People Make Games

Patreon Show December 2018 - A little trip up to London

Hello patrons!

Anni and I needed to pop up to London to film something outside the palace (you'll see why in a future episode) and we also wanted to check in on the new V&A exhibition on video games.

On top of that, we've recently purchased a camera gimbal, allowing us to record things on the fly a little easier without mega shaky cam. This is exciting for us, so this month's Patreon Show is mostly just an excuse to play around with that.

Hope you're all doing well. Don't forge...

NEW EPISODE: How Neopets was sold to Scientologists

Hello patrons!

So, erm, who remembers Neopets?

If you were a part of that community back in the early 2000s, you may be surprised to hear that it was owned by a group of very devout Scientologists.

To find out what this meant for the site itself I met up with its original creators and talked to them about the moment they realised who they'd just sold their company to.

Oh and there's also an awkward phone call with the Church itself, which you might enjoy.

Thank you so m...

People Mail Gifts 2018

Hello everyone!

This is just a quick reminder that there's one week left to sign up to our PMG Secret Santa over on our Discord server. If you do sign up, you'll be assigned another patron to send a gift to next month, up to a value of £15, and somebody will do the same for you. It's nice!

If you're not a part of that community already, you'll just need to link a Discord profile to your Patreon account (this is done via your account settings on the Patreon site) and you should receive a...

Patreon Show November 2018 - Here are some YouTube channels that we like

Hey Patrons,

We're trying to move the Patreon Show to the first half of each month, as the second can get pretty hectic for us at the moment. So here we are!

In this month's show, Anni and I introduce each other (and you) to some YouTube channels that we really like. We've focused mostly on non-games stuff to help offer a little more variety and show some of the other places we look for inspiration with PMG.

If you're after direct links to the channels we mention, check the YouTube...

Behind-the-scenes: Catching up with Derek

Now that our 'Getting into the games industry' episode has been up for just over a week, we caught up with Derek to ask him what he thought about our telling of his story.

We also have some questions from patrons like you, including the big one: after all that's happened, does Derek still want to work in video games? If not, what's next for him?

Update to the $20 rewards

Hello,

We are making changes to the $20 tier. The custom animation part is staying exactly the same because so far we have had a lot of fun working with you all on those bits.

The backgrounds are something that didn’t work out quite as we had planned, I felt constrained by the specific topic of each episode and didn’t always feel happy with the finished product. We want to reassure you that it hasn’t gone unnoticed that we haven’t uploaded any new backgrounds in a wh...

Catching up with Derek - ask him your questions!

Hey behind-the-scenes patrons.

If you've watched latest episode you'll know it tells the story of Derek Wilks, an enthusiastic cinematic artist who lands his dream job in the games industry, only to lose it within three months as almost everyone at Telltale Games is fired without warning.

I'm going to be chatting with him later this week to see what he made of our video and the reaction it's received, as well as finding out what he's up to now. We'll be uploading this exclusively for BTS...

NEW EPISODE: Getting into the games industry

Given that we're called People Make Games, it only felt right to tell this particular story from a real person's perspective.

Thanks again to Derek Wilks for sharing his story.

Derek's YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2yrVhiG

Contact Derek: deremixcreative@gmail.com

Chris has a go at sound effects

Our next episode (out on Tuesday!) has a lot more animation than you'll have seen before. We wanted to compliment this work with some appropriate sound effects.

Could we have found them online? Yes.

Would that have been as fun for Chris? No.

The Red Dead game we almost ended up with

VIDEO URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS3Ml8-OPAc

Ahead of the release of Red Dead Redemption 2, we take a look back at where the series actually began, before even Rockstar Games was involved.

We almost played a very different kind of cowboy game.

Patreon Show September 2018 - Meet Peggy the dog

Hello!

We've been thinking about our Patreon Show quite a bit over the last few weeks and have decided to try and have a bit more fun with it. 

This month's is much snappier than usual (clocking in at just over 5 minutes, if you can believe it) and we think it's way more entertaining to watch as a result.

It's also less to do with our work and a little more of a window into our lives, I suppose. We like the idea of using this show to talk about the things we really care about,...

Anni-mation: Having a nice time with Spider-Man

Hello!

We're currently working hard on the (surprisingly topical) next episode which you can expect at the end of the month, but in the meantime, Anni wanted to make something fun for you to look at.

We've been playing a bunch of Spider-Man recently and she thought that might be a nice topic to mess around with. Enjoy :)

Patreon Show August 2018 - How we Anni-mate

We're a few days late on the Patreon Show for August, but it's been a big ol' month at PMG.

As you may have heard, we now have a full-time illustrator/animator on the team, which is BRILLIANT. She joins me in this month's update to talk about how her job actually works.

How an E3 Conference gets made

YOUTUBE URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cDM4qN_rTU

It's the biggest show in the video games calendar each year, but how does it actually come together?

We speak to the team behind Ubisoft's E3 conference about pandas, leaks and hot mics.

People Make Games just got bigger!

Hey, it’s Chris here off of People Make Games. We’ve got some pretty massive news to share today: the team has now officially doubled in size! Please give a warm welcome to Anni Sayers, PMG’s full-time illustrator and animator.

You’ll have seen Anni’s work already in each of the three episodes we’ve published (as well as all of the artwork on this Patreon page), but up until now she’s needed to work on this project around her other job as a designer at Gamer Netw...

Behind the scenes at Creative Assembly

So, we visited the developers of Total War, Creative Assembly, ahead of putting together our Time Commanders episode.

Whilst we were there we filmed a great interview and shot some lovely b-roll and then... used almost none of it in the final piece. Why's that?

Patreon Show (July 2018) - Chris calls his Dad

Hello again! We've tried to do a little more with the Patreon Show this month, as we felt the first ended up being a little static. Let us know what you think.

And don't say mean things about my dad. 

YOUTUBE LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVsc4LnLdIY

The TV Show that didn't want you to know it was a Video Game

YOUTUBE LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b61uwK2Bwps

Listen, this episode was always going to happen. In many ways, it's a blessing that I've got it out of my system so soon.

Today we're talking about an exceptionally niche TV show that's very close to my heart: Time Commanders. Watching this as a kid was what got me into strategy games in the first place. I loved it. I still do love...

Star Fox wallpapers

Hello!

Here are the mobile and desktop illustrations based on the most recent episode about Star Fox. 

Also wanted to say a big thanks to Jake who came up with the custom illustration in that episode. Animating Gundam shooting down the Arwing was a nice nod to Japanese sci-fi. The level of enthusiasm for coming up with ideas for the custom illustration always really cheers me up :) So thanks!

2018-07-19 15:18:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Chris is doing a podcast!

Those of you familiar with Cool Ghosts (a very pink video games website headed up by Matt Lees and Quintin Smith), may remember that I used to be a semi-regular guest on their podcast, Daft Souls.

Well, like all good video games podcasts, it eventually stopped being recorded. 

It's time to bring it back! This time around with myself, Matt Lees and Keza MacDonald off of the Guardian, as the show's regular co-hosts.

...

The British teenagers who taught Nintendo how to make Star Fox

YOUTUBE LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to4Ekb0kXiE

So this episode is a little different to our first one! Whereas last time around we looked into a niche PC title that would end up leading the way on Steam, here we wanted to go after one of the classics.

Developed in the early 90s by Nintendo in Kyoto, Japan, Star Fox is remembered fondly for its experimental game...

Custom illustration - Rag Doll Kung Fu

Wallpapers

Hey, here is the illustration based on the first episode about Rag Doll Kung Fu! I have done one for mobile dimensions and one for desktop dimensions (you should find them attached to this post). I have tried to capture the jumbled up madness that happens in the game with lots of limbs flying around :) 

Anni-mation

Just an update on the animation side of things. Although I had limited time, because I am still working full-time outsi...

Patreon Show - June 2018

Welcome to our very first Patreon Show!

We take a look back at the launch of People Make Games, our very first episode and pick out some interesting comments from YOU.

Have a question for next month's update? Feel free to leave it in the comments.

YOUTUBE LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2CUAd7nZ84& 

Behind-the-scenes: Interview with Mark Healey

I spoke to a few different people while researching our first episode, but of course, one of those interviews was far more important than the rest.

You'll have seen clips from this already in our main video, but here's (almost) the full conversation I had with Mark Healey, the creator of Rag Doll Kung Fu and the co-founder of Media Molecule.

This interview contains some swearing and quite a lot of being in the right place at the right time. Enjoy.

YOUTUBE LINK: 2018-06-11 13:00:22 +0000 UTC View Post

Behind-the-scenes: Chris plays Rag Doll Kung Fu

We've got a couple of behind-the-scenes bits from our first episode, including this: a let's play of the incredibly bizarre Rag Doll Kung Fu.

This was recorded a couple of weeks before the main video went live as I was capturing gameplay to use in the final edit. You can hear me mulling over some of the thoughts that would end up in the script as I'm playing, as well as becoming increasingly uncomfortable during the live action cutscenes. Enjoy!

Over the next few days we'll also be uploa...

The first non-Valve game on Steam

YOUTUBE LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ETzoaXUgmI

Alright then, here we are. Our first episode!

We thought a lot about the title for this video and exactly how much to give away about the BIZARRE story we have to tell you. In the end, we decided to keep it punchy and then let you enjoy a few surprises once you begin watching the video itself. I don't even want to ...

Custom illustration/animation

Hello! I am Anni and I do the animation/illustration/graphics work for PMG. Thank you so much for supporting us and being part of this tier. I am really looking forward to working with you!

Before each episode I am going to randomly pick someone from this tier to be the chosen custom illustration/animation. I will do that by emailing you and giving a brief insight into what the episode is about and have a conversation about something cool you’d like to see in it. Don’t worry if you can’t...

Hello, is this thing turned on?

Wow. This has been a wild couple of days.

Exactly 48 hours ago we launched the Patreon for People Make Games and things have gone so much better than we’d even dared to hope. The first stretch goal has been hit, meaning I can work on this project full-time without worrying about needing to pursue other work to help pay the bills.

Thank you for your incredible support. Now it’s over to us to ensure we earn it!

So what am I up to?

As I’ve gone straight fr...