Some examples of mind mapping software are: http://www.xmind.net/ http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page I've been trying them out. I think they might get unwieldy as they get really big, but it seems natural to me to represent design documentation in a non linear way. This could be particularly true for branching quest structures in an RPG. Any thoughts?

I am using FreeMind. I don't use it to create actual games, but I write down ideas for games I have.

Hi, I had the same thoughts in the beginning, but found these disadvantages:

1) The map takes too much space
2) It is hard to find information
3) You cannot easily share a section of it with someone

4) When the branching story becomes moderately completed, it doesn't really help when you draw a diagram. You have to break it down into sub-systems regardless.

5) It takes time to edit

6) You can only show so much info on the map if you want to make it compact. This means that you need some kind of title for each box to hide the information underneath.

7) While you are organizing the info, it makes you feel that you are doing something, but most of the time you are actually not doing anything. A week or a month later you will forget what is linked to what and how to get to a certain element. The graph you through was good would look alien.

8) You jog down a lot of information you think are interesting but are ultimately unimportant. When the map gets cluttered you resist simple deleting information for fear that you would delete some good stuff that you might need later.

9) The graphical location of some box might have no meaning. That is distracting and will help you forget what you want to show. (Graphs where the locations have meaning are maps, graphs, processes, timeline, venn diagram, transaction diagrams ... Those are essential because the positions are part of the data.)

Overall I don't think that mind maps are effective in presenting information. They are like computer-aided-disorganization. All it does is to overwhelm the reader ("Wow there is so much stuff!") If you present something in 2D, the position must have a meaning. When that happens your resulting diagram is not just a mind map.

I use freemind quite a bit to put ideas down, but then I usually go through them and put them in some kind of logical order in a notebook or txt file.

Cheers,

Bob

I use mind maps on all my projects, whether it's a paper for university or some component of a game, although I prefer to draw them quick and dirty and using pen and paper. They are somewhat useful for quick brainstorming, but it doesn't go much further than that. Anything too detailed either takes too much space or isn't very suitable for representation using mind maps. However, some things can be broken out and a separate mind map made for them for brainstorming. Don't go overboard though.

I was trying to use collaborative/online mind maps (using MindMeister) on some recent group projects, but usually nobody updated or even read it so the usefulness was doubtful.

I suppose moving to 2d doesn't really make a dent in the problem I have with conventional documents and trying to organise data that can be connected in arbitrary ways. When writing an RPG for example you have things like:

-Game world mythology and setting
-Specific backstory
-Theme's you want to explore
-Random ideas and set peices you'd like to work in
-Character biographies
-The actual concrete quest structures with any branching paths

I want to try and organise this stuff in a way that makes it easier to keep it consistent and which encourages new ideas. I kind of want to be able to "see everything at once".

I use FreeMind for initial analysis and making sure I've mentally explored every aspect of an idea or problem. In that way mind maps are invaluable. But I don't think they can replace linear documentation. They may work better with loosely connected concepts like themes to explore or random ideas, but ultimately there is only so much information you can put on one diagram and you'll have to drill down to something more linear in the end.