How do you start a game...

[NinjaKittyProductions]

Hey gamers,
I thought I would try and get to know some backgrounds on how you all start making a game.
Do you start with a basic idea?
Do you start with story you have been working on?
Do you see something in another video game and think "that looks awesome! I could totally do something like that!"?
Do you have a character concept in mind and build the world around what events in that world shaped your character?

I for one typically have a certain character in mind and then go through the world building steps on how the character came about.

 

[Xenphir]

I usually have a story I want to implement, and then I start adding in characters and world-build via google docs and day dreaming haha. Once I have a solid story idea I start on actually making the world itself. Though I also have a debug map on the maker engine to test any mechanics I feel are a must for my game before getting into too much detail with parallax mapping and such. Just to be sure my game mechanics will work fine.

 

[Kes]

There are actually several recent threads covering this that you might want to read through as they give a lot of advice and opinion. Just browse through this section of the forum. The first 2 or 3 pages have a lot about initial aspects of planning your game, including a very helpful thread about the mistakes that beginners tend to make.

 

[Soryuju]

My concepts usually start when I’m playing other games. Once I’ve been playing the game a while and gotten familiar with its systems, my creative/analytical tendencies start to kick in, and I always end up thinking about how the game’s systems could be streamlined or made more fun. This inevitably morphs into the question “How would I make this game?

The gameplay is always the first concern for me, and then the story. I’m the type of player who likes RPGs which give me a chance to make creative character builds/combat strategies and test my critical thinking skills. As such, I typically try to use my basic gameplay concepts to inform the type of story I want to write. If, for example, I designed a concept which involved a hunger/thirst meter and very dangerous random encounters, I probably wouldn’t write an archetypal “teenage chosen one saves the world and gets the girl” story to go along with it. I’d likely write a much more grounded, sober, and personal story to reflect the stress and challenges the characters regularly face in their world.

Later on, once I’ve got a solid basic concept, my story does end up informing the design of my gameplay mechanics or aesthetics. This is just a surface-level example, but in my main project, I recently figured out that “fire” fit exceptionally well as one of my story’s major thematic motifs. I had also previously designed a battle mechanic which empowered characters at certain times, and I had been loosely calling it things like “Rush” or “Awaken.” But upon discovering that fire could be a recurring motif in my story, I realized I wanted to change the empower mechanic’s name to “Ignite.” It sounded cooler and more distinctive while giving me a way to tie a bit of my story directly into combat. It’s just a minor thing, but it shows how developing my story ultimately helped me change an arbitrary aesthetic decision into a purposeful one.

Story elements can also be intertwined with more interactive aspects of gameplay, and designing the two together can let the gameplay itself convey the atmosphere, emotions, or even themes of the story. When the thematic elements of a game’s narrative are reflected in its gameplay, it’s called “ludonarrative harmony.” It’s something worth reading up on, and can help designers to make much more cohesive game concepts from the early stages of development.

So in short, my conceptual design process is to find a game I want to improve and design my own version of the mechanics. Then I put together the story, and from there I let the gameplay and narrative evolve together. Each piece should (ideally) reflect the whole in order to maximize the impact of the experience.

 

[Wavelength]

Here are the three most recent threads that asked essentially the same thing. Dig around in these and you'll find some really good advice.

https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/inde...ame-what-do-you-tackle-first-last-etc.101897/
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/how-do-you-design-your-game.102338/
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/where-to-start-rpg-maker-mv.100652/

 

[NinjaKittyProductions]

Here are the three most recent threads that asked essentially the same thing. Dig around in these and you'll find some really good advice.

https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/inde...ame-what-do-you-tackle-first-last-etc.101897/
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/how-do-you-design-your-game.102338/
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/where-to-start-rpg-maker-mv.100652/

I will definitely give these a look!

Thanks for the replies everybody! I hope to see more!

 

[Black Pagan]

Do you start with a basic idea?
Yes, I start with a Basic Idea, Not really an entire story. Then I expand upon it and look for Resources that go perfectly with it - Sprites, Battlers, Enemy Graphics, Animations, Plugins, Tile Sets, Title Screen Images, Pictures, Custom Graphics, Iconset, Battle Background & Most importantly - Credits. Ideally I collect all these in a Folder and then start thinking about a Story for my Basic Idea.

Do you start with story you have been working on?
No, not everyone begins with a Story. I add Story later on. I first work on Mapping and Database. If I'm unsure, I'll just leave Placeholders like a Forest map that I work on later, I'll just label it "Forest" and move on to my next Map.

Do you see something in another video game and think "that looks awesome! I could totally do something like that!"?
Yes, I am inspired by an Anime to make my Current game. In-fact I watch Anime related to my game idea, to get even more ideas.

Do you have a character concept in mind and build the world around what events in that world shaped your character?
No, Not at all. I prefer using Placeholder Story, Characters, Enemies at first. I build the Story and Character Profiles as the Game develops, I would be more concerned about Maps first to see what Maps work and what events make the Gameplay exciting.

My Philosophy of Game Development is very simple - Make Games whenever you are in a Good and Creative Mood. Without Ideas and Creativity, you find yourself simply wasting time and going nowhere.

Certain amount of planning definitely helps but too much planning ruins your game because from my personal experience, I found out that things not always go the way you want them to. You need to be ready to change entire concepts every once in a while. Some bad ideas deserve to be deleted, Some good ideas deserve to be added. You can only know what Ideas are Good or Bad, Once you have started working on the game and begin Game Testing..

 

[FluffexStudios]

These are the brief version of the steps that I'm taking for my game:

1. Work on story for the game, a good story is one with twists and something people will remember
2. Go over characters for the game to make sure they are well developed and relate-able
3. Come up with gameplay mechanics, something that will keep players interested
4. Design the maps that players will traverse in
5. Artwork for environment and characters
6. Compose sounds and musics
7. Implement GUI design