This is for those people who actually write some sort of plan before they start coding. Be it design doc, story board, or pen and napkin How do you decide when you''ve written enough down, and it''s time to start implementing? Obviously you can go on forever revising your design (at least I can, but then, I''m a writer at heart), and no matter how complete you may think the design is, it will require some level of on-the-fly redesign when implementing (even if it''s only that the main character wears red instead of blue) So help an amature out, what criteria do you use?

I find that design is the most important part of the process and is actually never finished until the project is finished (even then some design elements are pending that did not find its way into the implementation). Anyway, If you are serious about actually completing a project, my advise would be to spend some time on research (not in number of hours, but in real time where the mind will absorb, combine and filter to produce logical design structures). Then try your best to decide the impact each design element will have on the budget (there is a budget even if you work alone and on your spare time, its called the patience budget). Ex.: You want to include high-quality NPC AI in your game, but you find that your knowledge is limited and it would propably take a lot of time to make. Reduce the goal-level to comply with what''s practically possible.

All this sound pretty business-like and engineering-typical, and that''s true. My belief is that ''from-the-hip'' engagement in game projects (or any project for that matter) only has a reasonable success-rate on smaller projects, so some logical thought is the better way to go.

A nice effect of the engineering method is that progress seems more tangiable and this helps to keep the initial spirit up. If the projects meets unpredicted walls, the motivation could plumage and so would the project.

To a large extent i agree with what annon says but there''s other issue''s to which will gravely affect the factor of a design becoming completable.

If you know exactly what the game is about and what kind of fun the player should recieve from it your''ve already gotten the ball rolling. Then you work out how this fun is going to be brought forth from the game. Also work out what type of game it will be - competition, building, environment orientated, or story based. If you go for a mix then you are already setting the bar pretty high for a beginner UNLESS you can make the different elements relevent in order to make the game easier to visualize for the game design when it comes time for researching and balancing the game.

If you can do all of the above and write it out so anyone can get a clear idea of what goals have been set then you can appraise each goal separately with a time line and then it''s just a matter of using your resources to their best advantage.



One more time for the dumbies
ar+gu+ment n. A discussion in which reasons are put forward in support of and against a proposition, proposal, or case; debate.