HOW PLANNED-OUT SHOULD YOUR RPG BE BEFORE YOU BEGIN?

there are more walls around you, objectively. Because with blank sheet of paper I can put down ANYTHING. In RPG maker, I am limited by the tool and inefficienciency of using the tool vs. writing/typing.

I don't think he got banned, I think that's just his avatar.

I like Donald Duck.

His post history is a pretty hilarious read. Oh my god that spritesheet transparency request.

Thread = thoroughly derailed

The problem I have with planning is that I've been working on my game for a year now, and have about two dungeons done. This is too much planning. Actually most of it is procrastination, but when I'm not procrastinating, I should be making the game instead of writing about it (or talking on the forums about ideas related to it)

I've been writing things for A Reason for Magic for a while now...and by a while I mean I've been drawing for about as long :D
(That's a good 3 to 4 years)

However my main project, A.R.F.M Santoo Rinba, has been on my mind for about a year now. I find that my projects grow quite a lot while designing the game. So I'm not too worried about keeping a million notes on how this character will shag another.

But let me bring up one of my greater ideas, December Street. I'm trying to make my magnum opus with this one. So with that, I've been writing small stories once and awhile.
I've put quite a lot of time into DS without ever looking into designing it.
But you could argue that I'm not doing so because working on more than one project is hell.
All I know is that DS is on my mind every other day I'm working on Santoo Rinba :)

Edit: Someone remind me to make a weapon called Kentona's Banishment Hammer.

author=Yellow Magic
I think most parts of a game should be planned beforehand apart from dialog, as analysing every single word used could make conversations seem a bit forced.

I analyse every single word, so that it doesn't seem forced. Dialogue in the medium of RPGs, indie or pro, has historically been subpar. You get smoother dialogue out of a FPS campaign mode than most RPGs.

If the script of an RPG's dialogue is not good enough for actors in film, it shouldn't be good enough for characters in a game. That's my opinion, anyway.

Now I'm not suggesting everyone should focus heavily on dialogue, but I wholeheartedly disagree that you should wing it.

In theory, planning whatever you can realistically expect to actually stay trough play testing will make the game making process smoother. You won't have problems like having to put skills or items or something in an awkward place in the database because there isn't any empty slot where it should go and you have to adjust way to much if you start to move things around. The game making should be better structured with a lot of planning.

In practice however, it may not work that way. Some people fall into the trap of never really getting anywhere if they plan to much and don't start working soon. In addition, sometimes seeing your own ideas in action gives you additional ideas that you wouldn't have though of otherwise.

Find what works for you. If planning a lot means you don't get anywhere, try planning less. If planning just a little means your project will fail because it becomes to messy to work with, plan more. Whatever works for game developer X may not work for you, even if game developer X has made a lot of great games.

I always have a general idea what I want to do, like a very basic story layout. I design as I go for the most part. I can't tell you how many times really good ideas pop into my head that weren't there in the first place.

I didn't read through all the comments, so I apologize if I sound redundant, but I think having a basic framework is always a good thing. You want to get your ideas out of your head and on to a word document so you create a unique and flowing story. I feel that while things in the Database and Events can be created with ease, without some sort of direction in terms of story, developers are on a path to many story revisions as well as flaws in story and character development that could have been avoid had planning been taken into consideration.