Mark's Month - February 2025

I can't spell Februrary as it turns out. Nope. Did it again! Every time I type that I have to correct the spelling. How many Februaries have I seen? Too many!

Anyway. Hello. It's me, Mark.

What I made

I somehow released three videos in February, despite having a horrible cold that knocked me out for a week. I guess the improvements to my video-making process are really working out!

So this month I finally finished up Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. And I enjoyed it - but, as I got towards the end of the adventure I just got more and more frustrated with the UI. To the point where I said, possibly even out loud, "surely there was a better way to make this menu?" Which inspired me to make this video.

It was actually really fun to make - possibly one of my favourite videos to produce. The turnaround time was also very fast: it went from vague idea to published video in one week flat.

And I think it really goes to show the value of making Mind Over Magnet. Now that I am a real game developer (still feels weird to say...), I can bring in my experience to make videos that go beyond surface level critique, and can introduce actual solutions.

Which is the whole point behind this new series - Game Dev 101.

I kind of think of it as "Developing" (my series about making Mind Over Magnet), but with hindsight.

I mean, throughout the development of MOM I tried to talk about more general game development topics as I went - like prototyping, playtesting, scope, and so on. But it was hard to do! For one thing, it was hard enough to make the game and make a devlog about it - I didn't have the time to also dive deep into the indie game production cycle.

But also, it just helps to have that hindsight. To be on the other side and talk about what went right, what went wrong, and so on.

This is the first episode, on ideas. And there will be about 5 or 6 more episodes on topics like prototyping, planning, production, and release. Each one will have memories of making MOM, stories from other games, and expert guest interviews to provide additional context.

And then finally, on the same day as I released that video... WB Games shut down Monolith.

I haven't really said anything about the whirlwind spate of layoffs and studio closures. I like to provide a mostly positive spin on GMTK. And I don't really do industry analysis - I just try to focus on making cool games. But this one was too much. I've long thought that Monolith Productions is an underrated gem of a developer. Games like FEAR and Shadow of Mordor had some serious impressive tech behind them. And games like Condemned and NOLF had a fantastic sense of style.

So I decided to make a quick one-day video about the studio. I wrote down some thoughts on their five best games. I played a bit of Condemned, Blood, and FEAR to get footage. (I already had some Mordor footage from my Nemesis System video, and for NOLF I used a playthrough video from YouTube). And then edited it together.

I've been working a lot on improving my video production. Things like having a better storage system for footage for quicker access. Making it easier to process and edit my voice. Using templates and systems to produce motion graphics faster. And so on. And that's what allows me to make videos like this in such a timely fashion.

What's next

It's now March, and so the big event will be the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. I'm basically just planning to hang out, meet devs and GMTK fans, and have a nice time in the sunshine.

However, I will also be bringing my upcoming game. If you didn't see, I'm hard at work on a word game. A sort of mash up of Bookworm Adventures and Balatro. It's coming along nicely and I'm looking forward to showing it to people at GDC. So I'll be spending March working on the game.

I also have a talk coming up in London. And there's a Steam sale coming soon - so expect to see Mind Over Magnet on the cheap!

What I've been up to

February (got it right that time!) was just a complete wash, sadly. I got a cold in the first week. In fact, as soon as I published the Zelda video I started to feel rough and went downhill from there! And that lingered for most of the month. So I basically used my only remaining energy to work on videos.

In terms of games - I spoke about these in the Digest. But for me, my favourite game of Februrary (nope!) was a cute little indie called Guns of Fury. Basically a mash-up of Metal Slug and Metroid. A chunky retro run'n'gun game, but with a sprawling interconnected world of abilities, upgrades, and secrets. It's nothing too special but I just really enjoyed it.

I spent a lot more time watching movies, though. Some favourites include Anora - the new (Oscar-winning!) Sean Baker flick that turns from romantic drama to screwball comedy at the drop of a hat. Better Man, which is the Robbie Williams monkey movie and is so much better than it had any right to be. Nickel Boys is a powerful first-person drama. And Presence is also a first-person movie! This one's a horror film and I really liked it.

Anyhoo - the sun's coming out, the temperature is rising, I'm feeling good, and I'm looking forward to a fun spring! Speak soon

Mark