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Reposting this here from the RPGMakerVXAce.net forums.
Here are some tips on successful Game Design.
1) Make a game to impress yourself, not others.
If you're making a game to get attention and impress everyone, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. You should be making a game to entertain others and to entertain yourself. You can't please everyone, someone is always going to complain about what you did. However, some will like it, but only if you like it yourself.
2) Read & Study.
Open your mind to tons of subjects. Read about Architecture (helps with levels) writing, nature, science, science fiction, anthropology, fantasy, you name it, read, study, absorb ideas. Expose yourself to a lot of entertainment and knowledge and ideas will flow through you.
3) Try to Tell Your Own Story.
Please, please, please, please, PLEASE do not make Final Fantasy XVIII-2.3v4 because you want Cecil, Kain, and Sephiroth to fight Bahamut in a volleyball tournament to decide the fate of Tifa's uniform on Tuesdays. As awesome as that might be, it would be even MORE awesome if you were to come up with your OWN characters, your OWN villains, and your OWN setting. You may love those characters, but so do other people, and they will more than likely not enjoy what you did with them. Better to take your idea, slap some original characters/settings into it, and continue like you were. You don't need Tifa, you don't need Kain, you can make up your own big tittied melee fighter and bad ass in armor with a spear. It's not exclusive to those guys. If you're scared of not being able to come up with your own setting/characters, just make stuff up! Slap ideas together, give them random names, think in your HEAD that this guy is Kain and that girl is Tifa, but change their names to Abel and Karin, and edit their clothing, occupations, etc. But keep the same fighting styles. I assure you, anyone who does notice the difference, won't care, and will more than likely appreciate the fact that you at least TRIED to come up with something of your own, even if it was heavily influenced.
4) Write... Down... EVERYTHING!!!
If you're designing a game, write down everything in Word, a notebook, whatever works. Write down how you want your battle system to work, how many characters you want to have, what purpose they serve, how many puzzles you have and how they work. Write about the locations in your game, sketch some maps, get your entire game planned out in documentation (either digital or analog) and THEN crack open your maker and put it together. This will save you a LOT of time and headaches.
5) Stay Organized. Thanks to gcook725
Make sure that when you are writing everything down, that you have some kind of organization for your notes. I recommend a Wiki, either set up an online one if you're working with a team, or set up an offline one for just yourself. Online Wiki's have the advantage of being viewable by your entire team so changes can be made on the fly, and everyone is up to speed. Offline wikis are really great for just keeping your random thoughts together without having to dig through a pile of notes or searching through a huge word file. I recommend: ZimWiki for the offline personal one. Google it, it's a really well done program that helps a lot.
NOTE by gcook725: Also, in extension to #4 and 6, make sure to take the time to read your notes every once in a while; sometimes you'll find something tucked into a margin on a sheet of paper that you totally forgot about or become inspired by your earlier ideas to add something really cool.
6) Plan the Impossible.
When writing down your design documentation, plan anything that comes into your mind. Think of a cool gameplay idea? Don't worry about if you CAN do it, just think "Would this be cool?" and if yes, write it down! You can decide later whether or not it's worth doing, better to have it written down now and fuss over it later. That gameplay idea you may have scrapped because it wasn't worth your time might be the seed that grows something even more awesome when you look over it later on in the project cycle.
7) A Place for Everything, Everything in its Place.
Every character, item, map, location, monster, etc. Needs to have a gameplay AND story purpose in order to exist in your game. Do not throw things in "because it's cool". If you have a character that serves no gameplay AND story related purpose but you just think sounds like "A Bad Enough Dude To Save the President." then scrap him, take his awesome traits, and put them in your protagonist (or villain!) Boil down and fuse characters and locations/items and focus on what you need to get the job done. NOTE: Not saying you have to have a cast of 3 people only, but make sure that if you have 8 party members, they serve some kind of gameplay purpose, and the story has room for them.
Extra NOTE: Random denizens DO offer a gameplay AND story purpose, though. Story purpose = immersion, makes your locations feel alive, spices things up. Gameplay (optional) = Dialogue to offer objectives, possibly offer info that is no more than a red herring to throw off the player and make them have to sift through and find the truth (Not recommended, but is possible and entertaining if done correctly). Thanks to Kirin for the question.
8) Your Villain Must be the Best, Like No One Ever Was...
Everyone wants their Hero to be a badass cool guy, and that's fine, but make your Villain even MORE of a badass! If your Hero is better than the Villain, then why is your Villain even there? Just a roadblock? No, make your Villain the best and baddest, that way when your Hero gets his ass kicked throughout the game and finally defeats the Villain at the end, it will be satisfying.
9) Set a Schedule.
Give yourself some goals, set yourself some deadlines. Whether it be two months to complete a single level or sixth months to complete that Battle System and get it to perfection, set yourself some goals, and if you start to approach them and you're not ready? Start scrapping features. I'm not saying delete them for all eternity, but remove them from the game and try to make it work so you fit in your schedule. If you finish the game and you absolutely NEED one of those scrapped features, take the extra time to throw it in. But I guarantee, anything you scrap for the sake of time, was not something you needed, just something you wanted. Make the judgement call once your game is done on time. Decide then whether your project really needed that frog throwing game to get magical chocolate beans.
10) Test... Test... TEST!!!!!
When your game is playable, test it. Either you test it, your friends test it, or your mom tests it, or the random guys and girls on the internet in their underwear with their cats and soda test it. Get it tested, get those bug reports in, and fix those bugs. Something you thought might be awesome and working flawlessly could destroy your entire game and wipe your save when you're 3/4 through the game because you talked to an NPC while having 85 potions and had 10 HP. (Unlikely, but possible). Some bugs will get through, and if your schedule is cutting short, you may have to live with some bugs and try to fix them later (just offer an updated download).
11) I'd Like a Second Opinion, Doctor.
Once you're at the testing phase, ask for people's input, weigh their ideas. If you agree with the changes they suggest, then tinker with them and see if they fit. Be open to changes, but only if you agree with them. Try to make the best thing you can, but just be open to outside influences. You won't regret it.
12) Stay on Target. Stay on Target!!!
Stick with it, have fun, and get it done. You will be proud of yourself when you do. Nobody cares if you tried to make something, nobody cares if you almost finished something. But everyone will be impressed when you DO finish something. Plus, you'll have a warm fuzzy feeling, a game that you can show off (and if you did a really good job, might even be able to sell. Valve accepts games from people if they play them and think they're really fun).
13) Keep a Dev Blog to Stay Motivated. Written by gcook725
One thing you can try to do to help you stay on track and keep your spirits up is to write a Development Blog. When you write into the blog, you create a kind of diary and, given enough regularity, becomes part of your schedule. Once it becomes a part of what you do weekly it'll help remind you to spend some time working on your game. Not only this, but since it keeps a record of your progress the blog can also act as a kind of pick-me-up when you look at just how far you've come along.
14) Keep Backups! Thanks to Ichi
Make sure to keep a copy of your Design Document and your project folder on an external harddrive or memory card in case something happens to your main version. I recommend creating a backup every week, if not every day of your data. If you feel secure enough to use it, Dropbox is also a good alternative.
I hope this helps, feel free to share your opinions and input. These are not rules, these are not commands, this is merely advice to make a really awesome game and finish it.
Rock on and good luck!
Here are some tips on successful Game Design.
1) Make a game to impress yourself, not others.
If you're making a game to get attention and impress everyone, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. You should be making a game to entertain others and to entertain yourself. You can't please everyone, someone is always going to complain about what you did. However, some will like it, but only if you like it yourself.
2) Read & Study.
Open your mind to tons of subjects. Read about Architecture (helps with levels) writing, nature, science, science fiction, anthropology, fantasy, you name it, read, study, absorb ideas. Expose yourself to a lot of entertainment and knowledge and ideas will flow through you.
3) Try to Tell Your Own Story.
Please, please, please, please, PLEASE do not make Final Fantasy XVIII-2.3v4 because you want Cecil, Kain, and Sephiroth to fight Bahamut in a volleyball tournament to decide the fate of Tifa's uniform on Tuesdays. As awesome as that might be, it would be even MORE awesome if you were to come up with your OWN characters, your OWN villains, and your OWN setting. You may love those characters, but so do other people, and they will more than likely not enjoy what you did with them. Better to take your idea, slap some original characters/settings into it, and continue like you were. You don't need Tifa, you don't need Kain, you can make up your own big tittied melee fighter and bad ass in armor with a spear. It's not exclusive to those guys. If you're scared of not being able to come up with your own setting/characters, just make stuff up! Slap ideas together, give them random names, think in your HEAD that this guy is Kain and that girl is Tifa, but change their names to Abel and Karin, and edit their clothing, occupations, etc. But keep the same fighting styles. I assure you, anyone who does notice the difference, won't care, and will more than likely appreciate the fact that you at least TRIED to come up with something of your own, even if it was heavily influenced.
4) Write... Down... EVERYTHING!!!
If you're designing a game, write down everything in Word, a notebook, whatever works. Write down how you want your battle system to work, how many characters you want to have, what purpose they serve, how many puzzles you have and how they work. Write about the locations in your game, sketch some maps, get your entire game planned out in documentation (either digital or analog) and THEN crack open your maker and put it together. This will save you a LOT of time and headaches.
5) Stay Organized. Thanks to gcook725
Make sure that when you are writing everything down, that you have some kind of organization for your notes. I recommend a Wiki, either set up an online one if you're working with a team, or set up an offline one for just yourself. Online Wiki's have the advantage of being viewable by your entire team so changes can be made on the fly, and everyone is up to speed. Offline wikis are really great for just keeping your random thoughts together without having to dig through a pile of notes or searching through a huge word file. I recommend: ZimWiki for the offline personal one. Google it, it's a really well done program that helps a lot.
NOTE by gcook725: Also, in extension to #4 and 6, make sure to take the time to read your notes every once in a while; sometimes you'll find something tucked into a margin on a sheet of paper that you totally forgot about or become inspired by your earlier ideas to add something really cool.
6) Plan the Impossible.
When writing down your design documentation, plan anything that comes into your mind. Think of a cool gameplay idea? Don't worry about if you CAN do it, just think "Would this be cool?" and if yes, write it down! You can decide later whether or not it's worth doing, better to have it written down now and fuss over it later. That gameplay idea you may have scrapped because it wasn't worth your time might be the seed that grows something even more awesome when you look over it later on in the project cycle.
7) A Place for Everything, Everything in its Place.
Every character, item, map, location, monster, etc. Needs to have a gameplay AND story purpose in order to exist in your game. Do not throw things in "because it's cool". If you have a character that serves no gameplay AND story related purpose but you just think sounds like "A Bad Enough Dude To Save the President." then scrap him, take his awesome traits, and put them in your protagonist (or villain!) Boil down and fuse characters and locations/items and focus on what you need to get the job done. NOTE: Not saying you have to have a cast of 3 people only, but make sure that if you have 8 party members, they serve some kind of gameplay purpose, and the story has room for them.
Extra NOTE: Random denizens DO offer a gameplay AND story purpose, though. Story purpose = immersion, makes your locations feel alive, spices things up. Gameplay (optional) = Dialogue to offer objectives, possibly offer info that is no more than a red herring to throw off the player and make them have to sift through and find the truth (Not recommended, but is possible and entertaining if done correctly). Thanks to Kirin for the question.
8) Your Villain Must be the Best, Like No One Ever Was...
Everyone wants their Hero to be a badass cool guy, and that's fine, but make your Villain even MORE of a badass! If your Hero is better than the Villain, then why is your Villain even there? Just a roadblock? No, make your Villain the best and baddest, that way when your Hero gets his ass kicked throughout the game and finally defeats the Villain at the end, it will be satisfying.
9) Set a Schedule.
Give yourself some goals, set yourself some deadlines. Whether it be two months to complete a single level or sixth months to complete that Battle System and get it to perfection, set yourself some goals, and if you start to approach them and you're not ready? Start scrapping features. I'm not saying delete them for all eternity, but remove them from the game and try to make it work so you fit in your schedule. If you finish the game and you absolutely NEED one of those scrapped features, take the extra time to throw it in. But I guarantee, anything you scrap for the sake of time, was not something you needed, just something you wanted. Make the judgement call once your game is done on time. Decide then whether your project really needed that frog throwing game to get magical chocolate beans.
10) Test... Test... TEST!!!!!
When your game is playable, test it. Either you test it, your friends test it, or your mom tests it, or the random guys and girls on the internet in their underwear with their cats and soda test it. Get it tested, get those bug reports in, and fix those bugs. Something you thought might be awesome and working flawlessly could destroy your entire game and wipe your save when you're 3/4 through the game because you talked to an NPC while having 85 potions and had 10 HP. (Unlikely, but possible). Some bugs will get through, and if your schedule is cutting short, you may have to live with some bugs and try to fix them later (just offer an updated download).
11) I'd Like a Second Opinion, Doctor.
Once you're at the testing phase, ask for people's input, weigh their ideas. If you agree with the changes they suggest, then tinker with them and see if they fit. Be open to changes, but only if you agree with them. Try to make the best thing you can, but just be open to outside influences. You won't regret it.
12) Stay on Target. Stay on Target!!!
Stick with it, have fun, and get it done. You will be proud of yourself when you do. Nobody cares if you tried to make something, nobody cares if you almost finished something. But everyone will be impressed when you DO finish something. Plus, you'll have a warm fuzzy feeling, a game that you can show off (and if you did a really good job, might even be able to sell. Valve accepts games from people if they play them and think they're really fun).
13) Keep a Dev Blog to Stay Motivated. Written by gcook725
One thing you can try to do to help you stay on track and keep your spirits up is to write a Development Blog. When you write into the blog, you create a kind of diary and, given enough regularity, becomes part of your schedule. Once it becomes a part of what you do weekly it'll help remind you to spend some time working on your game. Not only this, but since it keeps a record of your progress the blog can also act as a kind of pick-me-up when you look at just how far you've come along.
14) Keep Backups! Thanks to Ichi
Make sure to keep a copy of your Design Document and your project folder on an external harddrive or memory card in case something happens to your main version. I recommend creating a backup every week, if not every day of your data. If you feel secure enough to use it, Dropbox is also a good alternative.
I hope this helps, feel free to share your opinions and input. These are not rules, these are not commands, this is merely advice to make a really awesome game and finish it.
Rock on and good luck!
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