us on twitter @RBLXBuildsBlog if you have games and showcases you’d like to see featured or if you yourself want to be considered!