GameMakersToolkit posts
Posts: 869
Files: 1030
Early access - Weekender Episode 1
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...
My statement on the Unity stuff
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 ...
Let's Talk About... Game Collecting
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!CheersMark
New Video - How to Make a Good 2D Camera
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 the works for the coming months - plus a much-nee...
Early Access - How to Make a Good 2D Camera
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
Reading List (August 2023)
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 ...
Coronavirus
Hi allJust 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 littl...
New episode - What Makes a GREAT Detective Game?
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 ti...
Early Access - What Makes a GREAT Detective Game?
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 - lik...
Let's Talk About... The YouTube Algorithm
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 You...
Reading List (July 2023)
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 i...
GMTK Game Jam 2023 Post Mortem
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 - ...
The Best Games from GMTK Game Jam 2023
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...
My old, unfinished detective game
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 scre...
New Video - The Genius AI Behind The Sims
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 go...
Bonus Video - Making a Dream Job
Hey all! For your bonus video this month, here's a talk I gave at the University of Norwich.Cheers!Mark
Reading List (June 2023)
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] De...
Early access - The Genius AI Behind The Sims
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....
GMTK Update
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 Francisc...
Bonus Video: Zelda Tier List
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
Reading List (May 2023)
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 l...
Researching and Writing Valve's "Secret Weapon"
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 stumb...
New Video: Valve's "Secret Weapon"
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 NebulaReally appreciate your support. Will be a little quiet in June as I have a holiday an...
New Video: Valve's "Secret Weapon"
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 ...
The Game Jam, and other updates
Hello Patrons! I've got a few updates for you.The Game JamAt 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 decisi...
Should the GMTK Game Jam allow AI-generated material?
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 w...
GMTK Mini - How Nintendo Solved Zelda's Open World Problem
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. (...
Bonus Video - Watch Me Make a Thumbnail
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!
Reading List (April 2023)
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] Why do so many modern games have...
New Episode - Why Capcom is the King of Remakes
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
