I don't want to sound unkind or anything but to get more people (at least me) to read your document, you maybe should provide a .pdf version of it (as I already mentioned).
I would really like to read it and give feedback, if I can provide any usefull that is, but I personally will not read it if its a doc or docx file

Yeah, sorry Xarthor i was going to ask if someone could maybe make a .pdf version or provide me with details on how to make one using word or similar.

And thank you Uhrwerk i will take what you said into account and add more to the document. I am planning on adding the story next, it will just be the main storyline and not contain the character dialog.
@Uhrwerk Sorry about coming across as rude or whatever, just because my previous thread about this game i got personal insults and un-constructive or helpful comments.

Here is a .pdf version, thanks to Uhrwerk for creating it.
New design documents

You set your goals quite high for a "fan project".
At least some lines make me think so
"ultimate HP experience" (well no doubt that you are highly motivated, but keep in mind that you, compared with HP gaem devs, are no professional in game development)
"travel to all places in the book" (game development implies creating worlds with places worth or necessary to travel to, but huge useless maps into the last detail are no great "feature", only a tremendous amount of work of which I doubt you'll be able to create in well quality for the time it would need to do so)
"all charactera of the movie and books plus your own" (I think only this task would take a full year of intense work of a good modeller - and animator)


I think you should cut down your goals to a realistic minimum and set yourself a time plan to make a fist game with only a few of what you mentioned.
Especally when you're new to game development I really adive you to start learning with a smaller bit since a rule states that at least your first 3 game dev projects are trash (because you simply don't have a feeling for what is really importand and what is not).

Without your, in my oppinion, much too high goals in the first part of the decoument, the rest reads quite well, but as I said before, keep it down or you'll be frustrated sooner or later.


Fare-thee-well

Thanks.
"ultimate HP experience", this is because most harry potter fans or just games fan will agree that movie games are normally rushed and not very long. This makes me want to make a game that isn't limited to what is in the movie, and that isn't as long as the movie is.

I agree that "travel to all places in the book" may be a bit of a high standard, although i am planning on making cut scenes for the game for non-fans can understand the story, this way i will have most of the locations from the books made just for the cut scenes, so i will most likely just make it so the player can walk around them.

"all characters of the movie and books plus your own", yes this will take a while, but most of the students will just be made from one mesh with different skins and a few alterations. The only characters that will have to be made specially are the main one's.

Yes i do agree about the time plan etc. and i am planning on doing that, once i have planned out the whole of the first game i will make a time plan and make myself stick to it, then i will start modeling the basic levels and try and get an alpha together. I will most likely make it a public alpha for fans to play and comment on what should be improved.

To be honest the only bit i am worried about is the fact that i am not a experienced lite-c coder, and that i am not the most experienced modeler. I believe Hogwarts and quidditch mini-game will take the longest to make.

I see, well I thought you're not too depp into coding. I may be wrong for game dev in common, but I create my levels based on my programming knowlegde to optimize structures of level design and code that interact with each other for solutions that bring up as few problems as possible (=> lowest programming effort, or formally know as the "minimum principle"). I guess you could run into heavy problems when you start with design, since you'll notice that you gotta change a lot when you start coding and the problems how to bring both into one "boat" occur.


Start with the code, and create your levels around the code. You'll have to do that anyway, but starting with design will result in design -> code -> redesign.

Yeah, i mean i am very experienced in web coding and can do some application programming, but stuff like AI etc. I am not sure how i will be, depends on whether i can find some time to learn some more lite-c.
The main thing i am wanting to get perfect will be the magic casting system, actually i am stuck on ideas for that if anyone has any they want to suggest. My idea was to have a few dots on the screen for each spell and the person clicks on each one to perform the wand movement, but in the same sense i wanted to have it continuous.

Well as I develop 3D games and have my own browsergame online I can tell you the differences.

The biggest difference is the step from "single shot" codes to a 4 dimensional (yes 4D, that's the tricky point) way of thinking and getting everything straight with framerate compensation not only for the current frame but also for acceleration (or wave attenuation), thus movements that develop beyond one frame.

Second are effects, maybe you wanna take a look at my game starbattle to learn some stuff abount effects (but it is programmed in C-Script).
Or watch the video to get some ideas.

Blade, I have NOT read you GDD but I do have a question:

You do realize that fan games are illegal?
Even if you release it for free, it is illegal to use another persons copyright without their permission. As I'm going to assume you do NOT have WB or JKR's permission to use the HP IP, then I suggest you start designing your own game instead of basing it off of something you will never be able to make.

It is easy to create a world with wizards and monsters and it doesn't have the HP label on it.

Just an FYI before you spend too much time designing a game that is illegal.

In normal case the don't care a [censored] about that and big companies won't bring you to court for that. If they are really insulted by a fan project they write a letter and give you the chance to stop it / switch it offline and you will get in no trouble if you do so.


For my game Starbattle I used sprites from Namco VS Capcom and nobody knows / cares, I remade Final Fantasy VIII's minigame Chocobo World and even applied to work for sqauresoft once and mentioned it as a reference and nobody cared.

Where you really have to be careful is when you mess with "unknown little people", they try to get your last gold coin for the slightest copyright isult.

Big companies don't, it would draind too much of their good name if it was brought to the news.