Vel, we need summaries

Urban Ranger · June 3, 2002, 02:37

Vel,

I think what we need now are summaries in things such as combat, magic, and what-have-you. Lock the old threads so people don't accidentally post in them, and start new ones with what has happened/disccussed so far.

TCO · June 3, 2002, 03:14

We need a design document...

moomin · June 3, 2002, 07:44

Now, GP, don't be snide. A summary is a good way to start on a design document, although it sure ain't no substitute.

Spaced Cowboy · June 3, 2002, 11:25

I agree. Let's establish some roadmarks to work off of.

Velociryx · June 3, 2002, 12:52

Home sick today...UGH...feel like I've been hit by a (small) freight train....

Anyway, I was actually sorta wondering when this question would come up (see...I *have* been paying attention and absorbing much of the stuff in my growing collection of books....the one I have found to be most consistently helpful being "Rapid Development."

As far as the design doc goes, I would say that for the initial CB version, the core rules doc fulfills most of the essential roles as the design doc would. With regards to the stuff we've been talking about here thus far, I intentionally modelled the free-form discussion around the notion of evolutionary prototyping which I thought had a lot to offer us at this stage (and in this case, though we are not actually prototyping anything in code, I do run through simple simulations of the things discussed here and play out games and scenarios in my head to get a feel for how it would work).

The main reason that there has not been a design doc for the commercial release stuff we've been talking about here is that, to this point, I was more interested in seeing what ideas would come to the fore in the absense of any real constraints, besides the obvious (ie - we're making a fantasy game set in a medieval world...hovertanks and supersonic jets are prolly not in keeping with that theme), and happily, we've had a number of sugesstions that I do not feel would have come to light under a more rigid structure (most prominant in my mind being the notion of sigils).

All that said, as the idea base matures and solidifies, the notion of codifying our current body of thinking and the key directions the free-form idea flow has taken us into an official set of docs (and eventually into a unified design doc) is a good one, and something I've certainly got enough material here to begin work on. The key, in my mind though, was not to do that at the outset so as not to limit anyone's thinking by anything beyond the most broad form of the overall vision (back to the "no hovertanks" example).

Will work on putting the pieces we've got so far together and see how she's shaping up tho....soon as I stop my head from spinning....making it tough to focus at the moment....

-=Vel=-

TCO · June 3, 2002, 16:18

Moomie, just being succinct.

I agree that a summary can evolve to a design doc.

Vel, I keep forgetting that you did the board game and that a lot of the design is thus shown there. Sounds good to me.

I still advise putting yourself more time into the process of making the first game. I get the impression that you like playing with the big ideas...but there are useful things that you can do for the first game. starting the read me text and help file, etc. Stuf that the designer article talked about. They mentioned not spending all your time on fun brainstorming...

Velociryx · June 3, 2002, 16:29

No doubt about it, Master GP...I *love* tinkering with the big ideas and working out things to come.

But, I have been steadily hammering away at the other stuff too (for the current release)....which is why I've not been as active here over the past several days as I was before. (thanks in part, btw, to having read those articles and making an effort to correct/improve my own performance and effectiveness where the project is concerned)

In the beginning of this forum's existence, I spent a LOT of time here starting up some discussions on the areas I wanted to shop around for ideas and get folks thinking about, but since then, have had to scale back my presence here to pretty much do as you've recommended....still, time permitting, I do love to head this way and participate in the ongoing discussions....keeps me busy, that's for sure, but I like that!

-=Vel=-

TCO · June 3, 2002, 17:48

Keep up the good work.

Urban Ranger · June 3, 2002, 22:43

That's fine. You just need to focus on the complexity of the game a bit more - it gets quite complicated at the moment. I think the summaries will help because you get to stop, collect all the relevant parts, and get to see the whole picture.

TCO · June 3, 2002, 23:12

excellent advice...

Velociryx · June 6, 2002, 21:02

More summaries coming soon, as well as some stuff in other areas I've mentioned but have not actually written down just yet....had to take a few days to regroup and get some other work done tho...that and a bout of illness had me quiet for a bit....

-=Vel=-