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I did a talk! (Patreon)

Published:
2016-11-04 15:25:59
Imported:
2026-06

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Hey everyone. 

Today I went to the University... Arts...London something. A university in London to give a talk about my Boss Keys research.

I guess the idea was to show the students how looking at and analysing games can help them be better game / level designers. 

It was fun! There was only a small group of students but I talked to them about different types of level design in games, what Zelda does, and shared more on Nintendo's formula.

I've attached the slides as a PDF if you'd like to take a look. It's just pics but if you want clarification on what I said when showing a particular slide please leave a comment.

The class wasn't recorded but I know that what i said will be showing up in Boss Key episodes soon. I'm playing Twilight Princess at the moment and pleased to share that some of the dungeons are terrific. 

I also just received a NES Mini through Pocket Gamer which will be perfect for the Zelda 1 and 2 episodes. 

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Comments

Oskar van Velden

Dude, that PDF is so interesting. You write that it's just pics -but you can (almost) see what you wanted to tell/show them. Especially the part where you build a dungeon together and the though process behind that intrigued me. Would love to see some more into depth video/post about that. Where you construct a dungeon using that awesome diagram-tool-schema you invented and tell why certain levels work and some don't

Catherine

I'm sure it'll be the first of many talks you'll end up giving :) Also would love to know what you said about Alien: Isolation! Or what you were thinking about with the question mark

Game Maker's Toolkit (GMTK)

Haha - I heard that Alien Isolation has a sorta mini Metroidvania structure but i'm too scared to play more than 30 mins so I dunno :P

Catherine

Haha that's what we were going for, you can backtrack through lots of the game with your upgraded tools to try and find hidden areas here and there within it's semi hub based design. You should play more though, would be great to hear what you thought!

Matthew Wilmsmeyer

I would LOVE to watch you make a dungeon from scratch. My friend and I have been discussing doing that for a fun project at some point and your Boss Keys layout structure really helped, so I think a fun "extra episode" might be something like using all you've learned from Boss Keys to create a dungeon from scratch.

Game Maker's Toolkit (GMTK)

It's something i've thought about but i'm not sure how. Maybe something like Game Maker, or perhaps a level editor like Portal or whatever

Nick Toumpelis

Hey Mark! I have been studying game design for a while now, reading Jesse Schell's "The Art of Game Design: a book of lenses" and watching your videos. What other studying material would you recommend? Maybe make a list if you have time?

Game Maker's Toolkit (GMTK)

Hey! I haven't really done anything like that... yet. I tried to read Jesse's book but I was on a plane and i think i fell asleep - not the book's fault, i stress! for the most part, i get my stuff from the games themselves and interviews / GDC talks from the devs. my answer whenever someone asks about books, though, is derek yu's spelunky book. such a fantastic series of insights that really take you through his thought process. a great read

Fermenter Games

Thanks for this! I'm curious about what you might've been saying in those last conclusion-y slides. (You always seem to say the right things at the end of a video to make the "lessons" stick.) Would you mind sharing?

Game Maker's Toolkit (GMTK)

well because this one was for students, the conclusion was about the treasure trove of secrets that can be found in old games, the ability to use video games as text books, and how turning these dungeons into graphs really helped my understanding of them. as for the conclusion to zelda dungeon design itself - well, i don't know yet :P

Cleo Saulnier

Yeah, the build your dungeon part was really cool.

Kuri Making Games

Do you often travel to Universities and give talks? At Gotland Game Conference the teachers book people from all over the game industry to give talks and be judges for the students' final projects. 2 years ago we have Superbunnyhop over, so I think there would be no problem getting you in too.

Game Maker's Toolkit (GMTK)

This is the first talk i've given, but i helped at a game jam at the same university. I'm certainly interested in more opportunities - just gotta balance it with actually getting videos done :P so i wouldn't object if you wanted to suggest me as a possible speaker in the new year!

Kuri Making Games

I'll talk to the teachers about it then! They are fans of your work too. It was through them I found your channel in the first place. ^^

Dan Root

Really interesting! I like the doodles, I bet this was a really fun talk to do!

Matt Hauke

Hey Mark, are these talks public? I'm not too far from UAL campuses and I'd love to attend one in the future if they're public or happening again

Game Maker's Toolkit (GMTK)

Hey - sadly not, they're just for the students. I'm sure i'll do other talks at other venues in the new year :)