How to structure a big project

Finally, finally, I am motivated again to develop a game. I now have that idea that might actually work. I know how I will get the assets for my game, I know how I will create levels, I have lots of ideas for lots of different content.

I don't expect to succeed. My experience has taught me that I will probably give up halfway through with a hell of a mess of code and a lot of wasted (ok, not really wasted, but still...) time. So my question is: How should I plan my project?

My plan is to first start with a prototype. Create some assets, write throw-away code, until I have something that resembles those essential 30 seconds of core gameplay that I want to create. If that is not fun and I don't manage to make it fun - leave that project be.

Ok, so let's say I have a worthy prototype. How should I proceed? Of course, it's obvious that I should begin planning the project thouroughly. But how thorough do I need to be? In my experience, I often plan things out to the last detail, but in the end, everything plays out differently and a big part of the planning has been useless. Should I maybe start thinking about the first couple of systems and then try to implement those before I think about further systems? The risk then is that I might have to heavily adjust these systems because I did not think of other elements of the game that influence these systems or make design decisions that I made about these systems seem wrong.

Once everything is planned, where do I actually start? Should I focus on the art first, so that I have something that I can use in the game? Or start with programmer art and implement the game logic first? Or create the art 'on-the-fly' e.g. create a new monster model when I finished the game up to the point where I need that new monster? The benefit of creating art first is that I would have something to show off, so that I could maybe start gaining some traction. On the other hand, creating art is a distraction from creating actual gameplay and that is even more important I think... Should I start with the core gameplay or at the start of the game, which might be a little different from the core gameplay? Or should I maybe focus to get an alpha version out as quickly as possible? Should I create an MVP or a vertical slice?

I was just writing every questions I could come up with down, you don't have to answer all of them, but you might see that I am kind of lost. I now finally have an idea for a game again and I think I just need some advice beforehand from somebody who has actually been able to finish a project.

Thanks and feel free to leave any input if you think it'll help me!

 

This was meant to be in General Discussion, not General Support. Can someone be so kind to move the post?