![Itorah - Almost a true gem [Game Review] @1upIndie](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OhKC4HLtOBw/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded January 2023 | Updated September 2026, 12 hours ago
Itorah is a beautiful metroidvania made by the german developer GRIMBART TALES. This game was given to me for reviewing, but all opinions are mine nor do I have any association with the developer or publisher.
Story: You explore as the last human on earth an beautifully crafted world in a central america world style which is being besieged by blight.
Graphics/sound: The game speaks for itself, beautiful labor of love has been woven into this game. Graphics, vfx and animations are top notch! Sound and music is on a high ambience level and was not remarkable but a good overall background noise.
Gameplay: You do what you always do in metroidvanias, you go to a level collect currencies, explore the map, get a new ability/gadget and beat the boss. Then you enter a new area and do the same here. The game is a bit too fair to the player so you will have an easy time with one low hitting enemies and competent platforming sections aswell as simple puzzles.
Why is game is not among the best of the platformers/metroidvanias: There are virtually 3 collectible currencies that enlarge the health, stamina pool or further the healing capacities, which is bare bones. There are no unique items, no equippables, no side quests, no secret areas or bosses. This experience is very linear which no backtracking, no teleporting and no tempting the player with a shiny goodie/enemy waiting for your to come later. All enemies are virtually push overs and you will never feel any real challenge/dread, so you will never remember this annoying enemy, because the game doesn't have it. I personally don't understand why they wasted this labor of love to only produce a solid but standard experience.
Final score: 8.5
Tldr:
+ beautiful graphics, vfx and animations!
+ decend sound
+ competent platforming and combat
+ flawless execution and performance
- no secrets, no unique items, no real challenges
- very forgiving, a bit too easy
- no teleporting between bonfires
- wasted potential, "only" a very good game
Itorah is a beautiful metroidvania made by the german developer GRIMBART TALES. This game was given to me for reviewing, but all opinions are mine nor do I have any association with the developer or publisher.
Story: You explore as the last human on earth an beautifully crafted world in a central america world style which is being besieged by blight.
Graphics/sound: The game speaks for itself, beautiful labor of love has been woven into this game. Graphics, vfx and animations are top notch! Sound and music is on a high ambience level and was not remarkable but a good overall background noise.
Gameplay: You do what you always do in metroidvanias, you go to a level collect currencies, explore the map, get a new ability/gadget and beat the boss. Then you enter a new area and do the same here. The game is a bit too fair to the player so you will have an easy time with one low hitting enemies and competent platforming sections aswell as simple puzzles.
Why is game is not among the best of the platformers/metroidvanias: There are virtually 3 collectible currencies that enlarge the health, stamina pool or further the healing capacities, which is bare bones. There are no unique items, no equippables, no side quests, no secret areas or bosses. This experience is very linear which no backtracking, no teleporting and no tempting the player with a shiny goodie/enemy waiting for your to come later. All enemies are virtually push overs and you will never feel any real challenge/dread, so you will never remember this annoying enemy, because the game doesn't have it. I personally don't understand why they wasted this labor of love to only produce a solid but standard experience.
Final score: 8.5
Tldr:
+ beautiful graphics, vfx and animations!
+ decend sound
+ competent platforming and combat
+ flawless execution and performance
- no secrets, no unique items, no real challenges
- very forgiving, a bit too easy
- no teleporting between bonfires
- wasted potential, "only" a very good game
![Itorah - Almost a true gem [Game Review]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OhKC4HLtOBw/mqdefault.jpg "Itorah - Almost a true gem [Game Review]
Itorah is a beautiful metroidvania made by the german developer GRIMBART TALES. This game was given to me for reviewing, but all opinions are mine nor do I have any association with the developer or publisher.
Story: You explore as the last human on earth an beautifully crafted world in a central america world style which is being besieged by blight.
Graphics/sound: The game speaks for itself, beautiful labor of love has been woven into this game. Graphics, vfx and animations are top notch! Sound and music is on a high ambience level and was not remarkable but a good overall background noise.
Gameplay: You do what you always do in metroidvanias, you go to a level collect currencies, explore the map, get a new ability/gadget and beat the boss. Then you enter a new area and do the same here. The game is a bit too fair to the player so you will have an easy time with one low hitting enemies and competent platforming sections aswell as simple puzzles.
Why is game is not among the best of the platformers/metroidvanias: There are virtually 3 collectible currencies that enlarge the health, stamina pool or further the healing capacities, which is bare bones. There are no unique items, no equippables, no side quests, no secret areas or bosses. This experience is very linear which no backtracking, no teleporting and no tempting the player with a shiny goodie/enemy waiting for your to come later. All enemies are virtually push overs and you will never feel any real challenge/dread, so you will never remember this annoying enemy, because the game doesnt have it. I personally dont understand why they wasted this labor of love to only produce a solid but standard experience.
Final score: 8.5
Tldr:
+ beautiful graphics, vfx and animations!
+ decend sound
+ competent platforming and combat
+ flawless execution and performance
- no secrets, no unique items, no real challenges
- very forgiving, a bit too easy
- no teleporting between bonfires
- wasted potential, only a very good game")
![Update V2023.2 - Bling bling is back with the new Particle Editor [GameMaker]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OmILnvaaV4k/mqdefault.jpg "Update V2023.2 - Bling bling is back with the new Particle Editor [GameMaker]
The newest patch V2023.2 comes with some good new features. The biggest and best feature is the new particle editor with the new asset particleSystem class.
To start with the best thing first, we now have from this point on an asset class that allows it to be edited in an editor in real time, which is a god send. Particles are the magic pixels that fly in the background and enhance the game feel by a big stretch and now we can edit and test those without starting the game each time. It also allows them to be neatly packaged and share by the community, win win! There are a few minor features like that you can set flags in you music files and loop from these points onwards. Additionally they got rid of the being signed in to GameMaker when starting GameMaker, which is really convenient for beginners or people who want to try the software without user logins. And last but not least you can change how much of a fidelity your surfaces via their color channels are being assigned to, which reduces their overall gobbling on your VRam.
Tldr:
- particles editor with new asset class
- can loop sound more easy
- no forced logins
Offical blog and release notes:
https://gms.yoyogames.com/ReleaseNotes.html
https://gamemaker.io/de/blog/gamemaker-version-2023-dot-2-particle-editor-audio-looping-and-no-login
👑 Support me and get fresh game art and game maker projects every month:
https://www.patreon.com/1upindie
Follow me on:
📸 Instangram: https://www.instagram.com/1upindie
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/1upIndie
💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/gvr98nb
📜 Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-video-game-developer-with-gms-23/ (See youtube about page for discount)
CHAPTERS
0:00 The newest GameMaker update 2023.2 has dropped
0:34 Audio loop points - loop sound files more easy
0:48 No forced logins on startup
0:54 Custom set color formats for surfaces
1:14 The best part of the update - the particle editor
3:26 Game shown: 8Doors Arums Afterlife Adventure")
![Heart/player movement [#1 Remake Undertale in GameMaker ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P9LM5X5CwXI/mqdefault.jpg "Heart/player movement [#1 Remake Undertale in GameMaker ]
This is the first in a short series of remaking the battle system which you see in Undertale in GameMaker (first in starting the project with adding/coding).
What is Undertale?
Undertale is a video game made also in GameMaker by Toby Fox where
you play as a child that is being trapped in an unknown world and your job in this linear story is to progress. The difference is that you can genocide monsters, be neutral or even befriend them. This throws the concept of enemies being simply neutral farm on its head.
// Part 1
This time we start off with the bullet hell mini game and create the player/heart that can move. So we need to grab the keyboard input and let the inbuild function move_and_collide do the rest automatically. Then we create the box where the movement is supposed to be taken place. This doesnt work for now because move_and_collide is keeping the instance out of the other instance (wall, etc.) and not inside. But in the next video this will be fixed with an easy solution.
🚧 For the future: This series is under construction. There will is a free downloadable project file for everybody, so you can grab and do whatever you like to do with it (you can credit me, but not necessary). Also, this video series will be handled like my Hotline Miami series. If the views drop off a cliff (that I do see happening) it will be then discontinued.
Template project file found here:
https://discord.com/channels/582918792145928202/1205513075273502740
// nine slice video in depth
https://youtu.be/ivtutJDAIdI
👑 Support me and get fresh game art and game maker projects every month:
https://www.patreon.com/1upindie
Follow me on:
📸 Instangram: https://www.instagram.com/1upindie
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/1upIndie
💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/gvr98nb
📜 Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-video-game-developer-with-gms-23/ (See youtube about page for discount)
Chapters
0:00 What we will do
0:34 Subscribe
0:46 Create the bullet hell player heart and the box
1:20 Assign the images/sprites for those objects
1:45 What is a nine slice and why it is useful here
2:10 Place both objects in the fight room for testing
2:30 Define the player heart movement
2:40 Grab keyboard input and save in variables
3:20 Store in a variable the horizontal movement
3:35 Store in a variable the vertical movement
3:55 Use move_and_collide to auto move the player heart
4:30 How collisions work with shapes
4:50 Add a multiplier number to speed up the movement")
![Undertale [#1 Remake in GameMaker ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PEDUyp7dOQo/mqdefault.jpg "Undertale [#1 Remake in GameMaker ]
This is the 1st video in a short series of remaking the battle system which you see in Undertale in GameMaker.
This video is an introduction into what Undertale is and why this battle system is unique among the countless other (j)rpgs.
What is Undertale?
Undertale is a video game made also in GameMaker by Toby Fox where
you play as a child that is being trapped in an unknown world and your job in this linear story is to progress. The difference is that you can genocide monsters, be neutral or even befriend them. This throws the concept of enemies being simply neutral farm on its head.
In this series we recreate a part of the battle system in GameMaker for one specific enemy and make it a template for others to add.
🚧 For the future: This series is under construction. There will be a free downloadable project file for everybody, so you can grab and do whatever you like to do with it.
💻Project + assets found here:
https://1up-indie2.itch.io/free-tower-defence-project-gamemaker
👑 Support me and get fresh game art and game maker projects every month:
https://www.patreon.com/1upindie
Follow me on:
📸 Instangram: https://www.instagram.com/1upindie
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/1upIndie
💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/gvr98nb
📜 Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-video-game-developer-with-gms-23/ (See youtube about page for discount)
CHAPTERS
0:00 You decided on remaking Undertale
0:34 What is Undertale
1:46 The concept what we do
2:58 What we will build")
![2D Water effect [GameMaker Studio 2 | Vfx]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PKEJa7HQVY4/mqdefault.jpg "2D Water effect [GameMaker Studio 2 | Vfx]
This vfx video tutorial shows you how to create in a few seconds a water effect in Gamemaker Studio.
The idea is simple: You create a transparent blue sprite, put that on an asset layer and apply a preset visual effect with the help of the inspector to a fx. This vfx is the underwater distortion. Thats it!
👑 Support me and get fresh game art and game maker projects every month:
https://www.patreon.com/1upindie
Follow me on:
📸 Instangram: https://www.instagram.com/1upindie
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/1upIndie
💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/gvr98nb
📜 Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-video-game-developer-with-gms-23/ (See youtube about page for discount)
CHAPTERS
0:00 Subscribe")
![Rooms/levels - How they work [Game Maker | Basics]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PZfoqACDqWw/mqdefault.jpg "Rooms/levels - How they work [Game Maker | Basics]
This basics video tutorial shows you what rooms are in GameMaker and how they work, how to set the start room, how to jump into other rooms and finally what persistence means for rooms in GameMaker.
Image rooms to be like levels, each time you enter a room/level GameMaker is loading all the necessary things in there to be used and played. Rooms have properties and hold layers which also hold their respective assets ( instance layer holds instance, tileset layer has tiles etc. ). Besides having layers rooms also have properties like height and width and hold camera/view values and an inbuild physics system.
So how does it work? Well, you define the start room (default is the first room1) visible by the icon and this is how the game starts by loading in the (firsts) start room. When you want to transitions/jump to other rooms, you simply use room_goto() which will unload the current room and all its content and load in the new room with fresh content.
Persistence for rooms means that you save the last state of the room and when you jump back into it, you dont create a fresh version of it but with updates values (positions, instance, etc.). This is not recommened though because it makes sense to have a persistent instance which stores all the necessary values you want to inject into the freshly created room.
And lastly, you can customize rooms during runtime but not in the current room you are in. That means you need to set those instructions in advance.
Offical manual on rooms:
https://manual.yoyogames.com/GameMaker_Language/GML_Reference/Asset_Management/Rooms/Rooms.htm
👑 Support me and get fresh game art and game maker projects every month:
https://www.patreon.com/1upindie
Follow me on:
📸 Instangram: https://www.instagram.com/1upindie
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/1upIndie
💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/gvr98nb
📜 Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-video-game-developer-with-gms-23/ (See youtube about page for discount)
CHAPTERS
0:00 What will discuss
0:29 Subscribe
0:41 How rooms work in GameMaker
4:42 Room values to read out
5:32 Room start/end events in instances
6:22 How to jump/transition to another room
8:18 Editing rooms during runtime")
![Shader wizard Xor - Learn from the best [Interview]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ppg8wfNW0AA/mqdefault.jpg "Shader wizard Xor - Learn from the best [Interview]
This video is an interview with Xor who is an expert in his niche field of graphical shaders.
Shaders are not just a gizomo that is being used to manipulate a given image. My interview partner Xor is giving us a view into how he became proficient with shaders, an overview on GameMaker and why this is his ide of choise, followed up by some really wide speculation where the future might take us and lastly a technical showcase of what you can do with shaders.
So if you find this field shader writing and computation as fascinating as he does, well you can follow him on social media or learn on this bog post the fundamentals on shaders. The world of shaders is hard road but a rewarding one (even as a future career). All those background videos you see in the interview are his own shader creations which you can see for yourself on Shadertoy.
🐦 https://twitter.com/XorDev
💻 https://gmshaders.com
🚀 https://www.youtube.com/c/XorDev
💬 https://discord.com/invite/RAC79Ud
👑 https://xordev.itch.io/
📸 https://www.shadertoy.com/user/Xor
// The audio is a bit wonky, sorry for that. Hopefully that doesnt
CHAPTERS
0:00 Who is Xor
1:30 Tools Xor uses
2:50 What is good about GameMaker
4:50 GameMaker in comparison to other engines
8:40 GameMakers updated roadmap
11:10 Particles vs shaders
12:30 Gamemaker particle editor
14:10 Risk of cookie cutters systems
15:35 GameMaker bought by Opera - pros and cons
18:45 Future of GameMaker
21:29 GameMaker 2D and 3D
23:45 GameMaker popularity
25:05 GameMaker fx layer
29:25 Graphical trends - raytracing
31:02 Shaders now and in the past
32:12 New technical fields in graphical computation
33:30 Unreal Engine 5
35:22 Mobiles, augmented reality
38:05 A thing of the past, developers with screens
39:27 Will the robots replace us
45:05 Xors plans in the future
34:00 Xors voxel engine exclusive content
44:41 Xors voxel engine 2
45:21 Numbos vaporwave shader
45:44 Xors fireworks shaders
47:30 Xors 3D water shader
48:20 CPU vs GPU
51:30 GMshaders.com and a series on learning about shaders
53:13 If you have questions or want another specific talk with Xor, write it in the comments")
![Record/tutorial Ghost for cutscenes [GameMaker | Advanced]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q48_z6qfAz8/mqdefault.jpg "Record/tutorial Ghost for cutscenes [GameMaker | Advanced]
This advanced video tutorial shows you how to use create a shadow/replay functionality in GameMaker.
The idea here is to play once and record the input values in that time frame. That means that you create a clone of the player where the input is coming from a record. For that we need the startpoint (x,y) of the recording as well as each frame the input. These we replay/use in the player clone.
Thats it!
Tldr: Yes
Character used in game play and thumbnail by DanVelasquezArt CC3by:
https://dan-velasquez-art.itch.io/dvas-characters-thicc-n-juicy
Video on saving with .ini (text) files:
https://youtu.be/r6N_mAmpT7s
// link to the project file on my discord for free use:
https://discord.com/channels/582918792145928202/1205513075273502740
👑 Support me and get fresh game art and game maker projects every month:
https://www.patreon.com/1upindie
Follow me on:
📸 Instangram: https://www.instagram.com/1upindie
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/1upIndie
💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/gvr98nb
📜 Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-video-game-developer-with-gms-23/ (See youtube about page for discount)
0:00 What we will do
1:51 Subscribe
2:01 Setup, a fully functional player object
2:40 Copy the entire player object
2:52 Recolor him and add an index variable that is used replaying
4:35 Record the x,y value of the start point
4:55 Create array of the values to be recorded
5:10 Have an index that adds up and is the time spend recording
5:30 Have a variable that togges recording off/on
5:47 Fill the arrays with values in the step event
6:30 Increase the index which is the time spend recoding (for each step)
6:38 Block/enable recording
7:10 Recolor the recorder object to see if we do record
7:40 Replace the player input with the recorded values
8:30 Advance the recorded values by increasing the index
9:12 Limit the index to actual array length
10:15 Record functionality: Record
11:40 Record functionality: Stop recording
12:05 Record functionality: Create recorded shadow/clone
13:00 Storing/copying from recorded data into an .ini file")
![1 click effects [GameMaker Studio 2 | Vfx]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QNJOrKDnaiQ/mqdefault.jpg "1 click effects [GameMaker Studio 2 | Vfx]
This vfx video tutorial shows the newest patch on GameMaker Studio. They changed a lot concerning their whole ide but most importantly added a really cool feature which is the fx layer.
This layer is a godsend because it allows to preview and set screen filling effects on the fly by just selecting the effect you want and playing around with the menue bars. This normally was and still is rather a complex things to achieve with shaders but now you can do that on the fly and in the future you can ajust the layers effect properties by hand.
What can it do?
Blur, colorize, pixelate, desaturize, distort, posterize etc.
These layer effects are common practise with shaders and will give regular usesr aswell as veterans an additional convenient way to apply these effects on the screen instantly. They are instanlty seen as a preview which makes this feature a really welcomed addition.
Note: This feature is only available for paid subscribers as a preview. So if you have only the free version you will have to wait until they release it. There is also no documention in the online manual, which is a bit of a bummer.
The patchnotes also changed their rendering from OpenGl to Direct3d, so if you had issues (like me) with 2.3.4 and 2.3.5, this could be patched out now.
Patch release notes
https://gms.yoyogames.com/ReleaseNotes.html
https://www.yoyogames.com/de/blog/gamemaker-studio-2-version-2-dot-3-6-release-and-more
0:00 Best feature of the newest patch 2.3.6
1:10 Subscribe
1:20 Fx layer under the hood
10:18 Other patchnotes
13:50 Game shown: Industria
👑 Support me and get fresh game art and game maker projects every month:
https://www.patreon.com/1upindie
Follow me on:
📸 Instangram: https://www.instagram.com/1upindie
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/1upIndie
💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/gvr98nb
📜 Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-video-game-developer-with-gms-23/ (See youtube about page for discount)")
![Analyse Vampire Survivors [#1Vampire Survivors Remake in GameMaker ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QxL9jjNSz98/mqdefault.jpg "Analyse Vampire Survivors [#1Vampire Survivors Remake in GameMaker ]
This is the 1st video in a series on remaking Vampire Survivors in GameMaker.
The video tutorial shows you an analysis part of Vampire Survivors and Zombie Survivors from the point of view of a Game designer. What we do in this none coding part is having a closer look at Vampire Survivors and Zombie Survivors to see what systems are in place, what the core loop looks like and what we can build in a short video series that tackles the most important things for a solid remake in Gamemaker.
🚧 For the future: This series will will build expanded the further we go into the series.
💻Project + assets found here: This will be found on my itch.io or on my patreon, for not, it is under construction
// video on damage number:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ8FZHprqOw
👑 Support me and get fresh game art and game maker projects every month:
https://www.patreon.com/1upindie
Follow me on:
📸 Instangram: https://www.instagram.com/1upindie
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/1upIndie
💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/gvr98nb
📜 Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-video-game-developer-with-gms-23/ (See youtube about page for discount)")
![🔴Monster Maw - The easy way [GameMaker | Vfx]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RSaAqPT5y24/mqdefault.jpg "🔴Monster Maw - The easy way [GameMaker | Vfx]
This visual effects video tutorial shows you in general how monster maw in no time for neat looking horror effect.
The idea is to stylelize with the little we have, a scrolling background image of a forest. That image we take and use the panorama effect to create a circling aswell as a going into the center/retreating motion. Thats it!
🎮Play (and wishlist please) my newest game Guncade (demo now):
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2398950/Guncade/
👑 Support me and get fresh game art and game maker projects every month:
https://www.patreon.com/1upindie
Follow me on:
📸 Instangram: https://www.instagram.com/1upindie
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/1upIndie
💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/gvr98nb
📜 Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-video-game-developer-with-gms-23/ (See youtube about page for discount)
Sun art found here:
https://opengameart.org/content/space-game-art-pack-extended
// link to the project file on my discord for free use:
https://discord.com/channels/582918792145928202/1205513075273502740
CHAPTERS
0:00 Preview
0:35 Subscribe
0:49 Placing a controller instance that will change the panorama effect values
1:10 How the panorama effect can be used
2:20 The image assigned should be flagged as having own texture page
2:48 Other effects used
4:30 Code part")
![Pathfinding #1 - One line [Game Maker Studio 2 | Basics]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RmOqnp5d33Q/mqdefault.jpg "Pathfinding #1 - One line [Game Maker Studio 2 | Basics]
This basics video tutorial shows you how to create a very simple follow a target Ai/pathfinding in one line of code for GameMaker Studio 2.
These linear functions you can find under motion planning in the GameMaker manual. By using mp_linear_step, mp_linear_step_object, mp_linear_path or mp_linear_path_object in the step event the instance in question tries to get to the target point assigned. And that is pretty much it. If a direct path isnt possible (because some instances are flagged as solid and you set checkall as true) it will get stuck if it collides.
In part Pathfinding #2 we will discuss a more versatile function the, mp_potential_step which can be used to avoid collision and actually go around instances blocking the path. This is of course a bit limited if you have maze like structures which require a bit more complex approaches. This will be solved in Pathfinding #3.
// General video on paths in GameMaker:
https://youtu.be/2xpqQ9rqFLI
👑 Support me and get fresh game art and game maker projects every month:
https://www.patreon.com/1upindie
Follow me on:
📸 Instangram: https://www.instagram.com/1upindie
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/1upIndie
💬 Discord: https://discord.gg/gvr98nb
📜 Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/course/become-a-video-game-developer-with-gms-23/ (See youtube about page for discount)
0:00 Introduction to the pathfinding series
1:00 Subscribe
1:16 Concept of motion planning explained
3:32 Using the mp linear functions for homing
6:37 Bonus content - using a path with mp_linear_path/mp_linear_path_object
8:25 Game shown: Narita Boy")
