3 Journaling Plugins That Will Transform Your Game Design

3 Journaling Plugins That Will Transform Your Game Design

Disorganized game design can kill your project. Feature creep, scope issues, and forgotten ideas plague indie developers. A solid game dev journal is your weapon against these problems. This article explores three journaling plugins and how to use them to wrangle your game design. We’ll show how to track your game development progress effectively.

The Pain of Disorganized Game Design

Ideas pop up constantly during development. Without a system to capture and organize them, gems get lost. Design decisions become vague. Scope balloons uncontrollably. You end up spending more time fighting chaos than building your game. A game development log helps avoid this.

Feature creep is a common pitfall. It happens when you add features without a clear plan, bloating the project and delaying release. A journal forces you to evaluate each feature’s impact on your core vision.

Why Use a Journaling Plugin?

Physical notebooks are great, but they lack searchability and organization. Generic note-taking apps work, but lack game-specific features. Journaling plugins offer focused tools to manage your game’s design, track game development progress, and stay on track.

Plugin Comparison: Strengths & Weaknesses

Here are three plugins that can help transform your game design process:

1. Obsidian with the “Daily Notes” and “Templater” Plugins

Obsidian is a powerful note-taking app that works with markdown files. Its plugin system lets you customize it for game dev.

• Strengths: Excellent for linking ideas, building a knowledge base, and long-term planning. “Daily Notes” makes creating daily entries easy. “Templater” lets you create custom templates for different journal entries (e.g., brainstorming, bug fixes, level design).
• Weaknesses: Can be overwhelming at first. Requires manual setup of templates and links. Less focused on immediate in-game events.
• Best For: Developers who want a comprehensive design document and prefer a linked, non-linear approach to documentation.

2. Notion with Custom Databases

Notion is an all-in-one workspace that allows you to create databases, documents, and wikis.

• Strengths: Highly customizable. You can create databases for tracking features, tasks, and bugs. Easy to collaborate with team members.
• Weaknesses: Can be slow and clunky. Customization requires setup and understanding of databases. Less ideal for rapid, freeform brainstorming.
• Best For: Team-based projects needing robust project management and task tracking features within the journal.

3. Trello with a Dedicated “Design Log” Board

Trello, while technically a project management tool, can be adapted for journaling. Create lists for “Ideas,” “In Progress,” “Implemented,” and “Rejected.”

• Strengths: Visual and easy to use. Great for tracking the status of design ideas. Simple drag-and-drop interface.
• Weaknesses: Limited text formatting options. Not ideal for long-form writing or detailed design documentation.
• Best For: Solo developers who prefer a visual, Kanban-style approach to track game development progress and manage design tasks.

Step-by-Step Integration

Let’s dive into integrating these plugins into your workflow.

Obsidian Setup

1. Install Obsidian.
2. Install the “Daily Notes” and “Templater” plugins from the Community Plugins section in Settings.
3. Configure “Daily Notes” to create a new daily note in a specific folder (e.g., “Journal”).
4. Create a template for your daily note using "Templater". Include sections for “Goals,” “Accomplishments,” “Problems Encountered,” and "Ideas".

Example Templater code:

---
date: <% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") %>
---

## Goals

*   [ ]

## Accomplishments

*

## Problems Encountered

*

## Ideas

*

Notion Setup

1. Create a new Notion page.
2. Create a database with columns for “Feature,” “Status,” “Priority,” “Notes,” and "Date".
3. Add entries for each design idea or feature.
4. Use the “Notes” column for detailed design documentation.

Trello Setup

1. Create a new Trello board titled "Game Design Log".
2. Create lists: “Ideas,” “Backlog,” “In Progress,” “Implemented,” "Rejected".
3. Create cards for each design idea or task.
4. Use labels to categorize cards (e.g., “Gameplay,” “UI,” “Sound”).
5. Use the card descriptions for detailed notes.

Practical Journaling Examples

Here are real-world examples of how to use these plugins for game design:

• Brainstorming: Use Obsidian’s daily notes to quickly jot down ideas. Link related ideas together. In Notion, create a new database entry for each brainstormed concept. In Trello, add a new card to the “Ideas” list.
• Problem-Solving: Document the problem, your attempts to solve it, and the final solution. This helps you learn from mistakes and avoid repeating them. Use Obsidian’s linked notes to connect the problem to related systems. Use Notion to create a detailed log with screenshots. Use Trello to track the progress of the solution.
• Tracking Design Decisions: Record why you made specific design choices. This is crucial for remembering your reasoning later and explaining it to others. In Obsidian, link your decision to the relevant game mechanics. In Notion, use the “Notes” column to explain your reasoning. In Trello, add the explanation to the card description.

Building an Effective Journaling Process

Consistency is key. Set aside dedicated time each day to journal. Even 15 minutes can make a difference.

Avoid vague entries. Be specific and detailed. “Fixed a bug” is less helpful than “Fixed a bug where the player could clip through walls in level 2 by adjusting the collision box on object X.”

Review your journal regularly. Look for patterns, identify recurring problems, and track your progress.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

• Overcomplicating things: Start simple. Don’t try to track everything at once. Focus on the most important aspects of your game’s design.
• Inconsistency: Missing days can quickly derail your journaling efforts. Set reminders and make it a habit.
• Treating it as a chore: View journaling as a tool to improve your game, not a tedious task. Focus on the benefits it provides.

A consistent game development log is a massive boon to solo devs. It provides clarity, context, and direction to your creative process. It is the number one weapon against feature creep.

Ready to take your game design process to the next level? Check out our in-house journaling tool, designed specifically for game developers, and streamline your game design process with a dedicated journal. It will help you stay organized, focused, and productive.