GMTK Turns 4!
Added 2018-11-04 16:56:22 +0000 UTCHello! On November 4th, 2014, I posted the first ever episode of Game Maker's Toolkit.
It was about adaptive soundtracks. I wanted to tweet about the cool musical trick in Skyward Sword's bazaar, and couldn't find an appropriate video on YouTube. So thought: why don't I just make one? The scope expanded a bit, and I made it into a fully fledged video essay, inspired by stuff like Every Frame a Painting.
Four years on, GMTK is now my full time job (thanks!) and has 100 unique videos across multiple series. You can see all of the thumbnails, above. Some quick stats for you now...
Here they are by year. More than 20 videos a year is pretty good going for a channel with production values like mine, I'd say.
Here they are by series. It's mostly Game Maker's Toolkit, but Boss Keys has been a fun diversion. And designing for disability has gone over really well.
Here's the same image, but ordered in terms of views - from Protecting Players from Themselves (2 million) to Designing for Motor Disabilities (121k). I know it's a tad disappointing that designing for disability is so low, but it's early days for the series. It should have long legs.
My longest video is The World Design of Super Metroid, at 22:35. My shortest is Toki Tori 2, at 4:50. Gosh, I can't even imagine making a video under 5 minutes these days.
There we go. Here's to many more years, and many more videos.
Mark
Comments
Great work, Mark! Here's to many more years of educational, informative entertainment.
Justin Pauls
2018-11-18 10:53:48 +0000 UTCCongrats mark! your work is amazing!
Cesar Palafox
2018-11-05 13:30:04 +0000 UTCCheers, mate! 🍻 Did you use any specific tool to sort the thumbnails by views in this post or just did it manually?
Kris Arruda
2018-11-05 12:19:37 +0000 UTCNice one, really cool to see it all visualized. I wouldn't worry about Designing for Disability having low view counts. It's quite a specific topic, more about the nuts and bolts of game making than general design principles. But those that do watch it will get a lot of value out of it, and some such as myself find it interesting from a casual perspective too.
Mark M
2018-11-05 12:06:01 +0000 UTCWhat 4 wonderful years already! I followed your work since 2016, with the video about DOOM, and I remember watching all your other videos, waiting for the next one. In particular, I remember the "Redesigning death" video, and the ones about Level Design (Mario related), Game feel, and Problem Solving. They were so good I stick to your channel since then. Hope you'll continue your work, hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do, and that'll succeed in whatever your goals are today. :)
2018-11-05 10:42:24 +0000 UTCWoa, 4 years. I remember first stumbling across your videos around Christmas time 2017 and just binge-watching everything that was uploaded. They kind of inspired/pushed me to think about moving from my UI/UX career into Game Design, so I ended up joining my city's Game Jam a few months after just to get my hands on "creating a game". I and my team won the Game Jam, decided that games are what I want to do and immediately sub-ed to you on Patreon afterwards.
2018-11-05 07:11:56 +0000 UTCThank you for making some of the best video essays online. Literally checked my email and saw this while having the Finding the Fun in FPS Campaigns on in the background.
Tanner Methven
2018-11-05 06:37:46 +0000 UTCBrilliant work, sir! Here's to many more years to come!
Ryan Spargo
2018-11-05 03:09:18 +0000 UTCCongrats mark... i still remember "The language of video games" as it was the first i saw, and i cried like a baby
Emanuel
2018-11-04 21:53:40 +0000 UTCI'm very pleased with the new Mega Man video, and I like the feedback loop episode as an educational resource. Favourite to make was probably Star Fox Zero - enjoyed getting the footage, editing it, and being a bit cheeky in my critique.
Game Maker's Toolkit
2018-11-04 20:07:25 +0000 UTCNES Zelda Boss Keys. Didn't have a whole lot to say and Zelda 2 is pants. I skipped the games for a reason - but gave in to viewer demands to make the video anyway. One of the only times that GMTK felt like "work"
Game Maker's Toolkit
2018-11-04 20:05:34 +0000 UTCWell done Mark ! Do you have any favorite video ? And what was the video you enjoyed making the most ?
Blackthornprod
2018-11-04 19:40:42 +0000 UTCYour least favourite video to make?
Dan Root
2018-11-04 18:42:24 +0000 UTCCongratulations !
2018-11-04 18:06:16 +0000 UTCCongratulations!
Dr Tenma
2018-11-04 17:52:09 +0000 UTClet's add 4 more years to that!
Pieter Pauwels
2018-11-04 17:39:15 +0000 UTCWow I can’t believe it’s been 4 years! I remember the first video of yours I saw was shared by Polygon and was about how Mario levels work. I was so fascinated by the theory behind it, something that seems so obvious to me know, and subbed straight away! Happy to have supported your channel over the last 4 years Mark, looking forward to many more to come!
Matt Hauke
2018-11-04 17:32:00 +0000 UTCCongratulations! Keep up the good work.
Jackson McMahan
2018-11-04 17:21:02 +0000 UTCHappy Birthday GMTK! Always a great and interesting watch and hopefully there's many more years to come!
Steve Fiori
2018-11-04 17:18:03 +0000 UTCGreat post, thanks for sharing these stats! Happy Birthday to GMTK!
Groovy Lemon
2018-11-04 17:16:16 +0000 UTCLove the great work!!
John Fehlner
2018-11-04 17:09:35 +0000 UTCHoly feedback loop that's amazing! Congratulations!
2018-11-04 17:01:05 +0000 UTCCongrats, and here's to 4 more years (and many more!)!
Miles07
2018-11-04 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
