The Legacy of Work Done Right and Wrong

Walking around the Net, I've noticed how the development of Pinoy video games is accelerating. UGotGame, it seems, received quite a few submissions.

The Anito message boards are buzzing with comments from a number of people interested in putting together their own games. (At least, they were - site's down.) Some have shown surprising levels of creative thought, but I don't think many of them are familiar with how much effort goes into the creation of a game.

I found my old notes for Anito a few weeks ago, spending an entire afternoon looking through them. Maybe twenty or thirty characters, each with a description of what they seem to be like, and then a description of what they're really like. In exchange for those characters, I get my name in the credits. Not bad, I suppose.

If the development of Anito had a problem, it was the fact that the story was not fully realized until late in development. I think the stories went directly to the scripters and the programmers immediately after being written, which means that no one was really working under an absolutely complete script and set of requirements. In a sense, the team was playing it by ear. Odd, how it all managed to come together.

Personally, I'd like to try doing it again. I'd make sure to follow what I've written for myself in such a case:

1. Get the story done before development starts. Even an outline would be good here. Anything, as long as it gives direction.

2. Get the specifications straight before design and programming start. One can't just start writing additional characters, locations and features in the middle of compositing. I sincerely doubt that any development team will like it.

3. Have a story team as opposed to a lone writer. One guy working alone simply can't think of everything. If anything, having multiple people on a story team ensures that you get a lot of different facets of the story.

Of course, that's if I ever get to write another video game again. I don't suppose anyone out there is looking for a few good people? I mean, hey, I've got experience. :)