It seems everytime i try to put my ideas for a game on paper, I cant do it Its probally becuase i dont have a good template for a doc that i can refer to as im coding not to inform others or publicize my project does anyone know of a good way to write a doc i can put all my ideas in? and plz dont say, "just put it down anywhere" "Those who serve no purpose, have no purpose. SSC the Super Saiyan Cat" Edited by - SonShadowCat on January 22, 2002 5:47:46 PM

I had similar problems at some point too. The trick is that you shouldn''t concentrate on making it consistent and good-looking right away, but you should simply write everything down. Pick up a pen, put it on paper and write. If, in the middle of a sentence, you get a new idea, just quite writing the previous thing and write down the new one. Just stream everything onto paper and don''t worry about how it''ll look, you can compile it all afterwords into a neat looking document.

Works for me, but may not work for you. But I urge you to try it out.


rk

that leads to another problem
my mind is a jumbled mess, i cant straighten things out

it almost impossible for me to put anything in paper except maybe a story

i always get into fits of rage for no apparent reason and i would probally rip the paper to shreds before writing 2 sentences!

however, i dont forget things that often when it comes to games and programming

so should i forget about paper and just code from memory?

"Those who serve no purpose, have no purpose. SSC the Super Saiyan Cat"

You can''t expect to write a complete design document before you have a good idea of what most of the game will be like. How can you represent every aspect of the game in an organized fashion if you don''t already know what the game will be like?

I think it''s best to brainstorm first and organize later. Get an unruled notebook and write down the basic idea of the game as best it comes out. You can add ideas as they come to you, and modify those sections which need modification (use pencil instead of pen). Once you''ve run out of ideas you can put them all in order and create your first draft design document from that.

Seems like you have the same problem I''ve got. I can write stuff down, but when I make my game, I don''t even glance at what I''ve written (so what''s the point?). I get it into my head what I want, and then pursue that incrementally. I want a spaceship on screen. Ok, now I''ve got a spaceship, I want him to move. Ok, he''s moving, now I want him to shoot. Ok, that''s down. Now I want an alien for him to shoot. There he is. But it would be cool if the alien dodged the bullets and shot back. Alright! That''s cool! Now I want a starfield in the background. Wow. How''s about a score? Now lets write those scores to disk. And add a title screen, and some options. Neato frito monchito. A game! Obviously, you might want a design document if you are coding something more complex, like an rpg, but I think you see what I mean.

Jake

By the way, one thing I''ve found very useful when writing down my ideas is to use little drawings accompanied by labels to represent as many concepts as possible. I find these little drawings, simple as they are, really help add character to the brainstorming process. I like to use humor/exaggeration in some of these drawings. It makes the brainstorming process a lot more fun.

i have the ideas floating around in my head but i cant write them down

its really fustrating

well since im making a text game, how complicated can it get?

the only thing ive written for my game is the weapons and their dmg, range, weight, cost

same goes for the armors

"Those who serve no purpose, have no purpose. SSC the Super Saiyan Cat"

I used to think that the games I wanted to make were fully developed in my head. Then, when I tried to prepare a design document I felt immediately like giving up. I later figured out that the ideas I had were not fully developed, so I needed to discover whatever was implied by the nature of the game. There's a difference between known and implied, though we can fool ourselves into thinking they're equivalent.

Edited by - chronos on January 22, 2002 8:08:46 PM

so how do I know if my ideas are fully developed?

by simply trying to write the down on paper?

"Those who serve no purpose, have no purpose. SSC the Super Saiyan Cat"

Talk into a tape recorder. Then get a second tape recorder. While transcribing the first tape, record any new ideas on tape.
Then make a recording while organising your first set of notes, then another one while transcribing the second tape, etc...