How I polished my indie magnet puzzle game (Developing 12)
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- Опубліковано 6 гру 2023
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Developing is an on-going UA-cam series, where I share the step-by-step process of making my first video game: Mind Over Magnet!
In this episode, I take the rough draft developing in the previous episode, and add bucket loads of polish.
=== Links ===
Composer contact form: forms.gle/GqPZWiCxrtvaY4bN7
=== Credits ===
Music provided by Epidemic Sound - www.epidemicsound.com/referra... (Referral Link)
=== Subtitles ===
Contribute translated subtitles - TBA - Ігри
If you scrapped any puzzles that you really liked just because they were too difficult, you might want to use them for optional "bonus puzzles" that are harder but that aren't necessary for progression. It's a tactic employed by wonderful puzzle games like Patrick's Parabox, Baba is You, and A Monster's Expedition, among many others
I was thinking of that too, personally I would call it Cut Content world but yours also works fine.
Yes, that’s a core method of puzzle game design, one i have also used as well. Stumpers are the ends of optional paths.
yeah there are plenty of scrapped pieces of content in games that still had potential to be used elsewhere
(like Bionis Shoulder from Xenoblade Chronicles)
@@treehann I like the idea of the optional paths ending in the most 'extravagant' puzzles with the hardest being second to last. Makes it feel more like a reward, also it can get frustrating when you've beaten 9 levels but just the last one is impossible. When it's the second to last, you feel like the challenge ramps up more but that you are managing it anyway, and then when you reach the last one and solve it relatively easily (despite it looking complex) it feels super gratifying.
Mind Over Magnet: The Lost Levels
The problem with the "stumper puzzle" I think, was that the space where you're meant to stow the magnet is too easy for the brain to subconsciously file away as "symmetry for artistic purposes, not part of the puzzle". You had the right idea with the "add some visual interest over there" plan, but you fumbled it by making the side with the button symmetrical to it, looping us back around to "symmetry for artistic purposes" issue.
It's the same principle as that experiment with the people dribbling basketballs and the guy in the gorilla suit. You've given the brain something to focus on that blinds it to things it labels "not important".
This is an interesting take; I'd love to hear more viewers' interpretations. Visual design does carry a lot of weight when it comes to interpretation.
On a similar line, my interpretation was actually that it's unclear that the button can be pressed a second time; it's not obviously a toggle. (In fact, when I paused the video to try to figure out the puzzle myself, I guessed that there was another mechanic that Mark hadn't yet disclosed. And when I saw the footage at 3:07 of the playester falling back down and hitting the button a second time, I figured it out instantly.)
I suspect that, had the button been an on/off switch, players would have figured it out almost immediately-again, an instance of a subconscious visual cue.
@@yowza9638 I feel like in your case there really isn't a problem: The first thing a player will do when they get stumped is just fumble around with the obvious puzzly-bits and see what happens, I think 99% of players will press the button again before they give up. That's really more of a flaw of searching for a solution based on a still screenshot of a puzzle rather than having your hands on it yourself, though.
That was immediately what I thought as well! I would 100% write the other side off as just a symmetrical part of the level.
Yeah absolutely, that part needed to be asymmetrical, the edge to place the magnet smaller with a little pedestal and id go as far as putting a magnet shape in the background to clearly signal what you're supposed to do, if it was meant to teach
Yeah, if it was a ditch instead of a bump, it would've been easier to figure out
I was actually commissioned to do art for a game with a similar concept, a puzzle-platformer featuring a magnetic robot... It never went anywhere, because somehow they thought that since I could make tilesets for their rooms, I would also be making the rooms themselves.... i.e. designing the entire game... Yep, doing freelance for amateur devs is always a fun time 😂
Mark has been industry-adjacent for long enough to know how game development works.
The rank amateur in his bedroom thinking he's Eric Barone or Toby Fox probably has no clue at all about how a traditional dev team divides responsibilities.
Oof. That's an _amateur_ dev to not know the difference between an artist and a level designer.
i was in a similar situation before. was only going to really make music for a game, but then they wanted me to learn unity and design levels and do ai pathfinding stuff and whatever else.. i get it was a small team with only really one main dev but im not a game dev i just make music lmho
Yikes
Just in advance, making sure everyone who sees @@anon_y_mousse's reply realizes it's bait, they just want to stir up conflict with people by pretending they didn't hear Mark explicitly say he was going to pay people for music.
This series has inspired me to continue learning game development and pursuing my dream. You are amazing!
I know these videos don't get as many views because of nane recognition but this is my favourite UA-cam series. So inspiring and informative in real time.
It has inspired me to watch his videos
Same to all of these comments, this video series actually got me out of tutorial hell and into actually doing stuff. Really helps that he shows all his mistakes so we can avoid doing the same
10:35 I was 99% sure that this was leading up to a sponsor slot.
Then when it wasn't one, I gained so much more respect for this channel
One of the few critics (or more analyst I guess) that talks the talk and now walks the walk :) nice job, dev life is not easy!
The one film Roger Ebert tried to make was a punchline for him for the rest of his days. Which makes what Mark's doing even more impressive.
So cool! The speech bubbles add so much personality and flair to the magnets. One more cool idea with them: if you have a puzzle where the player usually tries an obvious/common solution that won’t actually work for that puzzle, you could have Magnus do little emotes to acknowledge the action or toss out little quips. Would be a fun way to build out the magnet characters even more.
it sounds like a good idea until it ruins experimentation, which puzzle games are all about
@microdavid7098 I think you're misreading their comment. At least how I read it, the magnet would say something *after* you experiment, to acknowledge what you did. This (at least to me) would encourage experimentation, not discourage it. Unless I'm misunderstanding something
though like mark said it would still make sense to uses them sparingly so it wouldn't become obnoxious or too helpful
only if you spend x amount of time trying a solution that won't work, or maybe y number of attempts?
It’d be fun if there were reactions to unintended solutions!
Love that your small levels follow the same philosophy as Braid did, minimalist, focused levels focusing on only 1 or 2 puzzles
great video!
Just a small idea, maybe the magnet should only look at the player character when they get into a certain distance from him. that way it would make him even more lively and more reactive to the player
i agree, and probably add some more facial expressions in general. like, the magnet could react in some way when falling from a great height, or when it is attracted to another magnet... maybe, as time went on, the magnet would get more used to being tossed around, and react accordingly, like at first it was scared, and over time starts getting more excited about it... it feels like you could just continue adding stuff like that forever and just make the game so much more alive. but i don't know how hard it would be to implement, especially for such a small thing
I find all your videos to be easy to follow and pleasant to watch & listen: the topics are also always interesting, but you have fantastic presentation and exposition. Good luck for your game!
Thank you!
Visually, some rust spots on chains and hooks as well as algae, damage, falling drops and puddles on floor and walls would go a long way. The sewers still have a very clean and tech flair.
A shadow of a rat in the background running past every 90 seconds would be interesting.
"Leaving the level behind is a mechanic" is one of those concepts that just wrinkles my brain. It has that undesirable puzzle effect where it's so obvious and simple that in hindsight you don't just feel like it was obvious but you actually feel stupid for not having gotten it. It opened up a whole new game design need that clearly neither the players or you anticipated.
Multiplicative vs additive polish is some really solid advice for indie devs!
What a treasure this series has been...started watching the Unity-tutorial-not-tutorial and did the Flappy Bird clone, but it's just been so helpful to see someone follow through on something they care about. I'd recommend this to people who are trying to finish writing a book or literally anything at all. Thanks for documenting this process for us!
You mentioned the brick pattern in a wall, and I've got a screenshot from American Truck Simulator on my second screen at work that served as a perfect example; it's a brick street lined with brick buildings (in Hays, Kansas) and one reason the screenshot looks so good is that there's the same variation in brick coloration as there is in the real world. It's possibly the prettiest screenshot I've ever taken in that game...and you really got at why I love the picture as much as I do.
Very impressive progress! Polish truly is a magical step that takes games from great to awesome!
I can also confirm that, as someone who sucks at puzzle games, I had no idea how that one was solved.
One thing I hope to see from whatever composer you go with, is to have the music be adaptive to whether the magnets are turned on. Have it be more digitized/synthesized/whatever while on, then go back to normal when it's off. I think that would really crank up the "immersion" to an 11.
Never thought about the "record the video of your gameplay and swap sound effects in the video editor until it sound right", so simple yet so effective idea!
so proud of you, you talked the talk, now you walked the walk until you ended up straight up RUNNING.
A shame to see the composer contact form close so fast, but I'm guessing there were a lot of submissions. Nice video, best of luck with the game!
Apologies - hit the upload limit on Google Drive! Back now: forms.gle/EUssSFKDb113bUDy7
Ah, no worries! Thank you sincerely for letting me know! @@GMTK
I love the use of rule tiles for the wall background elements.
In my own game i ended up using the "Better Rule Tiles for Unity" plug-in. It gave me way more options and a lot of fun interactions between different tiles.
I don't know if it's still being developed on but i just wanted to mention it if others wanted more diversity in their tiles.
Otherwise great video
Really glad you're incorporating accessibility features into your game from the beginning. Excited for the games' release! :D
The story given is a good example of a skill that you wanted to teach, that you didn't KNOW you wanted to teach it.
These devlogs are simply fantastic , especially when it comes to learning the meta progression of game dev. Other devlogs might focus on mechanical implementation and such, but this devlog series is really a masterclass in how to make and organize any kind of game, including the difficulties you will find along the way! Simply fantastic!
Figure out the first puzzle trick right away ^^. It's awesome to see how different brains work and a nightmare for developers ^^
"simple background" is a BRILLIANT add.
I like the textboxes during gameplay idea! Although I recommend replacing the simple things like "ouch" with just a facial expression on the magnet.
Something I find fascinating is your approach of "Make the game first, art direction comes later." Largely because I'm making a game too- but I've been putting a bigger effort into trying to weave things like art direction, story, and game mechanics together into one.
So while your process of "make all the puzzles, then make the art direction" works for this kind of game, I have to wonder if there are different games/projects you could work on that might change that?
Or that's just me lol
Newbie game dev here. I guess a general direction is needed - like whether the game should make the player feel smart, frustrated or relaxing. This will affect both the mechanics and the art style of the game. Other than that, mechanics should come first as the game should be first and foremost fun. That's my two pence, though.
@@melian5018 Yeah I know, but what if you want something like, a story element or a feeling you want to convey, to be something gameplay at some point centers around? If you don't figure out that first, then how do you make the gameplay first? You can do some of it sure but, as your vision changes and as you progress and figure things out, you might find yourself going back to things and making changes.
Let's say you want to make a swamp area in a platformer. You might find ways to incorporate swamp elements into the platforming- toxic water, lots of trees in the environment... You can't always make the platforming elements first and then just reskin it to look like a swamp after- sometimes you need to think about other things first. Depending on what you're making, I can imagine there possibly being more back and forth in this regard unless you can somehow figure EVERYTHING out really early on- which can be hard because creativity isn't something you can always rush.
Which is why I find GMT's video here interesting. His development process very much fits the kind of game he's making, but I have to wonder what it would be like for him to work on a game with a different direction?
This feels like a classic case of bottom-up vs top-down design to me. Bottom-up being the GMTK approach of focusing on the fundamentals of gameplay, the mechanics, level design, etc... before adding in the aesthetic elements like art or story. Top-down is of course the opposite wherein a strong design element dictates the rest of the game like a story you want to tell or a visual style that everything is meant to be a reflection of. It sounds like you are heading towards a more middle road, with perhaps a bias for top-down. The benefit of either approach is it provides strong core pillars to design around that is immensely helpful in creating a cohesive synergistic experience, but different games call for different approaches. I almost exclusively prefer top-down for visual novels for instance. Most games in my experience benefit from a bottom-up approach because that's putting first the element that is unique to the medium. If you want to tell a story, it doesn't *have* to be through a game, but if you want an experience where people can create unique builds through skill point allocation, that's kinda hard to make into a song or a novella. I find most people intuitively fall into either a mixed approach or a top-down approach, but I would highly recommend experimenting with some bottom-up design and seeing where it leads.
It's one of the classic approaches. A lot of mainline Nintendo games are purposely made with minimal visuals at first, like just moving boxes and basic shapes and such, to make sure the gameplay is fun on its own. Even Splatoon, a game that seems like it'd be 90% visual and seems to have the mechanics and visuals joined at the hip, was first just gray boxes moving through empty backgrounds to make sure that movement and shooting were fun on its own.
I feel like whatever works, works but generally even if you have a strong narrative concept or mood you wish to convey, unless you know your mechanics and how they'll work to some extent first, you'll have a hell of a time generally and not in the good way. Depends though on the type of game. If you were doing something like Journey, sure start with concept art and getting the atmosphere you have in mind done out but even then, you should still start gameplay in a blank space with the bare minimum of what you need, greybox and just pad it out as you go.
It's been so satisfying seeing this project come together over the past few installments of your video log. The polished World 1 looks brilliant - well done Mark!
DAMN. I actually said that out loud a few times as you explained how you used video editing techniques to nail sound effects. That's something a regular game dev wouldn't think of. God damn brilliant.
Congrats Mark!! It has seriously been fun to watch your game dev journey along side my own! I'm excited for when this game releases next year!
finally a video on how to localize your game into the polish language
Looking good! The high contrast between background and foreground is a classic trick that you've done really well!
Your videos have legitimately been so incredibly helpful
*simply leaving this comment and liking the video so UA-cam 100% doesn’t forget I was here so I can watch when I get home*
crazy the difference that door opening sound effect makes!
The shadow and sound effects tips are worth watching the video alone!
Even if I miss what I considered this series’ main theme at the start of every episode, the change in the intro music really makes you feel the positive drive and energy to reach the finish line… you’ve got this, Mark!
9:30 companion cube Lmao, cute!!
This is such a cool watch!
I will say I'm always nervous when indie devs try to add a Wheetley or Glados type talking character to their puzzle games.
Test the writing a lot. Make sure you give those magnets some real character/personality so they don't feel too annoying or flat.
Look to the level of Celeste where you carry Theo around in a Crystal. They did a great job with that. Especially making sure the character doesn't repeat the dialogue if you have to restart the room.
This was a great video topic! Loved seeing the steps and thought process for things like background layers, how to make sure the sounds match animation, and the revamp of the menu (well worth the effort, it looks polished!)
I mean we can all agree the guy is very talented but it’s that glorious hair that really makes you believe in this project’s creator!
Some of the concepts around multiplicative polish have been really helpful for me to apply to other SaaS products my startup is building. Thank you so much for this series, amazing to see your passion shine through and incredibly useful for good UI tricks to make a platform engaging in general
I really respect that you chose to make the music comission paid, rather than using your reach to get someone to do it for free
The highlights to help the player solve the puzzle just gave me an idea for my game, thanks mark. Love your videos I always learn something everytime. Will play this on release for sure.
I'm super impressed with the progress you've made on this game so far, Mark! It's really inspiring to see how far you've come on this project since you first began, and it's really motivated me to get back into more game dev. A buddy and I are hoping to make a small project over the next few months before we're busy with school again (Australia holidays are long) and these videos have been really helpful for getting me into the mindset for it. Thanks for uploading your progress man, it's fantastic to watch!
It’s amazing how many little bits and pieces have to come together to get a fun and playable game. Looking forward to your episode on story.
So happy for you Mark! Can't wait to play
this channel and a couple other devs i follow on youtube inspired me to quit grad school and commit myself to making games and doing what i love. i'll definitely be referring back to these videos as i get started. it's not my first time making a game, but it's the first time i'm making something i actually plan anybody outside of my classroom to see. good luck and good work on magnet game!
The project has been amazing, it's so good to see you're having so much fun with all this!
This no holds barred the best youtube series I have ever watched. Honest, well produced, fun, and (obviously) not rushed. Huge huge props ❤
Don't worry about all the bumps in your ride to game deving. This is how it actually is. Like the time I made all of my 20 characters twice the height so you could see them better and then lost all my art work cos I put it on the wrong external hardrive. Ugh! The point is you've arrived and the end is in sight so congratualtions on lasting the course. One last push and you will have your first finished game, and that will be a huge achievement! 🤩
Man it’s so great when you have those moments in game developing where you think “Wow, that just worked, easily, and wasn’t painful!” :D
This whole project is seriously so impressive, and inspiring! It’s a joy watching you figure this all out in real time, and get a look at what it takes to build a game. Thank you SO MUCH for this series and sticking with this project - it’s one of the few things on UA-cam I always click immediately!
You delve deep, then come back to explain the journey and things you've learnt. It's just so awesome and inspiring!
No way me and the little magnet guy share names. I'm gonna have to play it now.
That ending when he fell was glorious.
Very cool, it's always interesting to see you making progress.
"The last 10% is the last 90%" - Derek Yu.
Hang in there Mark, this is looking really excellent!
I don’t think you’ll ever know how much this series has done for aspiring game devs like me. Incredible work Mark
Also, would be cool to have a level set in factory where you have to figure out a way to transport those nuts and bolts on the floor to some machine utilizing a system of magnets and polarities. Timing out when you bring them up to the ceiling and then dropping in a bowl or conveyor belt. Maybe there’s a machine that melts down metal?? Then you could have some crazy mechanics using liquid metal and molds of different things?? SO MANY OPTIONS
9:15 that was pure genius. I loved that!
This is actually coming along pretty nicely. I'm impressed with how much you've learned
When I first saw this game years back when you started this project I said to myself "this looks cute but I'll probably give it a pass, puzzle games aren't really my thing" but as I watch more and more of these videos I actually start to get really excited thinking about playing this myself. Specifically that one puzzle a lot of playtesters got stumped on which stumped me too. And now you're outsourcing the music? I honestly can't wait to see who you pick, I have to imagine some actual legendary composers are going to hit you up and I'm excited to play through the game to listen.
Keep at it, this is looking really good so far!
Mark, you're an inspiring human being. Someday I'll be as brave as you and just make a game. You just are doing it! That's genuinely incredible and motivating. Thanks for all of this, and please keep doing what compels you.
Mark that is so beautiful. I will be honest, this is my favourite part of the process.
Watching this after all the other hardships reminds me of blasting through the last level of Celeste
Very satisfying, it's genuinely awesome to see your progress in this
Glad to hear this month went well for you. Great news on the hint feature, this is something more puzzle games are adding and I'm loving it.
Great episode (again)! Thanks for all the inspiration. It's very cool that you are looking for music from the community. Good luck on the rest of the polish :)
Loved to see how excited and happy you were in this one. 😊
Really neat shadow trick! Just implemented it and made it move depending on a light source. Thanks for your awesome videos!
Man this is looking soooo good. Nice work Mark. Cant wait to buy it. 😀
Here's an alternative solution to the level's solution talked about in the beginning of the video. All you had to do, was put the spawn place of the magnet on the other side. The player would've hit the button, turned the field on, grabbed the magnet from the right, and immediately got to the exit instead of the key. Then all they had to do was connect that "accidental" part with intention.
That's not bad! I'll experiment with that
It's always a good day when Mark uploads - especially this Developing series! I always really look forward to seeing the progress that's been made and I'm definitely gonna have to try the full game.
Love this channel can't believe went from watching insightful video game mechanic videos to an actual video game being made so cool
That sound thing is genius! I do that for tiktok videos already and I still didn't think of that!
I've always wanted to make a game but felt my ADHD would make me actually getting as far as you have impossible on my own. So when you mentioned sometime last year that you were diagnosed with ADHD, it's really inspired a belief in myself.
Not officially diagnosed - just a hunch! I have all the hallmarks like hyper-focus (which has been very useful for game dev!)
@@GMTK Speaking as someone who had a hunch for over a decade before seeking a diagnosis, if you're still hunchin' about it then chances are...
absolutely love these devlogs!
I just wanna say the track you had playing in this video feels like it would fit the vibe of your game perfectly. I was really digging that groove as the patreon credits rolled!
Man I am so dang excited to see this hit the finish line. Your storytelling through this journey has taught me very much about how to authentically build an audience, and following your learning experiences through it has been an absolute joy. I hope you find as much success with your game as you have with your channel! I'll definitely be buying a copy or three.
The Premier to test the sound idea was genius
Seeing the clearly badly, on paper, handdrawn menu icons, I low-key would love an optional texture pack where everything is badly handdrawn. Unlocked after finishing the game, just optional.
It adds a certain character, a vibe to it.
It would probably be too much work, but man it would be funny
congrats. cant believe i could not see the solution to that puzzle. I think its just because experienced players zero in on all the interactive elements in the level and only think using those and the floor on the right side of the screen is not an interactive element, looks like null space, a place that just exists because it makes the level symmetrical. Would be cute if you had the magnet WANT to go there for some reason cause he saw something he liked and that way you force the player to go there and thus it makes that room "exist" in the players mind. I think actually thats a more creative solution than what you did but the important thing is that you solved the problem.
Fascinating to see how all the bits and pieces are coming together, a how some little tweaks can add so much shine.
Can't wait to see how those giraffes you promised will turn out.
Love how you break down complexity to simple parts in this video.
It's funny to see how that simple magnet puzzle needed an intro stage, but to be fair it wasn't also obvious to me either at first glance.
I'm going to wait for the episode of "I deleted the game" already knowing the twist of the miracle back up on a friend's house.
Really impressed by your work, keep it up. I love how you manage to create better systems for working rather than just sticking with something that isn't working. Like your new way of testing sound design! I have a tendency to just keep doing the same thing even if its not working very well, as long as its technically making some progress however slow.
thats great polishing! good work, thanks for this vid
i looooove your videos! they helped me start my developing career and im now working on a game with jetpacks
I watched now the whole series.j
And i really hope you keep motivated to finish the game! Looking forward to play it👍
I love these little details! The nuts and bolts being magnetic is such a nice touch :O
This is looking so cool and watching your progress has been great! I really like the mask trick you used for adding the shadows, and the idea of adding the sounds in Premiere is a fantastic shortcut. Keep up the amazing work!
Mark, it's been a pleasure to see you grow your wings as a game developer. Thanks for taking us on this wonderful flight - turbulence, failures, and successes all!
Dude this looks awesome!! Keep it up man!!
Love this stuff. Keep going man!!
Love the little addition of Companion Cubes at 9:35 - nice little tribute to your inspirations :-)
Wow great progress ! Awesome polish, that will end up being something nice !
I like how these videos feel more genuine and personal to match how this devlog is a personal journey of yours.
Really good progress. Backgrounds are terrific.
Thanks for sharing, especially the SFX design trick.
Congrats Mark! I'm looking forward to it.