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[Iggy_Gamechuck]

Hi all!

So, I have a question for you guys. How do you self-organize? How do you organize your content? How do you keep your (virtual) workplace... clean? :-) Gimme your examples.

Here's mine.

I'm working in a small team that develops an RPG game (Trip the Ark Fantastic) that's really big in the narrative department. So, there is a massive story, a lot of characters, a lot of background lore...

For the record, this is a graph showing our narrative work done/in progress for the game.

We started off by (foolishly) believing that several interconnected Google Docs would be enough for us. After a few months, this system became too bloated and difficult to navigate and we were faced with the obvious – for such a big game we need a tool to keep track of quests, lore, information, characters, et cetera which is categorical and easy to navigate.

So we decided to make a wiki of our world, characters, quests and so on.

[TonyLi]

If you keep your wiki updated, how do you manage it?

Did you look at articy:draft?

I've also seen some good HacknPlan projects that organize their content in the Design Model section.

[Dr. Büni]

I am also working on a story-heavy, character driven game. I organized my work (the story side of it) following the way book writers write their stuff. I don't really have a diagram but I do have several documents organizing stuff like major plot lines, character arcs, world building, timeline, etc.

But I am a solo dev so everything other than the music (will figure that out later) is up to me, and my approach works just fine for a solo dev.

[brainwipe]

For lore and notes, I use hyperlinked markdown files that I commit with my code. I use github, so they turn into pages I can easily see and I can also trim stuff away knowing that it's never truly lost.

For broad ideas, I use Trello. I have columns for big ideas, small ideas, marketing, art, etc. I dump it all in there. I don't use it for tracking code progress.

For coding, I break up my work into GitHub projects, each project uses an automated Kanban board. When I complete a feature, I create a release, make a new project and sift the ideas board.

Finally, I always carry a pocket notebook and pen but that's mostly for scribbles that end up becoming art.

[Iggy_Gamechuck]

If you keep your wiki updated, how do you manage it?

Did you look at articy:draft?

I've also seen some good HacknPlan projects that organize their content in the Design Model section.

Hmm, nope, didn't check articy draft. That service seems like it was created intentionally for game project management. Looks pretty cool.

When it comes to updating our wiki, it's quite easy. We have several people working on it, and basically it works seamlessly; similar as Google Docs, but with better organizing.

[Ordnas]

For my prototypes I use Trello, each column is a TODO of the week to complete a certain big task, and each card is a small task to achieve the goal of that week.

For writing my scripts and story, I write a screenplay with the style done in movies, I like it because it tells directly the character and what he/she does.

[diegzumillo]

I use trello too. Honestly I don't like it very much. Eventually you end up with the same problems as any todo list; too many columns, each with too many items. It doesn't really improve except it's online. I would very much like to find a better system, one maybe more visual.

I considered setting up a bulletin board on my wall. It's visual, I can move things around and connect them with strings like a conspiracy nut. But ideally I would prefer an online system. Less hassle, I can access it anywhere, and have several boards at the same time.

[litHermit]

I use trello too. Honestly I don't like it very much. Eventually you end up with the same problems as any todo list; too many columns, each with too many items. It doesn't really improve except it's online. I would very much like to find a better system, one maybe more visual.

I have the same problem with Trello. Eventually I just have it sitting there ignoring it most of the time. Though it does still comes in handy for reminders, bug tracking, etc.

For years I've been using Illustrator as a visual board. It's not exactly "organized". There's art, references, and writing all over the place. But I can zoom in/out quickly and focus on areas of interest, and create new visual boards easily. Here's one from my current project

I also use Evernote to organize thoughts, mull ideas over and keep writing in.

[michaelplzno]

I also keep a wiki, I just set one up on my website hosting:



I tend to have pages for:

• Characters
• Locations
• Game Design Documents
• Todo Lists
• Feedback notes.

I tend to like stuff where I can input code to organize things, so the wiki markup language is quite flexible and usable for me. I used to typeset stuff with LaTeX so I like just following the correct syntax and getting a nice looking page.

[Suttebun]

Hmm, I'm working on a roguelike and have trouble with planning. A wiki could be a fun way to set up what can become a continually addable game.

@Dr. Büni Organizing as a writer writes a book is really interesting. Same with @Ordnas's writing a screenplay for narratives.
There's probably a lot of good information in these areas.

My desk currently has a pile of note cards, and a little cherry pink transparent chest full of notes-
I catch myself looking over a couple cards for a while until too many pile up and they all get placed in the chest.

...

Something to mention, SolarLune has been working on a project called Masterplan
>sort of a game developer's take on project management

...

Something else to mention - Devlogs.