Table Of Content
Not only is it a terrible idea, modern tools allow us to outline and communicate far more effectively than a single doc ever would. Ultimately, it all depends on your game and your Game Design style. If you're new to the subject of accessibility in games, don't worry! In the template linked at the end of this guide, I've included "starter considerations" for each of those 5 accessibility categories.
Art Style
When thinking of a game design document, you might picture a giant 100-page word file, neatly organised into sections with links to chapters on marketing, mechanics, characters and the game’s story. Although there are sure to be exceptions, most games end up having some form of game design document. Whether it is completed before the game starts development or gets fleshed out throughout the process, having an organized document that grows alongside your game is an irreplaceable tool. As a result, the creation of a Game Design Document is a critical step in the game design process.
Who writes and maintains the GDD?
It's not enough to simply say that you need four types of platforms. It's going to help your artists to know that they need to draw dirt, grass, lava, and ice platforms instead. Key milestones include the prototype, first playable, and vertical slice which can read more about in Laurent Victorino's blog. The GDD helps identify potential risks and challenges early in the development process. By addressing these issues in the planning phase, the likelihood of facing significant hurdles during development is reduced. Creating a game that captivates and retains players hinges on the ability to make your game immersive.
Add inspiring imagery
Your specific project will dictate the importance of any of these given areas, but it's important to know what you want to accomplish by making this particular game. This is an excellent place to define player experience goals—always centering what you want your player to feel as they are playing your game. Do you want them to feel like a nimble creature in a series of increasingly dazzling platformer challenges? Be very specific about your player experience goals and note how you will design for them. Before you begin or show your game design template to others, you need to familiarize yourself with the team undertaking the feat of developing.
Page 1: Introduction to the TeamPage
Mechanics detail how the player will interact with your game, and how the game will respond. Progression explains how players will advance through the game and how that adds to the player experience. It can be useful to illustrate mechanics and progression in storyboards, diagrams, flow charts, or other visual elements. As you progress towards prototyping, you might add some additional information so everyone working on the prototype is on the same page.
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Make sure your game documentation is easy to read and accessible to all team members. Use consistent formatting, headings, and subheadings to improve readability. If your GDD is too lengthy, consider creating a summarized version or supplementing it with additional documents, such as design briefs or concept documents, for specific focus areas. Every project is unique, but there are common basics that you certainly should put into the core of your GDD. List out any technical requirements for the game, including system requirements for players and what software and hardware are required for development. Explain your choice of game engine and discuss any additional plug-ins, middleware, or other gaming software you will leverage during development.
You’re here because you have a brilliant game idea and you want to bring it into existence. You can add a little more detail about how you are going to approach the release on each platform. So, if your game is a match-3 game, then in the previous section you’d go and describe exactly how a match-3 game would work (and adding your variations to the formula). This is (probably in 99% of games) the most important section of the GDD. It’s where you describe what your Gameplay (yes, with capital G), will be like. The general intent of milestones is that each one represents a sequential and self-contained amount of work that can be reflected on after completion.
Building a game design wiki
If you’re like me, you’re probably constantly coming up with new rough game ideas. Articulating your loose thoughts into a written text forces you to think through the basic structure and helps you define your game vision, which can give you confidence in pursuing your idea further. In the best case scenario it helps you fix some issues already in the paper phase of your project (see some advantages of the waterfall model above, but don’t count on it). Agile methodologies replace heavy upfront design by iterative work.
How Blasphemous' level design iterates on classic Metroidvanias - Game Developer
How Blasphemous' level design iterates on classic Metroidvanias.
Posted: Tue, 05 Nov 2019 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Even though this is a guide for writing useful GDDs, that doesn't mean that every team or every designer has use for them, and that's good to know going in. While a great deal of AAA design documentation is mired in secrecy, there are plenty of examples of GDDs out in the wild. Game Design Documents can be thought of as the "blueprints" for putting together a game. First and foremost, they should very clearly communicate the designer's vision for a game, and do so in a way that is useful and readable for every team member or stakeholder, no matter their discipline.
Still, even a simple GDD can help you stay organized, and keep a clear focus as you build your game. We consulted with a number of talented game designers to gather the best practices for writing and maintaining a modern documentation. If you make sure your GDD is easily searchable, readable, and concise, it will be an incredibly valuable resource for you and your team. With these three tips you’re ready to get started on your first game design document. The best part is, there really isn’t one true way or template to create a game design document.
This approach allows for swift modifications and easy access, ensuring that the team always has the most current information at their fingertips. Game design documentation is the backbone of your future video game opus. It is the essence and guidance, helping designers and developers stay focused, organized, and eager to fulfill new creative concepts. Assembla is an all-in-one platform that combines project management, version control, and collaboration tools specifically designed for cloud based game development. To learn more about how Perforce hosted by Assembla can help you accelerate your game development read our article on Cloud-Based Game Development with Perforce.
Clearly defining what platforms you're building and testing to support is also really important to outline. If you're using a game engine like Unity or Unreal which can be used with a variety of platforms, know that it's never as easy as pressing a single button! Each platform will have its own requirements, quirks, and even specific code requirements with how data is stored. The core gameplay section should summarize what core gameplay is, how it's presented to the player, and the format of gameplay; such as distinct levels, an open world, sandbox sessions, or other formats. This section is important because it helps you create metaphors with which to describe and plan development.
This template using Milanote is a non-linear version that is online and infinite. If you’re ready to level up your cloud hosted game development, get started with Assembla today and experience the benefits of streamlined project management and collaboration tools tailored for game development. In short, a GDD does not need to be a detailed document that specifies each technical aspect of your game. It simply needs to outline your plan for the game design, which is readable and easily comprehensible by anyone who reads the document.
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