Really appreciate the coverage of this level, and I'd like to talk on a couple of your criticisms. First, the GD Awards are very dumb haha. I think it definitely does become more of a popularity contest, and there are some creators that break through into the nomination phase or even win purely off of popularity. Espionage is the better "story" based level, in my honest opinion. I think that WhyMe looks very good, and to this day I'm quite proud of what I've done. But I feel like Espionage from a quality standpoint is just the better level, but I think WhyMe won because of the content of the level. The story behind WhyMe is much more powerful than Espionage, despite any sort of other quality that Espionage may possess. So, from a purely emotional standpoint, WhyMe probably impacted more people and appealed to more people. But I also think in general that "Best Story" is a very specific and weird category, so maybe the content of the story can be weighted more in this case. Next, you mentioned the hidden messages that show up, and thought that they seemed to not mean anything or not have enough other information in order to decipher them. I'll talk on those. "Never Free" It doesn't mean anything. I admit it. I thought it looked cool. I could sit here and say that it means some generic message but it's not. I do a lot in this level that is supposed to be picked apart, and for the most part, I think if you notice something that you think has a hidden meaning, it probably does. But this message means nothing, and I just thought it looked cool. "I've been cursed with knowledge." I can agree that this message was maybe not placed somewhere that makes sense, but I think that my creativity is something that overwhelms me. I always have GD ideas. I always have ideas for stuff outside of GD. So many ideas. And it can be hard when most of those ideas will never be a reality. In a perfect world, this level doesn't exist. Instead, I have a ton of cool levels from the ideas I put in here. So, basically, I have all these ideas, and not enough time or talent or effort to do them all, although this past year I've learned that I have control over my talent and my effort, at least to an extent. "Not enough effort" This is simply me being weak, from what I've learned this past year. I can do more, but I was too mentally weak to do more back then. I think what you say about effort is interesting, because I actually do know a lot of levels that take a LONG time and are not that good (I won't name any specifically). But I don't try to correlate effort to quality here. Rather, I correlate effort to getting things done. More effort doesn't make WhyMe better, at least not directly. But more effort makes more of these ideas become a reality, I believe. The rating system is completely arbitrary. It does not objectively measure the quality of my level. It does, however, feel very good to have a level receive a lot of great feedback and it is something that I longed for for most of my GD career to have that breakout level that made me at least a somewhat established creator in the community. This thinking is obviously flawed, and I have reevaluated these ideas since. But there is a lot of pressure in the GD community to do well, especially once you have made yourself known. Soul Searching was rough because it got a lot of negative feedback, and it was really discouraging to me personally, since I thought the level was quite good (which once again, I know is objective but I still wanted to make something that could at least be considered in the top tier of current levels). I think a lot of what I put into WhyMe are things that I have since fixed, or at least have been trying to reevaluate, through pushing my mental and physical limits this past year. The rating system sucksssss though. It reallyyyyy sucks. I hate it. Becoming a "famous" creator shouldn't be the goal of creating, but a lot of good creators do not get rewarded for their hard work and talent, and conversely, a lot of creators get rewarded for very copy and paste, rinse and repeat levels and it frustrates me. This is at no fault of the creators, of course, and I've had to realize this these past couple years. People create for whatever reason they want, and they are entitled to do so. Despite this, I just wish there was realistically a way to reward the creators that I believe deserve it more. But once again, this is objective. Lastly, I'd like to talk about my creating mentality. I do not create GD levels anymore, nor will I make another one, at least I don't think I will. I think that I can use creating to do big things in the world, I truly do. WhyMe showed me that. WhyMe was such a good project for me because I realized that I can use my creativity to help people. I think the reason that I don't have fun making GD levels anymore is because I feel like I'm not making an impact unless I make something big and tackle a big problem. That's why I've been hard at work since the release of this level to take control of my mind and develop my other artistic skills, so that I can try to help people outside of the GD community. I did make a response video to WhyMe, but I took it down. It was up for a few months, but I thought it was a little cringe haha. I'm working on a project right now, which you can look at details on by looking at my last community post on my channel. I really appreciate you diving into this level as deep as you did, and I think some of the flaws you highlighted in this level are fair, and today I would even agree with some of these flaws. I'd love to talk more about this level or the state of creating in this game in general, so shoot a response here if you want. Despite my retirement in creating in this game, I still like to stay involved.
@TreyIsTheWay a new rating system and a different mindset for creators would help. imagine if people stepped into creating not to make "rate-worthy" levels, but make levels they are proud of. there would be way more passion projects and way less mushy 4-7 star levels and forgettable demon megacollabs. now imagine a rating system that maybe rewards more creative levels or maybe popularizes remarkable levels instead of the poor levels we made popular. these 2 propositions arent perfect, but they are a good step towards improvign the situation at hand.
Ngl, that’s one of the most moving levels (or even pieces of art) I’ve seen. I can very much relate to the feelings you tried to show, and even if it’s not objectively good, it’s one of my favorite art thingys. Also two more things: 1. Are you okay? (checked your channel and haven’t really seen any life (kinda worried (pls don’t judge))) 2. Your level is in a gd gauntlet, so hopefully it’ll help people change their mindset towards creating stuff
The only thing I can say for this level is “show dont tell.” Visual storytelling is very cool, text can take away much of the artistic side of levels. Everyones separate interpretation is what makes art so special and I understand the story that was attempted to be told but unfortunately levels that blatantly push their meaning just take away the majority of artistic value presented alongside it. And yeah Mountain Climb should have won. I knew it would never win but nominating it was enough to make me happy :)
I.. kinda disagree? At its core, WhyMe is a narrative-based level, and does need writing to be expressed to an extent. The problem is not the level contains writing, it’s that the writings sucks. And maybe it “takes away the artistic side of the level” a little bit, but the main issue this video is highlighting is that the writing is just really toxic lol “Show don’t tell” is a great rule for beginner writers, but when you’re more experienced becomes quite silly (e.g. In split path, Jayuff says everything in the most simple way possible, and it’s rlly powerful!!) Personally we don’t want to disregard text as bad just because it’s got a poor track record, as that mentality kills the possibility of really good narration based levels, which we haven’t seen much of yet >:3
@@branchesjade3638 I think you are 100% right but this level fails at it as well. I have yet to see a level with narration that feels like it truly improves the story, most of the time its just very in your face and while I am sure that it is possible, I just cant see it being viable for the vast majority of creators. I truly cannot off the top of my head name a single level that takes itself seriously using text that is effective. Theres some great funny levels out there with it for sure though, just not the same realm of levels.
the props I will give to this level are in its introduction, I think that the text changing and glitching to have alternative meaning is fantastic, it almost in a way IS show dont tell, nothing is outright forcing a meaning onto you but it gives you the chance to look a little closer and notice these things. I just think that after this has initially been established the point was already made, visual progression could tell a much more powerful story than all the edgy words.
Really nice video! I made Mountain Climb and I wasn’t expecting to be nominated at all so I was stoked! I knew I wasn’t going to win but the fact I was put on there especially since Im so unknown is super cool! But even so I was hoping for an Espionage win instead because yeah, WhyMe didn’t really seem to be much of a story level in my eyes and I have very similar perspectives about it as you do in the video. Creating isn’t supposed to be aggravating, it’s supposed to be a fun creative
i think the importance of ideas over polish can’t be overstated; building a level with a time constraint would certainly force you to rely on that principle. anyways good vid
Thanks, after getting rate, i completely gave up on creating, like i've done everything i ever wanted. I achieved my goal. But the feeling of emptiness drive me crazy sometimes, like i want to continue, but have no power, as soon i open GD i feel sad, maybe it was a burnout, but this video motivated me to continue. Thank you
i feel like one of the things i liked most about whyme was that it didn't offer an answer. it presents a flawed, and frankly vile, perspective of the editor and creating. it offers no solutions, it offers no insight, and that makes it one of the best art pieces in the gd community for me. sure, i think the level's kind of shit. the story's told poorly, the writing is super surface-level, and the level's visual style is kind of bland. but life isn't glamorous, and i feel whyme doesn't try to make it look glamorous. i like art that calls to attention the messiness of life, even if there aren't any solutions. that's on us to figure out. unfortunately, whyme's reception kind of proves why... maybe the gd community isn't the best at coming up with solutions. good video though
@@BlanketAddict i think i like the level a little bit on its own, but throw in all the people in the community who've looked completely surface-level and missed the point, and it dissatisfied me a lot. like i said the visuals arent stunning but they work, the "story" (text explaining the point, which is bad storytelling) is shit, etc. but as an art piece i like it a lot and think it hits exactly what it needed to... if only the community would take a minute to analyze it, but what do you expect from four dollar cube game community where every level is the same and nothing challenges anything shrug!
I think you completely missed a key point in the level: Ambition. Its quite obvious he wants to make something that he (and many others) can call his best. Whether its a personal best or the best level in the game, its an ambitious goal regardless. I dont know about you, but when I open a new level and I have the mindset of "this needs to be my new best", chances are that im not gonna build on it until I feel like I have the knowledge to visualize every idea, and be able to perfectly execute those ideas. And it gets frustrating very quickly because I want to start big, not small. Hence, the frustration of not feeling like im good enough. But thats just my interpretation, and my personal experience with this exact dilemna.
For me, creating is fun because its an art, a blank canvas, standards are individual, theres a million best creators and a million best levels. Tmn dosent realize this. Finding the objective in things and striving for the nonexistent goal will get you nowhere.
Very good video! My one issue is that I believe the part with all of the negative comments are actually introspective thoughts within TMNs mind. I think that this idea is supported by the extremes that some of the comments go to. I thought that having that text serve as a reflection of your own creation instead of comments from other people in the community helped enhance the narrative and make it more meaningful than it would have been under your explanation of that part
It seemed like pocke might've understood that these were TMN's thoughts, but didn't think TMN had any reason to think them, and considered them a problem of TMN's mindset. TMN likely knows the thoughts aren't rational, though is still unable to get them out of his mind. For me, whenever I try to beat something, I can't stop thinking that none is going to care if I do or find it impressive, though I also know if anyone else were to beat the level, it would undoubtedly be considered impressive.
i'm not a creator myself (i've tried to make levels, but failed miserably) and the tips at the end of your video might get me to try creating again. this video is great in every way i can imagine.
You talk about things in this video that I've been trying to tell some of my creator friends for so long. Like, you can absolutely create without upholding to a standard. And its really hard to get some people to hear that.
i really love levels like this that go rogue and deviate against from what the community likes deliberately! the messages speaking how the creator feels in this level is really nice, and interesting
5:27, when the “not enough effort” text pops up, i don’t think it’s supposed to reinforce the notion that effort is the most important part of creation. Rather, it’s a another example of the creator’s descructive thoughts. The level itself frames this idea as bad and unhealthy. I could be wrong, but it seems as if the level itself is an unreliable narrator.
I mean I really don’t understand this level. If you are going “full time” on gd creating then you got to understand that you in the future are gonna be depressed and are gonna go insane like name any of the top 100 creators that legitimately make level for fun. Also I feel like this level isn’t telling much of a story, it’s just asking questions and showing off “unfinished” levels.
making an alt was easily one of the best things ive done for myself as a creator and i fully reccomend it to others. it gave me a place to upload stuff i wasnt really happy with but still wanted out there and in the long run acted as a place for me to experiment and come up with new ideas.
0:27 don't underestimate the difference in taste between people! 0:44 really hoping for next year :) 8:53 seeing these comments was super interesting, this definitely changes how I see the level 9:35 I mean, people generally do like air decoration and readable gameplay. its not *just* a convention thing. If this thought process was happening in TMN's mind, its probably no more than subconscious. Beginning a level with a lot of mostly auto gp is not the cheapest way to get a rate, but he did it anyway, presumably because his priority was to make something he really thought was good- and worrying about whether it would be validated by others comes after the fact. I mean, if people want a rate that badly, there are plenty of simple formulas for them to copy (many creators do do this) 13:49 so true lmao, the build swap I did with him was a very weird experience. I mean, I'm sure its fun for him, but yeah not a fan personally 13:12 I like this section, but personally, while I find building challenges to be fun, theyre not gratifying. The need to enjoy yourself creating and the need to be fulfilled creatively are two different things. I've learned somewhat how to block out the perfectionist part of my mind and build really quickly when I want, but there's a feeling of emptiness afterward because I'm not proud of what I made, and it feels pointless. This is fine if you're deliberately just having fun (goofy megacollab with friends, a new challenge, whatever) but yeah. While I think its good to try those things I had to realize the my own standards were not so much an obstacle for my creating so much as theyre the entire point- but I've been cursed with strict ones, and there's nothing I can do about that. Not sure how others similar to me feel.
all that said, meeting your own standards is NOT the same as being perfectionist. the hard part of doing the first without being the second is knowing when you've hit the point of diminishing returns on something and you need to stop fussing over it so you can get other stuff done
@@Lumpfriend no i was more responding to the 0:44 timestamp message in the comment, when in reality i dont think defo should have won. His gp in my thought is janky as fuck and the deco style is minimalistic
ok and whether or not you think ov is deserving of being nominated has nothing to do with pocke's point about styles/categories, or with me saying (implicitly) that I hope there's a neodesign category next year. Nothing against your opinion but idk why you decided I or anyone else under this video should hear it
No matter if the level you’re creating is good or bad. What matters is that you’re having fun. Don’t do something that you don’t like. If you’re experiencing burnout, take a break. And most importantly, have fun playing GD in general.
this is an insanely important message that I am so glad you're bringing into the spotlight: in anything and everything creative that you do, never try to be the best. there is no "best". actually, there are just shy of 8 billion "bests". there is no objective pinnacle of music or painting or sculpture or cuisine or dance or gd levels, so trying to find that peak is entirely foolish. fantastic video. super glad to see more high-quality review content.
I still find it really ironic (maybe that's not the right word,) that tmn had wanted an epic rated level for years, could never get one, then releases this level and it gets epic
8:02 i always thought those werent online comments. I think theyre what TMNgaming thinks of his levels. Good vid tho. I think this level is still really cool tho
the idea that the level getting received positively but him not making another level is evidence that the negative comments aren't a major factor in TMN not enjoying creating anymore is pretty silly when humans have such a well documented negativity bias
Super great analysis, and I like these longer videos. You clearly put genuine thought into this, which I appreciate. You hit a lot of intriguing points, like how the target audience of the level is other creators, which I didn't realize myself. I also like how you even listed solutions to help make creating more enjoyable and relaxing, and I will certainly try some of them out.
a level you mightve missed is "THe LaCheLn n't" by KoEki & more, i highly suggest checking it out, ive not seen a level where the gameplay complements the deco (and theme) in such a good way (though ive not been playing for that long so thats might not say too much, still i really like the level)
This level is basically a definition of trapping yourself in standards and expectations. The execution is well made. But some of the parts are a bit out of place.
I really do like some aspects of WhyMe but it suffers from being so in your face with its message. It’s just a shame because I can see all the potential for a very good stage, just mucked up because it told you rather than showing you it’s message.
Inspirational. I have mixed opinions on a effect level I'm working on, and I worry if it won't get rated. This video boosted my confidence and yeah! (I don't know what to say anymore lol)
when this level released i felt like i was the only one who didnt agree with the message so i'm glad i'm not the only one. i feel like in whyme, tmn is just being deliberately unhappy instead of actually doing something to fix the issue which is frustrating
Glad you brought this up. I've realized through talking to many people and involving myself in many different things this past year and I can take control of my own mind, through rigorous effort. I don't think that "deliberately unhappy" is the correct phrase, because I definitely do not want to be unhappy, but sometimes it can feel like there's nothing that can be done, and it takes a lot of soul searching to realize that something can be. Thanks for the comment.
I feel like the critiques you give about his questions completely miss the point. These questions don't need to make sense as they are just a representation of his thoughts. Most of the time these thoughts are irrational but it is still worth showing. Answering these questions just isn't the point of asking them.
I feel like this actually misses pocke’s point - just because there’s diegetic justification for something being there doesn’t mean it’s interesting or useful to include that detail without thinking about what effect its inclusion has on the story you’re trying to tell.
@@itsbanky that operates under the assumption that the level is trying to tell a story in he first place. I see the level as a representation of the creators mental state when creating levels instead of a proper story
It’s worth asking why this creator chose *specifically* those thoughts and not others, though! When someone is claiming to show you the literal inside of their mind, a good question to ask is “what does this person want to tell me about themself by showing me these questions?” When you don’t do any thinking about the choices people make when they make art, you’re robbing yourself of the chance to learn more about art and the people who make it.
the level wasnt made to asnwer questions, and asking vulnerable people to answer them helps nothing. I understand wanting to answe them yourself, with your own opinions, but that was not the goal of the level. this whole review is just "why does the level not satisfy my needs for a conclusion." also, calling TMN's view of creating flawed is increadly self-sentered, considering anyone can call your views flawed with just as much evidance. This isnt a review of the level, its a review of TMN as a person.
If someone’s creative process is actively making them miserable, is it more productive to pass it off as just their way of creating that shouldn’t be interfered with, or should we have a discussion about ways to help them improve their process as to benefit the overall mental health of creators?
Wow awesome video
WOAH! ITS WULZY!
this video was amazing I agree
wow
for some reason this sounded really unenthusiastic xd
Wulzy Hi!
Really appreciate the coverage of this level, and I'd like to talk on a couple of your criticisms.
First, the GD Awards are very dumb haha. I think it definitely does become more of a popularity contest, and there are some creators that break through into the nomination phase or even win purely off of popularity.
Espionage is the better "story" based level, in my honest opinion. I think that WhyMe looks very good, and to this day I'm quite proud of what I've done. But I feel like Espionage from a quality standpoint is just the better level, but I think WhyMe won because of the content of the level. The story behind WhyMe is much more powerful than Espionage, despite any sort of other quality that Espionage may possess. So, from a purely emotional standpoint, WhyMe probably impacted more people and appealed to more people. But I also think in general that "Best Story" is a very specific and weird category, so maybe the content of the story can be weighted more in this case.
Next, you mentioned the hidden messages that show up, and thought that they seemed to not mean anything or not have enough other information in order to decipher them. I'll talk on those.
"Never Free" It doesn't mean anything. I admit it. I thought it looked cool. I could sit here and say that it means some generic message but it's not. I do a lot in this level that is supposed to be picked apart, and for the most part, I think if you notice something that you think has a hidden meaning, it probably does. But this message means nothing, and I just thought it looked cool.
"I've been cursed with knowledge." I can agree that this message was maybe not placed somewhere that makes sense, but I think that my creativity is something that overwhelms me. I always have GD ideas. I always have ideas for stuff outside of GD. So many ideas. And it can be hard when most of those ideas will never be a reality. In a perfect world, this level doesn't exist. Instead, I have a ton of cool levels from the ideas I put in here. So, basically, I have all these ideas, and not enough time or talent or effort to do them all, although this past year I've learned that I have control over my talent and my effort, at least to an extent.
"Not enough effort" This is simply me being weak, from what I've learned this past year. I can do more, but I was too mentally weak to do more back then. I think what you say about effort is interesting, because I actually do know a lot of levels that take a LONG time and are not that good (I won't name any specifically). But I don't try to correlate effort to quality here. Rather, I correlate effort to getting things done. More effort doesn't make WhyMe better, at least not directly. But more effort makes more of these ideas become a reality, I believe.
The rating system is completely arbitrary. It does not objectively measure the quality of my level.
It does, however, feel very good to have a level receive a lot of great feedback and it is something that I longed for for most of my GD career to have that breakout level that made me at least a somewhat established creator in the community. This thinking is obviously flawed, and I have reevaluated these ideas since. But there is a lot of pressure in the GD community to do well, especially once you have made yourself known. Soul Searching was rough because it got a lot of negative feedback, and it was really discouraging to me personally, since I thought the level was quite good (which once again, I know is objective but I still wanted to make something that could at least be considered in the top tier of current levels). I think a lot of what I put into WhyMe are things that I have since fixed, or at least have been trying to reevaluate, through pushing my mental and physical limits this past year.
The rating system sucksssss though. It reallyyyyy sucks. I hate it. Becoming a "famous" creator shouldn't be the goal of creating, but a lot of good creators do not get rewarded for their hard work and talent, and conversely, a lot of creators get rewarded for very copy and paste, rinse and repeat levels and it frustrates me. This is at no fault of the creators, of course, and I've had to realize this these past couple years. People create for whatever reason they want, and they are entitled to do so. Despite this, I just wish there was realistically a way to reward the creators that I believe deserve it more. But once again, this is objective.
Lastly, I'd like to talk about my creating mentality. I do not create GD levels anymore, nor will I make another one, at least I don't think I will. I think that I can use creating to do big things in the world, I truly do. WhyMe showed me that. WhyMe was such a good project for me because I realized that I can use my creativity to help people. I think the reason that I don't have fun making GD levels anymore is because I feel like I'm not making an impact unless I make something big and tackle a big problem. That's why I've been hard at work since the release of this level to take control of my mind and develop my other artistic skills, so that I can try to help people outside of the GD community.
I did make a response video to WhyMe, but I took it down. It was up for a few months, but I thought it was a little cringe haha. I'm working on a project right now, which you can look at details on by looking at my last community post on my channel. I really appreciate you diving into this level as deep as you did, and I think some of the flaws you highlighted in this level are fair, and today I would even agree with some of these flaws.
I'd love to talk more about this level or the state of creating in this game in general, so shoot a response here if you want. Despite my retirement in creating in this game, I still like to stay involved.
@TreyIsTheWay a new rating system and a different mindset for creators would help. imagine if people stepped into creating not to make "rate-worthy" levels, but make levels they are proud of. there would be way more passion projects and way less mushy 4-7 star levels and forgettable demon megacollabs. now imagine a rating system that maybe rewards more creative levels or maybe popularizes remarkable levels instead of the poor levels we made popular. these 2 propositions arent perfect, but they are a good step towards improvign the situation at hand.
Ngl, that’s one of the most moving levels (or even pieces of art) I’ve seen.
I can very much relate to the feelings you tried to show, and even if it’s not objectively good, it’s one of my favorite art thingys.
Also two more things:
1. Are you okay? (checked your channel and haven’t really seen any life (kinda worried (pls don’t judge)))
2. Your level is in a gd gauntlet, so hopefully it’ll help people change their mindset towards creating stuff
GD Awards is like a talk show. It has no meaning
The only thing I can say for this level is “show dont tell.”
Visual storytelling is very cool, text can take away much of the artistic side of levels. Everyones separate interpretation is what makes art so special and I understand the story that was attempted to be told but unfortunately levels that blatantly push their meaning just take away the majority of artistic value presented alongside it.
And yeah Mountain Climb should have won. I knew it would never win but nominating it was enough to make me happy :)
I.. kinda disagree? At its core, WhyMe is a narrative-based level, and does need writing to be expressed to an extent. The problem is not the level contains writing, it’s that the writings sucks. And maybe it “takes away the artistic side of the level” a little bit, but the main issue this video is highlighting is that the writing is just really toxic lol
“Show don’t tell” is a great rule for beginner writers, but when you’re more experienced becomes quite silly (e.g. In split path, Jayuff says everything in the most simple way possible, and it’s rlly powerful!!) Personally we don’t want to disregard text as bad just because it’s got a poor track record, as that mentality kills the possibility of really good narration based levels, which we haven’t seen much of yet >:3
@@branchesjade3638 I think you are 100% right but this level fails at it as well. I have yet to see a level with narration that feels like it truly improves the story, most of the time its just very in your face and while I am sure that it is possible, I just cant see it being viable for the vast majority of creators.
I truly cannot off the top of my head name a single level that takes itself seriously using text that is effective. Theres some great funny levels out there with it for sure though, just not the same realm of levels.
the props I will give to this level are in its introduction, I think that the text changing and glitching to have alternative meaning is fantastic, it almost in a way IS show dont tell, nothing is outright forcing a meaning onto you but it gives you the chance to look a little closer and notice these things. I just think that after this has initially been established the point was already made, visual progression could tell a much more powerful story than all the edgy words.
Those texts are not meant to be read carefully while playing by the way. They are just a simple but significant detail
Really nice video! I made Mountain Climb and I wasn’t expecting to be nominated at all so I was stoked! I knew I wasn’t going to win but the fact I was put on there especially since Im so unknown is super cool! But even so I was hoping for an Espionage win instead because yeah, WhyMe didn’t really seem to be much of a story level in my eyes and I have very similar perspectives about it as you do in the video. Creating isn’t supposed to be aggravating, it’s supposed to be a fun creative
i think the importance of ideas over polish can’t be overstated; building a level with a time constraint would certainly force you to rely on that principle. anyways good vid
Great ass vid. Love ur thought process
Thanks, after getting rate, i completely gave up on creating, like i've done everything i ever wanted. I achieved my goal. But the feeling of emptiness drive me crazy sometimes, like i want to continue, but have no power, as soon i open GD i feel sad, maybe it was a burnout, but this video motivated me to continue. Thank you
i feel like one of the things i liked most about whyme was that it didn't offer an answer. it presents a flawed, and frankly vile, perspective of the editor and creating. it offers no solutions, it offers no insight, and that makes it one of the best art pieces in the gd community for me. sure, i think the level's kind of shit. the story's told poorly, the writing is super surface-level, and the level's visual style is kind of bland. but life isn't glamorous, and i feel whyme doesn't try to make it look glamorous. i like art that calls to attention the messiness of life, even if there aren't any solutions. that's on us to figure out. unfortunately, whyme's reception kind of proves why... maybe the gd community isn't the best at coming up with solutions.
good video though
WHY ARE SO YOU GOOD AT EXPLAINING THINGS
completely agree (although I don't like the level quite as much as you seem to)
@@BlanketAddict i think i like the level a little bit on its own, but throw in all the people in the community who've looked completely surface-level and missed the point, and it dissatisfied me a lot. like i said the visuals arent stunning but they work, the "story" (text explaining the point, which is bad storytelling) is shit, etc. but as an art piece i like it a lot and think it hits exactly what it needed to... if only the community would take a minute to analyze it, but what do you expect from four dollar cube game community where every level is the same and nothing challenges anything shrug!
I think you completely missed a key point in the level: Ambition. Its quite obvious he wants to make something that he (and many others) can call his best. Whether its a personal best or the best level in the game, its an ambitious goal regardless. I dont know about you, but when I open a new level and I have the mindset of "this needs to be my new best", chances are that im not gonna build on it until I feel like I have the knowledge to visualize every idea, and be able to perfectly execute those ideas. And it gets frustrating very quickly because I want to start big, not small. Hence, the frustration of not feeling like im good enough. But thats just my interpretation, and my personal experience with this exact dilemna.
For me, creating is fun because its an art, a blank canvas, standards are individual, theres a million best creators and a million best levels. Tmn dosent realize this. Finding the objective in things and striving for the nonexistent goal will get you nowhere.
Very good video! My one issue is that I believe the part with all of the negative comments are actually introspective thoughts within TMNs mind. I think that this idea is supported by the extremes that some of the comments go to. I thought that having that text serve as a reflection of your own creation instead of comments from other people in the community helped enhance the narrative and make it more meaningful than it would have been under your explanation of that part
It seemed like pocke might've understood that these were TMN's thoughts, but didn't think TMN had any reason to think them, and considered them a problem of TMN's mindset. TMN likely knows the thoughts aren't rational, though is still unable to get them out of his mind. For me, whenever I try to beat something, I can't stop thinking that none is going to care if I do or find it impressive, though I also know if anyone else were to beat the level, it would undoubtedly be considered impressive.
Ironically those comments are now very real since it became a gauntlet level, which kinda haunting. What is the GD community* turning into with 2.2?
i'm not a creator myself (i've tried to make levels, but failed miserably) and the tips at the end of your video might get me to try creating again. this video is great in every way i can imagine.
finally someone famous criticizes ilrell for his flaws. everyone thinks i'm crazy because i think hes obnoxious about his perfectionism
You talk about things in this video that I've been trying to tell some of my creator friends for so long. Like, you can absolutely create without upholding to a standard. And its really hard to get some people to hear that.
i really love levels like this that go rogue and deviate against from what the community likes deliberately! the messages speaking how the creator feels in this level is really nice, and interesting
jesus christ this video just opened my eyes so hard, thanks pocke!!
5:27, when the “not enough effort” text pops up, i don’t think it’s supposed to reinforce the notion that effort is the most important part of creation. Rather, it’s a another example of the creator’s descructive thoughts. The level itself frames this idea as bad and unhealthy. I could be wrong, but it seems as if the level itself is an unreliable narrator.
My god, this topic is so depressing. Truly a great message told in the most painful way
I mean I really don’t understand this level.
If you are going “full time” on gd creating then you got to understand that you in the future are gonna be depressed and are gonna go insane like name any of the top 100 creators that legitimately make level for fun.
Also I feel like this level isn’t telling much of a story, it’s just asking questions and showing off “unfinished” levels.
making an alt was easily one of the best things ive done for myself as a creator and i fully reccomend it to others. it gave me a place to upload stuff i wasnt really happy with but still wanted out there and in the long run acted as a place for me to experiment and come up with new ideas.
Woah is that the hit game five night at Freddy!!
Good vid
Not enough effort refers to how his inner thoughts feel. It isn’t that he isn’t putting in enough effort he just feels like he is
0:27 don't underestimate the difference in taste between people!
0:44 really hoping for next year :)
8:53 seeing these comments was super interesting, this definitely changes how I see the level
9:35 I mean, people generally do like air decoration and readable gameplay. its not *just* a convention thing. If this thought process was happening in TMN's mind, its probably no more than subconscious. Beginning a level with a lot of mostly auto gp is not the cheapest way to get a rate, but he did it anyway, presumably because his priority was to make something he really thought was good- and worrying about whether it would be validated by others comes after the fact. I mean, if people want a rate that badly, there are plenty of simple formulas for them to copy (many creators do do this)
13:49 so true lmao, the build swap I did with him was a very weird experience. I mean, I'm sure its fun for him, but yeah not a fan personally
13:12 I like this section, but personally, while I find building challenges to be fun, theyre not gratifying. The need to enjoy yourself creating and the need to be fulfilled creatively are two different things. I've learned somewhat how to block out the perfectionist part of my mind and build really quickly when I want, but there's a feeling of emptiness afterward because I'm not proud of what I made, and it feels pointless. This is fine if you're deliberately just having fun (goofy megacollab with friends, a new challenge, whatever) but yeah. While I think its good to try those things I had to realize the my own standards were not so much an obstacle for my creating so much as theyre the entire point- but I've been cursed with strict ones, and there's nothing I can do about that. Not sure how others similar to me feel.
all that said, meeting your own standards is NOT the same as being perfectionist. the hard part of doing the first without being the second is knowing when you've hit the point of diminishing returns on something and you need to stop fussing over it so you can get other stuff done
defo sucks imo, his levels just dont look epic worthy and his gp is… no comment.
@@zeronil. what? did you respond to the wrong comment?
@@Lumpfriend no i was more responding to the 0:44 timestamp message in the comment, when in reality i dont think defo should have won. His gp in my thought is janky as fuck and the deco style is minimalistic
ok and whether or not you think ov is deserving of being nominated has nothing to do with pocke's point about styles/categories, or with me saying (implicitly) that I hope there's a neodesign category next year. Nothing against your opinion but idk why you decided I or anyone else under this video should hear it
sick video, i love watching this. also with your tips at the end i’m gonna try to finish my solo level
The rating system is completely arbitrary. It does not objectively measure the quality of my level.
No matter if the level you’re creating is good or bad. What matters is that you’re having fun.
Don’t do something that you don’t like. If you’re experiencing burnout, take a break.
And most importantly, have fun playing GD in general.
THIS IS GREAT ❤️
I'm so glad the artistic side of this game is developing.
this is an insanely important message that I am so glad you're bringing into the spotlight:
in anything and everything creative that you do, never try to be the best. there is no "best". actually, there are just shy of 8 billion "bests". there is no objective pinnacle of music or painting or sculpture or cuisine or dance or gd levels, so trying to find that peak is entirely foolish.
fantastic video. super glad to see more high-quality review content.
I still find it really ironic (maybe that's not the right word,) that tmn had wanted an epic rated level for years, could never get one, then releases this level and it gets epic
8:02 i always thought those werent online comments. I think theyre what TMNgaming thinks of his levels. Good vid tho. I think this level is still really cool tho
thank you so much for the creating tips thx thx thx
the idea that the level getting received positively but him not making another level is evidence that the negative comments aren't a major factor in TMN not enjoying creating anymore is pretty silly when humans have such a well documented negativity bias
What is the name of the level at 14:00 ? It seems really interesting.
say less
pocke slowly growing up as a content creator
You sound like ben Shapiro but slower speaking
This level shouldnt have been put into the portal gauntlet
This level literally gives me chills
Super great analysis, and I like these longer videos. You clearly put genuine thought into this, which I appreciate. You hit a lot of intriguing points, like how the target audience of the level is other creators, which I didn't realize myself. I also like how you even listed solutions to help make creating more enjoyable and relaxing, and I will certainly try some of them out.
truuuuuuuuuuuu
Tbh I think this level is carried by it's name and I'm not even joking
No it's not Dumb ASs it's the song
This is a certified motivation 100 epic rated video
i love this video so much pocke
a level you mightve missed is "THe LaCheLn n't" by KoEki & more, i highly suggest checking it out, ive not seen a level where the gameplay complements the deco (and theme) in such a good way (though ive not been playing for that long so thats might not say too much, still i really like the level)
This level is basically a definition of trapping yourself in standards and expectations. The execution is well made. But some of the parts are a bit out of place.
I really do like some aspects of WhyMe but it suffers from being so in your face with its message. It’s just a shame because I can see all the potential for a very good stage, just mucked up because it told you rather than showing you it’s message.
Amazing video! Although, I think that you should check out TMNs comment on viprins video of whyme if you haven’t yet.
This vid was so fun to watch. Cool to see you upload!
Inspirational. I have mixed opinions on a effect level I'm working on, and I worry if it won't get rated. This video boosted my confidence and yeah! (I don't know what to say anymore lol)
I love this series it's just completely your point of view, and you really say what you want to say. Very cool I like it a lot :)
Mountain climb slept on fr
(Great video btw, very in depth)
fantastic video!!!
Can you do a level review of killbot, want to see how it would happen
when this level released i felt like i was the only one who didnt agree with the message so i'm glad i'm not the only one. i feel like in whyme, tmn is just being deliberately unhappy instead of actually doing something to fix the issue which is frustrating
Glad you brought this up. I've realized through talking to many people and involving myself in many different things this past year and I can take control of my own mind, through rigorous effort. I don't think that "deliberately unhappy" is the correct phrase, because I definitely do not want to be unhappy, but sometimes it can feel like there's nothing that can be done, and it takes a lot of soul searching to realize that something can be. Thanks for the comment.
exactly like arb said, show don't tell
you are so based, one of my favorite videos ever.
Nice video!
Pocke your so underrated you deserve more recognition for these brilliant videos
Interesting insight.
Amazing video in every aspect, keep up the great work!
Loved it
Thanks for the end part of the video, it will help a lot
I feel like the critiques you give about his questions completely miss the point. These questions don't need to make sense as they are just a representation of his thoughts. Most of the time these thoughts are irrational but it is still worth showing. Answering these questions just isn't the point of asking them.
I feel like this actually misses pocke’s point - just because there’s diegetic justification for something being there doesn’t mean it’s interesting or useful to include that detail without thinking about what effect its inclusion has on the story you’re trying to tell.
@@itsbanky that operates under the assumption that the level is trying to tell a story in he first place. I see the level as a representation of the creators mental state when creating levels instead of a proper story
It’s worth asking why this creator chose *specifically* those thoughts and not others, though! When someone is claiming to show you the literal inside of their mind, a good question to ask is “what does this person want to tell me about themself by showing me these questions?” When you don’t do any thinking about the choices people make when they make art, you’re robbing yourself of the chance to learn more about art and the people who make it.
That is one great video
The subtitles are a nice touch
this video is amazing
Good video
ok b
Great vid
I can relate too much
Wow this video
great vid :)
the level wasnt made to asnwer questions, and asking vulnerable people to answer them helps nothing. I understand wanting to answe them yourself, with your own opinions, but that was not the goal of the level. this whole review is just "why does the level not satisfy my needs for a conclusion." also, calling TMN's view of creating flawed is increadly self-sentered, considering anyone can call your views flawed with just as much evidance. This isnt a review of the level, its a review of TMN as a person.
If someone’s creative process is actively making them miserable, is it more productive to pass it off as just their way of creating that shouldn’t be interfered with, or should we have a discussion about ways to help them improve their process as to benefit the overall mental health of creators?
Thanks for detailed review, really help to understand the overall level meaning!
imo overdefo is hot dogshit, most of his levels deserve at most a rate
This geometry dash be tweakin
13:28 i have no friends to create with that knows how to create