Over my years at BYOND now I've come across many games. Ever now and then I do nothing but just take a night out to visit all the games being hosted. Or if I see a new RPG thats non-Dragon Ballz, I normally check it out sooner or later. Something I see often is someone gets an idea for a game, or wants to copy someone else's game, but make it better. Something that they never even consider is something called Game Metrics and Game Dynamics.
Game Metrics - are the very variables by which the game works, its the limits and structure setup to make the game work.
Game Dynamics - how those metrics work with each other to make a fun, enjoyable and hopefully addicting game for the players.
What I normally do before I ever start coding my games is work everything out on paper. I encourage others to stop, before you just make a icon filled game that will never get finish, and work out how your game will play out on paper. Also when you do it this way you can see where somethings may be too power and overbearing, while others are left forgotten and weak. A good game balance of play is key to making a successful game.
LJR
ID:153726
 Mar 25 2003, 11:33 pm
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Mar 26 2003, 10:19 am
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Shard
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I agree. I always plan my systems, dugeons, ect out on paper then copy them into DM.
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What I normally do before I ever start coding my games is work everything out on paper. I encourage others to stop, before you just make a icon filled game that will never get finish, and work out how your game will play out on paper. Also when you do it this way you can see where somethings may be too power and overbearing, while others are left forgotten and weak. A good game balance of play is key to making a successful game. Sometimes works, but not always. I plan everything out in note form before I make my projects, but I wind up with a whole wad of code. Said code does actually work, but is almost useless without being integrated into the project as a whole. For example, I built a whole country-generation system for Terra Dominus that's almost powerful enough to be library-worthy (I don't think I'll be outsourcing it, though). But I don't have any functions that actually use that system. | |
I may be weird, but personally I lose interest in most of my projects within hours unless I start doing graphics for them. :)
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I agree. The game i'm working on now has been circulating in my mind now for at least a year. But I couldn't find any program with a good enough code system and an easy host system until I stumbled across BYOND.
I was going to make do with a "Text-Mud Creating Program" which was the best thing I could find even though I wanted to make a visual game. When I found BYOND, I found that everything I had imagined a written onto paper were possible using DM Code. I can't tell you how relieved I was to have found BYOND when I had just given up searching for good programs to use. | |
This story is true for me too. I have files upon files of paper about my game, but I didn't think I'd beable to ever code it. Then my friend told me about BYOND.
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these would meke great testimonials for byond, though it almost sounds like an infomorcial ^_^ nonetheless, I agree with them, I've found byond to be both easy to use and flexible, makeing it a fun powerful tool.
And for getting your game figured out before hand, I agree with that 100%, if someone just jumps in haphazardly, than they will only get out what they have put in. If someon e plans before hand, they will get what they have aimed for (a goal..as compared to a big blob of code that may do what you want, but really isn't what you needed) | |
Shard wrote:
I agree. I always plan my systems, dugeons, ect out on paper then copy them into DM. Me too, but I try to be really conservative with it (save the environment). So adieu paper-less society. (Hey, it was a buzzword in the 80:s!) /Gazoot | |
Cryptic wrote:
these would meke great testimonials for byond, though it almost sounds like an infomorcial ^_^ nonetheless, I agree with them, I've found byond to be both easy to use and flexible, makeing it a fun powerful tool. "A few years ago, I was having trouble staying up at night. I would actually sleep with regular hours and have a social life! But now, with BYOND, all that has changed. Thanks, Dantom! You've made my life so much better." Wait, maybe that one's not quite as good. ;-) | |
I don't think writing on paper will ever go away totally..
You always need a back up copy when the power is out. Also it may later 1000 years down the road if we haven't killed ourselves yet, be thought of as a lost art form. To form words out on paper. LJR - the visionary | |
LordJR wrote:
I don't think writing on paper will ever go away totally.. Unless there is a global catastrophe of a scale that would send humanity back into the industrial age, there'd be no possible way that there would be a complete lack of electricity in the world. Besides, digital media doesn't lose data when power is removed (otherwise, you should get a lawyer and sue your hard drive manufacturer). Additionally, digital storage media -- unlike paper media -- does not degrade in stale air; a modern paper book can only reasonably be expected to survive a few decades before it becomes brittle (heavier toothed paper and unbleached paper lasts a lot longer, however). The only advantage that paper has is that it doesn't emit any light. All you see is reflected light. Computer monitors, televisions, and the like all use electron guns, which is generated light -- with the exception of liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Paper is thus easier to read and a lot less strenuous on the eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if paper does get phased out some time in the far future. It certainly won't happen by the time I die, but I consider it a substantial likelihood that technologies like LCDs get applied to digital books, and that books get stored in a format not unlike modern ZIP disks (albeit much, much smaller) for use with a universal reader. | |
Paper is still great for drawing quick diagrams, trees, and structures which makes it a lot easier to implement them :). Also any equations for calculating damage, accuracy or anything of that sort I tend to write down since the equations are much easier to read when written on paper rather than in DM.
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Then you just carry around one of your paper-thin tablet PC's around with you when you want to sketch something.
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Garthor wrote:
Then you just carry around one of your paper-thin tablet PC's around with you when you want to sketch something. Paper's probably still more affordable :P. | |
Spuzzum wrote:
"A few years ago, I was having trouble staying up at night. I would actually sleep with regular hours and have a social life! But now, with BYOND, all that has changed. Thanks, Dantom! You've made my life so much better." OMG d00d, u r1pp3d my 4u7o-b10gr4phy. I used to think that BYOND killed my social life, but then I realize that I had no social life before joining BYOND anyway =P | |
The only part of the programming that I do on paper is the math. I rarely ever plot out other stuff for a game on paper (that is, when I do have access to a computer, and I don't mean that I type it up in word/notepad/etc.). I like to jump right into the coding. I'm not saying that writing out plans for a game is bad, but if you can "think in code", if you will, then by all means why not? I nearly always find it just as easy to write out code in DM as it is for me to write out pseudo-code on paper.
Well, that's just the way I work. If planning it out on paper helps, then do it. I prefer to jump right in and start programming, usually at the toughest point I can logically start at. | |