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Mark's Month - July 2024
🕑 Added 2024-07-31 04:28:15 +0000 UTCHello Patrons! How are you doing?
What I Made Last Month
I want to kick off with the big news: Mind Over Magnet is done! Well, like 99.9% done. It needs a couple more songs and a bit more bug testing. But the game is content complete and almost ready to roll.
I'll be announcing the release date really soon.
And I want to really thank you for your patience during this time. I know this is not what everyone signed up for - a lot of you would rather I would just get on with the normal GMTK analysis videos! - and so I've been really cognisant of that during development.
But now the game is done and so I'm looking forward to releasing the game and resuming normal GMTK service.
Also this month I released a new episode of Developing all about hiring contractors and entering the Steam Next Fest.
A funny thing about this video: I made a joke about releasing a video on the, ahem, exhilarating world of writing legal documents. But actually got a huge response from people asking me to really create that video!
So I've since sat down with a video game lawyer (who provided legal services for Mind Over Magnet) and interviewed him about making contracts. I'll turn that into a short bonus video in the future.
And in terms of the game's development... well, I made loads of levels, made a whole extra world, rewrote the story, fixed over 100 bugs and problems, implemented a new music system, and more. I'll explain more about all of this stuff in...
What I'm Working On
A new episode of Developing, coming soon. This video - all about how I cut the game's scope in order to finish the game - will be one of the very last episodes in this series.
After that I'll announce the release, look at the sales data, and then do a massive post mortem on the project! But that's all to come...
More pressingly, the GMTK Game Jam kicks off on August 16th. So I better start preparing for that. As usual I'll need to come up with a theme and announce that on the first day of the jam. And I'll stream myself playing games during the voting week. And finally finish off with a video about the best games.
This year's jam gives people twice as long to make their game so it will be interesting to see how different the final games are. I also always share data on the engine used to make each game - I wonder if the recent Unity argy bargy will move the needle on Godot's adoption in this jam?
Where I've Been Upto
This month I popped down to Brighton for the annual Develop conference. It's like GDC but smaller, cheaper, and usually a lot wetter. I was just there to hang out with other games people and catch up with friends.
It's always nice to meet up with fellow YouTubers like Chris from People Make Games and Tommy from AI & Games. And I also did a very good escape room with some fellow puzzle game designers - including Alan Hazelden (draknek), who has been giving me great advice on getting Mind Over Magnet finished.
I've also found a really nice dev community in the local area and have been attending some meet ups.
And while I haven't played a lot of new games this month (though I did enjoy Nine Sols - a sort of Hollow Knight meets Sekiro hybrid), I have been buying them!
I got the collecting bug again and so added some lovely games to my collection - including Banjo Tooie, Mega Man X, Super Castlevania IV, and the American-only Super Mario RPG.
But mostly I've just been enjoying the nice weather - taking lots of time to get into nature, read books in my hammock, and meet up with friends and family. As a Brit you really have to make the most of any sunshine!
Speak soon
Mark
Comments
Matthew Reynolds
Lovely, ta!
Game Maker's Toolkit
They're Ikea!
Matthew Reynolds
Lovely shelves - do you remember where they are from?
Evan Bailey
Hi Mark! I'm glad that you've been able to use the Patreon to pursue projects that you're passionate about, and I have loved following progress of Mind over Magnet. As a fellow creator I know how important it is to work on projects that energize you. Great stuff!
Willhart
It's a shame gen AI is not allowed for the jam again this year. Still looking forward to the magnet game and also the contracts video.
Max Goldstein
I like Developing. I think it has given massive boost to your knowledge, empathy, and credibility. I think it’s neat to see Mr. Game Design Know-It-All still struggle and have to put in a massive amount of time work. It gives such a great picture of what the challenge really is. Generative AI has become a thing while you’ve been doing this, and I’d like to get your thoughts on how that changes the prospect of making a game. I suspect it’s like asset packs, it makes it much easier to do poorly, but not much easier to do well. But it could be something totally different or more complex than that.
