Hey!
I've got an early sneak peek for you. On Friday I'll be releasing the next episode of GMTK - which is all about Rollerdrome.
This is an excellent arcade arena shooter, which deftly combines Tony Hawk's and DOOM gameplay - and adds a whole lot of style. So the video looks into some of the game's smart design decisions.
But I also wanted to look at how the game came to be - and its surprising link to this very channel!
Lemme know what you think, and thanks for...
2022-10-17 11:42:51 +0000 UTC
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Hello! I've just published a new episode of Game Maker's Toolkit about game design problem solving. A bunch of stories ended up on the cutting room floor, so I've gathered them together for a bonus video. Please enjoy!
This is technically September's video, delayed due to illness. So there will be another in October, later in the month.
Cheers!
Mark
2022-10-07 15:22:59 +0000 UTC
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Being a game designer means being a problem solver. In this video, I share stories of how game creators overcame huge design conundrums, so you can fix your own issues when they crop up.
Thanks for your patience on this one! Really appreciate it, and thankful that my flu has finally gone away! Here's to a blowout schedule of videos for the rest of 2022, starting today.
Mark
2022-10-07 15:05:08 +0000 UTC
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Hey everyone!
Thanks so much for your patience on this one. That illness ended up lasting two weeks - though, I'm still coughing!
But, video is now done and you can watch it early above. The Patreon bonus video mentioned in the video will also come soon, before it goes live to the world.
Cheers!
Mark
2022-10-06 07:43:58 +0000 UTC
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Hello! Thank you for your well wishes earlier - I'm still not feeling very well, this one's a lingerer! Might have to do another 'rona test. But I'm resting up with games and movies and looking forward to returning to work properly next week.
In the mean time... articles! And videos! About games! Here's a jam-packed reading list with everything from loot boxes to jam games to bad jumps.
The Design of Games
[Read] 2022-09-29 10:02:39 +0000 UTC
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Hey all! Just wanted to check in as it's been a while.
So September has been quite a travel-y month. Because of delays and rescheduling, I ended up out of the country for about two weeks in a row.
First up, to Sweden for a pair of talks. One in Boden and the second in Skellefteå. Rather chilly, though the locals told me that, yo, this is summer. Come back in a few months for minus 30. I politely declined.
But it was fun! I met lots of students, did lectures and worksh...
2022-09-26 17:30:36 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
For your bonus video this month, I thought it would be fun to record a sort of "Director's Commentary" for my two Untitled Magnet Game demos. I play through them, reminisce about how they were designed, and feel just awful about how bad the first demo is.
Enjoy!
Mark
2022-08-31 14:43:13 +0000 UTC
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Hey everyone! Is it just me or is 2022 going impossibly fast? August over... already!? Ah well, time for another instalment of everyone's favourite Patreon reward: the reading list! 25 articles and videos, hand-picked by yours truly. Get reading and watching (or saving to Pocket and then instantly forget about them).
The Design of Games
[Watch | 12 mins] The Redesign That Saved...
2022-08-26 12:28:53 +0000 UTC
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In this new episode of Developing, I talk about the three events that inspired me to get off my butt, and really start to bring Untitled Magnet Game to the finish line.
Exciting! Thanks for your support and patience - I think it's really paying off, making the channel more well-rounded and informed. I can't wait to do more!
$5 Patrons get this episode early. It will go live to everyone else, and the world, on Monday.
Mark
2022-08-19 15:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
While I was working on the jam, I was also making a new episode of GMTK. This one's about mixing genres.
Great video games can come from combining genres - but getting the mix right isn't easy. In this video we'll explore the three main methods for merging genres, and look at the problems - and solutions - of each approach.
Thanks!
Mark
2022-08-03 08:19:25 +0000 UTC
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Hello! So back in April I stopped doing monthly playlist videos in favour of a more general "bonus" video each month. But that doesn't mean the playlist is gone forever. In fact, here's a new one! Right now! With a big bunch of games I've been playing since we last chatted. There's a lot of them, so let's get straight into it.
Tunic
Tunic is a charming Zelda-inspired adve...
2022-07-29 15:56:36 +0000 UTC
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Hello! Last week I asked you to send me the games you made for the GMTK Game Jam, and offered to play them. I expected to receive a few. A small handful. A little pile.
By the time the deadline was up, I had received 100 games! Eek.
But! Here we are. I played almost all of them and shared my thoughts, feelings, and feedback.
Please take the feedback as intended: just my honest thoughts while playing the games for the first time. I'm also one man with specific tastes, so not ...
2022-07-28 17:45:56 +0000 UTC
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Hey! This month I’ve been ridiculously busy with the GMTK Game Jam, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t found time to squeeze in some reading and watching!
Below are articles and videos that I recommend you check out - with a special section devoted to GMTK Game Jam 2022 dev logs.
The Design of Games
[Watch | CC | 26 mins] The Lost Art of Permadeath in Fire Emblem
2022-07-28 12:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Hey Patrons!
So, if you somehow missed it… July was GMTK Game Jam month!
Every year I hold a game-making marathon, where people try to design and develop a game in 48 hours. And even though the jam itself takes a weekend, the whole event - with planning, making videos, doing streams, etc - essentially eats up an entire month!
You can see the results in the video above. And play the game...
2022-07-27 06:38:38 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
At the weekend, I hosted the sixth annual GMTK Game Jam. There was an incredible response: over 22,000 sign-ups and more than 6,000 games. That makes it the biggest jam in Itch.io history. Again. And before you ask: yes, we did crash the site's servers. Again.
The theme for the jam was "Roll of the Dice".
So we got loads and loads of games about probability, randomness, rolling, casinos, a...
2022-07-21 05:27:48 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
Apologies for the one-day-delay on this one. I was just in Berlin and ended up utterly exhausting myself by walking around the city for about six hours straight. But I am awake now! And ready for a hand-picked selection of articles and videos on the games biz.
The Design of Games
[Watch | 17 mins] Unpacking Developers Break Down the Complex Systems Behind this Simp...
2022-07-01 05:39:11 +0000 UTC
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Hey Patrons
Your bonus video this month is a Developing-style look at how I made Platformer Toolkit, from the idea to the final release. I hope you dig it!
Also, I just released the character controller code and a blog post about how it works over on Itch. Check it out!
Cheers
Mark
2022-06-22 11:49:10 +0000 UTC
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Hello! I've just come back from a very fun and relaxing break in Denmark and Sweden. And I'm rolling back into work with an exciting secret reveal for Patrons.
Over the past month I've been working on a new project... a video essay that you can play.
A few years back I made a rather popular video on Celeste, and platformer controls. I show you how different acceleration sp...
2022-06-14 15:08:45 +0000 UTC
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Hey y'all! New episode of Developing to round out the month. Hope you dig it - the game's starting to come together now!
A quick note that I'm off on holiday from tomorrow. Popping to Sweden and Denmark for a quick break. Then I'll be back in June - I've got something quite special cooking for you. I think you'll like it.
Speak soon
Mark
2022-05-31 15:49:49 +0000 UTC
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Hello party people! A wild Reading List appears. As always, I hope you dig this collection of articles and videos. And I’ll see you next month for more!
The Design of Games
[Read] What The Heck Is A 'MetroidBrainia'? - “The exciting bit isn't the fact that you can bypass the whole game from t...
2022-05-30 06:18:18 +0000 UTC
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Hello Patrons! Here's your early look at tomorrow's new video. It's a new episode of Developing where I talk about making managers, level structures, and tools. I.e. all the boring bits of game development. But reveal how they helped me generate content for the game much more quickly - resulting in the demo I showed you earlier!
Thanks very much for all the feedback on that, by the way. It's really helpful, and it will...
2022-05-30 04:57:21 +0000 UTC
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Hey! Me again
A quick note to let you know that the GMTK Game Jam is coming back for 2022, starting July 15th. You can sign up here if you'd like to take part.
Cheers!
Mark
2022-05-16 16:30:17 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
I'm currently working on a new episode of Developing, in which I announce that I've finished another playable demo of my work-in progress magnet game.
Following the feedback from the first minimum viable product, I have overhauled the character controller, focused the game on puzzles, built six brand-new puzzles with much better design, added full keyboard and mouse support, added remapping, and more.
As Patrons, you always get stuff early. So please 2022-05-16 12:09:01 +0000 UTC
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Hello! I just released a new video all about Hitman 3's excellent Berlin episode. Patrons, as always, get access to the full, lightly edited original call. So if you're interested in level design, watch my play through the stage while asking the devs all about crowd technology, cut content, systemic vs scripted design, and more!
Mark
2022-05-12 16:23:21 +0000 UTC
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Hey there!
I've done two videos on the Hitman trilogy - one that focused on Hitman 2016's Sapienza, and another that dove deep into Hitman 2's Miami. So it's about time I finished my trilogy, with a look at my favourite level in Hitman 3: Berlin.
This is a return to my On The Level series. I previously said that the series was over, but I took your feedback that having a Patreon means I should pay less attention to YouTube Analytics and make stuff that I want to make, stuff ...
2022-05-12 16:21:00 +0000 UTC
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Hello! As promised, I've brought back On The Level for a new episode. This time, looking at my favourite stage from Hitman 3, Berlin (aka Apex Predator).
I wanted to try a slightly different approach with this one - so it's more of a normal GMTK video but with developer interviews towards the end. With these things it's very much dependant on how the interview goes, so I have to work around that!
Anyway, hope you enjoy - I'll release it to the world later this week. Plus, yo...
2022-05-11 09:56:07 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
Welcome to your reading list for April. This month we've got tilt-shift Elden Ring, sales number breakdowns, DIY immersive sims, and wrestling with director intent.
Enjoy!
The Design of Games
[Watch | CC | 23 mins] How Disco Elysium Was Made After Hitting Rock Bottom - “Before attempting to make a video game, Robert first wrote a bo...
2022-04-27 05:29:00 +0000 UTC
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Hey early-access Patrons! I wanted to give you a heads up about the next video I'm working on.
In 2016 I made a video about the amazing new Hitman game, and broke down my favourite level in the game - Sapienza. For Hitman 2, I spoke to the developers at IO Interactive about my favourite level in that game - Miami.
A...
2022-04-26 07:15:01 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
I've got a new video coming out in a bit. But you can check it out right now. It's called "How Video Game Economies are Designed", and it's a 101 crash course in designing resource management systems - and squeezing them for interesting gameplay.
I'll give you a little behind the scenes story on it. As I've said, I was invited to give a series of lectures at BUAS university in The Netherlands. Each fortnight, I'd ask the lecturer what he wanted from the next talk. ...
2022-04-25 15:06:33 +0000 UTC
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Hello!
Earlier this year, I gave a series of guest lectures at a university in The Netherlands
One of the talks, on economy design, will be released as a GMTK video very shortly. And as a Patreon bonus on this tier, you get to watch another one of those talks... right now!
This is a recording of the talk, with slides. It's about how to analyse and research games, using the MDA framework. It went down really well with the students, and so hopefully you dig it as well.
2022-04-25 13:49:17 +0000 UTC
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