Bonus: Playing your Super Mario Maker Levels | GMTK Extra

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.