Game Design Document (GDD) Rongkai Guo Why Documentation? The - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Game Design Document (GDD) Rongkai Guo Why Documentation? The - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Jun 25, 2023 97 likes •262 views

Game Design Document (GDD) Rongkai Guo Why Documentation? The purpose of design documentation is to express the vision for the game, describe the contents, and present a plan for implementation. Good and Bad comments The Benefits of

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Game Design Document (GDD)

Rongkai Guo

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Why Documentation?

  • The purpose of design documentation is to

express the vision for the game, describe the contents, and present a plan for implementation.

  • Good and Bad comments
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The Benefits of Guidelines

  • Elimination of hype
  • Clarity and certainty
  • Ease of drafting schedules and test plans
  • Varying from the guidelines
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Documentation

  • Concept Doc

– Very small (2 or 3 pages) – Only has the core concepts

  • “Sales” Doc

– To obtain financing

  • Functional Specification

– Much larger – What the game is supposed to do

  • Technical Specification

– How it should do it

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Elevator Pitch

  • Elevator Pitch

– Should be able to describe the game in 2 or 3 sentences (or less)

My game is a cross between Borderlands 2 and My Pretty Pony in which the players hunt pink ponies from Hell.

+ = fun

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General Concept Docs

  • Story
  • Characters
  • Environment/Level
  • Gameplay
  • Art Description
  • Sound
  • User Interface and Controls
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Sales Doc

  • To obtain money
  • It has much of the Concept Doc in it, plus

– A Market Study

  • Are there other games that are similar?
  • Did they earn a lot of money
  • Are there other games that are going to launch at the

same time?

– A budget

  • How much to develop
  • How long will it take?
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Formal Design Document

  • 2 sections

– Functional Specification – Technical Specification

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NDAs

  • Non Disclosure Agreements

– Agreement not to steal ideas – Don’t worry about signing, but read – It’s very common

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Examples

  • https://www.scribd.com/doc/34994424/Viral-Light-Interactive-GDD
  • https://www.scribd.com/doc/5402045/The-Design-Document-Justin-Kelly
  • http://www.cs.tufts.edu/comp/150CIS/AnAntsLife/AnAntsLife-

GameDesignDocument.pdf

  • http://5years.doomworld.com/doombible/doombible.pdf
  • http://www-

personal.engin.umd.umich.edu/~bmaxim/cis488/BaldwinGameDesignDoc umentTemplate.doc

  • http://www.runawaystudios.com/articles/chris_taylor_gdd.asp
  • http://yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr/~htuzun/courses/bto616-2013-

spring/DesignDocumentOrnekleri(Safiyeden)/Insecticide_GDD.doc

  • http://www-

personal.engin.umd.umich.edu/~bmaxim/cis488/BaldwinGameDesignDoc umentTemplate.doc

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Any Alternatives?

  • Jagex's James Sweatman thought central

design documents don't always work, and the alternatives available.

  • University always teaches how to write the

best documentations. Why?

  • Any bad experiences?
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Reasons from James Sweatman

  • They make too many assumptions
  • They are always out of date
  • No one reads them
  • They are too rigid
  • It doesn't allow for failure
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James Sweatman's the alternative

***NO escaping documentation!

  • Keep it light early on
  • Keep it agile
  • Keep it collaborative
  • Research and record
  • Don't do it in Word
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  • There is no design utopia!
  • Always do your own research
  • Or research with me 
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What we need:

  • The Name
  • The desired audience
  • Desired length of play
  • Targeted platform
  • Elevator Pitch
  • The story (one paragraph)
  • A description of what the player can do
  • Game Art
  • Plan/Schedule
  • NDAs