Placeholders, "I'll do it later" Options

[kayden997]

Placeholders are something I've seen people do in there projects while they develop. Whether it be maps or dialogue, is it really a good thing to do? Sure, someone can just make a map with the basic walking areas and what not, then leave it and go to another map. But what if they miss it or make so many placeholders that the project becomes overwhelming thus leading to it's doom?

Personally, I always spend a lot of time on a new map to really give it it's final feel. If I have to go out of my way to create an object specifically for that map, I would. It just leaves things out of the way instead of partially finishing it just to go back to it while you're finished half the game already. I think one would lose motivation to do much effort on the placeholder if that was the case.

Not sure about dialogue but again it's something that I believe has to be fully developed and looked at if needed.

So, what are your thoughts about placeholders?

[Tsukihime]

As with others, I use placeholders if the only reason I need something there is so that I can verify that something works.

For example, is I am testing the passability of my tiles, I don't need to have a beautiful scene that I put 126 hours into; it is sufficient to just have a simple path with a couple trees here and there and a random wall blocking the way.

Of course, if there was a tool that allowed you to track placeholders and what they are for whenever you insert one, you would not have much of a problem then.

This post has been edited by Tsukihime: Dec 5 2012, 09:02 AM