GameMakersToolkit

Nearly there!

Phew, this has been a tough one. The episode is PACKED with short clips, illustrative graphics, and quotes, so editing a minute of footage can take, I dunno, an hour? More?

A lot of research went into it, also, including reading academic papers and design books and interviews, watching GDC talks, playing lots of games, and...

Game Maker's Toolkit - Ico, and Design by Subtraction

Here, have an episode 15 minutes early! How awfully generous of me!

Among designers, few modern games are held in such high regard as the PS2 cult classic, Ico. Let's figure out what has made this quiet and reserved game so hugely influential.  

Remember when...

Remember when I said that I feature Mario games too often on Game Maker's Toolkit, and vowed not to show the plumber again?

I FAILED SORRY. 

New episode tomorrow. Not about Mario. But he's in it. For like a second. I can't help it!

I now have a Tumblr, as another way of subscribing to the channel. ...

I don't understand Patreon

Hey! Uh, there's a whole bunch of people who are backing me at $1 or more, but I think aren't actually eligible for the $1 "reward"s because you backed before I added that tier.

(Which exists because someone backed $0.01 and I thought that was a tad cheeky :P)

I'm trying to figure out how to make sure you get all...

Your October Vlog

Hello October! Here's your backer-only vlog thing for October.

I apologise for my awkwardness on camera. This is why I don't actually appear on episodes of GMT. But hey, I thought this would be a nice opportunity to get some practice and improve my confidence on camera in case it comes in handy one day.

Let me kn...

A wild logo appears!

So it's time for GMT to grow up a little bit. The Patreon's going amazing (thanks to you. Yes, you!), the show is growing, and new avenues are opening up. So in an effort to make it more of "A Thing", it now has a proper logo. Like a real YouTube channel! 

You can see it in animated form in the attachment. I guess I'l...

My level on Giant Bomb

I can't really share this publicly because it was part of Giant Bomb's premium stream, but I'm sure you guys can keep a secret.

Here are the Giant Bomb guys playing my Mario Maker level. Super awesome!

A Super Mario Maker Super Spin-Off

- This spin-off episode is free to Patreon backers. Thanks for your support this month! -

So, here's a little something different. I asked my YouTube viewers and Twitter subscribers to show me their Mario Maker stages, and was inundated with levels, where people said they used my analysis to help improve their course desig...

Behind the scenes - scrapping an episode

Hey Patreon backers! So, here's something a bit different. The script of a scrapped version of the episode on Nova-111. The video was about 80 percent made before I started anew.

I think it's an interesting look at the way I write these things. You see, two of the most important factors in a video, for me, are clarity and ...

Is Until Dawn a Good Horror Movie?

There's a nasty conflict at the beating heart of Supermassive's interactive horror flick Until Dawn. Let's tear it out, and tear it down!

(Note: this video contains some light spoilers for Until Dawn, but largely the consequences to choices which may never happen in your game. Also has spoilers for the movie Halloween, and...

Coming soon!

Please look forward to a new episode next week! Episode names are tough, but I think that largely sums up what it's about, while also being a tease. I dunno. You'll see!

And any opportunity to show off Peter Stormare's scenery-chewing performance is fine by me. 

So, yep, that's two Patreon-paid videos in Sep...

3 lessons from a real-time, turn-based game

Nova-111 is an innovative mash-up of both real-time and turn-based tactics. It's far from perfect, but offers up some interesting takeaways for those interested in game design.

Patreon Backer Vlog Thing - September 2015

Hello! Here's this month's vlog about what I've been up to. Including Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, more Mario chat, and Rocket League.

Apologies for the low quality - just need to make these as easy as possible to upload!

Thanks, as ever, for your support.

Behind the scenes - Mastering Mario Maker

Hey! I thought it might be fun to share some stuff about making my last episode, just for you lovely backers.

Getting Mario Maker

So I had been planning to do an episode about the 4 games in Mario Maker for a while. But then we got an email at Pocket Gamer from Nintendo asking if we wanted a ...

Mastering Super Mario Maker

It turns out that playing loads of video games doesn't necessarily make you a good designer. Who'd have thought it? So, scuppered by Super Mario Maker, I decided to analyse the four Mario games featured within and see what I could learn.

Coming today...

Later today, I'll be posting my longest and most ambitious video yet. Eek! Hope you enjoy it :)

Patreon update - 60 fps capture!

Hi guys

Thanks to your generous support, I've been able to purchase a new capture card that lets me record footage in 60 frames per second.

So, when games support it (like Splatoon, The Last of Us, and Mario Maker) I'll be able to show those games in the way they're intended.

Cheers...

Game Maker's Toolkit - Point and click puzzle design 101

Point and click adventures get a bad wrap. Their loopy logic puzzles often come under fire for being incomprehensible and unfair. So lets look at how adventures can employ more responsible design - to stop you racing towards GameFAQs.

A.k.a.: let's talk about how brilliant Day of the Tentacle is for 10 minutes. (Inc...

Backer vlog - August 2015

Hello. So, as suggested, I thought I'd throw together a quick video on what i've been playing this past month. If it isn't completely horrible, I'll try and do one each month.

Hello (potential) Patreonisers

Is this where I talk to Patreon people? This site is quite confusing and they keep changing it. Hopefully this is fine. Just don't SLIP AND ACCIDENTALLY PRESS THE BUTTON THAT CHARGES EVERYONE! 

That'd be embarrassing.

Anyway. One - wow! Thank you so much for your pledges. It is super humbling a...

Is The Swindle the first great heist game?

Game Maker's Toolkit - Arkham Knight and the Scourge of Scale

Game Maker's Toolkit - Arkham Knight and the Scourge of Scale

Hey! Sounds like there was some weird stuff going on with Patreon payments yesterday. The site say it's all figured out and no one has paid twice. So, hopefully it's all good. Just wanted to apologise for any annoyance. And thanks for your continued support! New episode soon :)

Game Maker's Toolkit - Puzzle Solving... or Problem Solving?

I've been playing Infinifactory a whole bunch, and it's got me thinking about the different types of puzzle games...

What Capcom didn't tell you about Resident Evil 4

Game Maker's Toolkit - Telling Stories with Systems

When you think of "interactive stories", you might think about games with branching narratives, like The Walking Dead. But a new wave of games is using systems and random content to deliver wholly unique stories, every time you play.

Game Maker's Toolkit - Getting Lost in Axiom Verge

A new Metroidvania called Axiom Verge has perfected the lost art of getting lost. In this video we look at techniques used in this game, and Super Metroid, to let players off the leash - while secretly helping them figure out exactly where to go.

Hey! Just wanted to say an enormous THANK YOU to all those who have backed me on Patreon. It means so much and is such a boost. Here's to many more episodes!

Game Maker's Toolkit - Redesigning Death

Getting killed is getting boring. So, inspired by Bloodborne's clever twist on MMO corpse-running, let's look at some games that do more interesting things with player death - from expendable marines in Aliens to reconstructed level layouts in Spelunky.