The mistake every new game developer makes (Developing 2)

[@FrancoSciaraffia]

To summarize: if you don't make a cheap and fast prototype for your game, then your game is an overdeveloped prototype. And good luck with that!

[@Ayoul]

Should be noted that it's fine to go the other way around as well. Many projects still worked out by having some concept art, a story or whatever else first that was then the driving force for the prototyping. Really depends what kind of game you want to make. Prototypes also can have their own pitfalls as well. You can prototype an idea, see that it works, but then fleshing it out is just too costly or not as interesting as you thought it would be.

[@ficklebar]

@@karlsmink Just to chime in, I think you need both. It's about taking the abstract and making it meet reality - the abstract includes your crazy high-concept story and game design ideas, and reality includes code and Blender not exporting your damn rig correctly. You need to build both and meet in the middle somewhere.

[@FirebladeXXL]

ive had this sort of wake up call when it comes to making music in a daw. i used to have complex ideas in my head that ultimately where too hard or frustrating for me to realize. and i lost interest super quickly because it just wouldnt come together the way i would have liked. now i start with a sound preset om some instrument that just speaks to me. and then i jam. and whatever happens when i jam, i end up making something out of and learning something new each time.

[@yaboihere494]

@@Ayoul That is exactly the opposite of this video's message.

[@m.a.buigues3310]

@@yaboihere494 That doesn't mean that @Ayoul or Mark are wrong. Both perspectives are true, it just happens that one works better with a certain kind of projects.

[@melvmay]

I'm the dev who integrated 2D physics into Unity and I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. I think I'll be going into the attic to dig out my folder of ideas from my youth too!

[@GMTK]

Woah, cool! Thanks for your hard work - couldn't make this without it :D

[@arpiabu-alrub7484]

truly thanks for your hardwork in making it so much easier for others to create games that may have limited knowledge in the nitty gritty stuff

[@grindx1292]

yo thanks bro your the best

[@swishfish8858]

Your avatar makes me endlessly happy.

[@desmondfreeman287]

actually the greatest of all time thank you so much

[@mayatung]

I like how the original art of a magnet head wouldn't have worked after the redesign. The low cost of low fidelity prototypes can help us avoid attachment to worse ideas.

[@glacialbae]

"The low cost of low fidelity prototypes can help us avoid attachment to worse ideas." - Damn, that's a great quote.

[@ВадимНечунаев-л2о]

ACTUALLY it could still work. If the character has thrown his own head and could attach different magnets as his head. Now, you'd only need a more defined body, so it wouldn't look unnoticable without a head.

[@jordinario]

"Low fidelity prototypes can help us avoid attachment to worse ideas." This, everyone, is the mentality of a mature engineer/developer/designer. Incredible quote, I hope I never forget it

[@ichigo_nyanko]

@@ВадимНечунаев-л2о that is a super cool idea

[@ВадимНечунаев-л2о]

@Leandro Aude that did occur to me at some moment. Though the mechanic of throwing and catching would be different here.

[@adamcomerford8502]

Mark Brown: "I'm going to level with you" Sweet! Let's get out our character sheets.

[@XAVES]

A game design teacher I had loved the phrase "find the fun." It's absolutely the most important part of learning and practicing prototyping.

[@squelchedotter]

I think another great reason to not make art or story early is emotional investment. The more time you've spent, the more you're going to try to justify your previous decisions so you don't have to throw it away. That can be incredibly blinding.

[@Lumberjack_king]

I can agree ive been through it before sometimes storys can suck you in and make you forget about everything else

[@CowCommando]

Sunk cost fallacy anyone?

[@kotzpenner]

Best example: Yandere Dev

[@JBloodthorn]

@@CowCommando No thanks, I'm full up. lol

[@crustykeycap5670]

I used to be emotionally invested in making Geometry Dash levels, but after too many of them had bad gameplay I broke and now I am no longer emotionally invested in the stuff I create. All I care about is if its good or not.

[@hbomberguy]

As a kid I always wanted to play a game that made bigger use of the glove. Never heard back from Nintendo about my pitch for "Zelda: Oracle of Magnetic Gloves" though Can't wait to play this

[@corg_9939]

Harris we tried emailing you back many times about purchasing the idea with the 50% share of the profits you requested but we kept getting an automated reply saying that we were "soyboys" and you were going to "epicly own us" in your videogame webcomic so we just decided to scrap it all together. It was a shame because Miyamoto was really looking forward to creating it, but we told him without your blessing it would be immoral so he made Wii Sports Resort instead.

[@robertmcdowell6084]

@@corg_9939 I mean Wii Sports Resort was pretty fun ngl

[@corg_9939]

@@robertmcdowell6084 try telling that to Miyamoto. He audibly cries trying to play 3x3 Basketball, the devs actually had to remove the quiet sobbing in all the YOU WIN cutscenes as apparently it made the game unsettling.

[@robologo]

@@corg_9939 That's such a shame... the crying could have added the genuine emotion and authenticity that most games seem to lack nowadays.

[@TheMetalOverlord]

If you like the magnetic gameplay of the Zelda gloves, then you must play Teslagrad, it's a metroidvania enterely based around the concept of magnetism and it's really good.

[@PolyMars]

this looks awesome so far! super excited to see it develop

[@gionas361]

Why hello there. KZbinr that I like and I'm subscribed to.

[@knight1668]

@@gionas361 X2

[@kaxcommentssomethingREAL]

@@gionas361 X3

[@bogus604]

@@gionas361 X4

[@DeTintasyPixeles]

x5

[@Sinchu9]

GMT: "Don't over think or over prepare your game" Me, with adhd and wanting to make a metroidvania style game: *visible sadness*

[@goatkoala573]

What is adhdh

[@dimitrioskitsikidis]

@@goatkoala573 hdmi but better

[@kagemushashien8394]

I feel your pain so hard.

[@guineagames1048]

@@goatkoala573 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

[@hipxel]

ADHD. For me its the odd inability to work for a long time

[@TonyBIndie]

this video was a much-needed kick in the pants to get me to realize I've been doing the exact same thing. I've been focusing too much on presentation and not on the core product.

[@ede2362]

I once heard of "Follow the Fun", I'm just starting game design and I'm so happy that I read this before starting. That would've definitely been the first thing I'd overlook. I mean we're literally talking about games, and you only play if it's fun, it's so weird that you can forget that part 😂

[@TonyBIndie]

@@ede2362 it's very easy to get stuck in the trenches and lose sight of the end goal. this is why I highly recommend Game Jams for beginners. Its good experience to know you've only got 24 hours and it helps you to spend your time wisely.

[@ede2362]

@@TonyBIndie thanks I'll definitely try this when I gained more experience 👍🏻

[@lickenchicken143]

I suggest that you submerge your core ideas in a soup of supposition to save them from secreting skin. Beauty is skin deep, core game mechanics are not beautiful in that way. Suppose you may change this or tweak that, suppose you're making two games at once and you must tease them apart. Suppose your ideas are too abstract to appeal to your target audience. Suppose you are handling white hot gold and the only thing insulating your squishy brain from them are your suppositions. Handle with care!

[@ede2362]

@@lickenchicken143 of course I won't let my games be blank or smth. like that, don't worry. It's just that my main talents are in the artistic field so it's very likely for me to have already designed the whole game without knowing if it's even fun to play. That's why for me I really have to focus on not going overboard with my first design ideas

[@SuperWiiBros08]

I didn't know Mark is such a pretty good artist! those art concepts and sprites for his old game ideas looks really nice, I always thought the phase of Prototype is always super important to make sure if a game is gonna be good, I think is possible to already have [these characters and this music and this story] if that's the goal of a game, still I can see how game design can evolved those concepts into something more fitting for whatever the gameplay can be.

[@kworkystudios9404]

@Brupcat Yeah. I think even if developing the mood the story and world dont need to be well developed in prototype stages, as compared to game design

[@zojirushi1]

Right!? His sprites and art looked pretty amazing!

[@lrgogo1517]

I was already surprised by the old folder sketches, but when he started showing pixel art animations, I was like, _okay, that has to be art he commissioned from someone else for this video, right?_

[@GamerKiwi]

Such a pretty good X is going to be my new way of complimenting people

[@nuclearbeeberman]

yep pretty solid pixel art :)

[@kaiser9321]

Nice to see you taking ideas from masterpieces such as Bookworms Adventures Deluxe, the ultimate masterpiece typer.

[@kaiser9321]

Btw that crushing magnet idea reminds me of that one game you analysed, think it was called Nova-116 or something, a real-time turn-based game

[@eyad6132]

Bookworm adventures is beyond masterpiece, it's a knacksterpiece

[@joannales8442]

@@eyad6132 It's not nearly as good as bookworm adventures deluxe tho

[@StefanLopuszanski]

I love that game. Shame it was pulled from Steam

[@johnfran3218]

When things were at their very worst: 2 Suns, Cross in the sky, 2 comets will collide = don`t be afraid - repent, accept Lord`s Hand of Mercy. Scientists will say it was a global illusion. Beware - Jesus will never walk in flesh again. After WW3 - rise of the “ man of peace“ from the East = Antichrist - the most powerful, popular, charismatic and influential leader of all time. Many miracles will be attributed to him. He will imitate Jesus in every conceivable way. Don`t trust „pope“ Francis = the False Prophet - will seem to rise from the dead - will unite all Christian Churches and all Religions as one. One World Religion = the seat of the Antichrist. Benedict XVI is the last true pope - will be accused of a crime of which he is totally innocent. "Arab uprising will spark global unrest - Italy will trigger fall out" "Many events, including ecological upheavals, wars, the schism in My Church on Earth, the dictatorships in each of your nations - bound as one, at its very core - will all take place at the same time." The Book of Truth.

[@gulfgiggleanimations4472]

Last time you inspired me to get back into blender. Currently rigging a model I made of Isabelle from Animal Crossing. I never thought I'd understand things like inverse kinematics, and weight painting as easily as I have. That's one tip I have for people trying to learn blender, or making videogames, or anything complicated, never assume you're just too stupid to understand what feels too complex for you before you try to understand it.

[@kojeta3200]

Thanks man, that's actually good advice. Everytime i tried to get into Unity or RPG Maker i thought i was never going to be able to learn everything properly because... i just didn't believe in myself, since i was so bad at school anyway. After these videos from GMTK and reading your comment, i'm inspired to do it even if i crack my head straight on at the start

[@floorbeardthepirate1141]

Thank you so much. You just saved a game prototype!

[@Rewolwerowiec19]

Going through the same thing basically. These videos and comments from all the people here inspired me to do stuff. Always thought that I'm a massive dumbass and that I'll never be able to do something as cool as game development. But now I'm tackling some Blender and Unity stuff and it feels really good! And of course, there are some concepts and skills that I can't even comprehend fully right now and maybe I'll never be a godlike programmer like some of the people I've seen or a NaughtyDog level artist, but...I don't have to, right? And that's a thought that helped me a lot I think - I don't have to be some godlike jack-of-all-trades right away and make Bloodborne on my first try while solo developing, but I have to start somewhere! We'll get there, people.

[@danielstone7065]

This is very exciting. I model, texture, rig and animate in blender for work. Once I started getting into the action editor and NLA editors, everything changed. Suddenly I was able to produce full animated shows with zero extra manpower. Great message for everyone. There's nothing we can't learn or accomplish.

[@neutch1991]

Do you know of any good place to learn IK riggjng? I really just wanna learn how to rig my hard surface models

[@Foxstab]

Rod Humble once told me: Start with the most simple inner loop of the gameplay, see if it's any fun, and work out from there, adding more and more layered loops. Remember that the Prince of Persia started from Karateka and was a survival puzzle until combat was added.

[@bleached.eyebrows32]

I found modding being a good start as for the "fun" factor, not only can you improve or add over something you felt was missing from a specific game you liked, but also learn what you want when it comes to map design or weapon balancing (in case you are making an FPS or something similar).

[@KiraAfter_Dark]

At the studio I'm at, we have a very simple motto: "If it's not fun with grey boxes, then it won't be fun with colour boxes." Essentially, if your base gameplay isn't fun without the art, then it doesn't matter how good it looks. It's kind of like how no matter how many times you cut a film, if the script is bad it won't fix the problems.

[@FelixSR]

This is a wonderful saying, thank you!!

[@AestheticGamer]

I... don't fully agree. Probably because I'm a fan of the Walking Simulator genre (still hate that name). I don't think a walking simulator would be fun if it was just grey boxes, I actually do think the world and narratives they create, exploring that world and experiencing that story, is the key point to those games.

[@farout_tech]

@@AestheticGamer To add to that, games that focus on combat can be a bit hard to make convincing without at least some appropriate attack animations and effects. You could design the general flow of the combat system (how attacks flow from one to the other etc), sure, but many times the extra required 'oomph' to sell people on your game comes from the visuals. Maybe don't invest in creating fully realized visuals from the get go, of course, but even simpler particles and color effects go a long way.

[@vonakakkola]

@@farout_tech the gameplay is the fundation, but it doesn't mean it must be the most appreciated part of the game, enough gameplay must be, but your game can be appreciated for other reason

[@insentia8424]

@@vonakakkola That's not the point. In action games, you want to feel the weight of your actions. When you use an attack that deals a heavy amount of damage, but it feels no different than the attack that barely deals a sliver, both visually and from the animation... it feels less satisfying to use said attack, it feels less satisfying to manage to hit with that attack. It's a situation where the graphics, animations and special effects actually matter a lot for the enjoyment of that gameplay. MrFariator isn't saying to make fleshed out graphics, make them perfected and polished. But to give it just a little amount to set them apart, because that is actually important for that specific genre of games. For a movement focused platformer... that's not important. For a story driven, text-based rpg... you potentially won't even have anything you could call graphics. Depending on what type of game you are making, the prototype you make needs to include the core-elements and mechanics that make that genre... and your specific game fun and in some cases, the animations and sound effects are important.

[@Tetracarbon]

TLDR: Mark learned to “FOCUS ON THE PRIMARY LOOP”. Looks amazing already Mark! :)

[@isgoldsilver]

tldw

[@MrDeni23n]

And/or learned the concept of minimum viable product.

[@santimonto26]

Yatzhee would be proud

[@slowfuse]

Thanks for saving me 20+ mins, I figured it would be something lame like that. and personally I disagree with that statement.

[@Goodgis]

Prototyping may be the most important step of making your game.

[@CalebWillden]

I was just about to comment "Hey, this background music reminds me of Goodgis' devlogs!", but here you are, haha! You and Game Maker's Toolkit both do fantastic work.

[@snage-thesnakemage]

How r u not verified xd

[@dunar1005]

As someone who studied game design 11 years ago this is interesting to watch in many ways. You are definitely well versed in game mechanics, but it shows again that making a game is a very different thing to learn.

[@Greywander87]

Minimum Viable Product. I remember learning about this from Extra Credits before they went to crap. Always start with the simplest iteration of your game concept. For a platformer, that's a flat level with a single pit you have to jump over. Nothing more. No graphics, just colored squares. Tweak the movement and jumping and momentum until it feels good. It should be fun to just run and jump around the simple level. Once you've perfected that simplest of prototypes, then you can start adding new gameplay elements and adjusting those until they feel good. Make a more complex level to play around in to get a better feel for your gameplay. Only once the foundation is in place do you start actually building real levels, drawing sprites, etc.

[@Scurvebeard]

What went bad with Extra Credits? I only watch Extra History, but still.

[@Kenionatus]

@@Scurvebeard In my opinion they shifted their focus from (new) developers to players interested in game design and the politics around games. While I'm in the category of the players I really enjoy the inside perspective. James (their former lead writer) left too. The new writers just aren't as good.

[@shaunlynch7786]

I miss the old Extra Credits. The videos were just much better back in the early days. I also miss James because he seemed to make it more fun.

[@philpayton8965]

@@Scurvebeard they went woke

[@christianknuchel]

​@@philpayton8965 I don't know what they're doing these days, but when they started digging into politics, they did so by looking into things like the stereotypization of women. If that's a problem for someone, the "crap" isn't with Extra Credits.

[@VallisYT]

I love the introspective aspect of these videos, and I feel like most creative people have lived through some of the experiences Mark describes here. Learning processes are fascinating, and hearing Mark break down his various approaches and insights is both educational and motivating.

[@Lumberjack_king]

I completely agree

[@kingxcalivar682]

I also agree

[@kmfnj]

My gosh yes, it's very helpful and encouraging

[@alaskanuni]

Also very vulnerable with that honesty. We've all made terrible games, myself especially. But how many of us will admit to it... In front of thousands of fans? Good on him.

[@khaledm.1476]

I want to find this video but for writers instead, what's the first thing you should do as a writer

[@lake5044]

"I'm not gonna start designing an app icon for a game that hasn't been built yet; Mark, you idiot." This should be framed or put on a Tshirt or something 😂

[@karlhendrikse]

That one cut deep

[@feyh]

You have "approved" your prototype. I would say the next steps is a full level, with one fail and one success states. Just don't get stuck with the idea that you actually need levels. After that you could think of: - Define a vision: what do you want this game to be and to feel - Define the minimum viable product for a demo of this envisioned game (let's say one menu, two levels and a thank you screen) - Build this, wrap this up and send to someone to test on its device

[@joeyh31]

Great advice 👍

[@yizzardpalmero]

I wish I would’ve done this with my game 2 years ago lol. I had to completely redo fundamental parts of the game like 3/4 through development because i had just gotten used to things that were very bad. Luckily I managed to do so and it didnt break the rest of the game but it could have very easily. Defo wish I wouldve known this much earlier lol but I know now

[@BaroTheMadman]

Yep, I was gonna comment that. Next step is to move towards a "vertical slice", as in, if you have a cake with many layers of stuff, if you get a small taste of every flavor. Make a good, but small, finished level that showcases the game's potential, with few but finished-quality art and as few as possible finished mechanics. In commercial game development, this is basically a way to display that your studio actually can develop this game and it's gonna be of quality. (Of couse, even if the mentality is that it's gonna feel finished, there's always room for improvements later). Once you've demonstrated you can make this game and that it's gonna be good, and you have one level, you just go into production and make all the rest.

[@KillahMate]

Excellent advice.

[@Sleepy_Cattt]

Are you a game designer?

[@nooodisaster]

I love this series because it's LITERALLY about the journey, not the destination. Like the game will probably be okay, maybe 6/10. But the lessons learned, the hard work, the triumphs along the way, that's 10/10.

[@bozostojkovic9032]

This is super helpful. Prototyping doesn't apply just to game development, I think it can apply to other categories of software development too! (And maybe even to other parts of life as well). I fell into the same traps as you and never actually built something usable and useful because of it. I'll try to keep this in mind for my next projects. THANKS!

[@ShinoSarna]

I imagine one way to "fix" your Picross game would be to make it more like Puzzle Quest games - Picross would actually give you resources for skill/spell attacks in a turn based RPG combat. Player could choose between doing an easier or harder puzzle - harder puzzle gives you more resources, but if you fail to solve it in time, you take damage.

[@simpson6700]

my idea was to stick with the 5x5 area to "draw" in, scrap the picross idea, and give players predefined pictures that cause different actions which they then have to draw in the 5x5 field.

[@ShinoSarna]

@@simpson6700 But at this point this is a completely different game. Entire point of the original idea is that Picross is an inherently fun puzzle in itself, and exactly perfect type of game for a mobile device. There's nothing fun about drawing the same pictures over and over - at this point you just made a very complex and clunky menu. Player still selects from a set of pre-determined actions, but in a regular RPG this selection takes one quick tap on the menu button - in your game, this selection will take like 20 taps that will require some concentration. At this point, erase the middleman and stick to making a regular turn-based RPG.

[@pacifico4999]

I thought about making it like Deltarune, where the bullet hell sections are part of the battle, but not the whole thing.

[@goldenwarrior1186]

@@pacifico4999 Maybe have the bullets instead be collectibles that can trigger a puzzle? There could be multiple different types of collectibles, and some actual bullets in there to mix things up

[@simpson6700]

@@ShinoSarna in my mind this would be akin to waving a wand a certain way or playing a song in a zelda game. eventually you would gather up more and more actions applicable for different situations. remembering all of them is the real game. there is nothing fun about fighting a boss by solving a picross either, i'm just trying to improve the initial idea.

[@KrazyKain]

I call this step "finding the fun". I've had the same problem where my first few game projects had me plow forward on the assumption that it will become fun later, when I add more content and tweaks. But I learned to prototype quickly to find the fun and really zero in on that

[@error.418]

It's been called "finding the fun" since the early 2000s. There are GDC talks, blog articles, and books calling out this important prototyping step since then.

[@KrazyKain]

@@error.418 I probably got it from somewhere, never claimed to have invented the term

[@danishbutter1847]

Old Legacy Dev Teams have been doing this since the 80s and 90s all the way to the early 2000s but after that the gaming industry working environment is not the same anymore despite better technology, complexity, and more employees in a studio or how even small studios work like these days under known publishers.

[@error.418]

@TheTutorialTower - Sratch Tutorials It's both, in a way. I've mostly seen "finding the fun" but "follow the fun" is a methodological suggestion. That while you prototype, if you notice something fun, lean into that and exaggerate it or experiment with it. This is part of "finding the fun."

[@KrazyKain]

@TheTutorialTower - Sratch Tutorials now that you mention it, that does sound familiar.

[@hoodiesticks]

I heard your magnet pitch and thought "This sounds like Super Magbot", and then as the video went on the game rapidly went in a completely different direction than Magbot. I guess that's another benefit of rapid prototyping: it helps you pinpoint your unique take on an idea that might not sound very original at first.

[@DrEcho]

I used ctrl+F to find this comment.

[@AbhayRajKarun]

@@DrEcho ok

[@KyleHarrisonRedacted]

Hey man, I've been building these, let's call them "prototypes" for many years. I'm a programmer and game designer (and always wanted to be ever since a kid and been following that passion since ye old newground days), but when it comes to art I just shut down. I'm genuinely awful at the art part. So I've always teamed up with artists. Problem is I then get bogged down with the project management aspect and art pipeline systems instead of the art that it's wildly impacted my focus on the gameplay aspect, and it suffers as a result. Eventually everyone burns out and the project peters off for something new and shiny using what we've learned. I know this stupid vicious cycle well.

[@Llortnerof]

So, in other words, you need a project lead.

[@joshrayne724]

If you're bad at something that is holding you back, then focus on improving in that area. You can make art the same as everyone else. Do not set false limitations for yourself for no good reason. Some people say they are bad at math. Math is something you cannot be bad at. It is merely formula and outcome. Art is also something you cannot be bad at. It is merely formula and outcome. The issue lies in lack of exposure, lack of understanding, lack of practice. Practice addition and you will know how to add. Practice drawing circles and you will know how to make circles. Practice pixel art and you will know how to make pixel art. Begin the process of practicing. You will inevitably improve, until you are no longer practicing, because it has become your practice. Do not simply say "I'm bad at this". Instead say, "I should improve on this"--and then you will!

[@Llortnerof]

​@@joshrayne724 So which of the things he likes doing should he neglect to improve his art? Because that's what it comes down to. Practice time isn't free. It comes at the cost of time to do other things.

[@joshrayne724]

@@Llortnerof improving art would solve his problem entirely and neatly. Sometimes we do things we don’t necessarily want to because they have utility far beyond pleasure! There is plenty of time in life to improve ourselves and still do all the things we enjoy doing. Pixel art can be learned in a couple of days! Then no more dealing with outsourcing and seeing projects he does enjoy fall apart because of others’ shortcomings

[@Llortnerof]

@@joshrayne724 Depends on the size of the project. At some point, outsourcing or building a team is the only viable option. We didn't get to where we are now by everybody doing things for themselves. What he needs is somebody to handle the organisation. Which already puts us as two things needed, not one. Not everybody is good at coming up with reasonably looking designs, either. The problem isn't necessarily visualising them. You're being awfully naive about what art actually is, paring it down to the technical process of turning an idea into a file like that.

[@karpai5427]

0:02 First mistake.

[@miknios]

I really recommend you checking out a book “The Art of Game Design” and it’s chapter about prototyping. It really nicely explains the purpose of prototypes and that even though your first prototype answered your question of “Is there a potential in this design?” it’s a good idea to create more prototypes which are going to help you answer more questions about uncertain things before you settle on something and go into full production mode. Great video. I think more people should know this stuff.

[@Brunoenribeiro]

awesome book

[@aloysiuslim914]

“The art of game design” sounds like it could have been his channel name

[@sirknightgaming2257]

Where can I find this book?

[@miknios]

@@sirknightgaming2257 Amazon or other bookshops

[@dastanghaedrahmati6977]

you're on a great path! I've been working on making games for about 8 years now (sometimes part-time, sometimes full-time) and in these time making ugly prototypes of ideas has been the greatest tool I've used for testing out ideas. On the other hand, and as you mentioned as well, getting side tracked or carried away, and forgetting what the core idea and goal of the game was can cost you a lot of time and energy. keep up the good work and good luck.

[@bamaxdaws6459]

Can't wait for the next episode! This is a pretty interesting series.

[@ricanteja]

Really needed to hear this. Thanks for doing the series! I'm embarrassed by the number of dead projects on my computer... Every game maker needs to ask themselves "is this fun?" before making art or levels or a story. For me I think my greatest distraction was engine dev. I learned probably a lot more data structures/algorithms than I would have otherwise but my goal was to make a game and I never did that...

[@jp99301]

As a moderately experienced developer, I love this. Things like designing the icon for the game before doing anything else are so something I would still do if I decided to work on my own indie project.

[@T3sl4]

Not to "it's already been done" you, but a very similar mechanic was used in Teslagrad. It's a neat game, but the mechanic is extremely difficult to control, due to how the force varies with distance, sensitivity to direction, and the speed you can build up in close orbits. Controlling that, maybe using a flatter function (not quite inverse with distance?), without making it boring (fixed force with distance, or fixed velocity/direction for that matter, as in OoS), should keep things easy and engaging. Good luck!

[@brodaha2118]

Teslagrad came to mind for me as well when he brought up the initial idea. It's been a while since I played it but I loved the overall feel and I hope this can bring some similar ideas

[@Nebuch]

It's gonna be a soild journey ^^

[@lexorogtheelder4753]

Hocam bunun üstüne senin de bir oyunun patlamaz mı

[@galning2768]

@@lexorogtheelder4753 huh?

[@Ysjyshnfxh]

Oha

[@ardaaydn9165]

ah i see you're a man of culture as well

[@gaiance]

This development series gives me life. Each episode is one of the things I anticipate most right now, I love it. Also thank you for the blooper reel at the end! I immediately wondered "huh, I wonder how many times it took him to get that right". Keep up the great work Mark.

[@adamjoiner1591]

I'd absolutely love if you could make some Unity tutorials to go along with this! Your teaching style and the way you go about explaining things is very logical and encouraging. I could definitely see your unique approach to some Unity videos as being more practical and applicable compared to a lot of the stuff that's out there now. Thanks for this inspiring video 👍🏼

[@Brunoenribeiro]

Mark: "prototypes have the bare minimum enough to test the idea" GoW: **fully animated Kratos** (jk, before someone bites me :p)

[@thislooksfun1]

I noticed that too, but I have a guess as to why: they knew they were going to make a God of War game, so it would feature Kratos. Since that was set in stone they could safely dedicate resources to making the model from the beginning. The rest of the gameplay, however, needed to be prototyped.

[@Brunoenribeiro]

@@thislooksfun1 I have another guess: they were still prototyping, even deep into the development process. Barlog said on some interviews that the game took a long time before becoming a cohesive whole. That's why such an advanced model was used in a prototype, I think

[@notnanomercy]

I think my best video about prototype is "evolution of horizon zero dawn"

[@VonTimmelandDer42]

my best guess would be that it is a prototype for one of the sequels. They already had a functioning kratos at that point so why not use it.^^

[@zeozen]

probably wasn't from prototyping the game itself but from testing a level

[@benjoe1993]

"I picked my game engine" **totally different logo than from before** Thanks, Unity. You done confused the masses :D

[@gab_gallard]

It's really not that different.

[@Nomad6763]

13:48 the adorable way he falls over here makes me wish there was a "standing up" animation.

[@jamestolliver9970]

As a CS student hoping to go into software development it really feels like prototyping is one of the most useful tools for almost any sort of development

[@syncarn]

It is! This is why REPLs are so common and useful, and arguably was the key to Unity's success. No method of learning and iteration is faster than just trying something out, and CS is also unique in that the economics also support this. It is very cheap to experiment, so give it a whirl!

[@Ryan-ww7un]

I can't help but feel as if your channel and Sabrina's over at _Answer in Progress_ share so many (amazing) qualities. You both go on immense journeys of knowledge acquisition and condense them into their perfect essence. Only the most teachable moments. I don't think you realize how beautiful that is. Not to mention you both share the little "Let me explain..." at the beginning, which I love.

[@CodingWithLewis]

So glad you decided to make this series. I develop web and mobile applications and the same principles can be applied there. Love this.

[@Xanderqwerty123]

I was really hoping you were gonna make a metroidvania so you could do an episode of boss keys about your own game as the developer. Still excited to see how you tackle this project!

[@DubiousDoom]

That would be an incredibly ambitious project for a one-developer team.

[@lucaslourenco8918]

Actually, I think a Toki Tori 2 approach on the genre could apply here. With only two or three verbs (jump, release magnet, invert polarity) and enemies/platforms that can interact with each other, a lot of mechanics can arise almost naturally, which could be taught gradually to the player with no need for "keys" (upgrades, power-ups, literal keys...) to access new zones. It would still be a challenge to program these systems in his first game, though.

[@NyleGames]

This video series has reminded me about my first processes when I started making games. Guess the first thing I made when I was developing my first game? I made a logo splash screen, why? Because that's the first thing you see when you play a game! It is almost adorable how we tackle these projects for the first time.

[@davidcbeaudoin]

When I was a kid, a friend and I actually spent months "designing" a sequel to Super Mario World. We sent all of the sketches and notes to Nintendo Power with some silly notion that they'd use it and we'd be rewarded in some way. Obviously, that never happened. But I found it ironic that a few things we had in our packet appeared in later games (the "Yoshi's Island" setting, and a flying squirrel power-up). I know it's purely coincidence, but yeah.

[@Lumberjack_king]

Lol thats kinda hilarious

[@Trianull]

You just reminded me of a Minecraft mob idea I made when I was a lot younger, called an "Endermight," which was an armored variant of the towering Enderman monster. Funnily enough, a few years later, the "Endermite" mob was added to the game, and ended up being the smallest monster in the game.

[@Lumberjack_king]

@@Trianull lol somtimes stuff like that just happens oh and i once had a similar idea kinda but with the "shulker" mob

[@ldsviking]

When I was a kid I wrote up some new ideas for a sequel to Maniac Mansion and sent them to Jaleco, which they returned, legal something yadda yadda. I was kind of offended, haha

[@sora5982]

when i was a kid i designed a fire bird pokemon. few months later i see talonflame, who looks exactly the same. every evolution looked the same, except my orange/black placement was reversed on the final one. that was a really weird coincidence.

[@roddlez]

This video series came out 30 years too late. How much time this would have saved me as a teenager aspiring to make his own video games.

[@jupitersky]

1:39 That was SO smooth and you can see that he knows it in his face.

[@coltigh4232]

I love this series so much. Thank you for taking us all along for this ride, Mark.

[@corviscape]

The idea of focusing on building a prototype first never occured to me now, I've been having the exact same trouble that you were describing and I think this is the path out of that trap. Thank you so much!

[@Lumberjack_king]

I hope you finish whatever your working on

[@locobob]

I love that you’re sharing your journey here- I’ve always wanted to make my own game but have felt overwhelmed by the process. This series is actually giving me the confidence to go out and make my own game a reality!

[@zojirushi1]

I love this series! Lots of stuff to learn from it. Like focusing on a prototype of the game mechanics first before adding all the extra stuff to see if the idea is any fun before investing too much time and effort into a game that isn’t fun.

[@freudsbreakfast4060]

I've seen so many devlogs, often by people with mountains of knowledge, and yet you are the most helpful and inspiring. Love your work! Keep at it.

[@Blacklight.2025]

For your picros game I tjought about "turn based combat" in which different picross puzzles are different actions, and on enemy turn you have to solve a puzzle under a time limit. You could also have "limited tried" while solving the puzzle, each time you select the wrong block the attack/defense diminishes or gets a little negative effect. Spend all the tries and your attack/defense misses/fails

[@Atropos148]

you can also have combo attacks, where if you keep filling in the right squares you keep attacking...basically every click is an attack from you or enemy

[@fantaboy1589]

That makes it better but it’s still pretty repetitive doing the same picross puzzles over and over, maybe you can collect different moves through the game like how in Ring Fit Adventure you gain new different excercises?

[@j.diamond6014]

@@fantaboy1589 i think they'd be different puzzles every time, just differing sizes for difficulty

[@rafaelramires5883]

As an art Teatcher, I must say that I love your drawings! They are so expressive and comunicate expressions with strong poses. Very Cool!

[@flavoredchin]

I have a theory about learning the arts: being told what works is less helpful than seeing how things fall apart. Learning what works makes something formulaic and polished, but learning what will ruin your work makes you understand how to take the good risks. I feel this series proves it! Great work as always Mark.

[@GoldenUnlimited]

Oh my goodness. I had been looking for the childhood game that I played that I never knew the name of for such a long time! I think it is 'Bookworm Adventures'. I am so thankful that you brought it up in this video. Thank you!

[@eigentlichtoll02]

Hey your sprite designs look really good! Also I really love that you kept your childhood drawings folder and didn't just threw it away! :)

[@alexscriabin]

3:34 Carter's Curse, where you try to steal as many ancient Egyptian artifacts for the British museum as you can find/carry, while a mummy chases you. /s

[@Resin_Kingdom]

Spelunky 3: Indiana Jones

[@mckinneym.2743]

Yeah prolly best that one didn't work out.

[@leow.2162]

Have you considered using the "recoil" of the magnet when you catch it to give you a little push, maybe as a kind of "directional" double jump?

[@Cuddl3s2]

Stop telling him that! I am actually in the process of making a game with that exact mechanic! 😂

[@somegremlin1596]

That sounds like something speedrunners would do

[@Stephen-Fox]

Oh, also, as a game develops, sometimes the thing you started with - even if that thing was fun - will disappear and wind up needing cutting from the game. Gil Hova has mentioned on the Ludology podcast a really cool auction mechanism he's started as the core mechanic for a couple of his designs, and so far each time the game's developed via iteration and playtesting to the point that the really cool auction mechanism is weighing the thing down and in a round of prototyping he cuts it and the game is improved by that.

[@linkfann17]

I honestly wish my brain worked like this. I’ve had a couple ideas brewing for a while, but I fell like it’s too much to work with, even though I’m sure someone could easily make the prototypes. But this is really cool to see how you are working on this project.

[@redundantpancake]

Incredible how a lot of the things in this video resonated with me. You inspired me to start (again) prototyping a video game. This time I'm going to focus on just gameplay, not creating a vertical slice or getting hung on details like UI, story, art style, etc. Just going to make a fun prototype and see where I land. In fact, I am going to keep track of my progress in the form of dev logs that I'll be posting once a week. My intro video should be going up soon, I mentioned and linked to this video. Thanks, Game Maker's Toolkit!

[@ridlr9299]

“I was surprised and upset when my toilet fell through the floor” That quote needs to be in some “GMTK taken out of context” type video

[@KillerGameDev]

Ya know, Im not gonna lie...when I changed to prototyping all my levels out in my game, I significantly saw a boost in efficency. I found myself spending a day getting done what took me weeks and sometimes even months to complete before. The idea of finishing stuff now and copying it to the next level for reusability makes sense but in the end, this is what slowed me down. I had a very similar experience to you.Focus on game play, then make it shiny.

[@xmgaming2444]

This magnet game seems really promising! I know you probably already have plans on how to move forward in the development process, but if I were to suggest something, get your character's movement options as polished as you can before you start making actual levels. Tweak physics, make things as snappy or as smooth as you'd like, and once you've got a character that feels great to control, then start making your other mechanics. In platformers, movement is key, and if your character's movement feels a little bit off at any point, it can really tarnish some of the other aspects of the game.

[@DouglasHollingsworth1]

I'm loving this series so much - thank you for sharing! Been sitting on a Unity game design course for almost a year now and never getting around to it, so it's encouraging to follow you on your journey :D

[@GT-tj1qg]

Thanks for helping us learn from your mistakes! It takes great humility to do that!

[@ysgramornorris2452]

I like your approach for this series. There are a lot of tutorials on game development and indie game devlogs on KZbin, but they tend to focus on the technical part of development - coding, programming languages, raycasting, procedural generation, AI, etc. And that's a good thing in and of itself, but I feel like tutorials on game _design_ are a bit of a lackluster. You can know how to implement stuff, but if you don't know how to come up with a good game concept, fun mechanics and all that, you got nothing to implement.

[@Lumberjack_king]

Exactly. Btw if you want to something similar to this check out the channel "patch" quest he has a video about how he approached his first indie game wrong

[@fearlesswee5036]

I'm hoping to make an indie game in the near-future myself, and I plan to focus more on the "why" rather than "how" in my devlogs too. I entirely agree not enough gamedevs share *why* decisions are made, just *how* they implement it...it can make trying to plan your own game ideas a lot more daunting of a task; it makes it seem as if game design knowledge is just an inherent ability some people have and not something you can learn and master over time.

[@skeptale]

I've been working on a game lately and focusing on making assets in Photoshop, implementing cool filters and effects, only to get a little burned out before the game's even really playable. This was a good reminder to just focus on prototyping and designing a strong foundation before working on the extraneous details. Also dang, that pixel art of yours is super impressive. I had no idea you had that level of artistic talent.

[@beetent]

Extremely relatable Mark, appreciate the frank look back at those old abandoned projects

[@vivavaldez87]

2:14 - Alright, Mark, calm down, nobody is expecting a SMB or Celeste from you just yet!

[@HappyNBoy]

The most outrageously cool thing about this video is that you are willing to point out exactly how "cringe" your former ideas were. People really ought to be able to recognize that they had poor ideas or understandings of things previously in their lives, look back at it, cringe, and move on having actually learned something. Good job, Mark! This is a success and a brilliant example for others, before you've even created anything playable! An achievement, to be sure!

[@preciat816]

The game idea really reminds you of a puzzle platformer called teslagrad

[@zaidmermam2524]

every episode I get shocked how this man manages to figure the reality of game dev in such a short time, this series is so helpful!

[@Hersatz]

Either he have a good share of personnal background in something related to game development (the tools, not the theory), or he's just stupidly good at searching for information, absorbing it and applying it. Learning to do what he did in such little amount of time is unusual from a newbie to objet oriented programming/game engines.

[@zaidmermam2524]

@@Hersatz agree

[@estaticethan1752]

Gotta be honest Mark, your drawings from a few years look great.

[@cmmartti]

That sprite art was fantastic!

[@BackfallGenius]

Another really important aspect of prototyping is learning whether you actually ENJOY game design or not. If you're having more fun coming up with the story, setting, lore, and themes than you are experimenting with gameplay ideas, then chances are you're more into worldbuilding than game design. Learning this early can help steer you towards your strengths and interests.

[@Madmonkeman]

I can confirm that I like both game design and worldbuilding. However, I can also confirm that I hate making art because modeling and texturing feels like a chore to me.

[@Csonic23]

This seems right. I’d add that exploring some of these other areas might just be part of a designer’s process. Or?

[@KrishConscience]

I am doing the same thing. Focusing on art, music and looks of the game. Yes, it is helping me plan the narration of my game but my coding isn’t getting any better. This video inspired me to get things moving. Thank you so much.

[@therupoe]

This is extremely interesting and helpful. Honestly, making a game seems so intimidating but I really want it.

[@swishfish8858]

No reason not to. Plenty of free tools out there with lots of great tutorials and communities to help get you started. Just gotta go do it!

[@therupoe]

@@swishfish8858 currently getting my head wrapped around c# and have unity installed :) I really want to

[@FrotteeVDH]

I'm pretty impressed by your drawings and sprites... excited to see how your game looks once it leaves the prototyping stage. Should I ever make my own game, I'd probably have to hire an artist oder stick to programmer art. :(

[@teeoemm]

There’s plenty of free art in the unity asset store and all over the internet, but you don’t need to worry about art to make good games!

[@GMTK]

GMTK Patrons get videos early :)

[@arkalt4066]

@@ratto7896 they got the video early cause they’re a patron

[@designator7402]

Getting better at art to the point of being able to use it is actually not _as hard_ as you might think. If you approach it from the same angle as you would improving your code or design you _will_ get better at it. Trust me, you have a bunch of usable sprites in you!

[@drcgaming4195]

@@designator7402 my only art form ever is photography ):

[@zz7254]

"It's not an MMO at least" - is this a reference to a certain 100% science based dragon MMO?

[@rikamayhem]

That too, but there is (was?) a trend of complete beginners wanting to make an MMO as their first game, when it's one of the most difficult genres to develop even for a large studio: requires good backend and network programmers, and releasing lots of ongoing content to maintain a healthy playerbase.

[@vast634]

More a joke on so many beginners who dream up a super large game (MMOs for example) and then falling flat on their nose, since they planned a way to big project.

[@adeladam2325]

One of the best videos on game design I've watched. Please keep making these and documenting your process

[@Skeffles]

Brilliant to see how you look at design after making design videos for so long! These magnet prototypes look great and I can't wait to see what's next.

[@Nate-bd8fg]

Great video! From what I've seen, you know what you're doing. And most importantly, approaching it from the right angle!

[@onepiece666]

Seems all those videos about commenting on video game design really payed off

[@xuraith]

this video is pretty much the essence of every starting game developer

[@_g_r_m_]

It amazes me how much unity systems you used, i've been using unity for five years and didn't even knew of them, i just code whatever system i need from scratch.

[@xaviermagnus8310]

The programmer problem there. I do that mostly too, just making it so that you know the ins and outs.

[@midnightlunch3285]

I've followed your work pretty much since you first started uploading to the GMTK channel, and I'm extremely happy to see you actually developing a game and having fun with it. I feel as though it's so easy to sit back and say "Ah, yes, these games have flaws", but your channel has always had the approach of "But how can it be done BETTER?" So seeing you take the initiative to delve into game development itself (and the immediate realization of the necessity of prototyping; good job) feels like it's the natural progression of things. Good luck!

[@natuy8584]

The magnet gameplay remind me Teslagrad, a game I loved when I was younger, Good luck for your development journey

[@freezinfire]

This really helped me, it was a eureka moment for me. Thank you sir, thank you a lot.

[@MikeG-nz8gt]

This game genuinely looks fun. Also, I think you have finally cemented in my head to start with a prototype! Thanks.

[@TheKayOne]

To quote a famous game dev: "Focus on the primary gameplay loop"

[@boishroom462]

an idea i had (feel free to use it) is there is a pit that you cannot cross by just jumping, and there is a magnet in the pit. how you solve it is you jump across and recall the magnet at the same, and when the magnet hits you and you get that little bit of feedback, it gives enough of an upward boost to cross the gap.

[@Ph4n_t0m]

The humanity and oh-so-painful familiarity of your experiences is exactly what keeps me coming back

[@rage_2000]

I’d call the protagonist “Marco” because “Polo” means pole in Spanish Like magnetic poles

[@fa-pm5dr]

what did we say about art 7-7

[@jacobbradshaw995]

Or maybe Marko :)

[@Ramaxx95]

Hey Mark this is looking great! You know, when you started talking about a character who is like a living magnet and use that as a gameplay mechanic it reminded me to a Dreamcast game called Super Magnetic Neo. It's a Crash clone (3d platformer) where you can change your polarity and create a magnetic field to atract or reject yourself to specific objects and use that for platforming or combat

[@SigiL2]

Immediately what I thought of as well

[@facelesscleric2744]

Prototyping was my favorite part of game development, unfortunately I had to give up game development since I just couldn't learn to code well enough to keep up with it but man do videos like this remind me of the best years of my life.

[@Madmonkeman]

You could maybe try buying some code in asset stores that give you code for basic game genres and then just use that and focus on level design?

[@patrickbrown7438]

Thank you! Seriously, any aspiring game developer should watch this video. I learned this painful lesson the hard way, exactly like you, by making multiple uninteresting games. Another word for "prototype" is "MVP" and that's another concept I'd recommend researching for anyone thinking about making games. You'll save yourself a whole lot of disappointment!

[@runningbravado]

i am just sat here grinning wider and wider as you iterate through ideas... this is so cool. great series mate