I need advices on how to plan my first game

Alhazred

Hello everyone, I'm an experienced web developer, but completely new to game development. After a lot of time spent deciding whether to try to build my own game or not and which tools to use, I've decided that it is time to give it a try and to do it using Godot. The game I have in mind is some kind of 3D city builder, where constructions can wear out if not maintained, rivers could flood.. etc. For simplicity, at the moment I'm thinking to a totally flat map. Before to think to all of that, I would like to have some advices about how the map should be built to start off on the right foot. Should I use a gridmap and replace the tiles (are 3D elements also called tiles as those for 2D tilemaps?) when the ground must change? I will also use a navmesh to make people go around, but I've read that navmeshes don't work that well with gridmaps, is that yet true? If so, is there another way I should follow for the map?

I know that being a newbie I have a lot to learn, and I will, taking all the time it requires, but it is better to know what to learn.

Tomcat

Since this is close enough to my project, I'll try to answer.

Total wear and tear, aging, as far as I understand it, is quite difficult to implement, both on the game development side and in terms of system requirements. You could probably do it alone, but it would be necessary to greatly simplify everything.

Are there any drawings, concepts of what the game should look like? What kind of detailing would be involved?

rivers could flood.. Will there be a change of seasons? Terramorphing?

I was taught in gamedev lectures, " Prototyping!" (Proof-of-concept).

I suggest you start with a single structure on a small piece of land and try to make it wears out and repairable.

Alhazred

@Tomcat said: Since this is close enough to my project, I'll try to answer.

Thank you for your answer. I do know that it will not be easy and that I need to start very small. In fact, at the moment I'm only focusing on how to construct the map. My guess is that I should have a gridmap with a block of terrain on each grid position and then change the blocks according to what happens during the game, for example, change an empty grass block with one showing a road if the player is building a road. Would that be the correct way to build the map?

What about the navigation system? Would it be applicable to a map made as I'm thinking? And most of all, is the navmesh really yet not working properly as I read in some old posts? People say that it is needed to wait for version 4 to have a reliable navigation system.

Erich_L

"I need to start very small" is right. Either the map will determine how buildings can be built or something else will- like roads. City skylines used roads and gave you grid space for buildings around the road which is a nice touch to enable curves and such in roads.

Rukus

I like to tell my self don't get wrapped up in certain details and trying to use certain features or all the features in the engine but as tools to accomplish the goal, I like to start with, i have an idea that i know what it looks like, but how do my pieces act independently but as a whole, like building a world that it self creates clear traversable and non-traversable areas and how objects and the space work together. Or designing art work so that it can look round and natural even in squares.