GameMakersToolkit

24 hour exclusive - "The Last Guardian: The Unique Language of Games | Game Maker's Toolkit"

Hello! 

In this video, I used The Last Guardian as a way to talk about how games can communicate story, character, and ideas through their mechanics.

This video has closed captions available now.

Hope you like it! Any and all feedback is welcome as the episode won't be live until next week and plenty of time to tweak if necessary. 

Now, I'm going to go play Twilight Princess...

Happy New Year!

Hey team. Just wanted to wish you all a happy new year. Thanks for continuing your pledge through to 2017. I suddenly had a nightmare where everyone stopping backing me as soon as I went full time. So I'm glad that didn't happen! Phew!

I had a pretty succesful break. Well, sort of. I was going to play loads of games but I got Persona 4 for Christmas and boy, that is a big, long, and thoroughly addictive game. So I mostly just played that. But hey, I like it a lot.

I don't really play JRP...

How Event[0] Works | Game Maker's Toolkit

Hey all! Here's the last video of the year. A deep dive into the inner workings of Event[0].

Which is on sale on Steam, as it happens, for £9 / $12. Sweet! http://store.steampowered.com/app/470260/

This video started as one of the entries in the 5 innovations of the year video, but I decided that the game is so cool, and the design is so clever, that it needed its own video. I also liked the parrallels wit...

24 hour exclusive - the most innovative game of 2016

YouTube's automatic thumbnail system is amazing.

Game Maker's Playlist - 2016 Stragglers Edition

Last Playlist of 2016! Hope you enjoy it. Back to normal (indie game reccomendations) from Jan :D

Reading List - December 2016

Hello! Need something to read or watch over the Christmas / holiday break? This lot should get you started. 

Just a note: there's a few things on here this month about gender, identity, politics, and whatnot. I know that's not to everyone's tastes and while I reccomend them all, do skip the "identity" section if you're not interested in that sort of writing.

Deep Dives

2016-12-23 11:40:47 +0000 UTC View Post

GMTK Newsletter - December 2016

Hello! Oh, this is a bit early, ain't it?

Well yes, I wanted to finish up all my Game Maker's Toolkit stuff for 2016 before Christmas so I could give myself a proper break to relax, play some video games, reset my brain, and be ready to get working in 2017. 

The final video for the year is basically done but I will release it next week. Though, Patrons will get it sooner as always. And $3 backers can expect Game Maker's Playlist tomorrow, if all goes to plan.

Oh, and before I ...

2017

This post, and your comments, will be made available publicly. If you wish to share thoughts privately with me, feel free to send a private message on Patreon.

Hey everyone!

So, 2017 is going to be a big year for Game Maker's Toolkit. Thanks to your generous support, I will be able to leave my job at Pocket Gamer and work full time on GMTK. Which is exciting, scary, and incredibly amazing. 

I'll still be doing a little freelance work, and I'll also be doing some game ...

Making the symbols

I decided to make little badges for the five games in my most recent episode. They mix iconography from the games themselves, with a twist to match the innovative mechanic. 

So, the Hitman duck but made elusive. The Oxenfree speech bubbles but with interruptive symbols. The Overwatch logo but with a rewind symbol. The Darkest Dungeon torch turned into a bummed out skull. And a crosshair with a clock face. 

I thought that was the best one but actually found, mid edit, that io In...

Sneak peek: 5 Game Design Innovations from 2016

Tomorrow's episode is a wrap-up of clever new ideas introduced in 2016. From whole game concepts to smart new features that other devs will be copying in a few years time.

I wanted to make it a bit more concrete and concise than the rather wooly "5 bits of good game design" I did last year. And, also, I wanted the final episode of the year to focus on the most innovative game of the year - and not just my favourite.

Anyhoo. I'm giving myself a break from all work and video related stuff ...

24 hour exclusive - 5 game design innovations from 2016

https://youtu.be/kzfKnI8x5SE

Enjoy! I'll talk more about it when I release it for all Patrons tomorrow. 

Two Mark appearances

Hey! 

I don't really do collaborations and stuff like that - I just prefer to spend all that time making the show better or doing Patreon stuff. But two invitations came along recently that I couldn't easily turn down. 

The first is a podcast interview with Critical Distance. They've interviewed most of the big guys - Errant Signal, Noah Gervais, etc - and I didn't want to miss out. 

You should be able to hear it here? 2016-12-03 22:49:31 +0000 UTC View Post

Game Maker's Playlist - GOTY Edition

Hello! So, I haven't played many indie games this month. Instead, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share my very favourite games of the year. Hope you like it! Lemme know your favourites in the comments down there.

GTMK Newsletter - November 2016

Hello! Here's your newsletter update for November. I will be working on the Playlist this afternoon, and hopefully can release it later today (or tomorrow at the latest).

Thanks for all your support this month. The Patreon has grown enormously in November. It's incredible.

Post Script

Nintendo, and Putting Play First 

So anyone who follows me on Patreon k...

Reading List - November 2016

I've got a bit of a bumper Reading List for you, this month. I count 50 different things to read or watch. On the plus side, my Pocket  queue is almost empty! 

Do let me know what sort of stuff you do and don't like to read, to help me shape future instalments of this post.

Big Game Month

Mafia 3 - Chris Franklin has a 2016-11-30 13:13:24 +0000 UTC View Post

Boss Keys - Minish Cap

Hope you like it. I'm starting to feel like Boss Keys is getting a bit crazy at this point - very complex and inside baseball. But hey, I always knew it would only be for those who really care about it and those who don't can just wait for the polished and approachable episode of GMTK :)

A quick update

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to check in with everyone. Say hi to everyone who has joined recently - hi! And let you know what's up.

I've had a rotten cold these last few days, which has set me back. I did use the time well, though, as I sniffed and coughed through loads of great articles and videos (expect a bumper Reading List for November) and finished Dishonored 2.

I liked this game a lot. Like most immersive sims it takes a while to get in the groove. To figure out all the system...

1000 Patrons! And Good Game Design from 2016

Wow. Don't know what to say. 1,000 Patrons is simply more than I ever envisiged. Thank you so much - you've all changed my life. I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do with the show and this Patreon page. Expect cool stuff in 2017.

/

Also - thanks so much for all the comments on the Boss Keys graph stuff yesterday. I realised that I was sticking with certain conventions, layouts, colours, and symbols, simply because that's what I started with and had gotten used to.

Changing up the Boss Keys graphs, and other updates

Hey everyone. So I'm working on the Minish Cap episode at the moment. And I decided to give the graphs a bit of a polish.

Update - I just read Daniel's comment, and that's given me a lot to think about. I think he's right, and I can clean up the diagram and make it easier to read. I'm going to give that some thought. Leave your own comments in that thread if you have them. For now...

If anyone has trouble reading them, it's (hopefully) simple: you're tr...

Extra quotes from the Nintendo video

As you can imagine, I did a lot of research for my most recent video, on Nintendo's game design.

I had some thoughts and ideas going in (the whole thing started with an idle thought about how it's weird that Samus opens doors by shooting them in Metroid!) but needed quotes and confirmation from Nintendo.

And, yowch, I found it. I ended up with more quotes and killer info than I could fit into a single video.

So for Nintendo fans and designers who want to go further, here's a comple...

Nintendo - Putting Play First | Game Maker's Toolkit

New episode! Will be going out to the world later today

So, it's about Nintendo's design philosophy and how that has shaped the games it makes. Should be lots of interesting stuff for Nintendo fans (I know I learned a lot while making it) and plenty of design tidbits too.

I hope to go more indepth on things like strong core mechanics and 'form follows function' in future episodes, too.

As you may know, this one was a long time coming but I'm glad it's finally done and I'm please...

24 hour exclusive: Nintendo - putting play first

Hello!

Okay, this has been a tough one to make. There was a lot of research, a big struggle to make the script work, a lot of games to capture, and a lot of editing.

I'll talk about it more when the video's available for everyone. 

I think it should be a fun video - it taught me a lot about how Nintendo makes games and made me see all games through a slightly different lens. Plus, there are lots of lessons for devs, too. 

Hope you like it. Lemme know if you have...

I did a talk!

Hey everyone. 

Today I went to the University... Arts...London something. A university in London to give a talk about my Boss Keys research.

I guess the idea was to show the students how looking at and analysing games can help them be better game / level designers. 

It was fun! There was only a small group of students but I talked to them about different types of level design in games, what Zelda does, and shared more on Nintendo's formula.

I've attached the sli...

Game Maker's Playlist - October 2016

Games! Video games! Some reccomendations for October. Man, I really like Frog Climbers. I wish it wasn't Windows only because I'd play that all the time if I didn't have to boot into another OS >:(

GMTK Newsletter - October 2016

Hey everyone! Let's jump right into it.

Post Script

Why We Remember Bioshock's Fort Frolic

This was a really fun episode to make. Fort Frolic is always held up as the best level in Bioshock (and I had fond, but vague memories of enjoying it back in 2007) but I couldn't find a concrete reason for why people like it so much.

I decided to play it through myself with a critical eye. I went back and forth on whether to get the PS4 remaster or ...

Reading List - October 2016

I've compiled a complete hodgepodge of stuff to read and watch this month. From developing Tomb Raider to music in The Last of Us, from immersive sims to Image Comics. 

I'm always looking for new stuff for this article series so if you see a good video or article you think I might like please don't hesitate to DM, email, or Patreon message me.

Cheers!

Video nasties

Max Payne - Ident...