First, I must state these two things... One of the things, is that this is my second article , so please don't enter with guns blazing! The other thing is :

DISCLAIMER : I will not be responsible for any bad games you create. This may cause a little brain damage, including inability to shoot people. Remeber, this is an article, not reality. Don't make a list of crazy weapons at home, create them and go shooting at your neighborhood's houses. This is for your own security and health. Do not do anything out of this article outside the virtual world.

Well, this short article will help you if you're like me : You plan your games before making them. I think its a good idea since you have a starting idea to help you out programming, and not making it from scratch without a single idea of what it will be at the end. This may be useful to give you a general idea of things if you make games from nothing.

First thing you should plan is (I assume you have weapons and enemies in the game) the weapons and enemies that you will use through the entire game. Brainstorm for 20 minutes, 10 for weapons, 10 for enemies, and write down on Notepad every idea you have (if before the max you could invent were 25 different kinds of shotguns and zombies, don't be surprised when you appear with chicken throwers, tesla coils and cannon-wielding giant sheeps).

Well, after that, you may have 50+ things in your entire list. But only 10-20 of them will stand out in the final version. The next step is to choose a theme to your game, so you have a idea of what to pick from the big list. I mean, would you pick a sniper rifle and heavy machinegun to a medieval game? Would you? WOULD YOU?

*calms down*

Well, form two new lists : "Weapons In Game" and "Enemies In Game". Then start the selection process. If you don't have enough of any, then invent variants of the existing ones or invent some new ones.

Then, you may or may not start a complete description of the levels. If you do, it will look more professional, but if you don't, it will look more creative. It's your choice.

Then you proceed to graphics, sound, music and programming... see ya in another article!!!

Hope this helped you to plan your game before creating it. Before posting comments, read the disclaimer and anything before it.