The Game Makers Notebook

If you are making video games or are considering the idea of making your own games you need to organize yourself in a way that will help the process. Keeping a game making notebook is the perfect way to do this. Here is my recommendation on how to do this. Along with pictures of my game notebook.

The Notebook - Organize your game making stuff!

Making a video game is a creative process and that process can sometimes be very crazy! You never know where it will take you. One day you might be working on software and the next day you could be drawing sketches of characters of writing story lines for quests and the game world. You have to keep all this different types of information organized so you can find it and use it in the future.

There is nothing worse than remembering that you had a great idea but not being able to find the paper you wrote it on.

This problem of organizing your information is greatly exaggerated with game making because it requires so much different information. You have graphics, text, tutrials, hot keys, software, stories, pictures, ideas, levels, resources and maybe even sounds and songs! So you have got to start out , right at the beginning with an organized place to keep all this.

Here is what I use for my game idea notebook. It is a Mead 5-star organizer that has lots of room and lots of pockets.

What do I keep in it? I keep tabbed sections for diffferent games, a sketch pad, a music notation pad, graph paper, software, CD's, floppy disks and pencils. As you do some game development you will be able to grow your gamers notebook in any way that is comfortable for you. But you absolutely have to do this. It will make a big difference in how you design games. And this organizational skill will transfer very well to the work world if you are thinking about a career in game making.

It would be almost like a portfolio you could show a potential employer.