HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT TO DO AND IN WHAT ORDER?

Here's roughly my process:

First is the base idea for the game. I try to sum up in a paragraph or two the overall idea and goal of the game. That gives me a rough look at the overall theme and gameplay style that I'll need to have in mind while I make the game.

Next is the characters (although sometimes they pop into my mind before I've even done step #1 XD ). I figure out at least all the party members, and key plot-important characters. This goes hand-in-hand with the next step, as characters can inspire the plot, and the plot will need characters to fulfill roles.

Next is the plot. Now, I don't figure out every single detail here, and I keep things loose and simple at this stage. I instead make a basic summary of the important notes the plot needs to hit on the way. As the overall game progresses, I go back and refine this, adding new notes and such.

After I've got a good plan set up (I usually write this all down in GoogleDrive or sometimes on a notebook if I get ideas when I'm away from a computer), then it's off to the database! I get the Actors and Classes tab filled out as best I can, adding stats and some first moves for the characters. I'll go back and tweak them a lot, later. Next I map the first location of the game.

If the location is a town, I try to think about the region the town's located in and some basic history to give the town some flavor. I don't get super-detailed on it, I just like to have some ideas to put some life into the town. After the mapping for the town is all taken care of, then I add the plot events, then the NPCs and shopkeepers. I make new gear and items for the shops if that's required.

If the location is a dungeon, I do the mapping. Sometimes I leave out some of the extra details and fill them in later, but I generally get most of the mapping done in one go, if possible. Then I figure out what sort of monsters will live here, and work on their moves and stats. Of course, all of that will be tweaked and refined as I playtest the battles. Items in treasure-chests are also added, which may mean going to the database to make new items.

From there, just rinse and repeat :D Story details can be added, refined, etc as you go. It's not a perfect process by any means, but hopefully that might help you out a little ^_^

I tend to think of characters first, such as writing down a simple sentence that describes their personality. Story typically comes next, but, on very few occasions, it's gameplay ideas.

When I get to the story, I typically do a mess of typing in an RTF file. This particular file contains every single thing anybody says ever, and the consequences (if any) of choices that players would make. For example, a choice between purchasing items or weapons from an NPC. Perhaps not the kind of "consequences" one might think of in regards to gam-mak, but, it is the game reacting to a choice the player makes.

Sometimes, when I write a scene that involves a lot of character movement, I really want to see how the scene pans out. I usually do a test-run until I get to the event in question, and take notes about what needs to change. Though, I have been known to set the party's position closer to where the event takes place so that I don't have to play the game up to that point.

Very rarely, I have ideas that might be better off if it was done with scripts. In this case, regardless of whither it's a script I make, or one I download, I set up a separate project and go through various motions figuring out how I can use it at all to the game's advantage.

I'm a planner. This is actually advice I give freshmen English students who don't know how to start a paper, too, but get a really comprehensive outline together. The absolute first thing I like to do, though, is set up a rough outline and determine the gameplay systems, then I make sure that I can make those systems work by setting up a quick prototype. Then, before I start building tangible elements of my game (such as music/graphics), I build a comprehensive outline including major plot points/subquests/npcs, determine who the characters are and how they'll develop over the course of the game (as well as their in-game skills), determine each of the locations, and figure out the monsters' basic concepts and behaviors. When creating monsters, I find that the best way to start is to have their behaviors down first, as this allows you to design around the player characters' skills.

The planning is the important thing to take from this post, but to answer the rest of your question, after I do the planning, I like to knock out different things one-by-one. Like, for my current game, I've basically been working on enemy graphics for the past few months (while occasionally taking a break to compose a song). In a week or so, I'll have finished all of them (factoid: there's over 300 so far). Then, I'll probably move to battle backgrounds, battle animations, and implementing all of the enemy behavior in the editor (right now it's still just words on a page). I'll keep knocking things out like this until I'm down to level design, and, finally, dialogue/eventing. I like eventing the most, so it's sometimes irritating to hold off on that until the end, but I like having all of my resources made so I don't interrupt the eventing process.

This can get a bit monotonous, though, which is a pretty major drawback. I've thought about building things more evenly, which I think a lot of people do, but I like being able to cross things off a list.

disregard this post