Hi everyone! I am starting to get lost with my projects...so i wonder what kind of software do you use to keep all the crap together :D I need something to manage my various projects, possibly not a project management software, since they are very generic, and the only thing that they do is to keep track of tasks...useful if you work with a team, but not too useful if the only one to work on the project is yourself :P so i wonder if there is something simple and very linear to manage game designers needs from the concept to the coding . at the moment this is what i need: -something to manage assets, like a repository where i can check in and out stuff and keep a history of the previous versions in case that something goes wrong (especially for the code part) -something that keeps me aware of where am i in the project; marking milestones and tasks, keeping track of how much i spend on material, books, etc, and also that keep me aware of how much i have to do and what is already done....sounds like a sofware like MS projects, but i do not want to loose days just to put together a simple schedule, that takes me a couple of hours using the old good paper and pencil :) -something to manage the story, sketches, storyboard and in general all the doc part that is essential to keep track of the story, the enemies, dialogues, setup and many more things....saw some software oriented to writers, but they are kinda complex The ideal would be a single package that does these things, but i am aware that the best would be single tools that i can use whenever i reach a certain phase :) by now i have the 3d software, the 3d engine and the graphic software settled....what is left is all the organization of how to manage and then put toghether everything :) Thanks in advance; i am sure that your suggestions will be helpful to me! PS: i use a mac, but parallels is my ally, so i can use also windows software :)

Darsh wrote:
>What software do you use to your gamedesign needs?

For game design I mainly use Microsoft Word - that's the standard game design tool most widely used by all game designers. Excel is also important, for creating tables and charts for game designs. {edited out a period}

> i wonder what kind of software do you use to keep all the crap together :D
I need something to manage my various projects, possibly not a project management software, since they are very generic, and the only thing that they do is to keep track of tasks...

OK, well, that isn't "game design." Task management tools, eh? You can use Excel or Project or bug tracking tools like Mantis, Bugzilla...

>at the moment this is what i need:
>-something to manage assets, like a repository

Again - this is not "game design." See http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson28.html#G
Tortoise SVN is good for asset management.

>-something that keeps me aware of where am i in the project; marking milestones and tasks,
>-something to manage the story, sketches, storyboard and in general all the doc part that is essential to keep track of the story, the enemies, dialogues, setup and many more things....

Like a wiki. I can't name a package offhand, maybe somebody else will.

>saw some software oriented to writers, but they are kinda complex

Whatever you find will likely be "kinda complex." Deal.

>The ideal would be a single package that does these things,

That would definitely be complex, then.

[Edited by - Tom Sloper on July 9, 2009 7:04:29 PM]

Thanks for your reply Tom :)

Your points are very useful; digging into them right now.

I've found a software right now, called video game design pro 2006; that is basically almost all that i need; but the company producing it is dead so i cannot buy it, and all that is left is this 14 days trial copy.....

This has almost all that i need, and seems that is possible to create hyperlinks so i can technically put up an apache server with the basic wiki software and link the assets, or use SVN as you suggested.

Do you know if there is any template that can be used as guideline for a design document? (word or excel doesn't matter )

anyone else has some more suggestions ? :)

Quote:

Original post by darshie76 Do you know if there is any template that can be used as guideline for a design document?

Yes, of course I do.*

Quote:

(word or excel doesn't matter )

You don't write a GDD in Excel.



*Two links:
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/specs.htm (do not ignore all the links at the bottom - even more templates!)
http://tinyurl.com/nlcyv9

You may find this interesting:
Outliners, mind-mapping programs, and others.

I would suggest Mercurial for asset management. (Assets can include your design documents - tracking changes here is sometimes handy.) On Windows I'd use TortoiseHg for Mercurial but I don't know what is available on the Mac.

ToDoList (again, Win32) is quite a handy little tool for managing hierarchical tasks and projects. Don't be put off by the screenshot, which is overcomplicated - it's basically just a long list of tasks and subtasks which you can cross off as needed.

You might consider using online tools, such as Google Documents, TadaList, Remember The Milk, etc. They're all especially useful if you work with others remotely.

Google Documents for sure.

I agree with the Google Documents comment. Not only does it have the same if not more power than microsoft word, but it does so without requiring any extra program to run. You can access it anywhere from nearly every known browser and share it with anyone. It's always online so you can update it anywhere and not worry about having a new copy somewhere and an old copy at home or vice versa.

Plus you can make presentations, forms and spreadsheets as well. I'm even using google calendar to set deadlines and milestone dates.

The best part of all is that it auto-saves so you don't even have to worry about losing something due to a crash... and you don't even have to store anything on your computer. Though if you're worried about losing the data on the google servers you could always save and make backups.

I use index cards and rubber bands.....

For more complex ideas, graph paper and a binder....

Index cards are easily portable, so I can carry a stack around in my pocket and add to it as needed. Later, it's really easy to lay them out on a desk and move them around. This also leads to new ways of thinking; sometimes just moving two disparate ideas near each other will trigger some new thought.

I write To Do lists on scrap paper, that way once everything is checked off I can create a new list in unused portions on the front or back. Large pieces of paper can also be written on from any angle, so certain ideas from the top, rotate 180, new idea: rotate 90, next ideas, etc.

I like physical media to work with for design ideas because I can doodle easily. And it never runs out of batteries in pubic....


On the computer side, Google Docs and SVN are pretty cool. Most of the suggestions in the previous posts sound good.

Take the few hours to sit down and organize where all your assets are going to end up. Should you put all your audio stuff in one place, or should you group assests by the project they belong to? Models, music, sound effects, etc can be reused or repurposed depending on project, so I prefer to keep like objects grouped together. I'll put copies in the project folders, under a folder with the same name as the folder for the type of asset I copied it from. Makes figuring out where things are simpler. Also backing everything up....

I use Evernote as a way to jot down random ideas, organise ideas, copy snippets from websites (it also pastes the url from where I copied the snippet should I ever want to return there). You can attach files to notes so you can keep everything in one place. It also has a nice search feature - I haven't really used it that much since I have my notes organised in such a way that I know where everything is, but I imagine it may become more useful as I add more and more information.

The interface is either via the Evernote Windows/Mac client, from the web or from your mobile - Blackberry, iPhone, Palm-Pre and Windows mobile currently (there is a mobile site too). One other way to add notes is to a provided Evernote email address which I use a lot - I can email ideas from my Blackberry when I'm on the move, so this way I rarely forget the "great" ideas I have when I'm in the middle of a crowded shopping centre.