It seems like everyone is making some sort of plug-in for EV Nova, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon. My last attempt at a plug-in having become vaporware due to my own ineptitude in organization, I thought I would post here asking for advice.

What is the best order to make the resources in? Many of the resources depend on others (ie. dudes need ships, most outfits need weapons, etc) so it can get a bit messy if you don't know where to start.

Any other advice anybody has on keeping a plug-in organized and managable is more than welcome.

(By the way, I am not accepting help from anyone else at this point, as the plug-in is so young I am not even sure on a plot yet and I don't want to be drawing people into a project that might never get started)

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--ares

"You have not converted a man because you have silenced him."
-John Morley

I have heard, tried, and adhere to the adage that you MUST MAKE SYSTS FIRST! Then, and this is my unadulterated opinion -
make spobs,
then governments,
then weapons,
then outfits,
then ships,
then finally missions.

I assume that descs come at the same time as what the desc is attached to.

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Benarhtalh engan. >^_^<
(url="http://"http://WWW.Ninjaburger.com")Ninjaburger.(/url) There in 30 minutes or we commit seppuku.
A Stoir Moi Chroi. A plugin for EVN. "And Druid's feet will pace again/the mountians of my childhood..."

Thanks; that's exactly what I was hoping for.

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--ares

"You have not converted a man because you have silenced him."
-John Morley

Quote

Originally posted by Renyard:
**I have heard, tried, and adhere to the adage that you MUST MAKE SYSTS FIRST! Then, and this is my unadulterated opinion -
make spobs,
then governments,
then weapons,
then outfits,
then ships,
then finally missions.

**

I always felt that Gov's should come first as the universe should reflect thier influence. then S˙st, spob,.....

"fixed tag pacement
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(url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/thorprime")NovaBurst Home(/url)

(This message has been edited by ThorPrime (edited 04-06-2002).)

That is true... I think I will go syst-->gov-->spob etc
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--ares

"You have not converted a man because you have silenced him."
-John Morley

(This message has been edited by ares1 (edited 04-06-2002).)

Quote

Originally posted by ThorPrime:
**

**

A Design Document is key. The Design Doc for my TC is an ongoing, evolving folder of plain-text documents covering all elements that I have reason to believe I will be coming back to often.

Of these Documents, the most important is the Outline. I suggest a one-paragraph description of the game followed by a three-to-four-page outline of the concepts and theme. This isn't a document you need to refer to often, but it is a document you must create in some form if you have any hope of making a coherent game.

The most useful document to me, so far, has been my master list of Resource ID#s. It not only collects all the system, govt, ship, outfit, etc., IDs together in one place, and shows what numbers are already in use, it is a good guide to what resources are completed and which still need to be worked on. I consult it constantly, and just as constantly update it.

Another useful document has been a list of pixel sizes. I listed all the sizes of landing picts, outfit pics, and so forth, and roughed in relative sizes of spobs, ships, and weapons. As I render, I notate the actual sprite sizes in the list. Thus, when I render a new capital ship I can ensure it is larger than a destroyer but smaller than a carrier. As a bonus, I can look up the sizes while typing in the new sprite resources.

My aim in all this is not just to make a simple TC, but to learn how to make one in the most organized and efficient manner possible. I am still developing and learning the tools to do this.

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You see a Grue.

It all depends on what ideas you have in mind already; if you know the kind of scenario you have, you should probably go with the methods suggested above. However, if you've already planned out what ships you're going to use, you might want to start with weapons, outfits, and ships. The thing is, however, the galaxy is probably the biggest task, so it's not a bad idea to start with it.

The only problem with starting with systems is that you can't populate it with dudes, fleets, and persons until you've done your ships. But that's generally not much of a problem.

So, systems first, unless you absolutely have to do weapons and ships first.

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Mike Lee (Firebird)

I've heard it said in other topics that governments should be first and I would say do the governments first because in order to do systems, you have to do governments to fill the "government" field, but government editing does not require you to make other resources first.

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(insert random quote from web board random quote display)

Quote

Originally posted by Renyard:
**I have heard, tried, and adhere to the adage that you MUST MAKE SYSTS FIRST! Then, and this is my unadulterated opinion -
make spobs,
then governments,
then weapons,
then outfits,
then ships,
then finally missions.

I assume that descs come at the same time as what the desc is attached to.**

Actually, I think that this makes the most sense...I generically make s˙sts first, then ships alongside, govts, spobs, et cetera.

Had I not seen this topic, I'd probably be lost anyways. Plugin organization is one of the hardest parts of making one.

-Nat

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