Mark's Month - April 2024 (Patreon)

Hello GMTK Patrons! It's time to shake things up a bit... so I'm introducing a couple changes to the rewards on this page.

So this is "Mark's Month", which is for Patrons on the $1 (or equivalent) tier. It's a new monthly newsletter where I'll share absolutely everything I've been up to in the last 30 days. What I've been working on, where I've been, what I'm playing and watching, and anything else that seems relevant.

I have sporadically posted bits of behind-the-scenes content and updates, but now it's a guaranteed monthly thing. This way you'll get to hear more about the stuff I've made - and some hints about what's coming next!

Next - I'm sorry to say that the bonus video on the $3 tier is no more. For the simple reason of... I'm just not very good at being on camera! I find it really uncomfortable and stressful, and I have to admit that it's been pretty painful to put myself through that each month.

Now you may be thinking: well what about Developing? You seem okay on camera on those! But in truth... while Developing episodes are supposed to seem conversational, they are actually highly scripted, painstakingly rehearsed, and carefully edited to take out all the mistakes.

The Patreon vlogs were supposed to be quicker, off-the-cuff, conversational pieces. You know, hit record and start talking. That type of thing. And it turns out that I just suck at that! I find them really hard to make and often have to record multiple times as they are such a disaster. I thought that doing them every month would help me improve, but it's not true. And so I've decided to just focus on what I do (and like) best - writing.

I've always appreciated writing articles and video scripts as it gives me time to think about exactly what I want to say and how I want to say it. Being on camera (or on a podcast) just stresses me out and I'm rarely happy with the final product.

Now, this doesn't mean there will never be bonus video content on the Patreon. Things like the Game of the Year video will still exist. And maybe other content too. But it will be when it makes sense - and not as a monthly obligation.

So instead, I'm moving the Reading List to the $3 tier, and rebranding it as the "GMTK Digest". It will still include loads of articles and videos I recommend, but also point out new indie games. And maybe more stuff too - we'll see. I hope I can justify it being bumped up to a higher reward tier.

The rest of the rewards will stay as they are! So, everyone gets Discord access, $5 Patrons get videos at least a day early, and $10 Patrons will be in the credits of major videos!

Okay, that's the update. And now - the first edition of Mark's Month.

What I Made Last Month

Last month I only managed to make one video - a GMTK Mini about Balatro. But I'm actually really happy with it. I wanted to make a video about this hot new indie gem, but wanted to cover the game in a different way to everyone else.

So the video is about one of the weird design quirks in the game. A cursed problem with no easy or obvious answer to fix it. It's about what happens when a designer's intentions hit up against actual players. Games are inherently made for people to play... so you have to think about an audience as you design.

The video got a really good response. It's had half a million views and great comments from people. For instance, here's localthunk, the anonymous developer of Balatro:

"Loved the video on this - a problem that is frustrating as the creator of Balatro but is also very interesting as a game designer and exposes the potential knock-on effects of a seemingly simple or obvious design change

GMTK did a really great job summarizing the issue"

Here's Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail:

"Absolutely lovely analysis of Balatro here. So incredibly impressed by @gamemakerstk's ability to take these issues and pack them into super digestible and accessible videos."

And here's Jedi Fallen Order UI/UX lead Jordan DeVries:

"This is an excellent video illustrating one of the core challenges of game UI/UX: how much on-screen information does a player benefit from before giving the game away"

I wanted to release another video in April, but, well...

What I'm Working On

I'm still working on a video called "100 Games Every Designer Should Play", which I talked about earlier on the Patreon. It's just taking a lot longer to produce than I thought.

Which is kinda silly on my part. This is shaping up to be a two hour video, featuring footage of at least 100 different games. So it's obviously going to take a long time to edit together! I guess I was just feeling positive.

I've got a good schedule going, though. I have written all of the text, so now it's just a case of putting the video together. And I can do about 10 games per day. So at this rate I should have it done by mid-May.

Though, I'm writing this while waiting for the Amazon Prime man to appear with an external hard drive, as I have literally run out of space to store all the footage on my MacBook. So pens down until that arrives...

Anyway. If nothing else, the sheer size and scale of this project has forced me to create some new tools and workflows for making videos faster. And those will, naturally, pay off in future episodes of GMTK. So while I feel like I'm going crazy making this video, I think the process will actually really pay off in the long run.

Elsewhere... I'm still on a break from Mind Over Magnet but cool things are happening in the background! I got my first piece of music back from my chosen composer. It wasn't quite right so I gave some feedback. And he just came back with the second draft and it's... brilliant! I love it.

This is really exciting for me. So far, almost every single thing in MOM is made by me (outside of a few lines of code and most of the sound effects). So now the game has content made by someone else... well, it feels more real. And also, I don't notice all the flaws and foibles because I didn't make it - so that's nice.

I will be putting together the final demo in May so it's ready for the Steam Next Fest in June. As for the actual game's release date... well, not straight after Next Fest, as I said in that video. But definitely in 2024. I promise!

And finally I've been doing some super exciting consulting work, but sadly I can't talk about that at all. And seeing as one of the games is scheduled to release in 2027... it's going to be a long while before I can ever talk about that!

Where I've Been

April has been a super busy month for me in terms of travelling.

FIS Photo via adarn_ie

I started the month by heading to Galway, in the west of Ireland, for the FIS Games Summit. I gave the keynote speech, which was all about the power of doing game jams. It was a cool event - it seems like the Irish games biz is very well supported and there are loads of resources for people making games there.

I also got to meet lots of lovely people. I hung out with one of the creators of Sable, and got a sneak peek at his next game. Looking cool!

Then I had a quick meet up with some fellow game devs in Oxford. I've met up with these folks a couple times now. It's nice to be able to get together with semi-local game makers and chat about our projects over a beer.

NGJ Photo via SchuMode

Then I headed to Copenhagen, for the Nordic Game Jam! I, again, gave the keynote speech. And it was, again, about the power of doing game jams. Yes, I repeat the same talks. Remember what I said about not doing well speaking off the cuff... well if I'm going to spend time to write and rehearse a talk, I'm going to make sure it was worth it!

The jam was very cool - a very different experience to the GMTK Jam, simply because one is in person and one is online. I don't think GMTK Game Jam will ever be in person - it seems like a lot of work! Kudos to the many, many volunteers who made the Nordic Jam run so smoothly.

Once again I met some lovely people there - lots of Unity devs and a guy from Godot. People from LEGO (including the team who made LEGO Super Mario!). And more.

Then I came home... and headed to WASD in London. I only popped in for one day but got to see so many cool people. Tom from SFB Games was there showing off Crow Country - the PS1-style horror game which is blowing up. I also chatted to Dre, from Rollerdrome. A guy who worked on Botany Manor (more on that in a sec...). I also met someone from the GMTK Discord, some fellow YouTubers, people I met in Galway, and more.

Oh! And you may or may not know that I created the website The Spriters Resource when I was a kid. It has been expertly run by a chap called Dazz for the past... 18 years or so. And I finally met him at WASD which was a lovely moment.

But boy, this was a lot for little ol' me. I am pretty introverted so this was a lot of people to talk to. I'm looking forward to May where the only stuff in my calendar is a meet-up with a friend and a week away with my wife!

What I've Been Playing / Watching / etc

I played a few things in April.

My wife and I finished Princess Peach: Showtime! which is... an odd game. It feels a bit like Luigi's Mansion but with more gameplay modes. So Peach can be a ninja, or a gunslinger, or a cake baker, or a detective. Each one is cute and charming - but never super fun. It lacks the polish and the perfected gameplay you'd get from a first party Nintendo title.

In the world of indie games I played Botany Manor - which is a "information" game (like Outer Wilds or Case of the Golden Idol) but for growing plants. It's very sweet and cozy, though a little easy. I also dug Minishoot' Adventures which is essentially Zelda 1 but as a twin stick shooter. It feels great to play, has good secrets, and holds an addictive unlock system. Easily recommend that one.

And I've also been playing a lot of RimWorld. It's one of the games on my list of 100 titles so I needed to give it a proper go. And I'm enjoying it! It's kind of like The Sims but you need to build a colony to keep your characters alive. And sometimes they'll kill each other and harvest their organs. Fun!

Finally, I wanted to give a shoutout to the Fallout TV show. I thought they did a fantastic job with this show. It's a great TV series on its own merits, but absolutely full of references and nods to Fallout games. Plus - it got the tone spot on. It looks like another prestige HBO drama (like The Last of Us), but quickly turns into an absurd dark comedy. It fits the game perfectly.

That's all for April - chat next month!

Mark