Hey Patrons!
It's a shame that I only really get a chance to recommend cool indie games at the very end of the year, in my annual "Most Innovative Game" video. So I want to fix that. This is a new series called Weekender where, every now and again, I'll shout out a new indie game that's fun, inventive, and can be finished in a weekend.
The first game is the excellent Chants of Sennaar, a puzzle game about deciphering language. It goes out to the world tomorrow!
Thanks
...
2023-09-20 05:14:45 +0000 UTC
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Hey!
Like so many game developers, I was dismayed to learn about the radical shift in Unity's pricing model.
In brief, the company has announced that as of January 2024, games that surpass a yearly threshold of revenue and installs will be forced to pay 20 cents per install.
Not per sale - but per install.
This opens up so many potential issues surrounding things like Game Pass, Epic Game Store freebies, piracy, demos, bundles, re-installing games, "install-bombing", a...
2023-09-15 05:37:50 +0000 UTC
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Hey! This is your bonus video for August. It's very late due to a little virus you might have heard of back in 2020.
This time I'm talking about my old hobby of game collecting, and why I don't really do it much anymore!
Cheers
Mark
2023-09-13 11:49:53 +0000 UTC
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Hey Patrons!
Thank you for your patience. Covid sucked but I'm now feeling a lot better. And it's time to get back to work.
Starting with a new video on 2D camera design! You can watch it on YouTube and on Nebula.
I've got a lot of videos in ...
2023-09-12 15:37:04 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
My first video for September is all about 2D camera design, with five tips for making better cameras for platformers and top-down games. Hope you enjoy! Will be made live for all tomorrow.
As always, ads are disabled while the video is Patrons-only so you get the best viewing experience :)
Mark
2023-09-11 08:20:36 +0000 UTC
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Hi all! Apologies for the delay on this one - I've been battling the coronavirus. And mostly losing. Starting to feel better though and so will be back to video making from next week! To make up for it, here's a bumper edition of the reading list.
Critical Roll
[Watch | CC | 10 mins] How Save Scumming Makes Baldur's Gate 3 Better - " I see save scu...
2023-09-02 06:47:50 +0000 UTC
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Hi all
Just wanted to let you know that I'm currently reviewing the game design of Covid-19. And it sucks. Just really bad design.
I'm going to be out of action until this thing goes away. Hopefully I'll be able to do the Patreon rewards next week but please forgive me if they take a little longer this month.
Cheers!
*Sniff*
Mark
2023-08-25 05:28:52 +0000 UTC
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Hey Patrons!
Back in 2017 I made a video about detective game design. And I had to dig deep to find good crime-solving games to talk about - like old PC games from the 90s and obscure indie titles on Itch.
But in the last five years we've seen an explosion of great detective games - so it's time to revisit the topic and ask, again, what makes a good detective game?
Watch it on YouTube or on 2023-08-11 16:45:41 +0000 UTC
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Hey Patrons!
Back in 2017 I made a video about detective game design. And I had to dig deep to find good crime-solving games to talk about - like old PC games from the 90s and obscure indie titles on Itch.
But a lot has changed in the last five years! There are now loads of great detective games - like Paradise Killer, Shadows of Doubt, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Case of the Golden Idol. So it felt like it was time to revisit the topic.
You can watch the episode at l...
2023-08-10 15:58:36 +0000 UTC
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Hey! I'm trying something a little different for this month's bonus video.
I've been enjoying the videos of Tim Cain, where he tells stories about his career in the games industry.
So I thought I'd try something similar for GMTK - to-camera vlogs, chatting about my experiences with YouTube, games journalism, GMTK, design consulting, travelling the world, and so on.
I also want to use this to help me...
2023-07-27 12:50:11 +0000 UTC
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Hey! This has been a busy month for me. Most of my time was spent with the game jam. But I also popped down to Brighton for a few days to check out Develop. Still - I found plenty of time to read articles and watch videos about game design, development, and culture. Here's the best stuff I saw in July.
The Design of Games
[Watch | 15 mins] Alan Wake 2 And The 1...
2023-07-26 07:28:49 +0000 UTC
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Hey all! As is customary, I like to wrap up the GMTK Game Jam with some thoughts, feelings, and lessons for future jams.
If you somehow don't know by now... GMTK Game Jam is a community event where thousands of game designers try to make a game in just 48 hours. And the game has to fit a theme - this year, that theme was "Roles Reversed".
Once again, this jam was bigger than the year befo...
2023-07-21 05:23:16 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
So, the GMTK Game Jam happened this month. The final results came in on Sunday, giving me the top 100 games to check out. I've been frantically playing the game in order to make the all-important, annual "best games" video. It will premiere on YouTube in a couple hours.
I'll put it on Nebula shortly afterwards.
Starting tomorrow I'll be streaming Game Jam games on YouTube. If you made ...
2023-07-18 15:13:05 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
Back in a very early episode of Developing, I talked about how I had previously tried to make some games, long before starting GMTK. Like a Picross-based RPG called Carter's Curse, and a film noir point-and-click adventure called City of Angels.
I still had lots of images, sprites, and screenshots of the first game - so I could show that off in the video. But City of Angels was, I thought, lost to time. I ...
2023-07-04 15:04:36 +0000 UTC
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Hey! New episode of GMTK here. It's a biggie - a chunky dissection of the AI techniques used in The Sims 1 through 4. Hope you dig it!
You can watch it on YouTube and on Nebula.
Apologies for the email spam today - all the Patreon stuff came at the same time. I'll try and spread it out more going for...
2023-06-30 15:36:14 +0000 UTC
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Hey all! For your bonus video this month, here's a talk I gave at the University of Norwich.
Cheers!
Mark
2023-06-30 13:27:53 +0000 UTC
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Hello! This month I've been bouncing around Europe, playing more Zelda than is healthy (finally finished it!), making a big ol' video about The Sims (out soon), and reading and watching tonnes of game design criticism. Here's the best stuff I saw this month...
The Design of Games
[Read] Design review of Redfall by Arkane...
2023-06-30 11:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Hey! Tomorrow I will be releasing my new video, all about the AI behind Will Wright's oddball life simulator, The Sims. You can now watch it early on YouTube.
It's a little more technical than some GMTK videos, but I found this implementation to be fascinating - and also really inspirational. Great problem solving by Maxis!
Speak soon,
Mark
2023-06-29 14:31:27 +0000 UTC
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Hey all! Mark here. I just wanted to give you an update on what I've been up to, and what you can expect going forward.
So 2023 has been an unusually busy year for me... so far. After a pretty normal January and February, things just went quite mad for then onwards!
In March I went to San Francisco for GDC, in April did a university talk in Norwich, in May I did talks in Belgium and London, and in June I had a holiday, travelled to... a place, and did a report for... a company.
2023-06-23 07:10:53 +0000 UTC
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Hey Patrons! Bit of a random one for the bonus video this month. Just wanted to try something different - so here's me doing a tier list for all the Zelda games! Enjoy!
Mark
2023-05-31 11:32:10 +0000 UTC
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Hello! Thanks for your support in May. This month I made videos on Zelda and Valve, announced the game jam, did talks in London and Kortrijk, finished a consulting project, and played a lot of Tears of the Kingdom.
Which has... probably influenced what I've been reading this month. I've got lots of articles and videos on Zelda - some about that new game, some about older titles. After that, I've got stuff on being indie, making cozy games, and more. Enjoy!
Link's Awa...
2023-05-29 08:59:01 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
I just released a new GMTK episode all about Valve's development process. And I thought it might be fun to share my own process for making such a video!
The video started, aptly, with the story that opens the episode. During research for a different video (the MDA one, I think), I had stumbled upon 2023-05-25 06:17:59 +0000 UTC
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Valve is famous for crafting games that are polished and intuitive. But that's no accident: the developer has a near-religious obsession with playtesting. Learn more, in this video.
Watch on YouTube and on Nebula
Really appreciate your support. Will be a little quiet in June as I have a holiday and a big consulting pr...
2023-05-24 16:16:04 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
Valve is famous for crafting games that are polished and intuitive. But that's no accident: the developer has a near-religious obsession with playtesting. Learn more, in this video.
This is your early access as a $5+ Patron. Thanks so much for your support, it really does make this channel possible.
The video will go live on YouTube and Nebula tomorrow.
Mark
2023-05-23 14:22:02 +0000 UTC
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Hello Patrons! I've got a few updates for you.
The Game Jam
At some point today I will be announcing the date of the next GMTK Game Jam. This one kicks off on July 7th, 2023, and the video announcement is above. The jam rules are pretty much the same as before, but this time I had to make a decision about how to handle these new generative AI tools.
(I have decided to change the rules, based on feedback. Original message can be found below:)
Thanks...
2023-05-12 10:57:13 +0000 UTC
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Hey! I'm getting very close to announcing the date for the 2023 GMTK Game Jam, but I feel like I need to make a decision on something before I do. And that's this: should we allow or ban the use of generative AI?
In the last 12 months there has been an explosion of tools that can be used to write code, create art and music, and pen dialogue. And so I need to make a stance - one way or another - on whether this stuff should be part of the jam, or kept away from it.
I have some thou...
2023-05-10 08:48:29 +0000 UTC
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Hey all!
Over the bank holiday weekend I had the sudden desire to make a super quick Zelda video, ahead of this week's launch for Tears of the Kingdom.
This is one of my "GMTK Mini" videos - shorter, scrappier, more topical videos I put together in a few days in between the longer stuff. (As such, these skip Patreon credits and early access).
I had fun making it, hope you dig it! It'll go live for all in a little while.
2023-05-09 15:59:42 +0000 UTC
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Hey! For your bonus video this month, I'm taking you behind the scenes of thumbnail creation! I recorded myself making the thumbnail for the next episode of GMTK (coming May) and then discussed my process and work.
Enjoy!
2023-04-28 18:49:13 +0000 UTC
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Hello hello hello! Time for reading and watching! Yay!
The Design of Games
[Watch | 16 mins] / [Read] Alien: Isolation’s Terrifying Introduction to the Perfect Predator - "How Creative Assembly crafted the ideal hunting ground for the perfect organism".
[Read] 2023-04-28 07:52:46 +0000 UTC
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We're in the age of the remake - every publisher is recreating its old favourites with new engines and assets. But there's one publisher that's doing things differently. Here's why Resident Evil's remakes stand out above the rest.
Thanks for the support!
Mark
2023-04-24 15:39:09 +0000 UTC
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