How Games Do Destruction

Game Maker's Toolkit • October 2, 2025
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Game Maker's Toolkit is a deep dive into game design, level design, and game production, hosted by Mark Brown. Want to contact Mark? Visit the GMTK website below to find the contact form.

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🔴 Get my premium monthly newsletter - https://gamemakerstoolkit.com/digest/ 🔴 Let's talk about video game destruction, and break down the techniques used to dent cars, break boxes, tear through scenery, and blow up buildings. === Sources and Resources === - Sources [1] Massive D: Stranglehold's Breakable Object System | GDC Vault https://gdcvault.com/play/462/Massive-D-STRANGLEHOLD-s-Breakable [2] Destructible Environments in Control: Lessons in Procedural Destruction | GDC Vault https://gdcvault.com/play/1030643/Destructible-Environments-in-Control-Lessons [3] Advanced Physics in Astro Bot | GDC Vault (Paid Access) https://gdcvault.com/play/1035282/Advanced-Physics-in-ASTRO-BOT [4] The Art of Destruction in Rainbow Six: Siege | GDC Vault https://gdcvault.com/play/1023307/The-Art-of-Destruction-in [5] How to Dissect an Exploding Spaceship in Hardspace: Shipbreaker | GDC Vault https://gdcvault.com/play/1026837/How-to-Dissect-an-Exploding [6] How Red Faction's Geomods Work | John Slagel https://web.archive.org/web/20100109011210/http://john.slagel.com/Geomods.html [7] Soft Body Physics Explained | Gonkee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyQP4t_wOGI [8] Introduction to JBeam | BeamNG https://documentation.beamng.com/modding/vehicle/intro_jbeam/ [9] Oldschool Car Damage System - Devlog 4 | Marcis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhgDqx4a2E8&t=1s [10] Far Cry: How the Fire Burns and Spreads | JFLevesque https://jflevesque.com/2012/12/06/far-cry-how-the-fire-burns-and-spreads/ [11] Exploring the Tech and Design of Noita | GDC Vault https://gdcvault.com/play/1025695/Exploring-the-Tech-and-Design [12] What Astroneer's devs learned while leaving Early Access | Game Developer https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/what-i-astroneer-i-s-devs-learned-while-leaving-early-access [13] Coding Adventure: Marching Cubes | Sebastian Lague https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3iI2l0ltbE [14] Teardown Engine Technical Dive | Stream Archive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZP7vQKqrl8 [15] Just Cause 4: Destruction Design Breakdown | Playcrafting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34sL8vGMARw [16] Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Destruction Masking in Frostbite 2 using Volume Distance Fields | EA https://www.ea.com/frostbite/news/destruction-masking-in-frostbite-2-using-volume-distance-fields [17] How to destroy a building? | Den Kirson https://denkirson.proboards.com/thread/2757?page=1#43105 [18] Red Faction: Guerrilla - Destruction Part 1 | Volition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o0FsEoyrIg [19] Blowing Up the Outside World: Destruction Done the Next Gen Way | GDC Vault https://gdcvault.com/play/1670/Blowing-Up-the-Outside-World [20] Living in a Stressful World: Real-time Stress Calculation for Destroyable Environments | GDC Vault https://gdcvault.com/play/1014658/Living-in-a-Stressful-World [21] The Finals has Insane Destruction Now... | WillfromWork https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y47ijezhZoA [22] The Finals Destruction is EVEN Better Now... | WillfromWork https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODxsHs_4HwU [23] Completely Destroying an Entire Map in The Finals | DefendTheHouse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVzhxHO4cWo [24] Engineering Mayhem: Technical Deep-Dive into Environmental Destruction in The Finals | GDC Vault (Paid Access) https://gdcvault.com/play/1034280/Engineering-Mayhem-Technical-Deep-Dive [25] Teardown design notes | Voxagon Blog https://blog.voxagon.se/2020/11/05/teardown-design-notes.html [26] Road to the IGF: Nolla Games' Noita | Game Developer https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/road-to-the-igf-nolla-games-i-noita-i- [27] Ask the Developer Vol. 19: Donkey Kong Bananza | Nintendo https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/ask-the-developer-vol-19-donkey-kong-bananza-part-1/ === Chapters === 00:00 - Intro 01:29 - Control 03:17 - Astro Bot 04:52 - BeamNG.drive 06:31 - Far Cry 2 07:55 - Teardown 10:23 - Red Faction: Guerilla 15:49 - Conclusion === Games Shown === Burnout Paradise Remastered | 2018 Max Payne 3 | 2012 Donkey Kong Bananza | 2025 Far Cry 2 | 2008 Instruments of Destruction | 2024 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege | 2015 Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection | 2022 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | 2024 Red Faction: Guerilla | 2009 The Finals | 2023 Just Cause 3 | 2015 Battlefield 1 | 2016 Noita | 2020 Control | 2019 BeamNG.drive | 2015 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 | 2010 Battlefield 4 (2013) Stranglehold | 2007 Half-Life 2 | 2004 Hardspace: Shipbreaker | 2022 Red Faction | 2001 World of Goo 2 | 2024 Jelly Car Worlds | 2022 Wreckfest 2 | 2025 Teardown | 2022 Spelunky | 2012 Minecraft | 2011 Astroneer | 2019 7 Days to Die | 2024 A Game About Digging a Hole | 2025 === Credits === Music provided by Epidemic Sound - https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/vtdu5y (Referral Link) === Subtitles === Contribute translated subtitles - https://gamemakerstoolkit.com/translation/