I'd be happy to help.
I would say you need an idea first. The idea is what you shape and mold into your game like clay. Sometimes the idea is as simple as "I want to break bricks" (breakout) or as complex as "I want a game set in space where a space station has been attacked by aliens and everyone has been killed. The player would need to survive until reinforcements arrive to extract you" (Dead Space). After you've formulated your idea, you need to apply rules to the idea such as "The player has a paddle to hit a ball to break the bricks. If the ball falls past the paddle, the player loses a life". You should also consider what kind of technology is needed to accomplish your design. I guess the moral of the story is to build a design document and follow it to the tee. Dungeon Siege's design was started by 5 people sitting around a whiteboard which was on the floor in an empty office. The high level idea was as simple as "I want an action RPG in which there is a deep storyline. Oh and there should be no load times and the world should be huge!!". The engine design for DS would blow your mind. Each individual tile in the world had it's own coordinate system. It linked to the other maps by what they call "doors" and stitches.
You need to have a "golden" design. This means the design is final and no changes can be made unless there is an issue with it. For example, Resident Evil 4 was rewritten 3 times before it's release due to design flaws that made the game too boring or too hard. Once you have everything in a Word doc (or paper for you old timers
), you are now ready for content. Content can be designed and developed at the same time as technology (e.g the game engine). This usually starts with concept art (more paper!!
), music track sheets, sound effects lists, etc...
Technology is what takes the longest to design and complete. Most companies use licensed engines (such as RF, Genesis, Unreal, Quake, Torque, etc) for their first project. Sometimes they stick with the licensed technology and sometimes they build their own. Some companies build their proof of concept using these engine and make their own for the actual production product. I guess the moral is that technology is based on time and money.
Tools are usually the standard tools for the platform(s) you are building for. For example, programming a game for the XBox360, requires:
Windows PC running XP or Vista
Microsoft Visual Studio
XBox360 SDK
XBox360 DevKit
For Playstation 3:
Windows XP or Linux PC
CodeWarrior for Playstation
Playstation SDK
Playstation Standard Libraries (optional)
Playstation DevKit
Modelling tools are based upon team preference. Gas Powered Games standardizes on 3DS Max while Capcom uses Maya for all their games.
Sound is pretty standard. All the formats are standard so it really doesn't matter what tools you use. Most of it is hardware anyway. It's not until the final product is ready where it is put into the format of the game.
Designers use Microsoft Office and lots of pencils and printer paper.
So from a high level:
1. Get an idea
2. Determine the requirements to make that idea happen
3. Expand on that idea
4. Write everything down
5. Implement based on what you have written down
6. Shop around to publishers (optional)
7. Release your game
8. Make some money (optional)
Do you mind if I use you as a source?