Create Expectations | Yahtzee's Dev Diary

[@remster206]

Being able to hear yahtzee mainly just talk about the things he's passionate about was a pretty entertaining episode

[@RomaraAhallow]

That's why the lets drown out series was so fascinating.

[@profwaldone]

@@RomaraAhallow oh what i would give to have that series back.

[@SpiralDownward]

@@RomaraAhallow Well, part of it for me. I came for Yahtzee, but I stayed for Gabe

[@starshipenterprises4356]

Totally agree.

[@Railgun_Enjoyer]

"Nazi Prison Dating Sim" Sounds like your next big game project tbh...

[@keiferdo9215]

Isn't that just Mein Waifu is the Fuhrer?

[@nohaxmeh576]

You play as Rommel in that game, not a prisoner in a Nazi prison trying to seduce the guards and your fellow prisoners into your own personal harem Not... that... I'd want that... or anything...

[@Ryotaiku]

Technically he already did when he made Hatfall, but it'd be pretty cool if he expanded on it.

[@tohanwi]

If it includes a morning wank, I'll buy it.

[@AnthonyGamerFan101]

Just came up with the perfect name for such a game.... "Mein Kamp" What have I done

[@P99AT]

"Admiral Dönitz-kun, w-what are you doing in my cell so early?"

[@SelenaC_anime]

P99AT Thanks, I hate it.

[@user-bf5sc8pn8x]

Morning wank

[@Shadethewolfy]

"What are we going to do on the bunk, Speir onii-chan?"

[@Atypical-Abbie]

Interesting how dog sledding somehow let Yahtzee to making a game where you can make a dog's head explode.

[@Taolan8472]

Yes but the primary game loop is to prevent the dog's head from exploding! You're the hero!

[@Atypical-Abbie]

@@Taolan8472 You know you can't resist doing it at least once, you monster.

[@Ward1706]

That's a very Yahtzee thing to say.

[@lynxager]

my mentor once told me "why ruin a good hobby by turning it into a job"

[@Arm0ry]

There's a difference between making a hobby into a profession and making it into a chore One is about getting paid for something you don't perceive as tedious, the other is about doing something you perceive as tedious instead of your hobby

[@wisecrack3461]

Nice pic

[@firstprimehunter]

@@Baulderan You program in twelve hour shifts? That sounds like a nightmare.

[@StaffordMagnus]

Exactly why I could never be a twitch streamer, nothing ruins enjoyment of a pastime quicker than feeling compelled to do it.

[@CinosTheHedgehog2000]

Because a job makes money

[@BMVfilms]

I really like non-selfloathing Yahtzee. That bit about scripts for ZP feeling more like a slog compared to oversharing for this hits home. This feeling of wanting to share your passion so badly, but also dreading that no one will care. At least you built a mini legacy out of it.

[@xXTomokoKurokiXx]

"Create for the sake of creating." THANK YOU YAHTZEE. One thing I notice as the internet's reached its peak levels of "monetization" is that creativity is no longer ABOUT creativity. It's about money, not about what you yourself want to do. This mindset has to have lead to some of the worst parts of the modern internet, but more importantly, especially, the gaming industry. Creativity should be _creative_ .

[@YukonHexsun]

This line of thinking can get a little bit dangerous. Remember when paid mods happened, and one of the counter-arguments to paid mods being a thing is that modders should make mods for free because it's art, and wanting money for that art is against its purpose? Yeah, that was asinine. If you put work into something it's not unreasonable to want to get paid. Wanting to make money from your work isn't necessarily bad, it's changing your art in order to MAKE money that sucks. The discussion about monetization isn't because people want to make money and not art, it's generally because people were able to make money from their art, but now the system is shitting on them. I'm just saying, I don't think that wanting to make money and wanting to make art for the sake of art, are mutually exclusive. Expecting to make money from your passion projects immediately is of course silly, but some people are in fact motivated by wanting to be able to eat food. Hell, in the minds of some financial interest might push them to try harder, not everyone's great at self motivation. I don't know, I'm not a creative person. I don't make art so I don't completely know what I'm talking about. I just don't want people to get shit for daring to expect compensation for their work. It's like people who bitch about having to pay for commissions, it's entitled bullshit. I doubt that's what you or Yahtzee meant but I just want to rant against that narrative because it annoys the shit out of me.

[@KuraIthys]

@@YukonHexsun Ideally I'd want a world where you don't HAVE to get paid for your work. Fairly confident people that are passionate about what they do don't want to get paid for the sake of getting paid... They want to get paid because they have needs and wants that require money to sustain. Every moment you have to devote to doing something to cover your own survival or even physical desires is a moment you can't spend doing what you really want to. Even an art commission can detract from what you really want, because it forces you to obey the constraints of what the person paying you desires (not always a bad thing since constraints can breed creativity too). Sadly it seems this will forever remain an unrealistic ideal... But the tension between needing to survive and actually doing what you really wanted to will always be there. And creativity bending to be more 'marketable' is also inevitable where the pressure to survive starts to outweigh the creative process itself...

[@YukonHexsun]

@@KuraIthys That's not a "forever" thing, actually. Familiar with Universal Basic Income? Crank that idea up hard enough and you actually don't need to make money to live. You just... do. You live, feed n clothe yourself, buy shit, all because your society is able to afford it. Probably not the best life, but you can do it. Acceptable because society is advanced enough that poverty goes the way of all the other things we've fought. Whether or not it'll work effectively, especially when you get to really generous UBI, I have no idea.

[@poika22]

@@KuraIthys The biggest problem with that is that most creative works are infinitely multipliable in the modern world. We don't have a bard for each saloon etc. but rather recordings of the best artists in the world. The best writers have their books read by millions, and even the niche musicians that develop a small internet following or can score a gig are a mere fraction of people who play instruments. The ratio of creators to "consumers" is inherently steeply unbalanced. Why wouldn't you enjoy the work of the best when it's just as easy to get a hold of? A world where everybody would just be expressing their artistic ambitions is a world where 99% of the people are left feeling unsatisfied because no one cares about their work. Digging a ditch might he boring but at least you contribute to the total lenght of ditch dug even if some other guy is faster at it. Same applies to most non-creative work. It gives people a purpose and a feeling of worthiness knowing their effort makes a difference.

[@datmouseb]

it would be brilliant if this series never ended even if the games weren't monthly

[@Pikminiman]

You mean, allow this series to turn into a job for Yahtzee?

[@datmouseb]

@@Pikminiman did we watch the same video? he's already explained that he intends to keep on creating regardless, it'd just be neat to have him ramble on about his current game projects randomly. I *did* say even if the games weren't monthly for a reason, you know

[@isabellamorris7902]

Aaaaaaa the second I heard "The Stanley Parable" I was like "YES HELL YES". Yahtzee's take on metanarrative is gonna be awesome. Also the Discworld phase does not surprise me in the least, because the way his novels do voice and indirect speech are VERY similar.

[@HOkayson]

I think that's a big reason why I'm really enjoying his Save the Galaxy books so much, they feel familiar but are exploring a whole new universe direct from Yahtzee's mind. Buy now!

[@GmodPlusWoW]

True that. IIRC, Death speaks in "small caps", which is basically all caps except letters that are meant to be non-capitals are instead rendered as smaller capital letters. Not sure how you'd be able to render that in a KZbin comment, but hopefully you get the idea.

[@abrandycount172]

I find this series' blend of humor, wit, and thoughtful advice to be quite delightful. Thank you, Yahtzee, for giving me what I never knew I wanted.

[@jynx7788]

Idea for a similar game you have to play a farming (or other life) sim, but you have to constantly fight off the homicidal desires to kill all your neighbors.

[@scottmacgregor3444]

That's oddly specific. Are you OK Joshua? Do you need to talk to someone? Side note. Apartment setting would be better. All those people in close confines are ripe for that sort of impulse anger.

[@serban031]

That’s literally the sims xD how long do you last before you give in and do something horrible to your or other sims

[@sarafontanini7051]

holy shit that actually kinda sounds interesting in a horrifying, disquieting way o3o

[@BFedie518]

That's just the Sims.

[@Resters52_official]

@@BFedie518 I don't think the sims focuses around homicidal urges, the sims is a life simulator, you go to work get married, get a house, have kids, do the laundry make dinner, if you want you could lock a few sims in the attic and remove the door to see if the devs might of programmed desperate cannibalism, that's just a by product of the actual game, in the same way that writing you name with a lightsaber in old republic may be fun but it's not the intended gameplay. The idea posed here, as far as I can tell, is a parody of harvest moon and other farming sims where you usually have to befriend the neighbors, hold up relationships and run a farming business, except now you have to do that while trying to keep your homicidal urges in check, or maybe even try and get away with it. The difference is that sadistic murder in the sims is a byproduct of the primary gameplay of a life simulator, while this game would be based around it.

[@jonydude]

Not only are these diaries more fun to write, they’re more fun to hear. (I say this as a huge fan of the rest of your work.) If 22 minutes is you holding back, please, give us the three hour version. We shall watch every second.

[@takashiari1598]

Teenage Yathzee is the one thing I never knew I needed to see

[@dappanam]

Yahtzee talking about is answer to the “Where do you get your ideas” is the most I’ve related to the man. Thank you, Yahtzee.

[@eatingpancakesrightnow2786]

I do love how the text in Undertale gives the characters such a clear voice that most people have same idea of how the characters sound

[@worthasandwich]

This is probably my favorite video you have ever done. I love hearing people talk about their creative process. Instead of the "where do you get your ideas from?" I prefer the "What recently inspired you to create recently?" it is just a more interesting question.

[@MegapiemanPHD]

Something I heard a while ago was that "Creativity is the art of hiding your influences." and it's very true. It's hard to have ideas without a base for them, so things like reading and exploring other peoples ideas can really help with your own.

[@takuansoho5836]

Reaaally love those videos, the first part is very interesting but that's the second part I'm always fascinated with, when he talks about the act of creating, the basis of "what's a game" and sometimes himself. So glad this serie help me to better understand Yahtzee

[@plasmatize8494]

That quote about being a creative is so important! We mostly only see the success stories, so it's easy to just imagine some creative genius waking up one day, making something great, and becoming famous for it. We don't see all those who gave up or never found traction, vastly outnumbering the modern DaVincis. We don't see the struggle of slowly honing your craft from amateur to professional quality. Even for those who make it, we don't see all the months or years of awkwardly tossing things into the silent, all-consuming void, with nary an acknowledgement of your existence. That's why it's so important to create something you'd be happy to make anyway, just for the sake of creating. If you're lucky, miracles happen and dreams become reality. If not, but you enjoyed the journey, then no time was wasted.

[@aem472]

I like how you know exactly the moment when you've crossed onto the wrong side of funny vs. excessive (and are willing to lampshade it for us). It's much of what keeps your stuff funny instead of degrading into the southpark mold of using over the top as a substitute for funny. I also like listening to smart people talk about game design so keep up the good work.

[@Smileyrat]

I don't know. I have always been of the opinion that a skilled enough creator can pull off any idea. You could make a very interesting satire about nazi ideals, how we handle egregious crimes, or modern day handleing of nazis. And you could do it in a dating sim without going for shocking humor. That said, I am unsure if he should try. Especialy when he is trying to make games quickly.

[@jaredquaglieri3731]

Spandau Literature Club, do it Yahtzee

[@freerhall3679]

Can entirely appreciate the subtle animations! Even though people don't usually consciously realize them, it does affect experience they have.

[@kopperhed4472]

I appreciate the day-to-day ramblings and life reflections as much as the the game creator insight. You got a good head on your shoulders, my man.

[@TheGriffintatt]

Muchly looking forward to the metanarrative! Thinking of our dear departed Terry Pratchett, "Mort" could be a great template for a game story. God/cosmic entity/anthropomorphisation of a force of nature takes on an apprentice (the player character), gives them very basic training and unexplained superpowers, then goes completely off the rails and disappears, leaving the player to try and hold things together without dooming the universe.

[@aixmcduck9321]

I am enjoying these dev diaries immensely. I have learned much, and enjoy the fact that the more weird and subtly innapropriate side of your humor comes out during them, as opposed to the more aggressively ZP variety.

[@dragoniraflameblade]

This is the best answer I've ever heard to "where do you get your ideas?" question. It really is like a compost heap.

[@SgtSnuggles2008]

Never thought I'd get inspirational life lessons from Yahtzee but here we are

[@IT-yp2iv]

Thank you Yahtzee! You are both one of the most creative people I follow and one of the funniest. I appreciate all your hard work and the all the not-work that you create for all of us and yourself. Your dialog and expressions lighten up my day. Again thank you.

[@richardsaunders]

This is my favourite series on KZbin right now. I eagerly look forward for each episode to come out.

[@Rick586]

The war criminal dating sim is an amazing idea.

[@Rick586]

“It’s the ghost of Himler-senpai!!!”

[@DonoftheShade]

I've been watching this series since week one showed up in my subscription feed and I must say, this has been a fun and great ride, it's one of the shows on KZbin which I'm always happy when it shows up and am consistently looking forward to. I really hope when the time comes a possible season 2 could happen, but as you said, this is your hobby and the last thing anyone wants is for this to turn into another consistent job, as it'll eventually show. Keep doing what you're doing and I must thank you for your advice in the field of creation, it really helps a lot, at least personally that is. (I do want to say, episodes like these are great and I think the best part of this show has to be the thought process and explanations segments, so I hope you keep those up!)

[@drunkard103]

i really hope we get some kind of stupidly long special at the end of all this i really enjoy this series :')

[@VenseyNess]

Man. I can just eat up stuff like this for hours. A truly passionate person getting to talk about something they're passionate about. And someone who I have a deep respect for, no less. I'm glad I'm able to be here for these fortnightly releases as they come out. It's an honor, Mr.Crowshaw. Just thought it had to be said at some point.

[@AegixDrakan]

Yatzee's talk about writing and creating hit home for me. I am frequently seized by the desire to create stuff, hence why I treasure my current job as a game writer. Even when I didn't have that job and was struggling through the last year of university (main culprit, a post-cal-2 math class), I would always try to find time to work on RPGmaker games. As for ideas, Yatz is right yet again. They are born from combinations of other thoughts and ideas. Game ideas can literally spring from anywhere and any combination. So, the more experiences you have, and the more people you know, and the more things you do and learn, the more varied your ideas can be. That "create a character who embodies an idea/theme, and have other characters interact with them" is a good idea that I didn't actively think of most of the time, but that I've used just by instinct before. It's a neat tool.

[@jetmysterytorpedo5935]

Hearing Yahtzee mention "You have to burn the rope" brings so much nostalgia to me. That was such a great game with a catchy ending.

[@foxskirata]

While I don't aspire to anything as complicated as video game design, I do run tabletop RPGs, namely D&D and Star Wars. And more often than not, my ideas come from a combination of cobbling together plot elements, story beats, and tropes from stories and games that I've experienced and liked in the past, as well as music more often than not. I've written up characters, missions, story arcs, and even entire campaign settings inspired by songs. My best method for coming up with ideas is actually not to try that hard at all. Many of my best ideas come to me when I'm not actively trying to brainstorm (often in the shower), and then I just record them somewhere (usually the notepad app on my phone) and flesh them out later when I have time.

[@P_Beard_5961]

The nazi dating sim thing just reminds me of the upcoming Taika waititi film about Hitler befriending a small boy

[@Raven-Blackwing]

I got an ad of that on this video

[@rapter229]

Hitler is the boys imaginary friend.

[@Mariorox1956]

My friend was telling me about a Nazi dating sim that's currently in the works. _I wish I was making that up_

[@freetoplayking7362]

and it's already out

[@scytheseven9173]

It's out, it's called Jojo Rabbit, and it's actually really good

[@jamessweeting1]

Hearing you talk about your life and passions was super interesting, would love a podcast where you talk about what you're playing, creating, reading and writing and just your day to day life

[@Sanshahashattan]

I'm loving the advice you give at the end. Most of the time we get trapped into a routine that chains our creativity. If we dare to take a step forward we'll learn new stuff and create brilliant ideas in our minds or bring proyects to life!. Personally, I'll re-learn maths, they have been the bane of my existence, so I"m taking the first step toward self-improvement.

[@Morgakabol]

Adding my signature to the general sentiment that I could listen to you ramble on about creativity and game design indefinitely.

[@scotty2ter]

8:55 - Anyone else unlock that moment in Hatfall? Straight up melted my brain.

[@psycholupus5697]

Hey yahtzee, I'm currently studying game design at college and I just want to say that your dev diary videos have inspired me to broaden my mind to new and random ideas. your breakdown of game loops and other such ideas in gaming have been truly helpful for me and I just want to say thank you

[@JamesBrophy]

I enjoy these far more then zero punctuation to be honest and I've been a loyal fan of that since before the escapist.

[@noxteryn]

I would love to hear Yahtzee do more like this, where he talks about himself and his process in a more personal level.

[@richardsaunders]

This series come across like it's been a well needed and revitalising experience for you

[@nicolasspencer]

best episode of this so far and great advice Yahtzee thank you for being the inspriation

[@firebladeentertainment5739]

I also try my hand at being a creative most of my ideas are just random "What if" scenarios that i come up with during conversations about all kinds of stuff some are actually just reusing some dreams i had, which honestly can be pretty terrifying detailed and realistic. I mean, not just having visuals while dreaming but ALL senses, touch, smell, taste, hearing, seeing and all of them to such a good degree that it felt real. I also have to mention that i have some mental issues that i developed over the years, like having developed 5 personalities to deal with stress, splitting up my emotions and mindsets into them, which inspired me to write an isekai based on the idea of those personas being separated into their own bodies, having to learn how to live without their complementary personas and develop emotions and ways of handling situations they didnt had to deal before cause another persona would swap in for that situation.

[@Formoka]

That was some great advice Yahtzee! You inspired me to work on my book ideas some more.

[@SelLillianna]

It's cool just hearing him talk about these things. Also, when he started talking about The Stanley Parable, I thought he was going to talk about the minigame that the narrator tries to get you to play where you stop a baby from burning to death. I didn't think he'd talk about the stuff underlying the entire game. Glad he's wanting to make something more meaningful than that minigame.

[@davelister1893]

You should never stop talking Yahtzee. There's reason why I'm watching all of let's drown out again besides wishing I could go back in time.

[@MrOzy8080]

It's not just about being a creative, Yahtzee also has that incredible work ethic that let's him juggle playing and reviewing a game every week, writing novels, making games, and making this show about making games. Even if all of it doesn't feel like work, it still takes a lot of work to see these ideas come to fruition. It's pretty dope and makes me want to work harder in my every day life

[@rjlundholm89]

wait a minute? a prison dating game? why do I want to play that game now.

[@nelly5954]

"Dufresne, you're gonna open your mouth wide, you're gonna take this dick and you are gonna swallow anything that comes out" "Bogs, you know that anything you put in my mouth isn't coming back out" "You do that, and this knife goes in your ear" "I hope you realise that severe and sudden brain trauma causes the victim to bite down hard, so much so that not even a crowbar can open their clenched teeth"

[@3_character_minimum]

Yatzee I live in Berlin. More than glad to show you around the city for a few days.

[@bastetstomb2186]

I honestly feel I've learnt a hell of a lot more about who Yahtzee is in the 6 months of this series than I have over the last six years since I started watching his content.

[@onecalledchuck1664]

The best thing about Yahtzee's vlogs is getting to hear how his mind works. It's also the most worrying thing.

[@eatingpancakesrightnow2786]

Its a wonder how many times I come back to this video for that part about finding ideas

[@MeisterKleisterHeisstEr]

Thanks for the advice, Yahtzee! I appreciate it! I heard the same advice from Zach Weinersmith, a web comic artist who's been consistently posting one comic every day for the past 16+ years. He reads a new book pretty much every other day to get ideas.

[@vaasmontenegro3993]

Yahtzee its lovely to listen to you speak about things you love. I know you are self conscious of your pretentiousness to ever do it, but it would be lovely to have a podcast or live stream of you talking about anything you like and filling us in on whatever you've been up to

[@AllenShircliff]

I want Yahtzee Crowshaw's new Audiobook on iTunes because I love his Audiobooks.

[@0xC272]

Happy Dog Genocide: The Game thank you Yahtzee, very cool

[@joew1237]

For me, ideas are the easy part. Implementing the ideas (writing them down, make a game or movie or whatever) is the hard part.

[@janosrock]

man, they really knocked out of the park with this show :)

[@michaelmcisaac275]

"Oh, my God. It's a mirage. I'm tellin' y'all it's sabotage."

[@Falcovsleon21]

5:45 Yeah that's really hard to do in this day and age where it takes money to make money and every decent creation program is digital and behind a paywall. Photoshop alone costs $100 a year and most of what I went to college for requires multiple programs.

[@SurprisinglyDeep]

Have you researched open source programs? Theres a lot of free and/or low cost art programs, like Inkscape for drawing or Blender for 3D animations

[@HerpinThaDerp]

here's an idea for you, you're trying to cause as much damage/chaos in a room, but you aren't in it, and all you have is a laser pointer. so you're trying to guide a cat around to knock stuff over and off shelves, like catlateral damage, but indirect

[@SolarFlairIsBestPony]

On ideas... yeah. Experiencing things, experiencing other people's creations, and honestly just giving your brain time to wander. Putting ideas to paper takes some time and effort, focused not wandering kind of. But to get the essence beforehand you kind of need to just go for a walk or be cooking or something. Not outright lay about boredom wishing you were doing other things, just light activity. Like there's a reason for tropes of writers and reporters and such just pulling out tape recorders or notebooks and making quick notes while out and about. Oh that guy said something that fascinated me, oh that thing I thought of at random is fantastic I need to put it somewhere before it's lost to the wind, oh that chain of thoughts based on something is unique and no way I'll remember it- gotta note now.

[@rufusconnolly8489]

Yahtzee, I really love your dev diaries man.

[@Grungeluva1]

As someone who’s currently reading Differently Morphous, the Terry Pratchett influence really shows.

[@zombieplasticclock]

In regards to "forcing" hobbies, and struggling to come up with ideas, I agree entirely. If you want to be a writer but struggle to think of ideas, chances are you stay indoors too often

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

Creativity is equal to life experience? I'm not sure I entirely agree, I think sometimes great creativity develops in a vacuum. There's this drawing in my local hospital that a 10 year old boy made. It's a colored pencil drawing of a dog, it's not that it's so good but when you look at it you FEEL like you do when you spend time with a dog. I have no idea how he did it but he embodied all that a dog is without any formal training or experience other than "I have a dog." Conversely there are tons of people with tons of training and experience that never create an original or quality piece of art ever. I would say experience makes you a better person but a more creative one? Idk

[@kilroy987]

I was told to get out of my comfort zone once, but that was from a guy who wanted to profess he had done so well at life when I didn't so much see it that way. It comes across quite differently. I agree with filling your life with a variety of experiences. The less you do, the fewer ideas you'll have, and sadly, the fewer impressions you'll have for your mind to interact with to realize how much you love and enjoy something. I loved movies most when I was doing the most, but I'm still pretty convinced I would hate most movies made today no matter how much I do.

[@DreamBlissYT]

Hey Yahtzee, thank you. Something you said in this video, about your hobby, woke me up a little. It reminded me of how Stephen King reportedly collected rejection letters on a nail above his writing space. Yet he kept on writing. I wondered how he could handle all that rejection, the pressures of everyday life as his "hobby" failed to make any money. But it has to be because, to him, it was not work. He, like you, was willing to sit there and write and collect rejection notices simply because he loved to write. That must be it. The rejections didn't weigh him down, because he was doing what he loved. Eventually it paid off. Gotta think about this. Figure out what I can do for years and years without any notice or recognition, and without any need for it. Just doing it simply because I love to do it. Looks like writing, for now. But if that is the answer for me, it is troublesome, for reasons I won't delve into here. Anyhow, thank you for this series. I am learning so much about making games, and now even a little about finding and following your passion. I bet you didn't realize that you are also a good teacher, as well as an author, game designer, reviewer and humorist!

[@jordonnichols546]

I find it funny that beneath his cold soggy demeanor that yahtzee likes to encourage others to create I remember back in the drown out days him giving Gabe a similar speach about doing a page a day that's what a first draft is for

[@jackalbackcrafts]

So true story, been watching Yatzhees stuff for years now, and I've always taken him to be an arrogant ponce... But I've found these Dev Diary entries really inspiring; his analogy of the creative compost heap is scarily accurate. Even with no coding experience at all, this series has started to motivate me to actually start turning my various videogame ideas into reality (time will tell if I get to it)... But yeah, just really enjoying this series and think it's highly informative and pretty cool.

[@GmodPlusWoW]

In regards to "getting ideas", I reckon it also helps to observe things and think about them. As an example, I'll paraphrase an example given by Nick Nocturne, the tall dark horror host of Night Mind, during his "How to Make a Webseries" videos. Imagine that you're sitting outside a cafe on a busy street, when you catch a glimpse of a woman with an animal carrier going into a closed tattoo parlour. You start wondering, "Why is she doing that?", "What is happening behind those doors?", "What kind of animal was in that carrier?", and so-on. If you're lucky, something interesting will start percolating in your brain. But for a more down to earth example, ideas may come to you while you're in the shower, or on the toilet, or waking from a strange dream. Basically, when your mind is idle, ideas may arise naturally. Some of my ideas were born of strange dreams. For instance, many months ago I had a semi-nightmare about some weird demon cult out in a cornfield, culminating in some Ringu-looking demoness (referred to as a "mount malgut", which I still don't know the true meaning of) chasing me down ever-repeating corridors. As a result, I worked aspects of that dream into a story I've been working on, as a minor sub-story within the universe.

[@weebs93]

I'm so happy you were able to experience dog sledding in America!! Definitely on my bucket list

[@AdeptusIncompetus]

I've yet to find someone I respect as much as you Yatzhee. While I wish I could say you've been able to inspire me towards creative goals, I must unfortunately say not much has budged. Not sure when but one must be optimistic right?

[@SurprisinglyDeep]

You've got to somehow motivate yourself to get up and do things. You need to turn his inspiration into motivation.

[@mattomanx77]

Yahtz, a string is already a character array.

[@MrMortull]

I, too, regret reading nothing but Discworld for most of my teens. I got to the point of being able to quote whole segments when I could have been getting into other things I would have liked every bit as much.

[@heartysquid]

You should never have mentioned that last idea...now we'll all want that as next month's project

[@Zambicus]

>"get out of your comfort zone" >shows picture of smiling girl I feel personally attacked.

[@snookandrew]

I liked this video. It was interesting to learn about your creative process and passions. Your comment about hobbies is interesting too as it’s an area I’m looking into right now.

[@Cinderbox]

The terry Pratchett reading really shows in Yahtzee's writing.

[@shadowjezzter]

It’s fun to make this, I love writing my stories and also doing woodwork or something else with building or creating.

[@Confuseddave]

I noticed the neat text effect, but then I am a semiprofessional graphic designer who takes a nerdy interest in that kind of UI design choice. I also would not have expected it would be so hard to implement, which I am adding to my long list of prejudices against Game Maker Studio (some of which are more justified than others).

[@sansthemedic8581]

I doubt Yahtzee will see this and I even more doubt he'll take up an idea suggested by someone else for this project of his; but I've had an idea swimming around in my mind for a while and since I just don't have the time to make it at the moment I thought I'd send it out to see what happens anyway. Basically, it's one of those classic retro arcade space shooters/bullet hell games, but instead of controlling a fighter ship you're actually controlling a big capital ship, and the gameplay consists of moving the cannons to target and destroy enemies. Haven't come up with much else past that but it's a neat base idea imo and one I don't think I've personally seen before.

[@GlassGolem]

Oh! I thought of that too! ... almost ten years ago... gods, I need to relearn how to use Gamemaker... But I did have a few ideas for how it could work: 1) Point Defense batteries that fire in preset patterns; Secondary Weapons with limited firing arcs; and Main guns that can be aimed anywhere but turn slowly. All of these would put a focus on catching the enemy in an inescapable web of fire rather than point-and-click on the targets. 2) some kind of management of the ship's internal systems: Diverting power to weapons, shields, repairs, thrusters, or ammo manufacturing. Focusing repairs to different subsystems, like life support, crippled weapons, targeting computers, armour plating, main engines, or maneuvering thrusters. 3) Have enemy Ace Fighters who actively avoid incoming fire, forcing you trap them; along with enemy warships that can challenge you to a slugfest. 4) Be able to intercept incoming missiles with your Point Defense batteries(a little like in real life, or mecha anime), and have really powerful enemy weapons possess a long wind-up to give your slow ship a chance to dodge; but keep lots of light fire that doesn't hurt much, but can't really be completely avoided, and thus you'll need to spend some time fixing dents in your ship in battle. ... um, that's all that that I could think of right this moment...

[@TheLyricalCleric]

I had an image in my head of one of the imperial star destroyers having its bridge destroyed by an asteroid in The Empire Strikes Back. It’s almost an afterthought seeing the captain of the ship in hologram form dying horribly and everybody else just going about their day. Maybe you can make it a “too fat to get out of the way” game, where the ship is unreasonably large and slow and projectiles move towards the ship. Some are small enough to be blasted, while others must be avoided. But the ship controls like a drunk zamboni-slow to move, slow to stop, drifts like a shopping cart pushed from the wrong direction. Just the way you would imagine a massive ship with massive engines on the back of it would pitch and roll out of control because there’s no gravity and the stabilizing jets are much smaller than the massive blue engines at the back. Sounds infuriatingly fun-parts of the ship can be destroyed but the game ends if the bridge is hit, a really large bridge sitting up on top of the ship like nobody designed it to be in combat.

[@Chonkoyoinky]

A shooter where time moves faster when you don't move. Call it moderatley hot, or super cold or something like that. That way the game encourages you to be active and to keep your eyes open.

[@nosenocarr]

I miss Terry Pratchett, was always looking forward for a new book.

[@Gboy86ify]

Well now next month’s project HAS to be a dating sim.

[@Chlorate299]

I generally have all my best ideas when I'm doing something mundane on autopilot and my mind wanders about. Having a shower and brushing my teeth are the usual hot spots.

[@TheIronArmenianakaGIHaigs]

I don't know, you might be on to something with that Dating Sim idea

[@Tristan1062]

Okay... so I REALLY want that comedy dating sim for project 7.

[@Qrafter]

"That was a much bigger pain in the arse to implement than you might think" is just programming in general.

[@skeetsmcgrew3282]

Facts

[@VerbenaHA]

If Yhatzee had game development classes on Skillshare or a similar site, I'd probably sign up. Not just for the humor, but because I believe him when he says he enjoys making games. He's having fun, and it shows.

[@zavi3rz]

When I saw the dog head explodes I was like "NOOOO PEPPERRRSSS!!"

[@Renfa_Arviette]

Oh, what is the dating sim gonna be called, then? "Spandau: Hearts behind iron"?

[@ButterMuttSquash]

"Not as funny or intelligent but it has some very short skirts." That sums it up nicely.

[@scbtripwire]

Dog sledding in Utah sounds akin to surfing in Siberia, lol.

[@macpotty]

We are here specifically because listening you rant and vocalise your thoughts is the complete opposite of boring us to death.

[@miyabi121190]

That the happy little dog is apparently Pepper just makes this better, I feel. Please don't ruin the good pup's life.

[@CMGThePerson]

I'm writing the idea of a dating sim in Spandau down. Thanks for the ideas!