Why Capcom is the King of Remakes
Hey! New video coming next week - here's your sneak peek!
Mark
2023-04-22 09:37:51 +0000 UTC View Post
GameMakersToolkit posts
New episode - Don't make this assumption about your players
In this episode I take my game to GDC in San Francisco, and get some feedback. Along the way, I learn some tough lessons about playtesting and making assumptions about your players.
Thanks for the support!
2023-04-03 15:08:07 +0000 UTC View PostEarly access - Don't make this assumption about your players
Hello!
This is the 10th episode of Developing, my dev diary series about the making of my magnet game. In this episode I take the game on the road, to GDC - but in doing so, learn some harsh truths about playtesting and designer assumptions.
Enjoy! The episode will go live to the rest of the world in the coming week
Mark
2023-04-01 07:29:27 +0000 UTC View PostBonus Video - My GDC Adventure
Hey y'all!
For your bonus video this month, I wanted to share my experience of going to San Francisco for GDC. Enjoy!
Mark
2023-03-31 21:59:02 +0000 UTC View PostReading List (March 2023)
Hello! It's been a wild month - I spent some of it soaking in the sights of San Francisco. But I'm back, with articles and videos aplenty. Here's your hand-picked reading list for March.
The Design of Games
[Read] Brenda Romero is never going to stop making games - "The legendary designer talks Jagged Alliance, Pl...
2023-03-31 09:21:58 +0000 UTC View PostGDC, a meet up, and a demo
Hey Patrons. I wanted to check in and let you know what I'm up to.
Next week I'm flying to San Francisco for the Game Developer's Conference. Well... GDC isn't until the week after, but I thought I'd extend my stay and do some tourist-y stuff first! Golden Gate Bridge! Seals at the pier! Alcatraz!
For the conference itself I'll be catching up with old friends, meeting new people, attending talks, and going to events. I'll also be hosting a GMTK meet-up. If you're coming to GDC (or...
2023-03-11 06:24:19 +0000 UTC View Post
Reading List (February 2023)
Hey, welcome back to the reading list. It's a short month, but I've still got plenty of stuff to read and watch. Without further ado, let's jump in.
The Design of Games
[Read] A Tale of Two Relics - "[Obra Dinn and Case of the Golden Idol] stand on their own as engaging and innovative entrants into the mystery genre thanks to their unique take on logic-...
2023-02-27 09:38:33 +0000 UTC View Post10 Tips for Writing for Retention
Hi everyone!
My most recent video, "How to Steal Like a Game Designer", is receiving lots of views, which is always good. But more than that, the stat I'm really pleased with is "Average percentage viewed", which is currently sat at 58.4%.
When it comes to the almighty YouTube algorithm, the two things it cares about the most is how many people click on the video, and how long tho...
2023-02-20 07:14:45 +0000 UTC View PostHow To Steal Like a Game Designer
When it comes to mechanics, a great source of inspiration is other video games. But how do you make sure those features will gel will the game you're actually making?
Hope you dig it!
Mark
2023-02-17 18:58:54 +0000 UTC View PostEarly Access - How To Steal Like a Game Designer
Hey Patrons!
So, as promised, my plan for 2023 is to bounce between episodes of Developing and episodes of GMTK (or Boss Keys or whatever) from month to month, in an effort to finish! the! game!, while making sure the channel stays alive!
So for the first GMTK ep of 2023, here's an episode about analysing game mechanics, so you can "steal like a designer". This was originally a lecture I gave at various universities, but completely overhauled for YouTube.
I also got advice f...
2023-02-16 14:12:28 +0000 UTC View PostEarly access- Making puzzles for my indie magnet game
Since the last episode of developing, I've been hard at work on making puzzles for my untitled indie magnet game. But was I able to make 30 levels, as promised?
As I said in the year end review, my goal for 2023 is to finish this magnet game. And the way I intend to do that is to alternate between game making and video making from month to month.
So I spent all of January in Unity (a little too long, it turns out - apologies for this video slipping into Feb!). And now it's back to...
2023-02-02 16:13:59 +0000 UTC View PostWhat I Played in January
Hey Patrons!
For this month's bonus video, I wanted to try something a bit more conversational. A chatty video where I talk about the games I've been playing. Which means it's a bit like the old Playlist videos I used to make... but with more waffle and 5 times longer. Whoops!
Lemme know what you think!
Mark
2023-01-31 13:19:48 +0000 UTC View PostReading List (January 2023)
Happy new year!
This January I've been hard at work on Untitled Magnet Game (a new episode of Developing will be coming the first week of February). But I've still found time to read and watch loads of awesome content about game design, development, and culture.
Here's what I've got for you this month:
The Design of Games
[Watch | 17 mins] 10 Brilliant Beginni...
2023-01-27 11:47:33 +0000 UTC View Post2022 Year in Review
Hello everyone. It’s time for the annual “year in review” post, where I take an analytical look at my last 12 months’ worth of work, and see what worked, what didn’t, and what could be improved for next year.
So, after a disappointing year of stats in 2021, this year... has been even worse! GMTK had the lowest yearly new subscriber intake since 2016.
The videos received, overall...
2022-12-28 10:30:18 +0000 UTC View PostReading List (December 2022)
Merry Christmas! My gift to you this year... a bunch of awesome articles and videos on all things gaming. Hope you have a wonderful Xmas break, if you celebrate that sort of thing - and I'll be back soon with a big run-down of the year's stats and data.
The Design of Games
[Read] The art of the start: how the best games grab us immediat...
2022-12-25 12:59:01 +0000 UTC View PostThis year's most innovative game is...
Hey!
Every year, I dedicated my last video to the most innovative game of the last 12 months. This year's pick is... well, watch to find out.
Cheers
Mark
2022-12-22 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostBonus Video: Game of the Year 2022
Hey Patrons! As usual, your December bonus video is a look back at the best new games I played this year. 2022 has been a bit of a slow year for new releases, I reckon, but I've still found a lot to enjoy. So please click the video above to see what I picked.
Or, if you prefer, you can read it as an article below:
Citizen Sleeper
Citizen Sleeper is a micro RPG abou...
2022-12-19 11:59:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe GMTK thumbnails you don't see
Hello Patrons!
GMTK is quite famous for its video thumbnails. I put a lot of time into making these little rectangles look attractive and click-able. Each one could be a little work of art!
But... the thumbnail you see on YouTube is usually not where the thumb started. Every thumbnail goes through a lot of iteration and different ideas. And sometimes I'll upload a thumbnail - and replace it down the line. Multiple times!
So in this post I wanted to share some work-in-progres...
2022-12-13 09:52:09 +0000 UTC View PostGMTK Mini - Does Fortnite Exploit Your FOMO?
Hey! I really enjoyed making the GMTK Mini on God of War, last month. It was a nice opportunity to talk about something topical, and it was a fun challenge to make a video in a short time period.
So I've done another one! Playing Fortnite's world-ending season finale at the weekend inspired me to talk about the way Epic adds and removes content, and how that can be both a positive and a negative, depending on how you play the game.
This will be released publicly in an hour or two....
2022-12-07 15:24:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe Unity Tutorial (If You Hate Tutorials)
Hello!
Unity is an amazingly powerful game engine - but it can be hard to learn. Especially if you find tutorials hard to follow and prefer to learn by doing. If that sounds like you then this tutorial will get you acquainted with the basics - and then give you some goals to learn the rest by yourself.
The tutorial covers everything from installing Unity, to writing your first ever line of programming code, to creating UI, to building an executable game file you can share with fri...
2022-12-02 19:26:58 +0000 UTC View Post24 hour preview - Unity Tutorial
Hello Patrons.
I will soon be releasing a Unity tutorial video. The idea is to teach people the basics concepts of Unity, and then let them figure out the rest on their own! I explain it all in the beginning of the video.
Should hopefully be out tomorrow, though I'll be looking for some last minute feedback!
Mark
2022-12-01 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostBonus Video: November Playlist
Hey! Your bonus video for November is a playlist, featuring some games I've been playing in the last few months. I had way more games than I could fit in, so I'm sure I'll be back in the new year with more mini reviews.
Cheers
Mark
2022-11-30 14:59:52 +0000 UTC View PostReading List (November 2022)
Yo!
We're barrelling towards the end of the year with an unsettling pace. But at least this cold weather gives us an excuse to wrap up warm indoors, and watch some YouTube.
Here's 20-odd articles and videos I can recommend from November.
The Design of Games
[Watch | CC | 5 mins] The Fiend's Cauldron - Sakurai explains the design thinking beh...
2022-11-25 14:02:38 +0000 UTC View PostGMTK Mini - Why do God of War's Characters Keep Spoiling Puzzles?
Hey Patrons!
I wanted to try something new today. I was interested in the current game design discourse surrounding God of War's chatty companions - and how they have a nasty habit of spoiling the game's puzzles.
So I wanted to chip in and give my thoughts. But it usually takes a couple weeks to formulate and create a GMTK video. The discourse will have moved on by then!!
So I decided to try something different - a short, scrappy, less polished video that I'm calling "...
2022-11-17 16:45:38 +0000 UTC View PostThe World Design of Elden Ring
Hey Patrons!
Since the release of Elden Ring earlier this year, I knew I wanted to do a video about its world design, similar to my stuff on Hollow Knight and Boss Keys.
Now, after 200 hours of playing, the purchase of a new PC, and many script rewrites - it's finally here! Please do check it out.
Cheers
Mark
2022-11-10 17:08:30 +0000 UTC View PostThe World Design of Elden Ring - early preview and poll
Hello!
My next video is about the world design of Elden Ring, and how going open world both helped and hindered the Soulsborne experience.
You can see it, before it goes live later this week, here on YouTube.
I'm not sure which thumbnail to launch the video with, so would love your thoughts in the poll below.
Cheers!
Mark
A) Underground
2022-11-09 08:19:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
Reading List (October 2022)
Hey there!
October's been a busy month - I've released videos on problem solving and Rollerdrome, and I'm close to finishing a video on Elden Ring's world design.
But there's always time for reading and watching! So here's 25-ish hand-picked articles and videos I reckon you might enjoy.
The Design of Games
[Read] Thomas Grip on Twitter - S...
2022-10-28 09:42:09 +0000 UTC View PostNew video - The Surprising Origin of Rollerdrome
"Rollerdrome is one of the year's coolest games. So it was pretty exciting to discover GMTK's surprising connection to the game's development."
Thanks for your support! Hope you dig this one!
Mark
2022-10-21 15:00:35 +0000 UTC View PostBonus Video - Full Interview with Rollerdrome's Designers
Hey all! I'm about to release a new video, featuring the game Rollerdrome. I talked to the developers behind the game for this one and so, as Patrons, you get access to the full interview. Lots of game design chatter!
Cheers
Mark
2022-10-21 14:59:39 +0000 UTC View Post