The planning happens in a different order/direction depending on the structure of one's team. A one-man band, a programmer-run/funded team, a writer or artist run/funded team, and an industry team all operate quite differently. Also it depends on the genre of the game: whether it is strongly story-based or not, whether it has traditional or unusual gameplay, and whether it is being built on a particular existing engine or with a particular software package.

Describe your particular team and genre if you want a more specific response.

Quote:Ok lets see...for example i designed and specified all monsters,character abilities,rpg evolving system (progressing) etc.
I think it is not enough to just throw it in game with some logic so that game is interesting to players...it is also hard to all imagine in your head and know will players like it or not...

Suppose you have a game idea and you want to know whether it is fun or not before you prototype, you could do this exercise:

Describe your game in one sentence/paragraph without referring to its theme, adjectives or figurative verbs*, estimate the time it takes to complete/play the game, and concantenate the expected play time to the end of the sentence. The result should be a dry, colorless sentence. If this distilled sentence still sounds likable, then there is a pretty good chance that your game is fun to play.

This exercise helps tell you whether your gameplay is fundamentally "fun" without the aid of the theme or the story.


* By figurative verbs I meant a verb such as "kill". In a game, you are moving the mouse, pressing keys. You are not "killing" anything.

Quote:Original post by xraven13
...for example i designed and specified all monsters,character abilities,rpg evolving system (progressing) etc. I think it is not enough to just throw it in game with some logic so that game is interesting to players...it is also hard to all imagine in your head and know will players like it or not...
So what are your suggestions,how to implement all in game so that is interesting to play? Thanks.

Start small, using just a small sample of your list to try and see if you can create an interesting scenario. Instead of creating everything at once, begin by just creating one room of one level to see how some of your monsters, loot, fighting, and etc can fit together in interesting ways. Then expand upon that, attach additional rooms to that room, additional levels, etc.

An interesting scenario means there is a problem, a challenge for you to overcome, a dilemma to solve. The greater the challenge, the more engaging it is, and the more interesting it is to solve it (of course there is also a frustration limit, so don't make it too ridiculously difficult, unless if its for an optional secret/bonus just for kicks). The process is very much like writing a story - you have a problem, you have your badguy(s), you have your main character, you have your climaxes (boss fights). Try "writing a story" with your list of objects you've created to see if you can create a cool interesting scenario or situation. Then translate that into game terms.

Though a completely different genre, you could watch some Half Life 2 design commentaries to get a general idea on how you can design your own level challenges.

[Edited by - Tangireon on November 23, 2008 10:21:15 PM]