Gloranor wrote:PixelWrangler wrote:
As to the post... I don't react well to sarcasm/put-downs, especially when I've done nothing to deserve it. I've become awash in flames and trolled far too many times on other message boards without merit. For the most part, I do my best to treat others on message boards well and, as a result, tend to expect the same in return.
Since I just read that... as some of you propably have noticed, I sometimes have a rather strange humour (the "Thee" thing, for example
)... and I guess it sometimes could offend people... that is not my intention, if it does (despite this notice), please tell me
Okay, I get the feeling I should really clarify that post a bit...
I really don't want to make people feel as though they need to tiptoe around on eggshells to avoid offending others. If you have a really amusing theory, for example, that Pokemon and Urotukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend are fundamentally the same, and you want to post links to graphic images that prove your point, why not. If you want to change your signature to 50 lines of "Wai! Wai! Wai! etc...", that's fine. If you feel the burning desire to refer to yourself in the third person, use medieval language, or punctuate every sentence with a
, go for it. (at the moderator's discretion, of course
)
The reaction to MegamanZ's "Always stay logged in" box post came about because it personally struck me as condescending and insulting. He may or may not have intended it that way... I really don't know... I'm pretty much over it at this point.
Personally, I try to treat others on message boards with respect . That means I try my best not to post things that I know or am fairly certain will offend others. That's not to say I don't ever offend someone... it happens. But when it does, I usually try to find out why, and usually apologize for offending them.
As someone famous probably said at one point, "It's all about the love". Paraphrased, it's about respect. People can always take something the wrong way, but also realize that they have. It's the age-old two-way street of communication and interpersonal relationships.
Now that that's out of the way... anyone want to expand on the Urotsukidoji/Pokemon theory?
nan jatte (just kidding)
== To the game at hand ==
For any story-driven game, a good first step is to start at the top level - planning the grand arc of the game, including the characters, general story, and key events along the way. For example, if you were planning FF7, you'd know that it starts in a small section of town with a small group of characters, then expands to city-wide, then world-wide, all the while revealing the scope of the plot. Key character revelations, deaths, love entanglements should be noted, and the ending(s) of the game should be planned for.
At this point, you will probably also want to define the general game mechanics... what the driving force is behind the game itself. For example, in FF7, it's gaining experience to level up characters to defeat bosses to advance the plot.
Once all that's done, you can get down to the details of writing... breaking the overall plot down into scenes, mapping all of the key events, fleshing out the characters and the plot, etc. Also, at this point, for RPG games, you want to do more specific game mechanic planning - start to flesh out the battle system, plan out the maps, etc.
Finally, you get into the true details... fleshing out the areas, refining the battle system, finalizing the maps, developing the characters and scope of the world, writing dialog, etc.
After all that is done, you do testing and work on the game balance, refining the minute details: final dialog, battle system balance, etc.
Of course, that's not the
only way to do things, but planning ahead helps avoid costly sticking points later on. If you don't know what a scene is working towards, for example, it will be hard to come up with character dialog. Hence the "writer's block" many game writers encounter during the course of a project.
It's kind of like building a house... you draw up the blueprints, plan what materials you want to use, then build the framework, set up the utilities, build the walls and lay down the floors. THEN you worry about carpeting, light fixtures, paint, wallpaper, furniture, etc. The house has to be there before you can put in a sofa... otherwise, it's really hard to figure out where the sofa goes.
Just my one-tenth of two-fifths of one-fourth of a fifth of a twenty dollar bill.
P.W.
Life is hard.
Except in ren'ai games.
Then it's a whole lot softer.