Over the last three years I've been joining game projects and lead them, and I've come to realize that if you want something done, you better do it yourself or pay someone for their efforts; -at least if you want a dependable and slightly predictable development environment.
So, I've got my plan set up for 2007: To finish all conceptual design, flowcharts, diagrams and tables, as well as most of the technical design and prototypes. I will spend as much time as I need to get most all the pre-production finished before I start to gather any other team members, and ensure that all communication- and development-tools are properly set up before production starts.
By saving up some cash this year, I'll set up a budget for the project and hopefully be able to pay for quality assets and dependable developers. The design will be tailored toward realistic ends with a 20 minute long demo goal. In the design stage I will strive to achieve strong replay value through proper planning of achievement, progress, interactivity and plotline pacing; -which I expect will bring quite the challenge with such a short game.
I will journal the project step by step here, and hopefully I'll be able to present some experiences, code snippets and screenshots along the way.
For now though, I better get my head back to my last two exams!