I wasn't sure where to post this exactly. So excuse me if it's somewhat misplaced.
I've been brainstorming about a game I'm designing, so far it's all on the drawingboard, not a single line of code.
Basically, I've started on a design document. How detailed do I need to make this? Once it's finished, I'll start digging in, and be asking for coder help.
So far I've written down some basics for character creation, stat system, and such, later on I'll move on to the crafting system, mission system, combat system, etc.
I'm not sure how good I'll be at putting this all into code, hence why I'll seek some help with that(though at least I have some minor coding background in an object oriented C language, LPC, a MUD language, to be exact). I can most likely do quite a bit of my own iconing, as a former amiga pixel artist. I can probably still manage to make a recognizeable portrait of a real life person in 32x32, based on a photograph or having someone sit as model... though it's been at least 10 years.
It would also be nice having a collaborator to talk about my ideas with, and perhaps give me some new ones.
ID:151360
 May 11 2011, 2:46 pm
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Perhaps a outline of what should be included in the design document would be a good idea. To weed out all the useless information and to make it as useful to others reading it as possible.
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Well really there should probably be different versions of the document. One that contains everything and others that are for more specific purposed.
You should try to have as much detail as possible, from grand story concepts to individual spells. However, when sharing it with others, they don't need to see and probably don't want to see all the details. But it is important for the creator to have as much detail outlined as possible for their own use. When you are trying to sell it to the BYOND community at large I believe the most important thing is to show the community that it is an original idea and that you are committed to it. They don't want to see your base icons. In fact unless you really have a whole world of icons created or are just offering your services as an artist, showing icons doesn't mean much. Look through the Creations forum and find posts that make you really interested in their game. Figure out what makes that post stand out in your mind. | |
I would actually suggest the opposite. Unless you are a veteran game designer and very familiar with the platform you are designing for, planning too much ahead of time will create roadblocks that you otherwise could have designed around (or you'll end up rewriting swaths of your document when you hit one). By being general, your design can be more flexible while maintaining its focus and avoiding feature creep.
How you want your mechanics to feel and interact is a good place to start, but don't underestimate the value of iteration and experimentation. Also, I would say that until you have the basic mechanics implemented and tested for "fun-ness" , the game's future isn't stable enough to plan out content (like quests, enemies, items). After all, if you don't know what's fun yet, how can your content emphasize it? | |
True, I suppose it would be better to say that maybe you are never really done with your design document. You should have an initial one and then as it comes time to add features you should plan them out before you start coding. Seems simple enough but I know at least I sometimes have a habit of just jumping in because I think I know how I want something to turn out. Then I will forget some detail over the days or weeks it takes to flesh it out because I didn't outline it well enough.
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As for reviewing ideas, you could always set up a blog and post info their where people can leave you comments. If you can't get a blog you could post in the forum for ideas and feedback on specific parts of you ideas.
Then again maybe you don't want to share your ideas with the public. I would be willing to look over some stuff, but I wouldn't be able to commit to much time. More like you send me something and I will comment on it and send it back in a week or two.
A better idea would be for you to get most of the details written out and then try to market your idea to BYOND and gain some support for it.