I don''t really know if this will have one definitive answer but I''ve got to try and ask it.I''m working on this rpg.On this part of the game Tamara is trying to help her friend Shiro get back to his room before their CO Rhelik finds out(Shiro was confined to quarters for a previous incident).Of course being a military installation this means that Tamara and Shiro have to sneak by the guards without being noticed and make it to the main part of the castle. All of this is fine in my head but when I go to try to make it I come up empty.The basic idea is to have some soldiers blocking doors.You''ll have some objects in which you can hide behind and you also have a inexaustible supply of rocks.You can throw the rocks at various objects which will draw the guards attention over to whatever object you threw at.They will look for a little while and then return back to their original position.Which should give you enough time to sneak by them. I guess the question that I''m trying to get to is how do you go about designing your game??Do you draw out each individual screen or what?? The road to hell is paved in good intentions

Yep, write it all out in details. Screen by screen, event by event. I''ve actually written a small essay about how I design, so I''ll go ahead and post it here. Hope this gives you some insight:




Melodic Chaos


From my own point of view, ‘Game Design’ is like a wondrous fall into a fresh lake. It starts off exciting and chaotic with the winds of anticipation holding on to your every hair. “SPLASH!!!”. Then suddenly all of your senses are frozen and the contained excitement transforms into a knot behind your heart formed by the shock of entering the cold gulf. After building up the courage and risking a few steps, your body begins to adapt to the conditions of the lake and a very satisfying normality is achieved once you are free to roam the aqueous macrocosm in peace.


So what are my Philosophies on taking the dive that is Game Design? In general before I even begin a design, I feel it is necessary to clear the sporadic ensemble of noise from my head and practice silence for a short while. Once I have a clear and open mind, I then go and begin to look for sources of inspiration. This allows me to attack a new problem with an uncluttered and focused mind; a very important condition I feel a designer needs to strive to stay within. It is usually at this point that I will unconsciously begin to examine content based on my dominant sense of what is fun.

Fun is the only ingredient in a game you cannot be without. Locating this esoteric feeling forces one to cast their eyes onto the outside world for material. I scroll through books, movies, music, and other games and randomly mix and match ideas and consider each spark of genius to query if it is fun or if it can be made fun. Usually, I find that most things can be made fun if held under the weight of thought long enough. The question then arises as to which concept holds the most potential of becoming a great game. I have recently begun to lean towards whichever concept bears the largest amount of originality and innovation. These two elements in themselves breed attention and when partnered with talented design and thorough implementation can create a truly unique game.


Another key aspect I feel that is a necessary part of game design is research. Once I have a base concept for a game chosen, I then, with marked folders in hand, begin to vigorously research any and all aspects related to my game concept. This requires me to dedicate huge amounts of time, gathering data, and filing it accordingly to use as reference material to feed off of in the creation of my design. It is at this stage, in the midst of the exploration of research materials, that I am usually influenced by the content from my research and choose a more concise direction to follow with the game.


Compiling and assessing research material goes hand and hand with another important factor in game design; details. Having a hawk’s eye for detail is probably the most essential tool a game designer needs to have. The iterative and continual breaking down of the pebble is necessary so that others may form from those pebbles, the boulder that is the game designers creation. What is the game world? What is its history? How old is it? What are the pantone colors of the waters near the shore of the greatest kingdom in that world? Seriously, the more details you as a designer can include into your game design, the more precise the final game will come to be.


Developing out of detail, a game designer should also hold concise communication skills. In working with teams it is essential to have clear documentation, appropriate verbal explanations, and arranged presentations of just about every aspect in the game. Obtaining organizational, writing, art, and linguistic skills all can help to improve your overall ability to communicate clearly whatever point it is that you are trying to get across.


Lastly, I feel a game designer should have the ability to “Evolve on the Fly”. Many new challenges will arise with each game a designer undertakes, being able to adapt to those changes and work with them or around them will truly strengthen a designers overall skill. Evolving on the fly is not limited to what is just going on with your game either; it includes you as a designer evolving your skills in relation to the game design community as well. Keep up to date on the latest books and articles about game design and examine other designer’s principles and mythologies. Leave your mind open to advice that may be beneficial for you as a designer to assimilate into your philosophy. These are all aspects of evolving and when used in synchronization with the principles outlined in this essay, will lead you to the mastery of your trade.


So in the end, past the cold entrance into the unfamiliar waters, taking these few steps will help assure a graceful adaptation to the fierce and exciting environment that is game design. Just as with most things, practice makes perfect. The more you design games, the better you will become at designing them. Strive to become an expert and never settle for mediocrity, for it is the way of the wise designer to learn the lake at both ends.


peace

-Sage13

Liquid Moon Team

Project X2

Ok so now we all know the idea of game design. How do you put it on paper? take an rpg for instance. you have a small plot (this is an example) lets say, you have a character named Bob (thats me ) he has lost his dog. His dog is actually 2 cities away. along his journey to find his dog (named Rex) he meets some interesting people who aggree to help him find Rex. In exchange they too need help with something. A man named Bill wants a newspaper but doesnt have a quarter. Bob must pay for it. Bob encounters some hoodlums and has to escape. yada yada yada. Bob finds Rex and goes home. How you put that in a neat, organized, and well developed design doc.
-something
-like
-this
-for
-main
-events?

I.Or something like this that covers main events.
__A. And also some important sub events
____1. and major happenings in the world?
__B. As well as character changes and
II. possible videos (when to cue them in)
__A. which are of course layed out in detail
__B. later in the document?

or something else? use my example(or part of it) for a descent way to lay out plot.

------------------------------
If you whispered, who would hear you? If you cried, who would comfort you? If you begged, who would have mercy? If you program, who will play?
------------------------------

When I designed Cradle Quest 2 (an adventure game), I just sat down and wrote the script a scene at a time starting with the beginning and then the ending. Then I started with locations to go to by starting with one thinking of some puzzles and then considering what place they would have to go to in order to get something that would complete the puzzle.

For Pimp''s Quest (an RPG) I started with the stats screen.

i.e. The player needs strength. To get strength one can eat power bars or work out. Now I just need locations that can allow the player get power bars or work out. Then I need a way to get to them. Then I need a way to get transportation. And so on and so on.

You just do that for everything. Maybe there''s a really good gym but you need to talk to Stan to get in but he wants something. Then you can give Stan a background and maybe make him an important character. Maybe his kid is missing and you have to find him. When you do, it turns out the kid was kidnapped because he was a witness to the event that set you out on your quest.

The first thing you need to do with your story is determine the setting. That will give you a guideline for what you can use to fulfill your characters'' needs. Then you determine ways characters can aquire those things. Scavenger Hunt and Social Interaction are your main options.

The level of difficulty is directly related to how detailed you want your world to be.

Ben


IcarusIndie.com [ The Rabbit Hole | The Labyrinth | DevZone | Gang Wars | The Wall | Hosting | Dot Com | GameShot ]

Thanks I got some inkling of a starting point now.I got started by writing out everything I wanted this level to do.Then I played the music for the level which kind of got me started thinking in more detail.The rest of it was testing out the game and going back and working on the details more.So in essense I used some from everyon''s advice.It seems to work pretty well.Anyone who is also designing a rpg I''d probally suggest some graph paper.That helped me alot with the location of things.

The road to hell is paved in good intentions

you guys still arent getting it. really. what i mean is i dont know how to put it on paper. literally. do i make it like a story?
Bob is a boy who had a dog, Rex. One day Rex ran away and Bob set out on an adventure to find him. On his way .........
if so do i do 1st or 3rd person POV. and even then do i do past, present, or future tense?
OR do I do i like an out line like i had before. and if that what do i choose to write down. just the main events? or get into as much detail as possible. if as much detail? how do i do choices the player will have in an outline? you see y im having so much trouble?

------------------------------
If you whispered, who would hear you? If you cried, who would comfort you? If you begged, who would have mercy? If you program, who will play?
------------------------------

Yes. You write it just like a story.

1st person vs 3rd person is just dependent on how independent you want other people''s story to be from the main character''s.

e.g. Do you want the main character to be in every scene or do you want to have some backstory about other characters without the main character?

Technically it doesn''t matter. It''s just a matter of how you want to write the story.

Ben


IcarusIndie.com [ The Rabbit Hole | The Labyrinth | DevZone | Gang Wars | The Wall | Hosting | Dot Com | GameShot ]

If you don''t want to have a story, though, there are other things to start with. You can, for example, write the goal of the player first. Then you put down things relating to that, like how the player knows of his goal, what he has to achieve to complete it, etc. Remember that the player is part of the story, too, and when you can, allow them to have different solutions or be able to replace one problem with another.

Once you have the ideas in place, you can put together the details. Make specific characters and obstacles, items to use, and maps. I always find that part fun.

What you''re doing, really, is writing a report/explanation of each piece of your game. There''s no specific format to follow, all that''s important is to cover everything that''s in the game in the amount of detail you want to explain it in. It''ll be more than what a typical game review will contain, but it doesn''t necessarily have to detail the game down to the last pixel.

Making the world furry one post at a time

there are quite a number of GD templates floating around, afaik gamedev has some of its own. try and have a look at those, then you´ll probably come up with your own.

and i don´t like the guard-rock relationship as you´ve described it. walking over to check it out once or twice is ok, but then the guard will become suspicious and start a search of the area, maybe even call for help....

Before ya write THE end-all be-all design document for your game, start small with notes and let it evolve from there. If you don''t like an idea, don''t throw out the note, just keep it in a folder with other throw-aways. As ideas come, jot ''em down.

Over time, your idea should solidify into something worth compiling into a single document. This should be treated as a first draft. Try finding errors in your concept and more importantly, scale it down. Simple is always better. Ex: You might want to create a huge world but a player may not want to have to spend time traveling. Eventually, you''ll have a solid concept that you feel comfortable with.

At this point, if you can''t visualize a design document, you are probably not ready to write one. The more you put onto paper the better. Draw character art, maps, schematics, etc. Write down every idea. Keep a pen and small notebook handy in case you get an idea on your way to work... or whatever.

If you are creating a RPG style game, know your universe. Create a set of rules for how items/characters/environment/etc. interact with eachother. When you have a set of rules that completely defines your game (cost of items, strength of attacks, etc.) plan a simple game based on these rules. When I say simple, I mean bare-bone graphics, perhaps no sound and keep the interface lean. Just test out the rules. This will help in balancing the game. Some people just put the rules into a pen-and-paper game and let their friends battle it out. Either way works great.

So, anyway, gettin'' to my point, why start anywhere? Just throw together ideas until the design takes on a direction of its own. Hope this helps ya get started. =)

- Jay

"I have head-explody!!!" - NNY

Get Tranced!