Development journals?

[DevP]

On my MythPunk page (linked below), I'll be using the weblog format as a sort of development log, to track my progress - even if only for my own self (so I'm not constantly stuck in rethinking things in my head).

Do more experienced developers feel that dev-logs are useful tools for them (or are they just another procrastination tool)? And to that end, would it be useful to compile/consolidate the devlogs of Forgites' projects?

I think I will find using a dev-log a good way to keep my progress going - once I put something out there to be read, it will remind me that there are some people expecting an ultimate output. But YMMV, of course.

P.S. Heh. 'dev'-log. Indian names are a bloody trip.

[M. J. Young]

Uh--no, I've never done it, and I'm not sure I'd see it as terribly useful myself.

That's probably a personal thing. Looking back, I can say that I wish I had development logs for Multiverser, because there are things blurred in my memory, such as who contributed what to it, when and why did we change things, this thing that wasn't always this way was what before--but I don't know that they really matter. I'm working on several games now, and have no such logs for any of them.

On the other hand, I'm trying to reconstruct logs about the novels I'm writing, so I can remember why I wrote what I wrote, so I suppose they could be useful.

I don't think it's procrastination, but you might find that keeping the log gets in the way. When you're on a roll, as it were, you don't have time to keep the log, and when things quiet down it's hard to remember what you did.

--M. J. Young

[Daniel Solis]

I tend to write down what I'm thinking first, just as a stream-of-consciousness exercise or while discussing ideas with a friend on AIM. I then trim out all the extraneous bits and work the system from the "log" as it were instead of making a system then writing designer's notes. Actually, AIM has been a godsend in this regard. I have one friend with whom I regularly discuss various game issues. When the conversation turns to a possible new project, I save the conversation for later idea-mining.

[Jack Spencer Jr]

Well, this sort of thing was done by GMS on RPGnet in Game Design Step-by-Step and John Wick on GO in Game Designer's Journal. What do these things do? Well, that depends on how you use it. Can it be a procrastination tool? You bet! Every word you write is a word not written in your game. Every second you spend formulating your dev-log post is a second you could've spent actually working on your game.
Keeping a running log can help you get the ideas straight and nailed down and you can go back and look for that great idea you had last week but forgot it. This works even if you keep it in a private notebook or a simple RTF on your HD. But if you post it on the internet. especially if it's on your game companies site or as a column on a portal site, like the two above it becomes something even more. It becomes advertizing. Much like a review, the log lets people know your game exists and a little about it and then interested parties may purchase it.

[M. J. Young]

Jack, you forgot Seth's Legends of Alyria journal, Dreaming Out Loud. It's a bit different, but same idea. It's at Gaming Outpost, but he had posted it somewhere else, too, as I recall.

--M. J. Young

[Mark Johnson]

Dev,

Speaking of Legends of Alyria you might check out Ron's review for a few cautionary words on the design journals.  However, I think the give and take that goes on in the Indie Design forum probably could fall to the same criticism.

Talk Soon,
Mark

[Lxndr]

As a dynamic interface, something like IGD is less likely to lock someone into a pattern - I've seen many people designing games (heck, including me, read through the original Roulette thread for Fastlane, vs. what the game is like now) state something, and then recant that particular bit of the process.  

Game design journals (at least, if they're like most web-logs) are huge monolithic entities with comments from other individuals (if they exist at all) relegated to the bottom in a somewhat "secondary" capacity.  IGD (and most forums) gives the impression of "all posts are created equal".  It's closer to "conversational" than "series of statements."

That said, although I'm not really the kind of person to ever write a public web-log game-design-journal thing, at least in terms of details, I do my best to update the news on the Twisted Confessions website ("Still working on X.  Y is in playtest.  No progress on Z") -- this helps me put things out there without overly committing to whatever I'm doing.  On the other hand, internally, I do use a series of notepad files as a very primitive development log for private use.  (Generally one per game)

[Andy Kitkowski]

I dig that idea, actually.  Gives people an idea of where you're coming from, and they can share in the fun if they're interested in your upcoming project.

Interestingly enough, I had an idea similar to this that I actually pinged Ron on back... damn, it's been about 2 years now... back when I was thinking of doing a Mini-Supplement:

A Director's Cut of your game.

Basically, this would take those notes that you were taking on the game, with your thought processes, reasoning, playtest notes, witticisms, margin notes, etc, and you blend them together into one volume which looks like the print equivalent of a Director's Cut With Commentary.  Produce about 10 copies, which would be reserved for the folks who are really, really, REALLY into your game and want to know more about its insides.

In other words, once the webjournal is done, it would be a way of keeping that info fresh and relevant to the project, instead of having it stay online and dying a slow death.

-Andy

[DevP]

Thanks for the great input! I think I've decided to go with keeping one as long as I'm still intersted in producing games. Looking at the drawbacks and not-drawbacks, here's why I thought keeping one could work for me.

* I'm an avid blogger anyways; it's a rather natural habit.
* I wouldn't mind a little bit of buzz, but I also expect that my blog will go mostly unread.
* One of my big flaws in designing this is an inability to decide things. Heck, I hadn't decided until http://frog.hcs.harvard.edu/~dev/mythpunk/archives/2004_01.html#000213">tonight what to CALL my current opus. I don't expect a constant flurry of comments; therefore the purpose of publishing decisions will be to essentially make semi-permanent my progress and decisions. Changing opinions for good ones isn't a problem for me at all; sticking with anything at all sometimes is, so maybe this will help.
+ Granted, anything I type there will be stuff I'm not typing into my work, but yes, the same is said of the Forge. I can put the blog on hiatus much more easily than I can halt my Forging habits.

So, a journal as mainly notes to self, with voyeuristic pleasure for folks who want it; that's what seems to work for me.

(I'd recommend checking out what it looks like now - it's the MythPunk link below. Don't read the articles - just check out the THE MOST POORLY DRAWN LOGO EVAR. Seriously.)