I am going to try and address things in as much detail as possible in hopes that I can convey my point to be as clear as I can. I'll apologize now for the lengthy post here
The Design Document
This is broken up into the following areas:
Additional information can be found on the
Wiki Pages that covers the following areas:
Further, there is the list at
Andor's Trail Project Meeting #10 that discusses meeting notes and changes that are being done to the game for the next release...different from what is in the current version.
Finally, there is ALL the suggestions on the forum for which there is very little info on which ideas are being brought from the forum to be implemented into the game at some point...unless it is hidden in one of the other update threads. Pyro is working on updating his thread which will show which ideas have been approved and rejected so far, which greatly helps.
Digesting all of what I just listed makes things very complicated. I understand that the Design Outline for the game is supposed to be very broad and basic for people to follow along with, but in order to keep track of all the changes that have been done to the game, and the changes being decided to implement in future versions, a more detailed document should be developed that goes in depth and covers an extensive list of all areas of the game that are going to be in the game. This would make it extremely easier for a new person coming to the forum to better understand aspects of the game and help out with what is needed to be done. Even if the Wiki pages contained all of the necessary information it would make things go a lot easier.
Currently there are unfinished quests, 16 additional skills to be added(-pyro), items being added or changed for the next release, additional quests being added, additional areas being added...I can keep going but the list is huge...Something needs to convey a more organized approach for everything in the game, be updated when anything is added/changed for the releases.
For example, game mechanics that are missing from any description whatsoever should cover stuff like:
Paperdolling - if the graphics were available would it be implemented
Moving/turning Sprites - if the graphics were available would it be implemented
This will allow people to see that the development of the game wants these things, now they can see what they can do to help with these areas. People might have no clue on how to program in the necessary stuff in order for these things to properly work, yet they might be able to create the necessary files for the programmers to use like a sprite sheet.
Of course, these are just my opinions. The game itself seems to have developed fairly well on it's own without a more structured form of organization. My thread about
Formalizing Idea Submissions was a very brief attempt in order to bring what I see as helpful methods for gaining a better flow to the current way things are done...this thread is an attempt to centralize & expand the entire design document for the purposes of better clarity of where it stands, what is needed, and what types of people are needed to do it. The game development strives on ideas from users on the forums and unpaid volunteers that are knowledgeable enough to implement/create the needed additional content for the game. Organizing and seeing more efficient methods of doing things is what I am good at...I just offer suggestions though from a very different perspective than most people, which is why I am often difficult to follow along with if I am not very detailed about my explanation.
