How much pre-planning do you do for your mods

[digitCruncher]

As a first time modder, I am planning my first mod (and it is HUGE!). The only reason why I think I am not over my head is because I have a large amount of programming knowledge (planning on doing a career in programming, and am already a second year uni student in Software Development (AKA Programming)), but I haven't started yet!

The only question is... how much planning do you do before you write the first line of code...

I am writing all modifications to the game's rules, all units, all promotions, all techs, all wonders, buildings and national wonders, all civs, all leaders, and all civilopedia entries and tech quotes. The only thing missing is the tech costs and unit hammer costs (which will be tweaked during balance-testing anyway )

Obviously some will just fly by the seat of their pants, and others will plan everything down to the last details. How much is too much, however? And how much is too little

What are your experiances with designing mods, and did you think you did too much/too little planning?

 

[Refar]

The more, the better.
Ideally you have everything layd out before you start to code, so you can estimate what exactly does need to be coded, what features need what kind of modding (SDK, XML). To know what you can do your self, and what is above (or below ) your capabilities and can be outsouced to a team (if you get one).

A good design document should be helpfull to get a team as well...

Most projects die out, because the lead developers not having a clear outline of the workflow... More and more idea are accumulated... then people start to realize that the project has grown over they heads or just no one really knows where it stands... Then people loose interest...

There is a "How To design a Mod" by Kael somewhere...

 

[Zacar]

I'll probably be stuck in the planning part forever.

Usually I get uncertain about when to start coding/if I have good enough plans when I'm actually just too lazy to try taking the first step. Perhaps you need to code the project a bit to understand better what kind of plans would be helpful for you. And then, possibly, start again (but now with a slightly clearer idea).

 

[Ajidica]

Start small. Make it complex later. Most of my ideas die before I even start planning out the basic things like what the focus is on.

 

[Kael]

The more planning the better. Especially on big mods its important you have a blueprint of what your are going to make before you start.

Your endgame design will drive a list of mechanics you need to create. Once you have that list you can prioritize from the simipliest to the more complex so that you can learn as you go. Trying to tackle a massive mechanic as a first step is a very frustrating experience that will keep many modders from continuing on.

You'll probably find that your design will spark a lot of xml work. You can do that, then onto some python changes, and so on until your in making SDk changes like an expert.

 

[cfkane]

I know for my mod, I'm always planning. Things I need, things I want but can't do yet, and on and on et cetera ad infinitum. A good rule of thumb is: the more ideas you have, the better.

Out of curiosity, what's your mod going to be?

 

[primordial stew]

Start small. Make it complex later. Most of my ideas die before I even start planning out the basic things like what the focus is on.

Yes, yes. Some very good advice here. Start small!!!

For my first mod I began porting RFRE from civIII. The game was well tested, so largely it would be a port, and then add some civIV stuff to it (eg automation in python). Welll, that was 2 years ago! I thought there would be a mod team, but unfortunately I'm a team of 1 So it was a lot of work (and it's not done yet), but now I know how to do most things.

Right now I'm taking a break from that to do a quick port of "Escape From Zombie Island 2: The Remake". This is really great since there are only 5 civs, not too many techs, or units, and there aren't very many turns. RFRE is the opposite of all that, 48civs and 525 game turns... lots of dynamics. I'll have all the units, tech, and map done by the end of the weekend. Hopefully some artists will create some new units for this, but for the time being placeholders will be fine. There is some programming to do for all the enslavement, and wonders, but that is pretty easy stuff now.

 

[Maniac]

I thought there would be a mod team, but unfortunately I'm a team of 1

It's a harsh world out there. It's every modder for himself.