Building without a plan

Today I would like to talk about my experiences with building without a plan. As a self taught developer I know we are all going to be there at some point. We have some grand idea for a game,app or whatever and we know what we want it to be. We are all excited and jump right in, building and building until a few months later we look up and notice we have no clue where to go next. Our vision was not very well defined out and we did not spend the time needed to flush out what exactly we are going to do. I have found my own formula for helping me to figure out what this project I spent so much time on is. First I am going to talk about that and what it is, then ill talk about some of the benefits and drawbacks of this approach,

Step 1. Find a rough idea of what exactly your trying to make. (You most likely already have done this)

Step 2. Define your start date and your end date. (These do not need to be exact but def something to shoot for. Lets say at max 3-6 months to keep you from losing focus and drive.

Step 3. Find what your project is going to look like in half that time.(This is your mid point and should be your first mile-stone)

Step 4. Break it down more and more. Cutting it up in half until you know exactly what your  going to be working on each day. (This prevents burnout and fatigue)

Step 5. Knowing what your doing everyday you have a clear goal for that day,Week, Month and so on.
Step 6. Now that your done SHIP THAT PROJECT!!!


The benefits are pretty obvious for this method. but the drawbacks are not so. First of all you need to keep focus and really buckle down on what you are building. Think of all the sprites needed, The systems needed. What objects your going to need and what they need to do. You will need to create all the screens your going to use. I use paint to build these its quick easy and just a blueprint so only needs to be a rough representation.  So lots of prep work needs done ahead of time.

If you would like more indepth information on this process feel free to comment and I will see what I can do.

Thank you for ready and hope this helps some people.