Part 1: Where to begin?
The best place to begin development is by figuring out the key things. You have to decide if there are
magic-users, Dragons, Elves, little purple-skinned imps, whatever. Then, you have to figure out the landscape of the game. Maybe it all takes place in a forest, maybe it stretches out through deserts, forests, and a series of twisting caverns that no one has ever come out of alive. Whatever it is, think it up. Then, decide who lives where. Maybe a race of magical mole-people live in the caves, which they dug to live in, and maybe massive worms live in the desert. This is all basic, and you'll need to know where everyone goes to succeed in not screwing up. While it's useful to have it on the computer, it helps to have all your info neatly organized on paper in case of disaster (something I learned all too well with my books). Now that you know where everyone goes, we can work on them as a group.

Part 2: War is everywhere.

One thing you can't do is have everyone get along, and you can often work unusual circumstances in with it
(more about that later). Let's say the Elves flee their forest after a Troll invasion. They flee into the desert, only to be attacked by the worms. The Elves come upon the caverns, running into them. There the mole people stop them. The Elves offer them money in return for letting them stay there.
Now this alone illustrates tension between different races. The Trolls and Elves are at war, and the Trolls force the Elves out. The Elves then go into the caves, and have to pay the mole people for letting them stay there.
This is good as it shows how not everyone is going to give you help out of the kindness of their hearts. Let's
look at another example:
In a culture where people look up to warriors and want sons so they can become warriors and bring honour to
their families, mages are discriminated against much like black people before the Civil Rights Movement.
Mages are often brutally beaten by large groups, and few people care about them. Finally, the mages rebel,
and a full-scale war breaks out.
This shows how a society can be turned inside out by diversity. It shows hate and Civil War, a very strong
element.

Part 3: I fell out of the sky!

I cannot stress enough that everyone needs some kind of origin. I often see black people in games and books, yet there's no mention of where they came from. In several games, I've seen random black people in town everywhere. Did they pop up out of nowhere? WHERE THE HELL DID THEY COME FROM? But
seriously, it'd help if there was some mention of an origin, or it just makes no sense. Logic is a cornerstone of a well-developed world, and this example illustrates no logic. Let's see another example.
A massive hole opens up in the sky and a Demon appears saying he will kill all.
.............?
What crackhead would do this? Not only does it have no reason why it would happen, WHERE THE HELL
DOES SOME RANDOM DEMON POP UP OUT OF NOWHERE AND SAY HE'LL BRING ABOUT
THE FREAKIN' APOCALYPSE? At least make it a little more realistic. Next example.
Your party comes upon a man, in the middle of a desert, knocked out. When he comes around, he tells you
he's from another world and doesn't know how he got there.
This is one of the most cliché (I'll talk about it later) characters you can get. I'm sick of people being chucked
into other dimensions for no reason, especially characters like Cloud and Link, who're quite often secret
characters you have to do ridiculous side-quests to find. It's overused, unappealing, and illogical.

Part 4: That'd never happen!

While logic is important, you can often create unique circumstances you normally wouldn't see if you can justify them well enough. For example, Elves living in caverns. They were forced out of their forest, so they fled and the caverns were the first safe place they found. This is strange, but easily and logically justified by the circumstances. Next example.
The mage-hating warriors unite with the mages to stop a common enemy. They form a temporary truce and put aside their differences, knowing they would fall if they worked alone.
A very strong element. Unity among hatred is a potent device you most probably have in your plot arsenal. It
leaves a message for the player, as well as builds up tension useful as your game picks up speed. It also
strengthens your character interaction (a completely different tutorial in this series in which I'll elaborate a little more).

Part 5: Clichés...Who needs 'em?

Clichéd worlds are just as bad as underdeveloped ones. If make a world based purely on clichés, you'll get
nowhere fast. It's okay to have a few clichés, but don't overdo it. Here are a few clichés in worlds (they're
pretty loosely written, but still):
Thousands of years ago a great war was fought between "this group" and "that group".
Then the war ended and there was peace.
There were dragons at one point, but an evil force scared them off and we never saw them again.
Elves live in forests
Dwarves live in mountains
Horse-riding civilizations live in fields
All smart people live in one city and one city only
The ocean is only passable by one boat and one plane
Only one city in the world has technology
Forests always somehow make cohesive, well-organized mazes
Caves always somehow make cohesive, unorganized mazes
There are never farms near large cities
Militarily powerful nations always fall to the enemy
Demons always live in creepy, foreboding castles
You're always safe in churches
You'll always fight a boss in graveyards
Mist only appears when you're near a boss
Forests are either too sunny or too dark
...
And I could go on for hours, but I'm, pretty sure you don't have hours to spend reading clichés.

Part 6: I don't care about history (rock rock, Rock & Roll High School) 'Cause that's not where I wanna be
(rock rock, Rock & Roll High School)

Making a small history and timeline for your world often helps you wrap events into your game. Many game's
main and sub-plots involve previous historical moments. These refine their potency and emphasize history's
impact on the present. A prominent example would be the infamous
evil-archmage-who-attacked-exactly-1000-years-ago-and-was-sealed-away-by-seven-selfless-heroes-and-t
he-mage-then-swears-to-seek-vengeance-upon-the-descendants-of-the-heroes. There's no denying people
will use this, but I might as well warn you: don't screw things up! Anyone with an observant eye will pick up
any inconsistencies, and it'll ruin everything. Consistency is the key to a solid plot. No matter how bad it is, it'll always seem better if it isn't filled with contradicting facts. If the main bad guy is mentioned as a mage in the beginning, don't make him a warrior halfway through the game.

Part 7: Haven't we been here before?

A strong world will have diverse cultures. Even if there's only one race, any game spanning over a large
landmass must have different cultures. Having large and small town isn't enough, people in City A should be
different from City E. Differences can vary. They can be beliefs, clothing, the way the talk (you can easily make the messages so they botch words, don't pronounce certain sounds, or even with slang), or opinions. It helps also to have different living conditions. You may have capitalists who work all day and keep their money to themselves, and later in the game come across a camp of "barbarians" who have no currency and work together, each person contributing some service for the tribe in return for the services others provide (some gather food, some mend clothing, whatever). The capitalists are chaughvanistic and ignorant, whereas the "barbarians" believe in equality and are kind-hearted people who provide hospitality to travellers in their lands.
Architecture is also very important. From one end of the continent to the other, you'll never see the exact same buildings in every town. They won't use the same materials, the houses will be different shapes, and the floors won't be the same. Let's take the capitalist/"barbarian" example. The capitalists, rich and materialistic, they'd have lavish furniture all over the place, expensive paintings, large houses, and such. The "barbarians", on the other hand, would have small, rounded houses, and a few hand-made objects, possibly crude looking. This stark contrast shows just how different the two cultures are.
On the flip side, a monotonous continent filled with cultures the exact same as the last is boring and takes away
from the individuality.

Part 8: And now, the end is near.

Yes, the final part. Only a little more to go.
Okay, you've read this and might be asking, "What does this have to do with plot?" And I'll tell you. Mixing in
the tools I explained in this tutorial (which took hours to write) with your game makes it better. You can weave in sub-plots and strengthen things based on your world. It adds a whole new dimension, a sense that the writer(s) went to great lengths to enhance the plot, and they (may have) succeeded. It makes your game
deeper, more appreciated, and pulls the player in and holds them there. Many games fail to do this is they're
shallow or the people are too
cookie-cutter-peace-loving-freaks-who-have-no-problem-in-the-world-yet-somehow-they-can't-pull-togethe
r-and-save-themselves. But, no matter how bad the graphics are or lacking n features it may be, it still intrigues
the player if you can weave a strong plot. Mind you, this is only one part of the overall plot, and I'll delve
deeper into my next tut, which describes people. Until then, I'm out.

Part 1: How to start?

People in general are hard to do. How well you make your characters shows just how strong a writer you are. The problem most people have is that they either make the characters too similar, or base them too much on themselves. If you can come up with strong characters with varying beliefs, actions, and opinions, your game will be better for it. As a die-hard writer, I'm surprised to see how many people can pick up the slightest things, so you need a cast-iron game to get past them. In this guide, I'll explain bit by bit.

Part 2: The Outline

Every great writer has their secret. Whether writing plots for games, or whole books, each writer has their ways of organizing things. All the info for my books, for example, are either organized in a binder, or organized on my computer. This allows for quick access of info at any time. My trick for characters is a comprehensive outline that allows for quick reference that's easy to use. Each line is a new field to be filled out and is unique to that character. As this is for my books, some areas may not apply to the game. However, I'll use an example from my book:

Name: Drakethanoran Míriel
Age: At least 5000
Race: Elf
Build: tall, broad
Alignment: Light
Hair: Dirty blond
Eyes: viridian, deep, "like a collection of emeralds and sapphires gleaming in candlelight"
Distinguishing Features: scar on right arm
Personality: Proud, honorable, kind, much inner turmoil
Weapons: sword, bow
Mate: Charlastorel
Children: Laurananthaslas, Minathalasidas, Elrohirathal, Tamara (adoptive)
Mother: Nessanofallah (deceased)
Father: Luthienafolleth (deceased)
Ranks: King of Nurenath Elves, Demon Hunter, member of the Council of Eight
Birthplace: Nurenath Plains
Strengths: skill in battle, quick thinking, tact
Weaknesses: too often reacts based on emotion
Backgrund: (I'm not saying this for spoiler reasons)

This outlines my character in a very deep level, and organizes all the info for accessability. I'd use the whole field for all important characters, and maybe a down-graded version of this for recurring NPCs and non-imporant characters.

Part 3: My hero!

First we'll focus on your hero, the main character around whom all else revolves. He/she should be the center of the story for most of the game and the most developed. The most feeling, the most thought, the most everything. Your main character isn't the main character so animals that do nothing but fly around are more developed than him/her. You need a strong main character, especially in games with only one playable character or games where the main character narrates. Your main character should interact with different characters differently, which I will get to later.
To have a strong main character, give him/her an in-depth background story. This background has to be strong, sound, and have an immense effect on the character's personality and beliefs at the beginning of the game. You must keep this running personality going through the game, though changing it slowly along the way, showing that the character changes (but that'll come later). This background story should also come out gradually as the story progresses, not bombarding the player with information. If you explain your character in complete detail at the beginning, the player won't remember all the info presented, and it leaves for no surprises or secrets.
Another important aspect is to give your character both strengths ansd weaknesses. Anyone can see the problem with this paragraph:
"He's the ultimate warrior, a flawless super-soldier created by a mix of magic and machine. He can destroy anything in his path, and nothing can bring him down."
This not only makes you look like a complete dumbass, it makes for a shallow character. An important part of character devlopment is to take a character's waknesses and flaws and exploit them, put emphasis on them and relate them to the events at hand. Let's look at another one.
"A young man going on a journey as all young men his age go, he carries an ancient sword with untold power. He's very skillful with weapons and can cast powerful magic spells."
This employs two things I hate. One is the fact you have a young man, probably about 19, who is excellent with weapons and magic. That right there's a big mistake. No one young as him could possibly master magic and weapons that young. Also, it shows the main character with a legendary weapon. This has two major plot holes. One is that no one that young would be given a sword that powerful. The second is your main character's first weapon is almost always its weakest. If a merchant in a town carries a bland sword that's strongere than your legendary sword, what's the point of having it? Now we'll look at a good example.
"He's a great leader, and good with weapons. However, he has much inner turmoil and is at war with himself."
This doesn't employ a physicaly weakness, but an emotional weakness. This is by far the most powerful kind of weakness, as it allows for incorporation with the story, as well as express the character's emotions and thoughts. It allows for more character development and a better end result.

Part 4: Guest Starring...

The next chain on the hierarchy is the support party. These are the rest of the PCs, who aren't the main character, but still play an important part. While most main characters follow the same path, other party members vary greatly. This is very important, because if you don't take advantage of thje broad personality spectrum, you're not writing as well as you could. It's the same guidelines as the main character, but a lot more diverse. I'll explain these a little more later.

Part 5: Yeah., I'm evil. What're you gonna do about it?

Your main villain is also a pillar of character. You need a strong villain with good traits to get through. He usually has some reason for doing it, not just because he was bored on a Staurday and came up with a plan while half-drunk. Greed, rage, anger, etc. are powerful tools for a vilain's intentions. Once again, I'll expand more later.

Part 6: I don't matter, our creator put me here for filler.

NPCs are actually powerful plot tools. Though most do absolutely nothing, many good writers wrap NPCs into their plots on varying levels. There could be the child who wanders off and gets kidnapped by a group of monsters, or there could be the stubborn villager who incites a fight with an enemy guard and you get sucked into it. Nevertheless, NPCs can be very useful.
I'm not saying to create deep background stories for each NPC, but rather give them small little details that influence their conversation with you. However, important NPCs do require a good story to make them work.
Also good are recurring NPCs. Often seen in comedies, they stand out from the rest of the NPCs and can be detrimental to plot developemnt, or just there for comic reief.

Part 7: (I can't think of a good name for this one)

I've mentioned several times I'd expand on character guidelines, and now I will. These are the more popular versions of characters you often see in various games. I'll list a good handful of them, but I still won't break the tip of the iceberg.
A young, inexperienced swordsman from a small town going on a quest to find his father
A scarred war veteran who wants vengeance upon the enemy
A boy whose city was ravaged by the enemy
A cunning enemy who sees the error of his ways and joins the hero
A former operative of some massive army the enemy owns, but now fights the good fight
A mercenary who finds a cause and helps the hero out of the goodness of his heart
A virtuous cleric of unshakable moral conviction
A frail mage who desires power
A frail cleric who's in the Gods' favor
A frail mage with limitless intellect
An empty-headed brute, usually the frail mage's brother
A young man/woman whose parentds were killed by the enemy, so they had to raise their 80 siblings themself
A young man/woman whose parents died before their eyes, and now wants revenge
A man whose village, wife and cildren were killed by the enemy, and he's the sole survivor
A cunning street thief who comes up with amazing plans
The enemy's father/mother/brother/sister/cousin/aunt/uncle/former teacher/niece/nephew/husband/wife/childhood friend/chiropractor who wants to dissuade the enemy from their plan
The exiled samurai out to prove himself a good warrior
A ninja who was born on the street
The main character's teacher
The main character's childhood friend. If it's a girl, they're in love. If it's a boy, he's his right-hand man
The main character's fatherf, who wasn't really dead and joins his son
The former enemy whose life is saved my the main character and defects
The honorable paladin who saves the enemy's life
The healer who gets killed by the enemy
The demi-god who chooses to join a bunch of random people as opposed to fighting with actual professionals
The second girl in the party, who is at competition with the main character's female childhood friend for his love
The kind brute who despises fighting
The half-breed bastard riddled with inner turmoil
The mage who almost sacrificed his life for his powers
The mage who made a deal with some infernal spirit, an betrays the party
The soldier who was really a spy for ther enemy and betrays you, though saves you in the end
These are the more cliché characters who always seem to pop up. Now I could go on for hours listing more of them, but I think I've got enough down there.

Part 8: Hallowed be Thy Name

Yes, naming. You may wonder why it took me so long to get to this part, and it's simple. The character itself is more important than the name, and the name shoulds be the last thing on your mind.
Now there are certain guidelines to names. They're not set in stone, but having certain linear rules helps. I mentioned earlier that writers have their tricks. Well, I have other tricks for naming. It outlines certain sounds and name rules to utilize for different things. I'll post a few Orc guidelines and sounds.
Orcs:
Simple 1-2 syllable word
Two words hyphenated

Prefixes:
Achk, Baar, Caj, Fin, Has, Horad, Hur, Nur, Rau,

Suffixes:
Der, Drim, Gaum, Fa, Fura, Jiel, Kial, Rafur,

Examples:
Baar-Kail, Caj-Rafur, Horad-Der

This allows me to reduce the constant need for unique names by just stringing them together.
Yet this can't apply for all people. Orcs are usually viewed as beings of little or no intelligence, so they'd obciously have basic naming systems. Humans, however, really have no naming rules. You see names on the spectrum anywhere from Jim and Bob to Benjamin and Osbert. Nevertheless, there are certain tricks. By setting certain naming styles to different regions, you can keep this linear naming system that keeps you on track.
Past the rules, you need the names to be good. You want a nice, flowing name, not something like Floccinocciphilipification. That's just too ridiculous to type, let alone try pronouncing. Keep names relatively short, and if you must have a long name, make it flowing and easy to say.
But the most important part of names is that they have to stand out. While a lot of the most memorable characters have had words as names (Cloud, Link, etc.) a lot of others have had unique and different names (Sephiroth, Ganondorf) that stand out. A good name will make your character a lot more memorable.
Another common technique is to root names off real words. Almost all names in both books and games are rooted off words in a whole spectrum of languages.

Part 9: Different strokes

There's no way your main character will have a party of people who share the exact same values and emotions. It just doesn't happen. That's why you need to have people with different beliefs and ways of going about things. These opinions then lead into subplots and character relations and crap like that, signifying that you can pull off a differing array of people. Let's say there's your character has gathered a party of "vigilantes" who're fighting a demomnic army. You see a castle the Demons occupy. Here're a couple possible views:
-Storm the place head-on and kill everyone in sight
-Find the nearest city and warn the villagers
-Come in through the sewers and catch them by surprise
-Let it be until you can find more people to help
And there are many other paths you could take, just incorporate others' opinions, emotions, ideas, and reactions. It's not so much the story as it is how you tell it.

Part 10: The End

And so concludes another writing tutorial, a long time coming. I don't know when I'll get part 3 up, but hopefully before I die...