Design

[DumRat]

When I asked about the factors in making an rpg, the answer Gannon11 gave me included that the most important part is planning. Now I have a bigger question. I can't seem to plan things when doing any program. And I think this is pretty common. So, can anybody tell me how to actually plan things? I mean, I know I will get in trouble, but once I sit down with a pencil and paper, and i fill up half a page, I seem to hit the bottom of the well. So, I'd be really greatful if anyone can give a few tips about planning and design.

[Ganon11]

Banfa wrote a very good article/tutorial on design here.

My suggestion is this: Find out what objects you need. You said you were making an RPG, so you might have some classes like:

Hero
Monster
Classtype (including Warrior, Archer, Sorcerer, etc.)
Weapontype (including ax, bow, sword, staff, etc.)
Terraintype (including dirt, tree, water, grass, etc.)
Environment
Item

Then, you need to decide what each class will do - will the Hero keep track of his own health, or will the environment? What methods will each class have? What composition must be used (i.e. The Hero should have-a Classtype, have-a Weapon, etc.)? What inheritance must be used (i.e. a Sword is-a Weapon, a potion is-an Item)?

Once you have this, you can start to think about how you will implement these classes. For instance, once you know a Hero has-an Item, you might think, "But a Hero might start with no item, or end up with several items." and decide to use a vector or binary tree to store the Hero's items. As you make these small steps, your project will begin to become something recognizably functional.

[DumRat]

Banfa wrote a very good article/tutorial on design here.

My suggestion is this: Find out what objects you need. You said you were making an RPG, so you might have some classes like:

Hero
Monster
Classtype (including Warrior, Archer, Sorcerer, etc.)
Weapontype (including ax, bow, sword, staff, etc.)
Terraintype (including dirt, tree, water, grass, etc.)
Environment
Item

Then, you need to decide what each class will do - will the Hero keep track of his own health, or will the environment? What methods will each class have? What composition must be used (i.e. The Hero should have-a Classtype, have-a Weapon, etc.)? What inheritance must be used (i.e. a Sword is-a Weapon, a potion is-an Item)?

Once you have this, you can start to think about how you will implement these classes. For instance, once you know a Hero has-an Item, you might think, "But a Hero might start with no item, or end up with several items." and decide to use a vector or binary tree to store the Hero's items. As you make these small steps, your project will begin to become something recognizably functional.

Thank you very much.