Let's Play - The First Game I Ever Made (Director's Commentary)

[@maximumborkdrive437]

It's honestly pretty cool that you, a 14 year old kid in 1985 with no internet or in-depth tutorials, were able to code a pretty competent game for the time

[@technoguyx]

Probably the fact he had no Internet nor tutorials is precisely what gave him more time to mess around and experiment.

[@박강현-k9k]

Yes I agree! Completely amazing!

[@fischX]

Believe me not having internet is more a plus than anything, I did much more productive stuff before I liked up to the net ;-)

[@Laenthor]

This is what you call a prodigy (or someone who had a LOOOOOOT of time on their hands)

[@niaschim]

I do not doubt his talent, but feel that I must remind you all: command line was the only option back then, plus most command line prompts: came doubled as BASIC compilers, so you could just sit infront of the computer copying some words out of a magazine for a couple hours and then have a fully playable game where you could play as much as you wanted without losing any coins as a penalty for being bad at playing it! It was truly a worse-yet-better kindof situation (or atleast thats my deduction, never got to experience non of that awesomeness 😢, so correct me if I'm wrong)

[@stillvisionsmusic]

This game needs the Benny Hill chase music for the enemy mobs following you everywhere.

[@Victinho6D]

honestly an AY-3-8910 remix of the benny hill theme (or even a zxbeeper remix) would be pretty cool

[@ValdikSS2]

Btw, there's Benny Hill game on spectrum. Check it out.

[@lmcgregoruk]

I remember that, didn't you have to steal womens clothes off a washing line or something?

[@OnlyEpicEmber]

It was a British TV show, of course there was a ZX Spectrum game!

[@B0MYT]

Those are some really nice transition effects.

[@Codethe_Road]

Thats what I was thinking, very smooth transitions-- in most games of this age you get that harsh screen flicker bullshit.

[@TenshiCat]

They are - even in his very first game, Jon was programming in some fancy effects!

[@AbramPlaysMC]

I think if this was released, it would have been rated somewhat well. It looks pretty neat for the time.

[@kuro68000]

Abramplays MC I'm surprised it wasn't released, it's better than a lot of Speccy games that were published

[@bangerbangerbro]

kuro68000 US gold lol.

[@lmcgregoruk]

Dizzy 1 didn't come out until 1987, so if this had came out first maybe not.

[@topaztestified6209]

The concept of this game isn't *too* confusing, I see it as a weird alien guy named Gup who's employed as a door-to-door salesman to an extreme degree, forcing his customers to become indebted to him by leaving bottles of the putrid "Sluggo" in their households. Upon realizing that this stranger barged into their home and signed off a purchase in their name, the planet's residents become enraged, and soon Gup must evade an angry mob. His only chance is to finish his delivery and set off toward another unsuspecting planet, to pull the whole scheme again. I'm sure Gup could be a tragic figure, forced to act immorally under the name of a big corp to feed his family or something. Anyway, neat game, and fantastic first project. This video also serves as great motivation for people who feel their hard work won't have any great benefit because of the lack of substantial initial reward.

[@AlexeyFilippenkoPlummet]

So very well said, and I like how you could instantly make the lore work for the game! :)

[@LemonGingerHoney]

Better than 99.99% of Google Play content

[@d-o-n-u-t]

Top 10 most credible but IGNORED studies! These will shock you!

[@georgehenson2412]

The animation in this is superb. I'm sure there were a lot of sacrifices to make that work, but it's really impressive for the Speccy.

[@knightshousegames]

I mean, for being 14, on such old hardware, I think the graphics aren't horrible, besides all the clashing and colors, the "sprites" as it were are rather nice.

[@Juanknes]

knightshousegames Spectrum have some serious limitations when it comes to colors, take a look at other games for it.

[@knightshousegames]

I'm not saying anything related to the colors the hardware can produce are bad, I've seen good looking uses of 4 color CGA with the Cyan and Magenta. I'm saying some of his aesthetic choices for how he used some of the colors, like on the UIs and stuff, were not the best.

[@bangerbangerbro]

knightshousegames The spectrum is crap, quality wise at least. It's so unreliable. Mine has a really bizarre fault where each scanline shifts randomly if you are displaying certain colours and if certain things are black the display behave like it came from a stopped VHS. It also produces a blank screen every now and then when the right things are black.

[@grongy6122]

For 1985 Spectrum game it looks great, better than some games from big developers.

[@gato712]

I like the videos when you actually talk.

[@yeetlejuice7181]

I love the character design and graphics. It reminds me of Space Funeral. Also that room transition is beautiful.

[@coolbrotherf127]

It was clear that you had a skill of creating cool visual effects, something that really helped to later in your job.

[@djmips]

I agree, you can tell that Jon has an artistic side despite what he says about the graphics being rubbish.

[@leroyjenkins2022]

That's incredibly cool project for teenager. I really enjoy how weird it looks. Great video!

[@adonisfernandez3425]

The logic of this game is as crazy as some 2600 games. But the graphics and the extension is a lot better.

[@sonicmastersword8080]

Adonis Fernández Does anyone miss that though? Some of the modern games have too much logic and fail to surprise you.

[@justanobody0]

1:53 it was an early prototype, as can be seen by the fact that the particle effects were not yet implemented on the torches

[@otaking3582]

The scene transitions look pretty cool, though

[@20035079]

you should do more of these. you should also release the ROMs for your amiga demos, they look nice tbh

[@marcan42]

You mean this one? www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=53280 ;)

[@benjaminbrady2385]

I think it looks fun. I could enjoy that for *at least* 20 minutes and that's what the average game was like back then

[@KevDoy]

Love the death animation. Really clever

[@EmanuelFrias]

Very great work, thanks for sharing this with us! Take care!

[@LordMarlle]

You ask if I like this kind of director's commentary style video, and I say I would wish every dev had the time to do this

[@stanzacosmi]

Honestly, this game looks like it would be a pretty cool game if you remastered it. I'd totally play it.

[@SkyboxMonster]

your "quick and dirty screen clear" was one of the best effects in the game though.

[@TheSonicbandicootX]

Para ser de Spectrum luce increíble y menudas transiciones, además cuanta fluidez. Impresionante que luz pintoresco con tan pocos colores que el ordenador soporta.

[@bamster64]

The soundtrack gave a kinda surreal atmosphere to this video .-.

[@genstarmkg5321]

I mean, the first house you get in and there's already a walking radio with legs.

[@RockingBlur]

I'm pretty damn fascinated by this, mostly because assembler can be quite nerve-wracking to learn, let alone code anything with it, and yet this plays out rather competently, flaws and all. Really good for being your first game. Kudos!!

[@ishdx9374]

It's really easy to learn, not to write code in

[@scarves991]

Fantastic video, I loved it! Such a wonderful look into how kids used to develop games. This is super competent and a really unique attempt. Thanks for sharing!

[@DiThi]

The little guy is probably a introvert, that's why it loses energy when you are next to a character, and why they chase you after delivery: they want to (gasp) *talk* to you!

[@ErdrickHero]

Interesting game! Much better than my early attempts.

[@kyle_bearr]

I've only played a handful of ZX Spectrum games, so I don't know if I'm missing something or not, but this genuinely looks like one of the more interesting ones. I'm really impressed

[@liamoconnor7423]

I absolutely love this channel, and seeing where you started is pretty amazing, it's great to see where you started and some of the other projects you've led on to, seeing how everything progressed for you

[@MM-gt8cg]

Jon, would love to see you do a similar video for Leander on the Amiga and how you managed some of the technical feats on that game

[@GoldenKitSylveon]

Oh my god . This was a joy to watch. It inspires us to create games and even better when a Dev does play its own game and give honest commentary. I love it!

[@DragonDePlatino]

I know! What if you're a travelling entrepreneur and people don't want your awful free samples?

[@schtive81]

Such a weird concept for a game. But it is interesting. I never owned a ZX, but the machine reminds me a lot of the GameBoy.

[@thepumpkingking8339]

I know how you feel on this one. As a life long fan of the speccy. I wish a lot of the old speccy games were ported over to the original GB or the Colour. Start your recommendation list here:

[@thepumpkingking8339]

Alien Highway.

[@bangerbangerbro]

schtive81 Lol what?

[@bangerbangerbro]

Poble Well, the Z80 was pretty popular.

[@thepumpkingking8339]

Still is even today unsprisinly.

[@rjmario2234]

name of background music? it's relaxing and fits rather well with this video.

[@adamplenty1645]

I was wondering that too. I think I've heard it on videos about the history and future of planet Earth and those sorts of things (maybe things about space).

[@hamstrungharry259]

@@adamplenty1645 Thomas Newman track sounds like it.

[@ZachHixsonTutorials]

The fact that you were 14, and were able to not only come up with a somewhat interesting game, design all the art (I don't know what art tools were available back then, but I doubt they were very good), actually learn assmber AND program a game in it is crazy! Pat on the back to your 14 year old self!

[@carl.wunsche]

Wow this was just BEAUTIFUL man... I started making games about your age or earlier I think... This was so inspirational! Thanks!

[@roseheart270]

Loved it. Good learning tool and ambitious. And you finished it and sent it in.

[@nlicky]

I gotta say it's really cool seeing an early game made when the creator was a young kid tinkering with computers. Very awesome seeing this game in action and while it's not amazing of a game, it offers great insight with early roots leading up to the more impressive stuff down the road. I'd definitely be down for more of this kind of content, as there's something charming about 80s microcomputers from both old and modern works made for it.

[@ralphhoskins2115]

For a first try,, this is amazing.! Looks about as good as most spectrum games I have seen...and the screen transitions are really nice

[@endoflevelboss]

To take a knock back from the publisher after you've grafted on this in Z80 at 14 and then stick to your craft learning 68000 and producing Leander etc. on the Amiga. You're a champion among men Jon! Wish I'd had your self-discipline when I was at school...

[@UnoriginanComedial]

This game would probably be praised as an indie masterpiece now and days

[@sonic2kk]

You seemed a hell of a lot more casual in this video, which was awesome. Really enjoyed this, the game looks decently fun (considering all of the limitations; including the Spectrum's hardware which it seems like you made the most of for the time) and it was really interesting hearing you talk about why you did specific things, and talking about the screen being split into thirds. More of this kind of stuff would be great!

[@Xoferif]

You'd think Mastertronic would've published it as a 1.99 game at least... It's more than good enough.

[@lmcgregoruk]

Pity Mastertronic Group went bust, Most of my retail PC games are Sold Out Software or some other budget release. 4.99 each or 3 for £9.99 Come to think of it, most of my Spectrum tapes were budget releases, either older re-releases, Hit Squad(Ocean), Kixx(US Gold) or budget new releases Codemasters.(xyz Simulator)

[@Rizimar]

Really cool to see this. Also, the music gives the game a really interesting atmosphere. It feels like there's a lot to this game's world

[@Pat86]

The music in the background enhances the atmosphere enormously. Seems like a lot of old games could use new soundtracks to make them a complete new experience.

[@dadsanddragons875]

I feel like I would have played the crap out of this game. I can't believe this was your first game. That's insane

[@madson-web]

- Game makes sense. - Nice transitions. - Smooth animations. - Large sprites - Wise collor placement. Good job young you!

[@antshield]

Having a blast playing Sonic 3D, just wanted to let you know. Loving this channel.

[@r4microds]

That's fantastic for 14!! I can imagine the resources you had back then were minimal in comparison to today. At 14 i was just getting into 3D modeling. playing games like Runescape. Now at 21, finishing my thesis for industrial UX/UI design at university. still modeling and planning on pushing it further. really enjoying your content! Esp. the genius breakdowns of how you made the seemingly impossible, possible on an emerging home console market. Just Subscribed! -Fan from Canada

[@PiercedJedi]

I am truly impressed you were able to make this at such a young age, being from the USA I've never played anything on the ZX...

[@Juanknes]

Looks cool. Coding at this low level is like a mad science to me, but thanks god some talented people mastered it. Thanks for sharing!

[@milesbrown2261]

This looks so cool!! I love the creativity in the character designs! It's so cool that you started making games at 14! I only just started last year. (I was 16 years old). Makes me wish I started earlier.

[@zebusaqua4415]

What I find most interesting about this is that during the early days there was no clear definition of what a game was and that this shows it. Honestly would love to see you revisit this with your exp now and make changes to it that would make it better. If not would just love to hear you talk on how you would change it now to be a more playable game.

[@SwitchRetroGaming]

Loved the Zx Spectrum, it was the system to get me into gaming. Clear that even back then you had such talent as a coder Jon. I only wished you and your team did more Saturn and Mega CD games

[@zenitpro]

I had a Speccy in my childhood - it was my first computer, and I totally dig this type of game, specially because of the weirdness of the enemies! So long as the game is not broken, I really enjoy playing Speccy games like yours. And yeah, you were pretty smart for a 15 yo boy to program a relatively complex game like that!

[@theengineer-dellconagher]

thanks dad

[@theengineer-dellconagher]

I eat paint chips i don't want to kill dad

[@marscaleb]

I'll be honest here, this looks better than some of the ZX Spectrum games I saw from Rare. This is pretty cool; you get to walk around and explore these areas, it feels like a connected world.

[@illustriouschin]

Very impressive under the circumstances. I couldn't make a game this good now.

[@feosTAS]

I liked it overall. It is the kind of video that needs to exist because of its nature: devs so rarely talk about their games WHILE also playing them! But I hope you start providing a bit more insight later on, as the games that you (hopefully) play next are way more elaborate. Admittedly, it's hard to get into deep details while trying to play and talk out of the blue at the same time, but I think it will pay off in resulting content.

[@BdR76]

This was very interesting but I was hoping to also see some of the related things besides the game running. Such as any original character drawings or paper maps (as you mention @6:36 ), some comment on the source code, a photo of the cassette tape this was still on, stuff like that.

[@dakostek]

Fantastic video Jon! You are an amazing artist. I wish I had that drive and skill. Keep up the good work!

[@craigluft2373]

the transition animations and the art style are very appealing.

[@GScottChaosnaut]

Wow! What a cool effort. Also, I adore the background music during this video.

[@nikamota]

Graphics are reallly nice actually,it's very colourful and the effects when changing screen are cool

[@BlueSatoshi]

~9:30 I think the screen being divided into thirds was most apparent when you saw the tape loading in your Mod Fail vid.

[@Jmixup]

Love it! Has more gameplay/depth than most releases on Steam these days!

[@nonci6]

Well, this was very interesting. Seeing every one of your games are makes me wonder how much time and effort did you put in. That's why your videos are incredibly enjoyable: the person behind the video and a lot of work behind the videos and the games. Keep up the good work! :)

[@fluffycritter]

I gotta say, this looks a LOT better than any of the other ZX Spectrum games I've seen on KZbin.

[@megamanx2sonic]

Wow that's impressive dude. Nice job you should release it.

[@Heartwood256]

I love the way the game looks! Very creative!

[@MAYOFORCE]

I thought it was pretty neat, the strangeness of how everything worked actually helped the atmosphere of a game about basically the equivalent of an alien milk man. It seems for 1985 it would've made it in the market if you just worked at the visual communication a bit more. It also seems clear that when you thought of something new, you added it as you went along which shows in the second planet, but you didn't go back and see how else you could apply it to make the first planet easier to look at/navigate. The enemies chasing you is the worst mechanic of the game, it makes no sense and if anything it should work the opposite, where they stop chasing you if you brought them what you're delivering. I'm really curious to see what the ending is, if there is one.

[@TheGrandtheftautops3]

This looks great, much better then anything I could of made. Does anyone know the name of the background music?

[@TheWeepingCorpse]

I like the screen fade effect, looks like some form of byte left right bit shift, but the way you draw the new screen while fading the old is impressive. I remember the screen memory being stored as 3 chunks like you said, it made it tricky drawing sprites that straddle chunks. I used a list the store the start address of each screen raster line, so that i could index into it using the y coordinate. Shocked that it wasnt published as it very good.

[@YTPhaaze]

That music ambiance fits perfectly. I pretended the game could actually handle that kind of audio and just enjoyed the video.

[@cometkuma]

I would love to see this game made with today's tech and your enhanced knowledge of programming and game design! It'd truly be amazing!

[@PSUS]

Really enjoyed this - just would have liked to see what happens when you complete the game

[@CanadasElite]

Thank you for the video, always interesting to hear your insight on developing games.

[@christopherg2347]

5:35 one of the first things I ever made for a game, was a way to emulate the Down/up/Hold Events of a GUI. That way I could get some halfway decent input control. Of course I did so in a late OOP language. I can barely imagine how you would have had to do it in assembler.

[@xela12345]

I'd love to know where your background music comes from, its so chill

[@LeeSpork]

Colorful, abstract, kinda spooky music, cool animations, I like it!

[@FaustY2K]

this is very cool, I love home-made projects like this

[@joelsweeney4024]

It's honestly pretty charming, better than a lot of games you'd see on the Nintendo let alone these older consoles

[@Ribula1]

DUDE, I LOOOVED THE GRAFICS! AND THIS GOT ME REALLY ECXITED TO MAKE MY OWN FIRST GAME! Like, at firs i thought ot was an calm game since is about delivering, buuuut, of corse, this is a dreammy/alien land and stuff work way different than our realitty and we dont know what to expect, more the persons starting to chase you more it seems like an horror game for me, thats my impression. Now I'll watch the remaining 12 minutes :)

[@namakudamono]

Very impressive work given your age at the time, and the presumably limited access to programming resources. The main character’s walking and teleport animations are very smooth. It was lovely to hear your director’s cut commentary too, with little anecdotes about the development process, it’s limitations, and references to friends. I’m curious, were you considered a bright lad at school? Coding a game in assembly at just 14 is extremely impressive...or did all of the youngsters at that have programming knowledge?

[@HeyItsLollie]

7:40 The spaceship... _uncanny_ similarity to the "bean-with-bacon megarocket" from the Commander Keen series. Which is absolutely nuts, since this game would've predated Keen by five years!

[@daserfomalhaut9809]

I love the music in the video. What is it?

[@bagandtag4391]

Those high IQ plays at the end daaaamn

[@itsGeorgeAgain]

That's a really chill music playing on the background. Could be used on a walking simulator. Which track is it? Oh and it has more gameplay than any asset flip nowadays.

[@RaposaCadela]

Hmn, this makes me wonder: What was the first game you made that actually got published?

[@DiceRobo]

I think its really neat how you can place one of those electric things down and it stays even if you leave the room. Most games of that time would remove the item.

[@jerrisongrimminck4484]

Your voice is relaxing and this game looks charming.

[@DjVortex-w]

This actually looks better than some of the ZX Spectrum games I actually purchased back in the day. Back in those days I would have been excited to play something like this.

[@Snakeshroom]

Can't wait for GUP DX

[@hamcha]

That's amazing for being one of your first projects. When I was 14 all I could prop up was "pretend pokemon" with RPG Maker 2000, and I had it SOOOO easy! Here's a picky request: could you credit the background music in the description or something? I really love the tunes you use for your videos. (if it's not internal unused stuff or things you have made yourself)

[@Katz2009]

1:39 Jon Burton predicted Radiohead.

[@tetraphobie]

The graphics looks much more elaborate than that in Jet Set Willy, my inner child is impressed.

[@Space_Reptile]

GUP HD when ?

[@edwardecl]

The menu screen kinds looks like the title screen for Chuck Rock with the things playing instruments.