SGT M'S PROFILE

I'm feelin' a trip to Funhouse. Who's with me.

The Steam version of VX Ace has Steam Workshop integration and that's pretty much the only major difference. If you don't plan to use the Steam Workshop, I recommend turning that feature off (Properties > Betas > Original Version) as it can muck up file management in a few ways and it tends to be aggressive about uploading your projects to the cloud.

I guess I'm someone who tends to spend a fairly minimal amount of time in design docs and spreadsheets before the project actually begins. I figure that ideas are just ideas until you put them in motion. A lot of my pre-development is spent in the editor itself, often prototyping systems and making sure the ideas I have will actually make for a feasible project. Being in the editor helps me visualize and "feel" how everything looks and feels in motion more than a Word document can.

My longest game was, structurally, a fairly straightforward 15-20 hour JRPG. I think my design docs consisted roughly of a 4 page story outline and a few excel sheets to keep track of things along the way. And my story outlines usually consist of the beginning, the ending, and a skeleton of what I want in the middle which I fill in and flesh out as I develop the game. I also keep very little concept art or other external materials. In a phrase, I just like to jump in and make the game. Basically, if something of mine ever took off and someone wanted to publish a "Making of" book of my game, I'd probably be screwed lol.

How much time you should spend pre-planning really depends on the scope of your game. Are you working solo or mostly solo on something simple? You probably don't need a lot of concept art or a huge design doc. But if you're working with a team on something bigger, potentially with kickstarter backers and stakeholders, you might want to have a more organized approached to make sure everyone is on the same page.

I'm also in the "made my commercial game free" camp. Remember that there's no shame in doing so and it's not an indication of defeat. Once I did it, I got many more downloads and reviews than I had when it was just sitting around collecting dust.

I hope it goes well! It can really help give your game a new lease on life.

author=Marrend
this craptastrophe

Just wanted to point out that something on the first page of that particular thread is setting off my antivirus something fierce so click it at your own risk.

Uh I have nothing to add to the discussion otherwise. Other than don't steal shit that you're not ready to answer for.