How do you plan your scripts?

[gerrtunk]

Well in programing professional areas exist some analisis to do for each project, but i dont think they are trully interesting in general and they are better in a company that is working for money and you have to do nice teamwork and each group of persons may have a role....

Doing all that analisis, functional, organical, data analysys, gant diagram,etc for each project sucks for me at least. I plan some thing but not using this structrue but my own:

What i do is, but its flexible, is:
1-I create a list of things to do (with a description) in the project and each time i work on some of that things i add some mark and new information to the thing to know in wich state is it. A thing maybe a object and then a other thing some or other functions of the object, a global vision, etc.

2-Then i start planning each of the things, this includes:
-I write a solution for the thing problem.
-If its needed i write the program using pseudocde. Note that this can be skipped when it dont need it or im modififng a system like XP scripts.

Note that any of these things can be skipped for whatever reason, like if im exploring and testing things rather than creating, the same when i modify a thing(in rgss thats always ), etc, and i can modifiy or add anything to each of the step without a problem.

I dont do flow diagramas but its true that all my programs are simple. What i do is to write using very descriptive pseudocode how the is going to work and be relationated.

 

[MarioSuperStar]

Well, first, I see what I need for my project(or for a help to another person) and look at the Contents Index and Script editor and look for objects related to what I need.

When I find the objects, I start to see all the variables, functions, etc., and at the same time, look for stuff that relates with what I want to do.

When I got all that information, I can whether edit or make a new script applying the information I got.

Example: I want to disable the player from accessing the menu. Instead, make a save menu appear.

1.- I look into the script editor and look for a Scene that calls the menu. Which is Scene Map.

2.- I look for the function(or piece of script), which calls the menu. Knowing that by pressing "B" in the game shows the menu, I look for a module that checks keyboard pressses(Input) and look for a function in Scene_Map that has an Input with the key B.

3.- Then I edit the menu calling to save calling and then go to Scene_Save and instead of going to the menu I change it to go to the map(Scene_Map.)

That's how I generally work on scripts.

 

[Jaberwoky]

I'm like "I want to make... this" and just know how I'm going to go about doing it and how it's going to work right then and there, and the whole thing just flows together as I make it.
Planning is for chumps D:

 

[Atoa]

I'm like "I want to make... this" and just know how I'm going to go about doing it and how it's going to work right then and there, and the whole thing just flows together as I make it.
Planning is for chumps D:

The same here. I don't plan things beforehand, i just start to do some classes and methos until they start to get form and works, then i start optmizing what was done until i think it's good.

 

[gerrtunk]

Thats why the code of your ACBS sucks, atoa ¬¬, and makes me mad when modifiying it.

XD

Well, i have compared and planning and have somewhat organitzet what you want gains a lot of time when developing anything, not just scripts. If you script a bad thing two times for example and you rewrite it, and then changue it because later you add something new that need to changue it, you are rewritting the code 3 times.
If you have planned it, you have to do that. Also i dont like planning all but atleast a general think to gain time yes, later you can add to your design document and modifiy anything that you need, of course.

When im working with my projects i do the same. I draw the maps for example, so i have a basic idea of what i want and how, and the same with all. That saves a lot of time and still fun, at least for me.

 

[Jaberwoky]

If you plan it all out beforehand you don't get to feel like a sexy programming god when you're done.

 

[Draycos Goldaryn]

I work on one feature at a time, I then search online to see if someone has done it, or something like it yet. If so, I grab what they did, look it over to see how they did it, and then I redo it to fit better with what I want.

I guess I'm a "Frankenscripter" as I piece together many scripts to create a completely new script. i.e.: my multiple resolution script, and now my new window rewrite using a completely customized windowskin based loosely on VX's skin, but for xp... (the latter will not be released as a standalone script, but is being used in one of my games.)

 

[Jason]

I close my eyes and mash the keyboard a few times with my head and check every so often, if it looks like the code is going somewhere, I'll carry on... sadly I'm limited to a few things since I'm not an amazing scripter, so yeah...

In all seriousness, no, I don't plan, I say to myself beforehand what I'm going to make, like rewriting the entire menu system or how currency works or the battle arrangements, and I just get on with it, hoping it all works nicely, lol.

 

[Atoa]

Thats why the code of your ACBS sucks

You think the code of ACBS suck? so don't get near tankentai code, or you will have an heart attack. : D

Just think it's hard to plan when you don't know exactly what you need to do to proceed. Do any programmer plan the bugs and glitches that occurs during the development of a code? i suppose not. We don't know what surprises we will find on the way, and these surprises can ruin any plans.

 

[BlueScope]

I'm with Jaberwoky and Atoa... I don't really scribble or make charts or whatnot, unless for pretty large things. I sometimes write up a list of methods (just as effective as a tasklist, but more directly related to the actual workflow, I think) before I start, but yeah.
I think my main 'planning phase' is when I think of a script to do. It's not usually "I think a [...] system would be cool, let's make it later!", but instead "A [...] system would be cool... especially impressive if I manage to do [...], which I could achieve by doing [...]." I often have a complete structure in my head that mostly works 100% as planned, however almost all the time gets improved here and there for perfectionistical details. But really, I can't remember the last time I was already at writing the code where I still didn't know how I'd do it.

Same with Script Support threads, or even request topics... if you make a title that works well, the gears in my head are already rotating until the page is loaded. It might be wasted time, because the question might not exactly be what I thought... but yeah, that's how I work, I guess.