Castle Paradox

[no_shot]

Do you plan your games out before firing up the OHRRPGCE?
PRESSING THE BUTTONS DOES NOTHING


ONCE AGAIN, PRESSING THE BUTTONS DOES NOTHING
If so, do you plan your games
on paper
in your head
other

Tell me about your planning process. What do you do, e.g. storyboards, character sketches or profiles, maps, etc..
THIS DOES NOTHING AS WELL, BUT IT'S FUN



Ok, seriously now, how many people feel that planning games on paper before using the OHRRPGCE/Verge/Whatever is a necessity/makes a difference?

How many take the other viewpoint? Who feels more comfortable starting up the OHRRPGCE and just making the game?

I think it's nice to plan things out a little bit on paper, like jotting notes down about certain things about the game (like its name, the characters, plot necessities, etc.) as they come into my head. I find that planning on paper and actually making the game in the OHRRPGCE are very different. Some things are best left until that stage, I think.
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Play Horrible Fantasy NOW!

[*Worthy*]

When I first started working with OHR, I did not. I was simply excited to create a somewhat decent battle. Now, I have been planning my game for about a year. I completed the battle engine last summer, and I have been planning it until this past June, which is when I started to work on it again.

It's always good to at least have a good idea of where you want the game to go before working on it. I doubt many people plan nearly every event in the game, however.

~Worthy
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You can do whatever you want...but prison is full of people who make bad decisions.

[JSH357]

It's absolutely foolish not to plan your game ahead, unless it's 15 minutes long.

[RedMaverickZero]

I mostly keep my ideas stored up in my noggin, and when it comes time to use them, I come up with better ideas to enhance that one. You could say my brain ideas are pepples, and when they are finally put into the OHR they are boulders. Heh. Planning out is very important. If not you will end up with something that you can make better not using a computer but a toilet instead. Heh.
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---------------Projects----
Mr.Triangle's Maze: 70%
Takoyaki Surprise: 70%

[KainMinter]

Planning makes all of the difference!!

If you plan ahead (recomendedly on paper) your game will most likely end up more well balanced, fun, and have a better flow of play.

[*Worthy*]

If you plan ahead, you can add things like foreshadowing, and the atmosphere of the game will be much better.

For example, if you plan out the personality of each character, you can incorporate that into the dialogue, which will result in the player better connecting (better verb perhaps?) with the different characters. It really makes a huge difference if you have at least the basic storyline and character personalities planned out. It would be very confusing if a really good hero suddenly jumped sides at the end with no foreshadowing or reason.

Without planning, the game will seem dull and lack any good plot, theme, and atmosphere. Unless, of course, the game is supposed to be pointless for comical reasons...still, planning can't hurt.

~Worthy
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You can do whatever you want...but prison is full of people who make bad decisions.

[Uncommon]

I overplan.

Started planning WGMD two years ago. It's become a totally different beast than it was then...

I used to just plan in my head, but I've recently started getting my ideas out by talking to people and getting collaborators.
I also type out scenes in NotePad. In fact, I should be finishing one instead of typing this.

[Dan the Man Entertainment]

As you can see, I made up most of the games I made in production. While I was creating one part of the game, I got the inspiration for the other. The problem was, I didn't know how to do it. Nowadays, I plan out everything. Unfortunately, my games will take longer to produce since coming up with ideas and producing them takes a hell of a lot of time (I've been working on my latest game for about two weeks and I still have about another one or two to come out with a demo. Usually, GOOD games probably take more that this though). In my opinion, planning things out, in the long run, works much better than creating on-the-spot.

[msw188]

I had my game (Hero's Journey) basically outlined when I was 14 years old or so. Back then though, I never dreamed of actually being able to make it. When I found the OHRRPGCE, I started the first Part, and quickly realized that some of my ideas were no good. As I continued working on the first Part, I decided to really plan out the rest of the game. I have an outline that tells all of the major events of the game, who is in the party at that time, and at about what level the player should have his characters on to survive. However, I've left a lot of the events vague (things like, 'find x, solve puzzle') where I will add details when I think of it, or when I reach it. I also have a basic history for the world as well.
I think that planning is very important for plot and background story. However, unless you have a LOT of planning time on your hands and you like using a calculator, you will need to actually be using the OHRRPGCE to get a good idea about balancing your characters' stats and attacks, etc.

[Sephyroth]

FF7-2: 15 pages of character backgrounds, geographic information, political history, dialogue (ugh..), area designs, and gameplay specifics, 12 points font, Times New Roman. As far as I know, I've planned out every game I've ever worked on either on paper or text file (Yes, even the god-awful ones).
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im realy ded

[Ssalamanderr]

Planning is a must. My game is falling apart because I have no idea what comes after what. I've done some scripts for scenes I've thought of, but not enough on characters, overall plot, and gameplay.

I plan in my head, and then write it down whenever I get a chance. I actually have a big notebook where I've started to write down ideas (even concept sketches ).

(Note: I'm going to start recording how many times I post that I'm a lazy procrastinator that never works on his game (it's true)... this will be about 200 I think.)
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Ssalamanderr's Journal!: http://www.livejournal.com/users/ssalamanderr/

Ukelele no good!

[Aethereal]

A design document either on paper or on the computer (preferably the latter with a backup) is almost required if you want to create something that is cohesive and well-designed. What I do is have a design document on my computer, and I have a notebook with me that I jot ideas down in whenever I get some ideas. The design document is more important than the notebook, though (Magisteral's is well over one megabyte right now and counting).
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[Kenji Murasame]

It's easy to design maybe even the longest RPG's.

All you need is:

A Theme
World design
Plot Event Guide
Character Design

Most the rest can be done on the spot. But the more planning the better.

[SunsOfFlame]

I don't think theres really a discussion here, good serious games need foreplanning. Good funny ones don't. I assume we're speaking seriously, so games need foreplanning.

[no_shot]

meh, I guess spontaneous isn't really serious, but it's funny as hell! Case in point: IMD, or any game by Rolling Stone.
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Play Horrible Fantasy NOW!