Hi, this is Mark Brown with a special spin-off episode of Game Maker's Toolkit.
I am not a games designer. That's not a big secret. I could perhaps have made it a little clearer
earlier. I can't speak from experience or a position of authority.
I'm a games critic by profession, and that's the manner with which I approach these videos.
I analyse, critique, break down, and examine existing games to see what makes them tick,
and see if they have anything we can learn from.
The videos are primarily designed to be interesting to people who simply play games. To get a
better idea of why your favourites are so damn good. But, of course, as the name suggests,
I also hope that developers - particularly indie game makers and students - can get something
out of it too.
Well, these past few weeks, I got some tangible, immediate feedback that you can. And that
this method has merit. That there's something to be gained by looking at and learning from
existing material.
And it came in the form of your Super Mario Maker levels. Which is what I'm showing on
the screen right now. These are stages that you shared with me on Twitter and on YouTube,
often saying that you took the design ideas that I highlighted into consideration when
crafting your course designs.
So, in Iglian's levels, he gives you safety nets while you're figuring out how the stage's
mechanic works. He builds his entire course around one concept, making it more difficult
and interesting as he goes.
I remember wondering why he put a random enemy wandering around a block, and then understood
that it gave you a chance to see how this foe works before it reappears in the middle
of this tricky section.
I liked "The Spring's The Thing" from Nick Burnham. I love this bit especially: it lures
you down here, making you think that there must be something good in that question mark
block. But nope! It's just a coin. That bit really made me laugh.
And Mithoswrath has lots of fun at your expense in Raccoon Plains, with invisible blocks and
runaway mushrooms that keep you guessing all the time.
Others discovered unique gimmicks, within the limitations of Mario Maker. Travis built
an entire level around enemies being shot out of cannons, and ramped up the difficulty
beautifully.
Drew Fitzpatrick's stage is all about springs on springs, and introduces the idea in a safe
space so you can test out the timing and physics in peace. Violet's gliding ground grotto,
which is a name that sounds like it has been ripped straight out of a Mario game, has these
terrific bouncing platforms.
Carlos found that falling platforms don't fall if you're bouncing on a spring, and made
a stage around that. But he introduces the idea bit by bit, in a forgiving and thoughtful
manner.
Overall, your levels are great. And it's because you took basic lessons from Mario games - lessons
about evolving challenges, limiting your toolset, and considering safe zones - but you made
something new. Something fresh and different and personal, but inarguably improved by taking
note of what came before.
I must add, that the whole thing filled me wth pride. I've had a number of developers
tell me that others videos have helped them. I've had teachers ask if they can use my videos
at school. I've been asked to talk about this stuff at an event next year.
But, nothing quite matched seeing your stuff, and realising that you had used my analysis
to make your stuff better. And it has made me even more excited to keep making the show.
To keep thinking out loud about games - old and new - in the hopes that it can help someone.
Somewhere.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I wanted to share the code for the level I made in that video.
The course is called Saw Subject, and it's not exactly the same as the stage in the video.
It's better, thanks to your smart feedback. I used red bullet bills in the 1up chase and
fixed the spike trap at the end. I added a precursor challenge to the note-block leap
and smoothed out the difficulty spike on the flamethrowers. I killed the coin-spewing troll
pipe and removed some of the spinies too.
In the interest of time, I've put 'thank you's to everyone who helped with the new version
of the stage in the description.
I actually have another level too. This one is called Pipeflip Airship, and is a mind-bending
stage where the entire level flips upside down whenever you go in a pipe. I took inspiration
from the Super Mario Bros 3 level we looked at in the video, where the world changed whenever
Mario went through a door. I also put in a joke at the player's expense. But you'll have
to play it yourself to see that.
But this isn't about me, it's about you guys. So, I wanted to say thanks for sharing your
levels with me. It was actually quite an amazing experience and I can't quite put into words
how it made me feel without this video going completely weird. So I'll just say, cheers.
And also thanks to everyone who has just been watching the show. I've been doing Game Maker's
Toolkit for almost a year now and your support has been incredible. I appreciate every comment,
like, upvote, retweet, article, forum thread, and email. And, of course, an extra special
thanks to my incredible Patreon backers.