I am currently in my 5th and final year at university for computer science in a game development stream. I have experience in actually making games but I have no experience in doing the actual design, and that is where I need your help.

Well it's time to do my honors project and I have been thinking of beginning development on a game that I can turn into a personal project after I graduate.

I want to do something similar to what Nexus War (now closed) and Urban Dead are like. I know MMO is a bad word around here when it comes to first game development topics but I really don't have delusions of grandeur and want to make the next WoW. I think a simple web based, tile map MMO shouldn't be too hard but I am willing to reconsider if I get genuine advice to stay clear.

So I would also love to get advice on how to flesh out the game design? I have little slices of the big picture in my mind and I want to do this properly and really plan it out before I just "dive in" to programming (my usual approach) and find out I have an unplayable piece of garbage. So tips and hints on how to properly plan a game would be great!

Any links to articles (I did a google search but am looking for more) would be appreciated as well as any personal advice.

Update: It appears the above reads like I am new to making games, please read this post (or just read the whole thread) to better understand my situation.

Thanks a bunch
Kasuko

I am currently in my 5th and final year at university for computer science in a game development stream. I have experience in actually making games but I have no experience in doing the actual design, and that is where I need your help.

Well it's time to do my honors project and I have been thinking of beginning development on a game that I can turn into a personal project after I graduate.

I want to do something similar to what Nexus War (now closed) and Urban Dead are like. I know MMO is a bad word around here when it comes to first game development topics but I really don't have delusions of grandeur and want to make the next WoW. I think a simple web based, tile map MMO shouldn't be too hard but I am willing to reconsider if I get genuine advice to stay clear.

So I would also love to get advice on how to flesh out the game design? I have little slices of the big picture in my mind and I want to do this properly and really plan it out before I just "dive in" to programming (my usual approach) and find out I have an unplayable piece of garbage. So tips and hints on how to properly plan a game would be great!

Any links to articles (I did a google search but am looking for more) would be appreciated as well as any personal advice.

Thanks a bunch
Kasuko