Yah, title says it all .

Hmm, in my opinion, the Story makes for a better foundation, then you can build the gameplay around that, and of course, make sure you have a solid story and make sure its all correct before you build on it

Moving to Theory & Design.

I do gameplay first, then make up a story later

Yeah gameplay first is what I'm trying at the moment even though I'm not sure it's the best idea.

Come up with ideal combat systems, dungeons, boss fights etc. and see how I can work them together as a story. Seems like a lot of boundaries though, but I'll see how I'll go. At least I won't go wrong with characters though, but I hope I'll be able to add deep enough drama.

I can come up with good dramatic stories on my own but mixing it with a good set of dungeons and boss fights can be a challenge. I'm not too sure yet though.

I actually come up with characters first, create a story that deals with them, and then incorporate gameplay.

Though, for the next game my boyfriend said we're doing a story first. o.o

I'm already designing my main character without a story. T.T

I know, I'm also really character driven. Actually through interesting characters is just about always how I come up with interesting stories anyway. Build the plot around the character's values, issues and stuff. Since in my opinion, what the characters feel is mostly what makes a story good.

This may or may not be what you were looking for, but it is some ideas to your question.
This will probably be a long post.

The Story is generated regardless of how you design your game, it may not be a complete story, but you do have parts and pieces of it.

The Story of any RPG is not really one story, it is multiple stories that combine to tell a larger story.
There are usually 2 pieces to any RPG story, most of the time more.
Part 1 - Main Story, the reason of the story. Ex: To save the princess\world\etc.
Part 2 - Character Story, all characters have to have some back-story, whether very small or very lengthy. This includes NPCs (good and bad).
There are usually other stories in there as well.


For Example:
It was mentioned that some people like to start with characters. Well creating characters creates stories.
Ex:
George is my main character, the protagonist, red hair, blue eyes. Abandoned as a child, lived in a foster home for 16 years, he likes Nicole.
It's not much, but it a back-story about George. How it fits into the Main story, who knows.

Johnny is my bad guy, the antagonist, black hair, brown eyes. Raised in the same foster home as George, but George got all the attention. He likes Nicole.
Again, not much, but something to start with.

Nicole is my feminine sweetheart, she has blond hair and blue eyes. She was also raised in the foster home, she likes George.
More back story.

Did anyone see what happened, the Main Story started to come together.
George must fight Johnny for Nicole, and we have some story about them. Of course, there are still holes, why the Foster home, why do they fight, etc. But the stories about the characters have now driven us to ask those questions.


But what about game design\game mechanics, how do they build stories.
It's a little harder to see, but it is still possible.

Ex: Johnny has a special power that allows him to turn green and grow to twice his size. How? Well, Johnny was experimented on as a kid at a secret Government facility.

We got more back story on Johnny and filled in a hole about a game design\mechanic.

Ex: George has a special power that allows him to create ice out of the water droplets in the air. How? Well, George was also experimented on as kid at the same facility.

Whoa, why are they are the same facility? What in the world.
When designing a game design\mechanic, I always ask why and how. How did they get from the facility to the foster home, and why are they there anyways. These questions make the creator\designer fill in the holes that many games have.

See how Character generation and Game Design\Mechanics have created this Story. It may not be much, but it shows how multiple paths combined to build the one story.


Now as to how I design a Story, yes I said design a Story. To me the Story is the art, the graphics can suck, the sound can suck, but the story can overcome it all. But to write a great story takes time, practice and patience.

I have the main idea of the game already chosen and written down, so I can't stray from that idea.
Ex: A space exploration team that travels from system to system salvaging ships, while salvaging a ship, an entity boards there ship and start killing team members.

To then get the details of how and why, I start with a small idea that correlates to the main idea, doesn't matter what the idea is, and mull over what it can become. I usually pull from other concepts\ideas like it.
Ex: Travel - teleportation - worm holes - parallel universes - infinity drive - hyper drive - etc.

I can then choose one of those mulled over concepts and create something.
This may be only part of some character story or game design\mechanic, but it gets me to the completed plot line for that object.
Ex: The ship Darnacle can travel between points in space by using the Oratone, a parallel universe device that allows the ship to jump large distances by using a separate universe. The separate universe's time is much faster, therefore faster movement by the ship, but the Oratone shields the internal passengers from the effects of the faster time. The side effect of this is that this opens a tear in the time continuum every time you jump. If you jump too many times within a time period, the tear will rip sucking in planets\ships\people(a bad thing) but you can travel backwards in time (which can work to your advantage).

One idea became a ship, which developed a background, which developed a cause and effect, which all developed a story about the ship.

Storyline comes first. It's the most important part of an RPG game.

Arguably.



Personally, I only commence working on a game if I have at least a partial idea for the plot and the characters, but when it comes to actually make something, gameplay and databasing come first.

I planned gameplay first and after several years of eventing everything, I still don't have a very clear idea of what I want to do with the story. I guess the lesson from my example is to prioritize whatever you're weakest at and plan that first. I probably spent too much energy playing to my strengths (gameplay, soundtrack, etc.) and now they're much further along than my weaknesses (story, mapping).

I should start every thread I write on with this.... Everyone is different, everyone
will have there own opinion, doesn't mean anyone is really wrong.


Personally.... I created my charcters first.


I use to draw them in school for fun, I started with a basic story.... when I discovered
RMXP, I though I'll make it a game. and when putting it together it evolved over time.

I added NEW characters, Revamped the ENTIRE story, a few modifications here and there.


I think you should start by enjoying the idea of it... Everything about your story could change.

Enjoying making it... should not.

Edit: Gameplay come in the middle.... so you can also develop the story around it as well.

I do characters first. A story usually comes out of them. Many people are this way.

Yet I can see great advantages to doing a story first.

And I can see big advantages to doing gameplay first.

I think in a JRPG a story first is best.

In a Western RPG gameplay is key.

This is dependent on what type of game you are building.

If you want the game to revolve around a story, have the story come first. If you want the game to revolve around gameplay, have the gameplay first.

More importantly, planning is key.

Plan them both out before touching your chosen 'RPG Maker' tool. A good plan will give you a clear vision for the start and end result. Once you have a clear vision like that, the whole process becomes much easier in the long run and brings more satisfaction to players. This applies to both story and gameplay.

It all depends on what I'm making. For the most part I design gameplay first, but even before that, I think of the high concept of the game first. What I want the game to do and the message or theme I want to convey with the game. After that, I think up gameplay that would match that concept, generally the core gameplay aspect is part of the concept itself in my case. After I have gameplay detailed out, I'll think of the setting to go with that, more specifically the characters that fit the concept and gameplay. Then the world is built around the lead characters, as my games are generally very character driven. The world is shaped by their actions.

There is a game concept I have written up very recently where the gameplay itself is not the focus, but the emotional response the player has to the events in the game is what the focus is. In this, the story nor gameplay is not what I'm thinking of first, but the delivery of the game's content is the most important part.

it depends upon what inspires the project.

In some cases, I have game ideas that are driven entirely by a narrative concept, and so would develop the game to fit the story.

sometimes though, I'll just have an idea that I think might be neat to try out, and would try to make a game to that.

Personally I've not really had one come before the other when designing a game.
For example, I started working on a visual novel (which is not really a game per se).

I know there is a standard formula/expectation of game system involved and I base my story on that.
During the process of developing the story I figured I wanted to spice up the generic Visual Novel formula by adding choice, so I developed a choice model and adjusted my story to accommodate reader choice.
Further yet in development, I felt the story was more of an adventure so there should be more adventure game elements to it, so I designed puzzles and temple mazes for part of the 'fetch quest' portion of the story.
Later still, since I realized I had an adventure game wrapped up with a visual novel, the end should be exciting, so I designed a quick battle sequence.

For RPG games I'm the same way, I have the formula of game design in mind when thinking of a story.
Something I want to try in game design may affect how I write the story and the story may inspire me to develop a system.

I used to start with Story, then begin making the game, but I always ended up frustrated that things didn't look the way I wanted, so I decided to try something different.

With my current project, I just started with a single map, and created a whole bunch of things on it. It's an ABS, with a CMS and several other features that were implemented before I even had an idea for a story line. Once I was happy with the actual gameplay, I began working on the story, and I have made more process in this project than any prior attempt I have made.

settings before story (even if that may sound wrong)
basically what i am saying is gamplay before story, i start by making a free roam demo world with the graphic and gmeplay to then feel the story or pick one of the many ideas that floats around in my head that sounds the most fitting to its setting

though i am starting my first game so this is just how i think i will do it and so my oppinion might not be as valid as others...

I don't think there is a set way this is done. I think I tend to focus on a bit of both.

For me, i start with the gameplay, as in what i'm going to use for scripts and such.
After that, i make the graphics, and the storyline comes last.