Most people who have some experience with these things realize that most plugs never get finished. In fact, even more plugs never get started but that is another issue. First of all, you have decided to make a plug. Great. How do you get graphics? Do you get help from other people? How do you go about entering in information into the plug?
I am wondering about other peoples take on successful plug making, the process part.
Here are some ideas:
Lone genius system.
Never tell anyone about the plug. Work on it late at night regularly for hours at a time laboriously crafting everything.
Advantages: you retain sole control over the plug and sole responsibility. Great for avoiding production delays caused by people quitting, slacking off, arguing, etc.
Disadvantages: you have to do everything yourself. You are likely to become bored. Or insane. Or you will just end up procrastinating until something more interesting comes along.
Massive Endeavor system
Why not recruit EVERYONE to work on your plug. With so many people the work will be split up widely reducing your work load and increasing your resources.
Advantages: great way to get lots of activity going due to the social nature of such a project.
Disadvantages: no one ever finishes anything. Instead of channeling the best of everyone you channel the worst. You get the procrastination of 30 instead of one. Was tried in the Delta V plug with no success.
Specialist system: You get someone to do missions. You get someone to do graphics. Someone also washes your computer screen. Someone is chief of periods in ship descriptions. Another person is in charge of the junk resources.
Advantages: with clearly defined roles one can see clearly who is supposed to do what. People know they are accountable and work harder.
Disadvantages: if one of the people quits you have to look for a replacement and if that person was particularly talented then finding someone of equal talent might be difficult.
Spare Parts System
This generally has more to do with graphics than anything else.
Basically you use only pre-made graphics available for free on the internet.
Advantages: you save time you might have to spend to create the many graphics. It also saves you the time of possibly having to learn how to make them in the first place. In the case of the Specialist System you save yourself the trouble of dealing with a finicky outside artist.
Disadvantages
You are limited by content and quality to what is available on the internet. Furthermore, certain ships will likely be recognizable to the player and your plug will lose something of its perceived originality.
Organic System
Start small and add things in increments. Possibly with releases after each increment.
Advantages: allows one to avoid being swallowed up by the complexity of the project.
Disadvantages: might cause one to lose sight of the big picture
What do you all think?
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-Bohemian Muskrat
