what's you focus first in gamedev?

[nio kasgami]

Hi so let's say


you gamedev and already have the story etc then WHEN IT'S ABOUT TO MAKE THE GAME


what you focus the more? 


for myself I guess it's coding since it's a important phase for implement the features you want in your game (that's not forced to be PRETTY! you can prettify later) 


like in my game I focus most of the technical side so I can actually make the game  


I generally focus less on the pretty on the first maybe just the character art though I tend to like to have the characters bust or face ready so I can use them in game for doing cutscene test etc 


so what's about you?

 

[Ms Littlefish]

As much as I love doing the creative things I do my darn hardest to prototype things like features, battles, and menus first. Those things are the guts of the game and since they're not dependent on the art, music, and writing being completed it's a lot easier to touch and go and jump around a bit. I think having the mechanics implemented first allows you to design the creative more sensibly into the context of the game. You're more able to see all the cogs turning.

 

[nio kasgami]

As much as I love doing the creative things I do my darn hardest to prototype things like features, battles, and menus first. Those things are the guts of the game and since they're not dependent on the art, music, and writing being completed it's a lot easier to touch and go and jump around a bit. I think having the mechanics implemented first allows you to design the creative more sensibly into the context of the game. You're more able to see all the cogs turning.

totally! I mean it's beautiful that you have the art and all...but if you have zeros features...it's kinda boring game eh xD?

 

[Todeswalzer]

I tend to concentrate on creating a rough copy of the world and the mechanics first, like quests and functions I'd like within the game engine, like crafting, quest logs, teleport systems. I tend to leave things like items, equip, monsters until last since they take a lot of thought and testing to balance them.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

@nio kasgami It's not even so much that. You'll have put in both by the end of development. It's moreso that the mechanics and the creative should be reflections of each other and I think having the game play functional is not only going to make it easier to create, but it's going to further breed that creativity.

 

[nio kasgami]

@nio kasgami It's not even so much that. You'll have put in both by the end of development. It's moreso that the mechanics and the creative should be reflections of each other and I think having the game play functional is not only going to make it easier to create, but it's going to further breed that creativity.

true so you are telling me to like make it "functionnal"? I'm unsure of what you actually mean ;w;

 

[kovak]

You'd need to rewrite part of the plot when making the levels...cuz they are the damn maps.
Writing never ends :c

I focus on gameplay 1st, without it you don't have a game. Anything else has to be ajusted according to the desired gameplay, to how the game feels.
You can have everything, but if the game doesn't bind you by actually playing it you have a failture then.

 

[Akashic Soldier]

System I guess, but since I am a one man (and one hired lady) team right now I have been doing it all but the world and setting is all pretty fleshed out. So what has taken my attention is the system I want to implement. I've yet to touch code, instead I've been doing boring crap like this:

 

[Nirwanda]

I....don't focus, I do a little bit of everything. One day I'll create 30 weapons, the next one 5 maps and then some monsters on the side. Really I just do what feels more urgent at the time.

 

[nio kasgami]

@Akashic Soldier damn you don't have a easy system lol


for myself I'm pretty much one person who work on the game I dev progressively what's i need for the moment I wanna do the functionnal coding I need  

I....don't focus, I do a little bit of everything. One day I'll create 30 weapons, the next one 5 maps and then some monsters on the side. Really I just do what feels more urgent at the time.

hahah I do that too xD but right now coding is mostly the main point for permit the game to progress  

 

[Akashic Soldier]

@Akashic Soldier damn you don't have a easy system lol

Its pretty intuitive I think, I'm going for "easy to play" but with enough complexity that there is some strategy involved. If I cannot find anyone willing to take my money to help me with the coding I might have to dump the whole idea, but I am hoping that I will pique someone's interest. I think I have something here.

 

[nio kasgami]

Its pretty intuitive I think, I'm going for "easy to play" but with enough complexity that there is some strategy involved. If I cannot find anyone willing to take my money to help me with the coding I might have to dump the whole idea, but I am hoping that I will pique someone's interest. I think I have something here.

this will lol I could but do I have the time or patient to code a whole system...I don't think so xD

 

[Akashic Soldier]

this will lol I could but do I have the time or patient to code a whole system...I don't think so xD

Oh, I wasn't saying that to try to recruit you. Just making casual chit chat. Anyways, its 5:30am right now and I need to head off to bed. So, enjoy your weekend and I hope that you had a good vacation and are well rested.


All the best!

 

[Frogboy]

I tried to start with characters and story but that didn't go too well for me.  I kept running into mechanical issues and without an overall scope defined, I got stuck a lot.  So I'm focusing more on the nuts and bolts now. I have a feeling that my game is going to have changed a bit when it's time to get back to the characters.

 

[ashikai]

World building. Not mapping or story or anything but the overall world/setting. I think once that's solid, it's a lot easier to figure out which mechanics lend themselves best to the setting and you can build everything else around that. 

 

[Saboera]

Just like ashikai.


Typically, I start by establishing the setting, the world and characters.


Doing that first allows you to find interesting mechanics and stories that could potentially only work in that setting.


Once I got my mechanics down, I start prototyping systems to see how they work out, what technical issues I might have and how if I can fix them.


After that, I just sort of do whatever I feel like doing at a particular day and slowly build the game.

 

[Henryetha]

Clearly the atmosphere. 


Meaning.. sounds, music, light sources, weather, animations, etc ... they all focus on the immersion into the game.


Then, also as important as the atmosphere, the game mechanics: I often have clear ideas what I was missing in the past in other games or which elements I specially enjoyed. Then I see what is possible (here my possibilities are limited as I don't know scripting; however, alot of things could have realized yet, thanks to awesome tutorials/scriptsby other people.

 

[RishigangiX]

First thing I do in my games is make a synopsis, then make a short note about the characters I will introduce, their traits and their personalities and associate them at the time I introduce them in the game, so as to make sure there are no inconsistencies, and the characters can come to life.

 

[kaukusaki]

i like the easy to play hard to master types of games, but that's just me lolz. to over simplify my rpg making process, i start with world building first then get mechanics down and build the system. Then art and music. Lastly when everything works make it pretty. Then go on a bug hunt. My life is pretty much like game dev story but I wear all the hats.