DoujinStars
GameMakersToolkit

GameMakersToolkit

patreon


GameMakersToolkit posts

Playlist (Jan 2019)

Hello! Here's your first Playlist video for 2019

A few changes. I'm talking about any and all games I played - so that's indie stuff, retro games, and new releases. And also I tried doing it without a script - but it's a bit meandering so I might stick to a prewritten script in the future!<...

View Post

Behind the Scenes - GMTK's New Branding

Hello!


Over Christmas, I spent a bit of time coming up with some new stuff for GMTK. I wanted to update the channel's branding, and come up with new templates I can use. 

Branding is important, because it helps videos feel like part of a greater whole, instead of a bun...

View Post

GMTK Redux - Roguelikes, persistency, and progression

Hey everyone! 

So for the first time in GMTK history, I've decided to remove a video, remake it, and reupload a new version.

My original video - "Should roguelikes have persistent upgrades?" - received some nega...

View Post

Reading List (January 2019)

Reading List (January 2019)

Hello! Happy new year

 While there have been some changes to things on Patreon, the Reading List hasn’t really changed a dot. Everyone likes it, so let’s keep it going! Expect a great bunch of articles and videos, that come recommended by me, Mark! 

You know, the GMTK gu...

View Post

GMTK Travel Diaries - Vancouver, Canada

GMTK Travel Diaries - Vancouver, Canada

Hey! One of the perks of running GMTK is I get to travel around the world to give talks and lectures. I get to pop into different cities for a few days, check out the sights, and then head home.

Right now, I’m sat in Vancouver airport - having given a talk at EA’s offices here - and I t...

View Post

24 hour exclusive - Should Roguelikes Have Persistent Upgrades? | Game Maker's Toolkit

Hello!

So, here's my video about roguelikes and progression. Hope you find it interesting - looking forward to the debates in the comments under the video!

I'm off to Canada for a bit to do a talk for a major game studio. Then I'll be back - and I'll either do the last episode of desi...

View Post

Boss Keys Mini - Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow

Boss Keys Mini - Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow

Hello again!

So, as I discussed before - I’m currently playing the handheld Castlevania games as part of research for a (potential?) episode of Boss Keys. 

Here's what I found out when I played through the last two GBA games.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (20...

View Post

Insider - Ideas on roguelikes and progression

Insider - Ideas on roguelikes and progression

Hello! So, I'm thinking about the next episode of GMTK. And something I'd like to touch on is the idea of roguelikes and persistent upgrades. 

Here's the outline.

What is a roguelike?

A roguelike is a game with procedurally generated levels and permanent ch...

View Post

The Year Stealth Games Got Serious | Game Maker's Toolkit

Hello!

So the first episode of GMTK is, as usual, based on what I played over the Christmas break. Which happened to be a few stealth games. And that left me wondering: why did the stealth genre appear in 1998? This video explores that idea.

Thanks for your feedback on the draft scrip...

View Post

Insider - The Year Stealth Games Got Serious

Insider - The Year Stealth Games Got Serious

Hello!

Welcome to the first Insider, which is the name for these behind-the-scenes posts I'll be doing for $5 Patrons (and up). 

I want to start talking about episodes before they're made so I can get feedback and ideas to help make them the best they can be. So, here's what I'm ...

View Post

Reading List End-Of-Year Special

Reading List End-Of-Year Special

Hello!

So, for your final reading list of 2018 I decided to do something a tad different. I wanted to gather together the best writing and videos on the game’s stand out releases. I’ve got pieces about the music of Celeste, the last hit animation of Smash Bros Ultimate and the depiction of sla...

View Post

Playlist (2018 Game of the Year Edition)

Hello everybody!

As always, my final playlist video for the year is a rundown of my 10 favourite games of the last 12 months. Some will be obvious, some might be surprising, some obvious games won’t show up at all!

Without further ado, let’s jump right into the games! In no partic...

View Post

GMTK Year in Review - 2018

GMTK Year in Review - 2018

Hello!

The year is coming to a close, which can only mean one thing: an obsessively detailed, brutally honest, statistically overloaded look at my last year’s worth of work. 

Let’s jump right into it.

What did I make this year

2018-12-17 08:06:09 +0000 UTC View Post

New video, 2019 video, and Patreon reward updates

Hello! Three things for you today.

One! The final episode of GMTK is here. It's about the most interesting game of the year: Return of the Obra Dinn. I really like having this alternative "game of the year" video where I don't talk about the big, obvious AAA games - but stu...

View Post

Early Access - How Return of the Obra Dinn works

Hello! 

Every year, I make a video about the most interesting game of the last 12 months. 2018 is no different. I thought about lots of different games, but ultimately landed on Lucas Pope's awesome detective game, Return of the Obra Dinn.

Also - thanks for your feedback on the Patreon ...

View Post

GMTK Patreon changes - your opinions requested!

GMTK Patreon changes - your opinions requested!

Hello everybody!

So, I feel like 2019 would be a good opportunity to mix up the Patreon a little bit. But I wouldn’t do anything without asking for some feedback and opinions from you lot!

As always, the goal of Patreon rewards is to adequately reward people who fund the content I make on ...

View Post

The Games That Could Have Been GMTK GOTY 2018 (Insider)

The Games That Could Have Been GMTK GOTY 2018 (Insider)

Hey everyone!

So, every year I make a video where I talk about the design of that year’s most innovative, well designed, or interesting game. I’ve chatted about Her Story in 2015, 2018-12-09 08:14:40 +0000 UTC View Post

Objectivity and Education (Insider, November 2018)

Objectivity and Education (Insider, November 2018)

Hello!

So, there’s something I routinely get wrong. And it’s high time I figure out a problem to the solution and avoid making the same mistake over and over again in 2019!

(I feel like I’ve maybe talked about this before - but I still don’t have a good answer for myself so I’m say...

View Post

Playlist (November 2018)

Hey everyone!

This will probably be the last Playlist video of this kind for 2018.

I’ll likely do the December episode as a game of the year wrap-up for y’all. And then in 2019, I want to mess with the format a bit. It’s getting a bit stale, and I think I could make it more useful. So,...

View Post

Building Better Skill Trees | Game Maker's Toolkit

Skill trees, upgrade systems, ability trees - call them what you will, they've become an integral part of AAA game design, showing up in Spider-Man, Doom, Watch Dogs, God of War, and more. 

And with that in mind, I wanted to look at some common pitfalls of these things, and suggest some smart...

View Post

Reading List (November 2018)

Reading List (November 2018)

(Sorry! I accidentally set this to $3 and $5 Patrons. Now all backers have access to it, as promised!)

Hello everybody! Got some more articles and videos for you to check out! As ever, feel free to send me fun stuff on Twitter, Discord, Patreon comments, or wherever. Always looking to boo...

View Post

Brain Dump: The rise of context sensitive actions

Hey! 

I’ve been thinking about something recently. Thoughts have been swirling around my head. And maybe they’ll develop into a full GMTK episode - but right now I just want to get my thoughts out there so you can think about them yourself, and contribute your own ideas.

So, I’ve ...

View Post

Boss Keys Mini - Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Boss Keys Mini - Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Hello!

So, after finishing Symphony of the Night for Boss Keys, I was left pretty curious about the other Metroidvania games in the franchise - like the three on GBA and three on DS. I’ve dipped in and out of them in the past, but haven’t finished any. And I definitely haven’t studied their ...

View Post

Maps and Graphs - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Maps and Graphs - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Hello! I received a number of comments on my latest video, which is about the world design of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, lamenting the fact that I didn't show any graphs! 

If you're not aware: I've designed a graph ...

View Post

24 hour exclusive - The World Design of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Hello!

Sorry for the delay on this one. 

I actually took a week off work. My first full week off  since starting GMTK full time in 2017! I played Red Dead Redemption 2 and Return of the Obra Dinn, baked a tart, went to a fireworks show, passed my driving test, watched scary movies ...

View Post

Thoughts on Red Dead Redemption 2 (No spoilers)

Thoughts on Red Dead Redemption 2 (No spoilers)

Hey there! So, I finally finished Red Dead Redemption 2. Or, there about. There’s a huge great epilogue but I think I’ve had my fill on this one. Instead, I wanted to offer up some spoiler free thoughts on the game’s design, and also see what you all thought about this one!

Ride ‘E...

View Post

GMTK Turns 4!

GMTK Turns 4!

Hello! On November 4th, 2014, I posted the first ever episode of Game Maker's Toolkit. 

It was about adaptive soundtracks. I wanted to tweet about the cool musical trick in Skyward Sword's bazaar, and couldn't find an appropriate video on YouTube. So thought: why don't I just make one? The sc...

View Post

Playlist (October 2018)

Hello Patreon peoples! I’ve got a rapid fire selection of games to talk about this month, so without further ado let’s jump straight into it and get chatting.

ELOH

ELOH is the new mobile game from Broken Rules, who made Old Man’s Journey. This is a soothing, relaxing p...

View Post

GMTK Insider (October 2018)

GMTK Insider (October 2018)

Hello! Here’s what I’ve been up to since we last spoke.

Videos in review

Does Spidey's Web-Swinging 'Make You Feel Like Spider-Man'? 

2018-10-29 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post

How Mega Man 11's Levels Do More With Less | Game Maker's Toolkit

Hello! A new video, this time looking at the level design in Mega Man 11. Went a bit nuts with some of the editing in this one - hope you like it!

View Post