Latest revision as of 20:34, 13 April 2020

Template:Video game industry A game design document (often abbreviated GDD) is a highly descriptive living software design document of the design for a video game.^[1][2][3][4] A GDD is created and edited by the development team and it is primarily used in the video game industry to organize efforts within a development team. The document is created by the development team as result of collaboration between their designers, artists and programmers as a guiding vision which is used throughout the game development process. When a game is commissioned by a game publisher to the development team, the document must be created by the development team and it is often attached to the agreement between publisher and developer; the developer has to adhere to the GDD during game development process.

Content

A game design document may be made of text, images, diagrams, concept art, or any applicable media to better illustrate design decisions. Some design documents may include functional prototypes or a chosen game engine for some sections of the game.

Although considered a requirement by many companies, a GDD has no set industry standard form. For example, developers may choose to keep the document as a word processed document, or as an online collaboration tool.

Structure

The purpose of a game design document is to unambiguously describe the game's selling points, target audience, gameplay, art, level design, story, characters, UI, assets, etc.^[5][6] In short, every game part requiring development should be included by the developer in enough detail for the respective developers to implement the said part.^[7] The document is purposely sectioned and divided in a way that game developers can refer to and maintain the relevant parts.

The majority of video games should require an inclusion or variation of the following sections:^[8][9]

I. GAME OVERVIEW

A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY B. STORYLINE (N/A) C. NAMES (N/A)

II. CORE GAMEPLAY

A. MAIN GAME VIEW B. CORE PLAYER ACTIVITY C. GAME CONTROLS D. IN-GAME GUI E. ACCESSIBILITY

III. CONTEXTUAL GAMEPLAY

• A. GAME SHELL FUNCTIONS
• B. GAME FLOW DIAGRAM
• C. GAME MECHANICS
• D. MULTIPLAYER MECHANICS (N/A)
• E. SPECIAL FEATURES (N/A)

IV. GAME ELEMENTS

• A. CHARACTERS
• B. LEVEL / MISSION / AREA DESIGNS
• C. OBJECTS (N/A)
• D. INTRO SCENE
• E. MENU
• F. HOW TO PLAY
• G. END SCREEN
• V. SOUND
• A. MUSIC
• B. SOUND EFFECTS

VI. CHEATS

VII. MONETIZATION

VIII. APPENDICES

• APPENDIX A: GAMEFLOW DIAGRAM

External links

• Anatomy of a GDD by Tim Ryan on Gamasutra
• Game specifications by Tom Sloper on Sloperama

References

1. ↑ Oxland 2004, p. 240
2. ↑ Brathwaite, Schreiber 2009, p. 14
3. ↑ Bates 2004, p. 276.
4. ↑ Bethke 2003, pp. 101–102
5. ↑ Bates 2004, pp. 276–291
6. ↑ Bethke 2003, p. 102
7. ↑ Bethke 2003, p. 105
8. ↑ Oxland 2004, pp. 274–186
9. ↑ Adams, Rollings 2003, pp. 569–570, 574–576