Organizing and planning your work

[yamipanda]

I have a couple of ideas for games I want to make, but I don't really know how to organize a project properly. Ie, what to do when so that I don't get overwhelmed and stressed out by trying to think about everything at once and end up not being able to do anything.
Any advice? What's your process to go from idea to buildning to finishing a game?

[LostTrainDude]

Apart from the predictable answer "I don't think that there is a method that works the same way for everybody", I think that it could actually even depend by the amount of work you think that your design is going to take.

Being not someone who was taught a "working method", my own current method can prove itself to be completely unproductive, compared to any other's.

I'm currently trying to develop something larger than usual and, this time, I started from what I'd like my game to "express". Then I wrote down some plot ideas (that still leave huge plot holes). After that I began scripting something with placeholder sprites and backgrounds, starting to work from where I think the game could eventually start. In parallel, I'm continuing to lay down the plot, fill the missing links and thinking about the puzzles as they come in my mind.

It helps me, because I think it's letting me develop a preexisting game world around simple "pivotal" plot hints.

My two cents (or even less ): if you don't know where to start, start from the beginning and see where it leads you To do a little is better than don't do anything at all and, at least, then you can say that you did!

[Ghost]

I've used a lot of different approaches over the years but they all fall between two extremes: Write the game with little to no preparation, always making things up as you go alone and try out what works best, or have a solid plan with a clear vision of the final product, and work towards it step by step.

Both extremes are valid IMO and everyone will sooner or later settle somewhere in between. You're never absolutely clueless and will have at least a vague idea. And you also can't predict everything that'll happen during development so there will always be some changes.

Personally, here's what works for me, these days (please note that I am notorious for dropping projects!)

1) The Idea
This can be anything but I like to try and compress it into one sentence. That's what I want to make, and when someone asks me what my game's about, this is the answer.
"Red Riding Hood is a private investigator in a whacky fairytale land." "A zombie wants to bake a cake." "A faithful remake of the Archomage cardgame." "A really fiendish puzzle, no idea what but really really hard, must be solved, by someone, because reasons."
Now I already know a lot about the game.

2) MiniPlot
A simple plot, just a situation to get the story started maybe. This help me find an atmosphere. Genre? Character? Protagonist? This makes the core of the story and I like to know a lot about that before I start spriting.

3) Framework
I like to write the interface first or, more precisely, I select one of my homebrew template to tweak it and use it as the base. That way I know about the controls and how the player can interact with the world. A simple static sprite of the main character is also helpful, if only as a rogh size reference.

4) Scripting & Refining
I usually have *some* ideas what the game will contain. But there is also a lot of blank space. Adventure game puzzles often appear while you're drawing a room or putting together a simple "get X" puzzle, and then you can throw it in. Or leave it out. In small games I like to have one clear and short sequence of things to do; you can always break down that sequence into MORE puzzles.

5) Roll with it
As the game grows, try to focus on small daily goals. You have five rooms, each one with a major puzzle? Finish each room in rough steps. Then refine them one by one. Don't try to do everything at once; you won't get anything done then and just become frustrated. is your game all about ONE string of puzzles? Then start there, make it playable, and then see where you can add more. It's really rewarding to see, at the end of a day, that there is true progress.
When you get STUCK somewhere, don't force it. Don't pour too much time into fixing a bug now. There will be more.

6) Keep note
As you work your "vision" will become clearer and more realistic. Write things down, write how your game moves and changes. You can steer that. A small idea may turn into something more important. Something that sounds awesome on paper may not be any fun. Keep everything though. Make a folder for all your assets and keep copies of every original (layer'd) file. You will need them again. Accept that you may not be able to use everything you create and just keep it for some later game. Never force something in for the sake of it.

7) When playable, share
I've learned the hard way that you often don't see the forest for all the trees when you're deeply involved into your game. After testing a puzzle for three days you're on autopilot- you don't see bugs and you won't spot typos. As soon as there is some proper gameplay (no animations, no polish, nothing!) get a few testers. Make sure to NOT only share the game with your friends. Friends tend to be polite. You want people who will actively try to wreck your game. You want honest critique.

8) When everything is done, don't play it for a week, then play it.
Because you WILL find something that you want to touch up. And then wait another day, and THEN release.

8.a) Five minutes after release, check for ANY thread that mentions your game.
It will be a bug report.

[yamipanda]

Thanks for the advice. I know there's no single way that will work best for everyone. The suppose the only way to find what's best for you is to first experience what doesn't work, and my current strategy of "I don't know what to do so i'll do everything at the same time FFFFFFUUUUUUUthere's too much stuff I'll just watch Doctor Who instead" obviously doesn't work . It feels like I've spent more time googling how to organize stuff than actually doing stuff.

[miguel]

Ghost's number 5 is very important, stay focus on the main(important) parts of your game and build on them but keep going back and refine previous rooms/sequences until you reach at least a satisfactory level. As a rule, and one that is extremely hard to accomplish for indie devs, the more time you spend on your game the more quality you'll produce. But, there's always a but, you take the risk of getting bored with your own project, the same one that drove you into hours and hours of hard-work. So, yes, try to diverse your work flow and, if you can, get some people to help you.

But really, the best answer to your question or any questions regarding game making is answered by doing your own thing with your own virtues and flaws. People here will tell you exactly what you've done bad or good and most of the time help you out on improving.

[Ghost]

As a rule, and one that is extremely hard to accomplish for indie devs, the more time you spend on your game the more quality you'll produce. But, there's always a but, you take the risk of getting bored with your own project, the same one that drove you into hours and hours of hard-work.

Miguel makes a good point there; just look at all those promising titles that make it to some sort of "early access" and then run (pun) out of steam. Getting external feedback is really great IMO because it provides not only useful critique and probably fresh ideas, but also because more people start to care about a project. That can add some motivation, you know that there are people out there liking what you do. Motivation often becomes a crucial part, especially if you're really just making a freeware game because you happen to like the genre, or just want to see of you can actually make a game.

It's a double-edged sword maybe- who's in control, do you have to listen to everything? How do you deal with backlash should push come to shove? But apparently the "indie way" is to be more transparent with a project and that can result in some cool ideas.

There is a full documentation of Resonance available- the whole "bible" for the game. It makes an awesome read and shows how a professional AGS game looks on paper. I'll see if I can find the link.
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edit: Now that was quick, here you go: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=47824.msg636448407#msg636448407