Blog - Mental Block Gaming

7 Essential Ingredients for an Unforgettable Boss Battle

The boss battle, one of the most traditional conventions in the world of video games. But what do boss battles bring to a game? What separates a good boss fight from a bad one? And are they even necessary at all?

Game design

“/help!” – A Basic Introduction to Command Blocks

Learn a basic knowledge of command blocks and help turn your minecraft maps ideas into reality.

Redstone

How to extract a stellar voice-acting performance from an average Joe

I share tips on how to get the most out of your voice actors, including those with no prior experience, to get all 55 NPCs voiced without spending a penny

Sound

How to Make a Custom Texture for a Minecraft Sign

Looking to re-texture the sign in your Minecraft resource pack? They can be super awkward to get right, look no further we've got you covered

Resource pack

How to Make Seamlessly Looping Zone Music in Minecraft 1.9+ [Part 2]

[Part 2] This tutorial will teach you how to make a song loop in a specific area, much like other games do – in a peaceful overworld area, peaceful music will play, and once you enter a cave or dungeon more ominous music loops – as smoothly and seamlessly as possible!

RedstoneSound

How to Make Seamlessly Looping Zone Music in Minecraft 1.9+

This tutorial will teach you how to make a song loop in a specific area, much like other games do – in a peaceful overworld area, peaceful music will play, and once you enter a cave or dungeon more ominous music loops – as smoothly and seamlessly as possible!

RedstoneSound

How to Write a Custom ‘sounds.json’ File for Minecraft

This tutorial will teach you how to write your own sounds.json file for use with custom sounds in resource packs.

SoundResource pack

“I Don’t Want to Talk to You” – Tips for Character Development for NPCs in Video Games

The methods for character development listed in this post are excellent and empowering tools that can assist you in populating your world with truly compelling characters.

Game design

Importing Custom Sounds into Minecraft

Ever wanted to replace the default door sound with a long creaking effect for your horror adventure map? Or add fast-paced music to your parkour map? Or add a countdown sound effect for your multiplayer racing map? Well now you can!

SoundResource pack

Map Making in 1.9: Coloured Command Blocks!?

Contrary to not-so-popular belief, the new commands blocks added in 1.9 actually have new features other than adding some much needed colour to your redstone!

Redstone

“How did that happen?”: Immersive Behaviour and Redstone Construction Tips

We highlight some small tips and tricks to making redstone more accessible to creators and more immersive for players, so that you can jump the learning curve and start making beautifully simplified redstone constructs.

Redstone

The Playtesting Bible: A Guide for Game Developers

Playtesting is an incredibly common practice in the field of video game design. In this article we look at why playtesters are important, how playtesting should be carried out and what makes a good playtester.

Game design

Thinking Outside the Blocks: A Guide to Advanced Redstone Components

So you have a great idea for a game. But before you tackle a project on your own, have you considered working on your project with a team?

Redstone

Walking Before You Run: Comprehensive Introduction to Redstone

A look into the basics of redstoning, for those new to redstone, with a quick run up to some of the advanced components I have used for higher level creations

Redstone

Working in a Game Development Team: The Pros and Cons

So you have a great idea for a game. But before you tackle a project on your own, have you considered working on your project with a team?

Teamwork