Untitled Gnome Game Devlog #0 - what is going on here?!

Hi there!

I've started this project to see if I can make something all by myself, maybe with a little help of community and friends.

But the main reason for this Devlog is to share every step from concept art to publishing a solo-dev-project. Stick with me on this exciting journey of pain, suffering and fun :D

Oh, something about me. Obviously, my name is NNJohn and I'm a technical game designer in 1C Entertainment, currently working on King's Bounty II. I also have a side project called The Tavern of Magic - VR Card Spell casting Game. I've started game developing in 2013 in Unity, but quit around the end of 2015. Then I had a break from gamedev for about a year and then I've been working on couple of different projects with Unreal Engine 4 by my side.

But as a game designer you don't always work in engine - you have to write tons of documents and roll up millions of tables. So that's why I'm here - to understand and walk through all circles of Hell of game production.

I've always loved gnomes and dwarfs. I like drawing them, I like seeing them in movies and cartoons, so I thought "Hey, my obsession can take another level here, why not". I've chosen gnomes over dwarfs for this project to implement garden-nature-flowery theme just to have a breath of fresh air from this serious dark fantasy theme I'm currently stuck in.

So, "how do we start a project?" you may ask. Pretty simple. Lay down on your couch, think of something you consider cool and sleep overnight with this thought. Still like it on the next morning? Cool! Grab a notebook and make some rough sketches. As time will pass you either stick with your future game or leave it be a sketch in your notebook. Well, at least that's what I do.

After some trials and errors I've done a sketch of my Gnome, and ended up liking him. Next step - feature list. You generally know what's your game is about. But how it is meant to be played? What your character will do? Will there be any kind of enemies or collectibles? Before diving deep into design documentation - make a list! Do you really need long and boring design document to read it only by yourself? I thought I don't, so let's see if I was wrong :D

Then I've made Trello and broke character mechanics on many pieces. No need to finalize it, as new ideas will come, old will be kicked out. So far development looks like it's a fluid of ideas or stream of thoughts. That's how it all began.

Next up: Trello; Modeling; Animation; Texturing.

Hope to see you soon!