notes on assets during writing or after?

[Fluxx]

I've been sitting on the question for a while, trying to find an answer through the forum. But I can't really find what I'm looking for.
I have a lot of characters in my novel. Many side characters won't even have sprites and might not be shown (on screen) at all. Being that I don't have much experience I want to make the novel with the least amount assets possible, to make the creation process as painless as possible.

What is easier, writing while keeping notes on assets or just writing first and filling in stuff later?

[Mad Harlequin]

I would write first. Your script may change, so I don't recommend making notes of possible assets (art, music, etc.) until you have a pretty good idea of what your story requires---that is, a complete draft.

[trooper6]

Since I think of the art and the story (and the gameplay and the sound) to be integrated (not writing with art as an afterthought) I took notes on art assets as I wrote. Placing where I thought I'd put what art in comments in the script and keeping record in a separate file.

Now the coding and scripting are done, I'm at the point where I want to go back through the script and see if there is any art I can cut or emotions I can reduce...or how I might think about the expressions differently if I use Livecomposite. This is about editing my art desires and being really concrete.

I think really any process that works for you is fine, though.
Try both and see what you like better.

[LeonDaydreamer]

I have a lot of characters in my novel. Many side characters won't even have sprites and might not be shown (on screen) at all. Being that I don't have much experience I want to make the novel with the least amount assets possible, to make the creation process as painless as possible. What is easier, writing while keeping notes on assets or just writing first and filling in stuff later?

If you want to be economical with your artwork, you should probably keep that in mind when you write your story. If you have a character you're interacting with, I'd say they should have an illustration, no matter how small a role they play. At best, it might inspire you to expand their role, flesh them out a bit; at worst you have a more believable environment populated with characters. It makes a big difference.

I don't limit myself at all when I'm writing, but I keep these things in mind and I have a good idea of how much artwork the game should have. Also, I'll have a 'wish list' of things that are not essential but would be nice to have for a greater impact. It's just good to have a picture of the scope of your project.

[Fluxx]

Imma stick with writing first. It feels a lot easier and I might change things after the first draft.

If you want to be economical with your artwork, you should probably keep that in mind when you write your story. If you have a character you're interacting with, I'd say they should have an illustration, no matter how small a role they play. At best, it might inspire you to expand their role, flesh them out a bit; at worst you have a more believable environment populated with characters. It makes a big difference.

I don't limit myself at all when I'm writing, but I keep these things in mind and I have a good idea of how much artwork the game should have. Also, I'll have a 'wish list' of things that are not essential but would be nice to have for a greater impact. It's just good to have a picture of the scope of your project.

Yeah you're right. Most of the side characters are pretty important so they're pretty fleshed out already. I'm just going to write first and see what I need.

[Katy133]

I do some of the assets notes (in the form of cites in brackets next to the line of dialogue) during the writing process.

Example:
Nigel (very angry) I want you to leave.
Morwenna (sad, looking up) But why?

After I finish a rough draft of the script, I'll finish adding all the notes for the next, more polished version of the script. Then, I can go through the script and tally up a full list of all the assets you wanted (You can search quickly using Ctrl+F, "(" ) and then see which assets are most needed and which can be left out.

[Chocopyro]

I've been sitting on the question for a while, trying to find an answer through the forum. But I can't really find what I'm looking for.
I have a lot of characters in my novel. Many side characters won't even have sprites and might not be shown (on screen) at all. Being that I don't have much experience I want to make the novel with the least amount assets possible, to make the creation process as painless as possible.

What is easier, writing while keeping notes on assets or just writing first and filling in stuff later?

Well, I decide most of this as I write my outline out. Using a program called Schrivener, an exellent desktop wiki tool developed for keeping track of characters, places, and concepts in a novel, playwrite, or even a D&D campaign, I will generally make a chart with all the needed assets to the side, and a summery of the scene in the main body. You can really do this with word, excel, or whatever. Essentially my example looks like this. (And don't mind the tarot cards, I use the minor arcana to map out the pattern of a story before I decide what actually happens via outlining.)


Edit: In otherwords, exactly what Katy133 said. ^^;

[SundownKid]

I would do it in this order:

1) Make an outline. Generally set in stone.
2) Write/order assets at the same time.

[KuroOneHalf]

at worst you have a more believable environment populated with characters.

Actually, at worst you will have lost X amount of hours working on something that has a miniscule impact on the game. It's not cost efficient and it robs time from polishing the stuff that is important and that will have much more screen time. Plus it introduces a bit of a Chekov's gun, where the reader might be mistakenly lead to believe that because that character had portrait art that he will be important eventually.