I’m going to ask you an important question.
A question so important that if you don’t answer it will leave you staring into the
abyss unable to shake the the feeling that your life is meaningless.
Are you ready?
What do Baldi and this guy with a bag over his head have in common?
There you go that’s the question!
And I’m gonna answer it by the end of this video.
Because sometimes a game takes over the internet in a way it was never supposed to.
Often times I look at what’s popular and I wonder what sick and twisted god would create
a universe where a self-consciously terrible game would skyrocket from absolutely nothing
to genuine trend.
Baldi’s Basics in Education and Learning is one of those games...and I say all of this
as someone who appreciates this title
Alright…appreciates is a strong word.
I mean...a game isn’t worth playing unless it makes you rage right?
Right?
But really there’s a reason this janky parody of 1990s edutainment games is now one of the
most trending things on YouTube.
The look and feel of Baldi’s Basics is objectively terrible but somehow mystman12 (it’s creator)
was able to turn that terribleness into HORROR.
Like...SCARY horror.
If playtime (that creepy little girl) doesn’t freak you out then you should see a psychologist
because clearly your emotions aren’t working correctly.
I mean, me and her are best friends ...something you’d know if you watched our twitch streams.
Every weekday at 3pm PST.
Anyway Grant already made a Story You Never Knew on this bad boy and in it he covered
a lot of interesting things including the psychology of characters like Gotta Sweep
and Playtime and also somehow managed to shoe-horn in a heartfelt message about our education
system.
The video was a little all over the place but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t interesting
and full of butt jokes!
You should check it out if you haven’t already but NOT YET BECAUSE I’M NOT DONE TALKING.
OK?
Okay.
You’re probably wondering what more can possibly be said about this game...at least
until the update comes out.
Yeah there’s an update coming out with a new character, new items, and more balanced
game mechanics.
That’s for another video though.
Remember, the name of this show is the REAL Truth.
And (at least as far as this episode is concerned) that means we’re gonna be talking about
something REAL.
No not our education system GRANT ALREADY DID THAT.
We’re gonna go into Baldi’s Basics itself...how it was created.
WHY it was created, and ultimately what it means for you.
Don’t you wanna know how to make the next trending video game so you can retire before
age 30 and spend your life in pursuit of worldly pleasures instead of having to work or something
dumb like that?
Of course you do!
So bite down on something sturdy, find a protruding vein and get ready for a hardcore injection
of THE TRUTH.
THE REAL TRUTH.
YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME
Alright enough goofing around we’re wasting time.
We gotta get to the point already!
So let’s do it.
There’s a lot we can learn from Baldi and we’re about to get into it.
Get into it real good.
So good.
Man I can’t wait!
...To get into it.
Alright I’m just messing with you people who always comment that it takes us three
minutes to start talking about the point of the video.
Because who cares about giving things context right?
Anyway I’m done for real this time LET’S DO IT.
Baldis Basics was created by mystman12 for the Meta Game Jam.
What’s the Meta Game Jam?
It’s an event that took place this year from March 17th to the 31st where small teams
of up to four people were challenged to make a “meta” video game in this short, two
week period.
So yes, Baldi’s Basics was made in two weeks and yes that does explain a lot.
A whole lot.
And yet...this concept that forced mystman to squeeze out a game in basically no time
at all is the whole point of this video!
Really it is!
But just so we have some context, let’s talk more about this Game Jam.
The goal of this cool little competition was to make a game about games.
To make a game which commented on, deconstructed, parodied, or satirized game design, game mechanics
or game culture.
For instance, as we know Baldi’s Basics is a parody of crappy 90s edutainment titles...specifically
Sonic’s Schoolhouse if you people in the comments are to be trusted.
The resemblance is uncanny so I believe you guys don’t worry.
Also it says on Baldi’s Basics download page.
Probably should have led with that.
Whatever.
In addition to those guidelines there were some loose rules about how the voting process
worked and that shorter “experiences” were preferred.
Besides that, you had two weeks to make a game about games so BAM GET TO IT SON.
And get to it mystman did.
Oh did he.
And so we get to the lesson behind this video.
This game was made in two weeks.
It has some kinks, some hiccups, some annoying balancing issues and overall it looks like
poop.
And yet...this game is done!
It’s a finished product that’s playable, entertaining, and even exploits its own jankiness
for an experience that is truly horrifying.
It’s kind of ingenious actually.
You could say that having a two week deadline was the best thing to ever happen to mystman.
Having to rush the development process left no time for complicated character models,
a complicated story, and it certainly left no time for overthinking.
This dude went all “plain and simple” on our booties.
I mean, GEEZ, LOOK AT THE BROOM FOR GOODNESS SAKES!
LOOK AT THE WHITE ARTIFACTS AROUND IT!
It pisses me off just looking at it...it’s killing me!
HAS THIS GUY NEVER HEARD OF THE MAGIC WAND IN PHOTOSHOP.
GIVE ME 30 SECONDS WITH THAT IMAGE AND I’LL MAKE IT SHIPSHAPE.
To go from nothing to finished product in half a month means you’ve gotta have your
priorities straight, and have his priorities straight mystman did…
A mistake that most novice game developers make is that they try too hard to make everything
perfect.
Their passion bleeds from every pore and so why not put as many hours and as much energy
into every aspect of your game as possible?
Why not make everything perfect?
That’ll make you fulfilled and increase your chances of success right?
WRONG.
IT’LL SLOW YOU DOWN AND MAKE WHATEVER IT IS YOU’RE WORKING ON SUCK.
Indeed if you’ve watched as much Extra Credits as I have, you’ll know the best strategy
for developing any video game is to first make something playable and then you can fill
in the details from there.
Whether mystman knew this or not I have no idea, but what I do know is that having such
a tight deadline means he HAD to have a playable game done before anything TOO complicated
was done.
So if there’s any real life lessons to learn from Baldi its that overthinking will keep
you from doing something that might take the world by storm.
Finish what you started and you can always fill in the details from there.
Don’t get hung up on the details...have a plan, make sure each individual piece works,
then tie them all together into the thing you want to make.
It really is that simple.
How do you think we make videos on this channel with such tight turnarounds?
We have an idea what what we want to do, we write the rough draft of the script...THEN
we touch it up a bit.
Maybe add some stupid butt jokes.
From there we record the voice over or live action, I flail around a little bit in front
of a camera, and we put editing over it.
If anything needs to be changed or improved, we’ll do a re-record or change up some editing.
We never stress on making each piece perfect, we push forward to make something that “works”
and then fill in the details from there.
This is an oversimplification, and as you get better at whatever is you do, you can
take the time to make each piece “perfect” because you’ll know what you have time for
and what you don’t...you’ll know how long this takes and how long that takes and you’ll
know how it’ll all fit together...but if you’re a noob...whether you’re a nooby
game dev, YouTuber, Twitch streamer, author or whatever...don’t be afraid to “finish”
what you started before you make it perfect.
Complaining that you’re not satisfied with what you’ve created is just another excuse
not to finish what you started.
Just look at Baldi’s Basics!
It sucks!
But it’s also done and now mystman is free to update it at his leisure.
Sure it’s poopiness is part of the appeal, but even if it wasn’t...these poopy character
models could be modified and slapped back into the game, textures could be improved,
game mechanics could be tweaked...whatever!
No matter what it is your working on, having a rough draft...a proof of concept that’s
done takes the weight off your shoulders and makes you less likely to procrastinate.
It really does.
Magical things happen when you just shut up and do it.
Don’t get lost in your own head, don’t worry about what others will think, just follow
the immortal words of Shia Lebouf that I will now quote.
DO IT.
JUST.
DO IT.
Don’t let your dreams be dreams.
And that’s the truth.
The REAL TRUTH!
So that’s what I think of Baldi.
He’s a man who knows the secret to success.
Gary Vaynerchuk watch out!
Anyway If you made it this far I’m sure you liked the video.
If you didn’t like it then you’re some kind of masochist or something and that’s
fine but this next sentence is for those who like what we put out on this channel.
You hear that???
That’s the bell!
If you liked this video (or our videos in general) hit it down below so you get a notification
when we post a video.
It’ll change your life.
And also don’t forget I’m streaming at twitch.tv/treesicle every weekday at 3pm Pacific
Time with Grant the story you never knew boy.
We play dope games that are interesting and that’s a fact.
This video will be posted about an hour before our stream so it’s entirely possible we’re
streaming RIGHT NOW!
DON’T MISS IT!
I’ll be there.
And I hope to see you there.
Besides that, I’m done for today.
Hit that bell, check out our twitch and...tootles!