GameMakersToolkit
patreon
Reading List (March 2020)
🕑 Added 2020-03-20 20:55:04 +0000 UTCHello everyone! I hope everyone is doing okay during this scary Coronavirus pandemic.
I wanted to get the reading list out to you a bit earlier this month, as I’m sure many of you will be stuck inside, either self-isolating or social distancing. I know I am: I have a heart condition, which means it’s probably not a great idea for me to get the coronavirus, and so I’m staying indoors for the forseeables.
I also wanted to say: for many of you, your financial situation might be a bit unsure right now. Let it be known that I am fine, and so if you need to pause or stop your Patreon support (or even get a refund), I totally understand. Look after yourself and your family before me, please.
I’m still working away - I was making a video called “what makes a good stealth game” but it turns out trying to fit two decade’s worth of games and design decisions into one video was really hard, so I’m splitting it up into a short miniseries of stealth-flavoured videos. Episode one should be out next week.
For now, though: 25 articles and videos to tide you over while the world falls apart outside your window. Stay safe, wash your hands, I love you all.
Top Pick
[Watch | CC | 13 mins] The Game That Inspired Minecraft, But Never Made a Penny - Chris Bratt tells the story of Infiniminer, and asks Zach Barth how it feels to miss out on billions.
Designer Notes
[Watch | CC | 7 mins] A Link Between Worlds Wall Merge - Mix and Jam mimics Link’s most bizarre mechanic, through the power of clever Unity coding.
[Read] Indie Game Dev: Death Loops - A couple psychological traps stop you from finishing your game, says Spelunky creator Derek Yu. Here’s how to break ‘em.
[Read] If you think this game is unfair, you can appeal directly to the creator - Zach Gage knows word games aren’t perfect. So SpellTower lets you complain direct to the source.
[Read] How to Make Games Funny: Three Designers Discuss Comedy Games - The makers of Astrologaster, Untitled Goose Game, and What the Golf spill the beans on making players giggle.
Critical Hit
[Read] 'Dreams' Is So Much Weirder and More Interesting Than Video Game Remakes - Most headlines about Dreams reference the weirdo, blobby Mario and Sonic lookalikes. This article delves a lot deeper.
[Watch | CC | 11 mins] Upgrade Systems Sure Are Weird, Huh? - Hamish Black talks about the ludonarrative oddities of levelling up, and points to some smarter ways to handle it.
[Watch | CC | 13 mins] Analysing the OTHER Missions in Hitman 2 - More Hamish, this time breaking down the DLC stealth sandboxes of The Bank and Haven Island.
[Watch | 7 mins] .io Games and The Rise of Fake Multiplayer - This is fascinating! Turns out, a lot of those multiplayer .io games (similar to Agr.io and Slither.io) are excluesively filled with bots. Hm!
Culture Club
[Read] First-Person Mario Lets You Shoot Goombas In The Dang Face - GMTK Patron and all-round good dude Sean Noonan is getting good press for his awesome Mario shooter.
[Watch | 11 mins] The Secret Ability That Changed Gaming Forever - A sweet, well-crafted documentary about Street Fighter’s famous fireball.
[Watch | CC | 12 mins] My Kaizo Mario Journey - Snoman’s gone deep into the world of Kaizo: ultra-hard Mario rom hacks that make Mario World speedruns look like child’s play.
[Watch | 12 mins] Jet Set Radio, Splatoon and Identity - Two games about Tokyo graffiti culture - Eurothug investigates.
[Watch | CC | 8 mins] "My Uncle Works at Nintendo": The True Stories - A few cute tales about times when people really did have an uncle who worked at a big gaming studio. The fallout is usually pretty funny (though, not for the uncle).
[Read] When up means down: why do so many video game players invert their controls? - Chief, I need you to look at these dots on the ceiling and the floor, for… reasons.
[Watch | 9 mins] Word on the Street: Episode 1 - Capcom has kicked off its own series of videos about how to play Street Fighter without just hitting the kick button over and over again.
History Corner
[Watch | CC | 32 mins] How Crash Bandicoot Hacked The Original Playstation - Another great War Stories ep from Ars Technica. Back to the PlayStation for this one.
[Watch | CC | 20 mins] Explosive Barrels - Ahoy tries to find out the answer to the world’s most important question: what was the first explosive barrel?
[Read] How Half-Life 2 influenced a generation to make Dishonored, Dying Light, and eventually, Half-Life: Alyx - Like Ico and Spelunky, Half-Life 2 was one of those games that really spoke to game designers.
Business Lunch
[Read | Long Read] As Naughty Dog Crunches On The Last Of Us II, Developers Wonder How Much Longer This Approach Can Last - Important, uncomfortable reading.
[Read] Eight Female Game Devs Reflect On Breaking Into the Industry, Overcoming "Negative Stereotypes" - Important, uncomfortable reading, Part II.
[Read] How a Metroid Fan Turned a Threatening Legal Letter into a Job Making Games - This dude might have made no money on his awesome Metroid 2 remake, but it did get him a role on Ori 2. So, swings and roundabouts.
[Read] Our indie game KUNAI got review bombed to a 1.7 - A painful read, about how the community can do real damage to your game’s launch.
Art and Audio
[Watch | CC | 13 mins] The Women who Pioneered Video Game Music - Fun fact: most of your favourite 80s games were composed by women. I tweeted a thread about this way back, but Mathew’s got a great video on the subject.
[Watch | CC | 9 mins] Game Animation Fundamentals: Readability - Dan’s back with more animation knowledge. This time, making movements clear to the viewer.
[Watch | 40 mins] Understanding the Music of Sonic the Hedgehog - A huge trek through the history of Sonic music, from Michael Jackson to Bowling for Soup.
Beyond Bytes
[Watch | CC | 5 mins] The Sentences Computers Can't Understand, But Humans Can - Finally, Tom Scott explains a problem that keeps Alexa and Siri up at night
Comments
Ben Byford
keep up the good work Mark!
Sams Sancho
Thank you, Mark. Please, take care!
Anhel
Tom Scott is amazing, so much good content :D
VLDTZ
This came at the best possible moment as I just finished Spelunky yesterday (the book, great recommendation Mark!) so I'll dive into these while deciding for my next book. Huge thanks for making the isolation easier!
